Royals

Chapter 35

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Joey screamed, belly-flopping on top of me.

"Ugh," I grunted, struggling to move under his weight.

"Come on, get up!" Joey cried, grinning from ear to ear. "We get our first real Thanksgiving today!"

"Why are you so smiley? Did you put Vaseline on your teeth or something?" I teased, rolling him onto my hardwood floor.

"Shut up and get ready. It's already noon, and we have to leave in an hour and a half," he informed me, leaving the room so I could change.

I rolled my eyes at his eagerness--although, inwardly, I felt the same way.

I hopped off my bed and took a quick shower. I blow dried my hair straight and put it in a half-up, half-down updo and quickly applied some makeup. I decided on a white, oversized sweater with black leggings, an infinity scarf, and some boots.

Excitedly, I clambered down the stairs and into the passenger seat of Joey's car with a hot chocolate in hand. A few moments later, we pulled into Jake's driveway and waited while he got settled in the backseat.

During the ride to my Grandma's, I couldn't help but realize how horrible of a day yesterday had been. I wasn't going to deny the fact that I cared about Brandon, as much as I hated to admit it. After losing him and Lillia yesterday, the one people I had were Jake, Joey, and Penelope. At the thought, I sighed louder than I had intended, but managed to brush off Joey's questioning glances.

"You can change the radio station if you want," Joey offered.

"This is fine," I lied, allowing him to keep on the awful rap music he was listening to.

"Emily," Joey spoke, causing me to look over at him. "I hate rap music," he confessed, voicing my thoughts.

"I know," I laughed, ignoring the gagging noise that Jake was making from behind us.

"Pick a station, then. I know how much my singing makes you happy," he teased, flashing his pearly whites at me.

"Bro, I specifically told you not to treat her differently," Jake mumbled, running his hand over his face. He then unbuckled his seatbelt and sprawled out across the backseat, blocking out the rest of our conversation.

"I'm not treating her differently," Joey defended himself. "I always treat her like this."

"Why do you guys act like you're dating?" Jake rebutted.

"He told you?" I blurted, cutting Jake off.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Joey asked, getting over in the turning lane. I simply shrugged in response, changing the radio station to his fourth preset.

Joey got the hint that I didn't want to talk about it, but I could see the questions on the tip of his tongue. But instead of bombarding me with questions, he sang obnoxiously to the radio, causing an eruption of giggles to spill out of my mouth.

After a couple more minutes of Joey's singing and Jake's groaning, we safely arrived at my grandma's house. Cars not only filled up her entire driveway, but they also lined the street.

I suddenly felt my stomach flip upside down, and I felt like I was going to be sick.

I haven't seen my extended family in seven years. What if too much has changed since then? What if it was awkward showing up to see all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents there? What if they referred to family members who I wasn't even aware of?

I looked up at the open car door beside me. Joey was resting his arm on the door while the other was extended out towards me.

"There's nothing to be scared of," Joey comforted. As I placed my hand in his, climbing out of the car, he continued speaking, "It's your Gram. It'll be fun."