"Hey, you two." I heard as Pattie's head poked around the corner, pointing us in her direction. Rose and I followed.
"Hello," Grams, with her grey hair and little glasses, beamed down at Rose. "Want to help with something?"
"Sure!" Rose said, jumping onto the little step stool that had been pulled in front of the counter. Tanya and Becca, the two that looked like they were in their mid-twenties, were also working on their own dish of one kind or another.
"See, it's a tradition for the youngest one to help make the pie." She explained, turning to give me a quick smile as she spoke. "I'm sure Justin's glad to be off the hook."
She showed Rose how to crush up the graham crackers and I stood against the opposite counter, unsuccessfully trying to picture Justin cooking anything.
"This is hard," Rose complained not only five minutes in. Grams laughed.
"I know, hun, why don't you go find Pattie and see if she needs help setting the table." Rose nodded and hopped down from the stool. I stepped forward.
"I can finish." I said as I took over Rose's duty.
"So, Baby Bieber finally found a lady, huh?" Tanya smiled as she stood next to me and chopped up some type of vegetable.
"Yeah." I nodded. "Finally?"
"Mhmm." She confirmed. "I'm glad, honestly. I wasn't sure he'd ever bounce back after Jeremy died."
Assuming that Jeremy was Justin's dad, it took effort to control my reaction. I guess I'd figured out on my own that Justin's dad had died, but hearing it out loud confirmed the fact. I'm still messed up over my mom's death and I fiercely hated her and wanted her out of my life, so I can't imagine having someone you actually love die. Despite everything, I felt bad for him.
"I'm sorry about your brother. About all of your losses." I said, surprising myself. In reality I wanted to ask what happened to him and how Justin had been the couple of years after, but I couldn't blow my cover. If I'm his girlfriend I should know that type of stuff, I think. I don't do relationships, clearly.
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
"Of course."
***
"Mmm, this is good." Rose nodded once we had all started to dig into the thanksgiving meal. Everyone sits at this big dining table, the middle filled entirely with practically any food you could ever think of.
Everyone ate and made small talk amongst themselves. I stayed quiet and avoided making conversation, until the inevitable happened.
"So," Grams said, turning to me. "How did you two meet?"
"Oh, don't start hounding them with questions, Grams." Tanya said, as just about everyone at the table was now waiting for my response, especially Justin staring me down from his seat next to mine.
"Yeah, how did we meet, babe?" I smirked, turning everyone's attention over to Justin.
"Mhmm," he hummed and rubbed his face, silently cursing me. "Well, Ray and I went to elementary school together." He explained and everyone nodded.
"I used to pull her hair and throw french fries at her." He laughed and I did too, surprised that he hadn't started straight off with a ridiculous made up story. "Then we weren't friends for a long time after that, until one day she just showed right back up." He shrugged. Grams smiled along with a few of the others who were listening, including Tanya and Pattie.
"And then..." he paused. "She was just a good friend when I didn't really have any." He said with a sincere voice and caught my eye, giving me a look like he was trying to tell me it was the truth. I forced myself to break the stare, convincing myself that either I'm going crazy or he is.
YOU ARE READING
Abandoned
FanfictionWhen Ray and her little sister find themselves with no place to go and no one to turn to, Ray's only goal is to protect the only family she has left and make it to her eighteenth birthday without anything going wrong. But when she's forced to spend...