A Deadly Trip (Now Available on Amazon!) (Unedited Version)

Chapter 3

Dinner was definitely interesting and it didn't have anything to do with my mom's cooking. She had actually made a decent meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad without managing to set the food (or herself) on fire.

Even though her cooking was definitely a miracle it wasn't what made dinner so interesting. No, what made dinner so interesting was the two males currently sitting at the dinner table.

My dad was staring daggers at Archer who looked like he'd like nothing better than to be anywhere but here.

"So, Arthur..." My dad began.

"It's Archer...sir." Archer corrected.

"Right. So, Artie what are your plans now that you've graduated?"

Archer shot me a look before clearing his throat.

"Ugh I plan on going to college."

"Interesting. Where exactly do you plan on going?"

"NYU."

"Hmm, what a coincidence. Gemma is attending NYU too."

My dad turned to my mom and gave her a fake smile.

"Isn't that just great?"

My mom gave my dad one of her stares before she turned to Archer and gave him a genuine smile.

"I think it's fantastic that you're both attending college together. This way I'll have somebody to look over my Gemma."

I covered my face with my hand and groaned.

"Mom, I don't need anyone to look after me."

"You're saying that now but what happens when one of your classes is across campus and you have to walk there by yourself or you have to walk back at night?"

"Moooom."

My mom held her hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying it'll be nice to have someone to watch out for you is all."

"So, Archie," My dad began again.

I knew my dad was saying his name wrong on purpose just to get under Archer's skin but fortunately he didn't even seem phased by it.

"What do you plan on majoring in?"

"Pre-law sir."

I swear my dad's left eye twitched as his gaze slowly slid over to me.

"Would you look at that? Another. Coincidence." My dad bit out.

"Gemma wants to major in pre-law as well."

This was news to me. I had no idea what Archer had planned on majoring in until a few seconds ago. I was constantly asking him about it but he would always evade the question.

I turned to Archer in surprise.

"Really? You're interested in law?"

Archer actually looked embarrassed.

"Ugh yeah. I wanted to tell you but I didn't want you to think that I was choosing the same major as you just to follow you or anything. We're not that kind of couple."

"Could've fooled me." I heard my dad mutter as he angrily stabbed at his salad.

"John." My mom said my dad's name with a warning in her voice.

My dad looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You promised to be nice. Now either be nice or get comfortable on the couch because that's where you'll be sleeping tonight." My mom said in a sickly sweet voice before turning to face us with a bright smile on her face.

"Now who wants dessert?" She asked.

***

Dinner ended without anymore jabs from my dad about Archer and an apple pie that tasted way too good to be my mom's.

It was definitely store bought.

Archer had offered to help clean up after dinner and we were currently in the kitchen loading the dishwasher.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Archer asked as he placed the last plate into the dishwasher.

I gave a dramatic groan before answering.

"It can't get here fast enough."

Archer gave me a small smile and shook his head.

"Your parents that bad huh?" he asked.

I sighed before hopping up on the counter.

"You don't know the half of it. Ever since the...incident, they've been crazy over protective. I had to beg and plead for them to even let me go on this trip."

Archer moved so he was standing between my legs before reaching up to push a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Can you really blame them though? Especially after what we went through?"

"No, I guess not." I answered after a while.

"But they're smothering me." I added as an afterthought.

"They're your parents. They were put on Earth specifically to smother you." Archer stated like it was obvious.

"Well you're parents don't."

"You don't know that." He lamely tried to defend.

"Oh really? So did you have to beg them to let you go on this trip? Do you have to give them a run down of your day before your day even starts? Are they considering making you miss a year out of college because they think you're not ready for it?!"

I don't know why but it was like all my anger about the whole situation had suddenly come to the surface.

Did I think that my parents were acting the way they were just to upset me? Of course not. I knew my parents were doing what they were because they loved and cared about me and wanted me safe, but how were they ever going to get over it if they didn't let me live my life? I had a hard enough time as it was trying not to look over my shoulder every second and expecting some nut job to be standing behind me.

I pushed Archer back and hopped off the counter ready to call it quits for the night and go to my room and pout like a little kid but before I could make it to the stairs I felt Archer grab my wrist.

"Woah, hey calm down. I didn't mean to make you mad."

I sighed and turned to face Archer. It wasn't his fault my parents were being over protective.

"I'm not mad at you, it's just...frustrating."

I took a deep breath, calming myself down before speaking again.

"Sorry for snapping at you. It's not your fault I'm about to become a hermit."

Archer surprised me by suddenly pulling me to his chest and wrapping his arms around me.

"It'll get better. This whole thing will blow over soon and things will go back to normal." He said.

"I hope so." I said quietly.

"For now let's just focus on this week. It'll be you, me, and that new bikini you just bought."

Despite my mood I actually laughed and pulled back to look up at him.

"Will you quit being such a perv?" I asked with a small, teasing smile.

Archer pretended to think about it for a second before he looked down at me.

"Nope. You know you love my pervy ways."

"You're right. What would I ever do without you?" I asked sarcastically.

Archer smiled and quickly kissed my forehead.

"You could always buy some toys to keep you company. They wouldn't be able to compare to me though."

It wasn't until after Archer had darted out of the kitchen laughing his head off that I realized what kind of toys he was talking about and I stood there with a burning face.

I was going to kill him. 

***