Far From Perfect [S.Uris]

Eden and the Dinner

By the time Stanley had left, it was already time for Eden to get ready and dressed for dinner with the Bowers family. Her father had been doing business with Mr. Bowers, despite the man being a cop.

Mr. Bowers was definitely not who he seemed to be. Underneath his protective cop demeanor, he is an abusive father, a bad man, and works with Mr. Moore, one of the most wanted con-mans in Derry.

"Mom, you're pulling too hard." Eden winces as her mother pulls back her hair, putting it into tight blonde curls. "You need to look presentable, sweets." She responds.

Eden rolls her eyes. "Hey, don't slouch. Back straight." Heather says to her daughter, who quickly sits up. "When are you and Henry going to start dating?"

"Hm. How about never?" Eden sasses. "How many times do we have to tell you this, your father and I need this. We need to make money." The woman sneers.

"I'm sure you've already got plenty enough money from sleeping with—"

Heather purposely pulls Eden's hair back, forcing her to look up at the woman. Eden whimpers at the pull. "That's enough talk from you."

"Now, Henry and his father will be here any minute and I expect you to behave accordingly." The tall, skinny woman walks out of the room.

Eden sighs, staring into the mirror, her eyes beginning to tear up. Unfortunately, she already had pounds of makeup on her face. She wipes her tears to the best of her abilities.

At the sound of the front door opening and the loud voice of her parents, she stands up, brushing off her dress— short and pink, casual, yet somehow formal.

She checks herself in the mirror one last time, then walks down the stairs. She looks to Henry, who doesn't seem too glad to be here as she is to see him.

There's been countless times where Henry and his father would visit and for the most part, it consisted of matching Eden and Henry.

No matter how many times their parents would beg, they'd refuse. Eden has nothing particularly against Henry, besides the fact that he bullies half the school.

Eden is that half that Henry decides to leave alone. In a way, they have a lot in common.

"Eden, aren't you going to say hello to our guests?" Heather lightly shoves the girl from behind, causing her to slightly fall over, but catches herself.

"Hi." She says, looking directly into Henry's eyes. "Hi." He responds. "Alright. Well, we've prepared a delicious steak for us, let's go take a seat, shall we?" Johnathan, Eden's father says cheerfully.

They all follow the Moores into the dining room, where Eden takes a seat beside Henry. Heather brings out the steak, handing everyone their own plate, then handing Eden a salad.

"I thought you said we were all having steak." Eden comments, looking up at the woman. "Hm, it's a little fattening don't you think? You've been gaining a lot of weight, hun." Heather says softly, shaking her head.

"Yeah, I guess." Eden mumbles, sighing as she digs her fork into the vegetables. As the adults speak and laugh about, Henry and Eden remain silent.

That is, until Henry nudges the blonde. "What do you want?" She asks in annoyance. Henry rolls his eyes, glances down beneath the table, then passes her a plate with a small piece of steak.

She looks down at it, then back up at the boy. "Thanks." She nods at him, taking her fork and finishing it in one bite.

"Eden, why don't you show Henry to your room?" Heather suggests. Eden turns to look back at Henry, then shrugs. "Sure." She exhales, taking her and Henry's plate, placing it in the sink and leading Henry upstairs.

"Whatever dirty thoughts you've got running around in your mind right now, it's not gonna happen." Eden states as Henry walks behind her.

"Forget it, Moore. I'd never fuck you. The last thing I want is for my dad to get the satisfaction of succeeding." The boy responds, following the blonde into her room.

She shuts the door, then takes a seat on her bed. "Good. Then, we're on the same page." She nods.

"What's your deal, princess perfect?" Henry inquires as he examines her bedroom. "What's my deal?" She scoffs.

"Yeah. I mean, if we put aside the fact that you have no friends, you're little Ms. Perfect. Yet, here we are." Henry explains.

"Yeah, well we can't all be flawless." She rolls her eyes with a sigh. "If anything, you'd know imperfect best, don't you think?"

"Funny." Henry says sarcastically. "I try my best." She sends him an innocent smile.

"You know, Moore. I think it's best if we join forces here." Henry says. "Yeah, I'm not gonna help your bulky a bunch of k—"

"That's not what I meant." Henry holds his finger up to her face, cutting her off. "We both don't want our parents to have the satisfaction of succeeding, right?" He continues.

"Yeah." She nods. "Well, since we've got the same problem, I think we should lay down on the insults, huh?" He crosses his arms. "Yeah, sure. Okay." She shrugs.

"Good. Then, truce." He holds out his hand in front of her. "I'm not shaking your ha—" before she could finish, he takes her hand, giving it a firm shake before letting go.