The Reason Why

Chapter Six

Mom's salad dressings and tomato sauce arrived safely at my house. It was a little funny and weird  having a  barbecue party which took place in my kitchen because of the rain. They moved the utensils away as soon as water showered our backyard. We made it in time for the barbecue, though we were drenched.

Chris' parents were already there by the time we came. My mom and Mrs. Parks were a hubbub, seeing us soaked in rain water, dripping wet and shivering.

"Oh my darlings! Both of you should go change upstairs now!" My mom pushed both of us towards the stairs.

"But Helen, what about Chris' clothes? It's so unfortunate he didn't bring any change," Mrs. Parks reminded mom.

"No, it's not a problem, Emma." She smiled assuringly.  "I'm sure that Kimberly can lend a piece for him. Her father's clothes were too tight, that's why," her eyes drilled into mine, making a fake smile just like me.

I glared at her, shooking my head in bewilderment mixed with shock.

Chris seemed to notice my expression. "Mrs. Carson, I'm fine. Maybe I can use the washing machine to dry my clothes," he put in quickly.

"And wait for it while it's drying? Without clothes on? No, honey! You can catch a cold!" She pulled a face, "Am I right, Em?" she turned at Mrs. Parks.

"Well, I don't see why not," she nodded in agreement.

She gave me a look of triumph.

Oh mom, come on!

 "Sweetheart, you remeber the oversized shirt grandma gave to you? I'm sure you still keep it in your wardrobe," she raised her eyebrows.

"Mom!" I mouthed at her.

Still smiling, she glared again and tilted her head. "Why don't you take him there now, cutiepie ?"

Uh-oh. Not a good sign. If she said cutiepie  then it means I'm in great danger. Literally great danger. I quickly nodded.

"There you go, hon."  She pushed Chris away with me, smiling in satisfaction.

"Let the kids to their business, Em. Let's go," she took Mrs. Park's arm and walked away down the hall. I could hear their voices, talking about stuffs like "By the way you look gorgeous tonight, darling!"  or "Where did you get that stew recipe, Helen? The one that we ate last month..." and they disappeared into the kitchen.

I felt the weight of Chris' eyes on me.

"So..." I glanced at him. "Shall we go?"

***

Having Chris tailing behind my back, following me to my room is not good AT ALL. My room! A guy is following me to my room is extremely awkard. And cringe-ish. And embarrassing. And...

I stopped in front of the TV couch so suddenly which cause Chris to bump into me.

"Hey!" he yelped over my ear.

I turned to him. "Um...can you just wait here?"

"What?"

"Wait here."

"Why?"

Gosh, he even asked why? Why boys are so naive sometimes?

"No particular reason," I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act normal though many thoughts jumbled out of my head.

Before he could said a word, I headed for my room and  snatched a towel for two on the way. I dried my hair, squeezing the water molecules out of the hair strands. Right after that, I slammed open the door of my room and fumbled for the tee in my wardrobe.