The Art of Playing Pretend (On Hold)

10. Xander

"Xander, why aren't you ready?!"

"Mom," I groaned. "I'm not going."

She slowly turned to me, fire burning in her eyes. "No, this is a huge deal, and the Irwins invited us over to celebrate your new relationship with Violet. Now, you do as I say and get ready before I drop kick your ass to their house."

I sucked in a breath of air and slowly backed away. "Dad...?"

"Honey," my dad said, "stop scaring him."

"But Calum, you know how long I've been waiting for this moment."

"Yes, I know, but our son looks like he's ready to bolt out the door and run to Australia."

"I'm just going to... uh... bye." I said running up the stairs.

I am so screwed. I can't believe Uncle Ashton found out. I knew Violet's mom and my mom have been waiting for this moment since they were pregnant with us. They are going to kill us when they find out it's all an act. And they're going to cry a billion times because their "ship" sank. Fangirls are weird.

I changed my outfit to something less crappy. I quickly buttoned up my white shirt and tied my back converse. I sprayed on some cologne and tried to make my hair not look like shit. Once I was somewhat presentable, I slowly walked out of my room, afraid to face my mom.

I slowly descended the stairs and walked to the kitchen. My dad was the only one there. He looked up from his phone. "Hey Xander," he said.

"Um, hi." I said cautiously.

"Sit down, son." I gulped and slowly walked over and sat down next to him. "So tell me, when were you going to tell us about you and V?"

"Um, eventually. We just got together and we didn't really want everyone to know."

"I see..." He said. "Are you guys having se-"

"BYE DAD," I yelled before he could finish his sentence. I quickly got up from my seat and headed out the door. "IM GOING TO WALK TO VIOLET'S HOUSE NOW."

I slammed the door shut and leaned against it. "Ugghhh," I groaned, and started to walk.

********

I sucked in a breath of air and knocked lightly on the front door of Violet's house. The door burst open, revealing Violet's mom, who gave me a beaming smile.

"Xander! How lovely it is to see you!" Violet's mom said.

"Hi Aunt Willow," I said.

"Ah! I'm so excited about you and V!" She smiled.

"You and my mom both," I said.

"I could imagine," she laughed. "Come in! V's waiting for you." I walked through the door, the smell of food immediately hit me. "Why aren't your parents here yet?"

"Oh, my mom was taking a bit of time getting ready, and I wanted to get here to talk to V."

She laughed. "That's your mother. Go right ahead, Violet's in the kitchen."

I nodded and thanked her. I sped walked to the kitchen. Violet was sitting by the counter on her phone. She looked up at me.

"We," I said, pointing to the both of us, "need to talk."

She sighed. "I know, I'm sorry-"

"Violet, how did they find out?"

"I guess someone saw us kissing and they asked my dad about it when he picked me up. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for his to happen."