Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
i wiped away his fallen tears and kissed his cheek. "dinners done!" addy opened the door after knocking. she looked at tate with a smile and back to me with the same smile.
"hi addy," i wave to her as tate climbed off the bed. she waved back and closed the door before tate could make it over there. "i'm going to go say hi to my mom for a second before i come down."
"okay," he grinned and opened the door for me. "if you need help getting down the stairs let me know." i knew i wouldn't but i nodded. i opened the office door to my mom just sitting on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.
"hey mom." she looked up to me. she looked as if she had just seen a ghost, which in this house is possible. "everything okay?" she talked to me for a moment and explained how she can't stand the family in this house. of course i laughed because i could understand her desire to go home after dealing with constance coming into her office constantly and trying to talk about her children. "i'm joining them for dinner tonight. i won't be home till later."
"i trust you, adele. if you chose to spend the night here i won't worry. your fathers a priest after all. he'll know." my eyes widened in shock and she opened her office door to leave. "come on. get out of this room. it's strange in the dark." i walked down the stairs and said goodbye to my mom and joined the rest of tate's family for dinner. we said our grace and ate in silence.
"so, i thought i'd announce it to the family," larry says as he sets down his utensils. "the community theater is putting on the play brigadoon. it won't be happening until sometime next year but i'm proud to be saying i will be debuting in the chorus."
"great. good for you, lawrence." tate slurred the man's name as if he couldn't say it at first. "don't care." i placed my hand on tate's thigh and shook my head.
"that sounds wonderful mr. harvey. you must be very excited about that." i smiled after setting down my slice of bread. "i know i would be."
"yes i am. thanks to constance i've finally been able to succeed my dream in being an actor." larry seems to praise tate's mom as if she were a goddess but i really didn't see it. we continued to eat but nobody said a thing. i didn't understand why every dinner was so awkward and quiet. "do you mind if i tell them about homecoming?" i whisper to tate.
"it's not that important but sure." to me something like this was important and i wasn't going to let him say it wasn't.
"so uh... tate and i are going to homecoming together." constance kept eating like she didn't hear anything but larry looked like he was interested.
"oh yes. homecoming." he sighed with happiness as he remembers his high school life. "that's great. i didn't exactly see tate as someone who would enjoy something like that."
"you don't know me." tate huffed and side glanced larry with hatred. "but yeah. i'm going."
"that's great news." larry says as he crosses his arms on the table. "you must be happy adeline."
"i am. tate... well he's been the light of my life lately." he looked up to me as i spoke and acted like what i said was almost too special to ever be said. "he means a lot to me."
"i'm glad someone feels that way about me." tate scoffed and acted like what i said was stupid. i didn't say another thing. i didn't eat anything either.
"i think i'm going to go home now." my voice was soft and i knew tate noticed it from the glimmer in his eye. "thank you for dinner mrs. langdon." i grabbed my oxygen tank and walked to the door until someone grabbed my wrist away from the door handle.
"wait-" tate called and stopped me from leaving. "i'm sorry." something about his apology didn't feel real to me.
"i'm going home, tate. i'll talk to you at school." i opened the door and took myself home. there was no doubt that tonight didn't go as planned. i made my way to my bedroom and got onto my knees as i cried silently. my tears bled into my comforter and my hands gripped my sheets as i became angered with myself.
tonight felt like we had made such progress with our talk and with dinner. everything comes to an end i'm afraid. i crawled into bed and slept.
that night i dreamt about that shaggy blond haired boy. we danced in his bedroom like we did before but there was no music. it was just us. only us. when i looked up to his brown eyes they were a lighter brown than his, his hair was styled and black, and he had glasses. he looked familiar but i couldn't understand why. he wore a gray suit with a tie and black shoes. "hello," he smiled and pulled away from me. he didn't look like he was from this year but at the same time he did.
"who are you?" i asked and sat onto tate's bed that was behind me. he laughed and ran his hand across tate's desk.
"oliver." my hands shook yet i didn't understand why i feared this man so much. before i could learn anything more i awoke with a cold sweat. thank christ my alarm went off when it did.
i dressed myself and drank a cup of coffee before walking outside to see tate waiting for me. he had sad eyes and slouched posture. he grabbed my bag from me and glanced over to me with sorrow. "i'm sorry about last night. i really am, adeline."
"but why? why are you sorry? if you don't understand what you did you aren't sorry." i kept my eyes in front of me rather than giving him the pleasure of knowing i cared. after all... he never likes to show he cares for too long.
"for making you feel bad last night and pretending like i didn't care about you when i really do." i stopped walking and sighed with some form of relief.
"okay," i say and look toward the school. "please try and give your family more grace, tate. you're blessed with a room full of people who... care for you. even if it's a small amount they still care." he shook his head and looked away from me. "i know i don't understand the pain you go through and i might be asking too much... but at least give me some grace when we're around your family. they deserve to see you happy."
