Forgotten

Jonathan chewed absentmindedly on his lip as he rounded the corner and Liv’s house came into view. Liv stood on the front lawn, hip jutting out and arms crossed in front of her. She walked towards him and they met on the sidewalk.

“Look, before you say anything,” Jonathan began, “As much as I want to, I really can’t just come out and date Caden. I --”

“Why the hell not?!” Liv cut in.

“Did you listen to anything I said yesterday? My father might just overlook the whole ‘do not kill’ thing if I cam home with a boyfriend.” Liv rolled her eyes. “Liv, I’m serious! You don’t know my dad. Besides, it’s not like my mother would exactly approve either.”

Silence settled over the two of them as the sun peeked out from behind a sheen of clouds. Liv sighed and nodded. “Alright. But if you care about Cadey as much as you say you do --”

“I do!” Jonathan assured her.

“Then why not try to keep it a secret? I mean, it’s hard, I know. But isn’t he worth it?” Liv asked. Jonathan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Of course Caden was worth it but this was all moving at such a break-neck speed that Jonathan could barely stand it.

“Isn’t he?” Liv asked. Her voice was no longer angry and confrontational but soft and worried.

“Yes. Absolutely,” Jonathan replied, taking Liv’s hand in his. A small smile spread across her face, illuminating her pretty features and showing just how much she cared for her friend. She wrapped her long arms around Jonathan in a hug.

“This doesn’t mean I’m rescinding my death threat if you hurt him, is that understood?” she asked, arms still wrapped around him. Jonathan nodded. “Good. Alright, I’m going to take a walk. You go talk to Cadey.” Her brisk, protective manner returned and she released him, turned on her heel and walked off down the sidewalk. She turned back after she was a few feet away. “Call me later, we figure out how to deal with your family.”

Jonathan sighed and walked up the pathway to the front door, suffering from some serious emotional whiplash. Before Jon could even ring the bell, the door swung open to reveal Caden. They stared at each other for a moment.

"C-Caden, I wanted to ask you something…”

“W-What is it?” Caden asked nervously, stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind him.

“I don’t really know how to say this and not sound like a total idiot. Well, whatever. Um,” he paused for a moment, “I really like you. I-I want to get to know you. As more than friends…” he trailed off, waiting for some kind of reaction from Caden.

Caden slowly stepped back on shaky legs to lean against the house. “I-I’m n-not dreaming, r-right?” Caden asked, barely willing to let himself believe what he had just heard.

Jonathan smiled and shook his head. “It’s real.” Suddenly his cell began to vibrate in his pocket, he withdrew it to see HOME displayed on the caller ID. For a moment, an irrational panic struck him but he managed to calm himself long enough to answer.

“Hello?” Jon asked.

“Honey, where are you? We need to go, Sarah’s recital is starting soon!” his mom said frantically.

“Oh, God. I forgot. I’ll, I’ll be right there.” Jonathan assured him mother. He closed the phone and jammed it back in his pocket as he looked up at Caden.

“I have to go. I’m sorry.” The sweet smile that was playing on Caden’s lips faded but he nodded understandingly. “My sister’s ballet recital. She’s been obsessing over it forever. But, I’ll call you tonight.”

At that, a flicker of that smile showed on Cadey’s face again. “Okay,” he said with a nod. Jonathan grabbed him in a quick, slightly awkward hug then ran down the porch steps and onto the sidewalk, rushing back to his house.

He arrived, panting, in front of his house fifteen minutes later. His father looked livid, as did Sarah. Melanie looked exasperatedly at her sweating son and gestured for him to get into the car.

Sarah got into the back seat, slamming the door and turning to stare at Jonathan as he got in beside her “I swear to God --”

“Sarah! Don’t use His name in vain,” Daniel said sternly from the driver’s seat as he started the car and backed out of the driveway.

“Sorry, Dad,” she said sweetly, smiling into the rear view mirror at Daniel. Then her eyes snapped back to Jonathan and she continued as if there hadn’t been an interruption. “-- if you make me late to this I will smother you in your sleep. I’ve been working to dance in this recital for the entire year. How could you waste time like this?!”

“I’m sorry,” Jonathan muttered. She continued scolding him the entire ride (which, thankfully, only lasted about ten minutes). “Alright, we’re here. It’s fine. Stop.” he said as their father parked the car. She glared at him the entire way into the theater. As they entered the house she gave a quick wave to Melanie and Daniel, ignoring Jonathan altogether, and ran off to get backstage.

* * *

“You did such a wonderful job, sweetheart!” Melanie told her daughter for what seemed like the thousandth time on the ride home. Jonathan had to admit that he had been impressed by Sarah’s performance. He didn’t know she had become such an advanced dancer already. Daniel parked the car in the garage and they all got out.

“Mom, Dad, thanks so much for coming and then for taking us out to dinner!” Sarah said sweetly.

“Of course, honey,” Daniel said, placing his large hand on Sarah’s shoulder. She smiled up at him and even spared a smile for Jonathan.

“You did a great job,” Jon said.

“Thanks,” Sarah said as they all headed inside. Jonathan quickly made his way to his room and pulled out his cell, dialing Liv’s home phone.

“Hello?” Stacy picked up after a few rings.

“Hi Mrs. Gibbons, it’s Jonathan.”

“Oh, of course. Let me get Liv and Cadey.”

A moment later Cadey’s voice sounded quietly through the phone. “H-Hi.”

“Hey,” Jonathan replied sheepishly. They spoke softly and shyly at first but soon warmed up and before either one realized the time, Jonathan could hear Liv in the background saying:

“Alright, my turn, Cadey. You guys have been talking for an hour and a half. Literally. I need to talk to Jonathan. Hand it over.”

“Yo,” Liv said into the phone.

“Hi.”

“So how are we going to deal with your parental units?” Liv asked, though it sounded as though she already had a plan.

“You tell me,” Jonathan said.

“Well, since you asked,” she began, “I was thinking since you already spilled to your dad that I’m the love of your life I could come over, do a meet-and-greet and bring my good friend Caden to meet your family too. Make it seem innocent and friendly and all that jazz. And then we’ll take it from there.”

Jonathan was hesitant about the idea but knew it was probably the best way to handle things. “Does tomorrow work for you?”