Just Another Lovesick Boy

My mind was reeling. Friday and Saturday passed quicker than I ever could have expected. It felt like they did not even happen. Once Sunday came around, I felt more anxious than I ever had been before. It was 4:45 and I still had not picked what I was going to wear. I had to admit that I felt pretty foolish because I was so concerned about my appearance but I really wanted to make a good impression on Lee’s family. I did not want to make it seem like I was trying too hard but I still wanted to look nice. I was tearing apart my room in just my boxers looking for clothes to wear when my mom walked in.

“Adrian Demetri, what are you doing?” she asked as she looked about my room incredulously.

“Lee asked me over for dinner today and I have no idea what to wear,” I answered as I picked up a red shirt before dropping it to the floor.

“Number one, will you stop throwing your clothes to the floor? It makes me feel like I fold them all nice and neat for no good reason. Number two, just wear your black jeans and a button up shirt,” she said as she began picking up clothes from the floor.

“A button up?” I asked with a grimace.

“Sweetheart, girls like boys who dress well. And it’ll impress her parents,” she told me.

“Are you sure?” I asked her before hesitantly picking up white button up shirt.

“Absolutely. You’re welcome,” Mom said with a smile as she pushed me out of my room and into the bathroom.

I looked at the clothes in my arms for a moment before pulling them on. I brushed my hair quickly and ran some gel through the back of my hair before exiting the bathroom. I glanced at my watch and felt a sense of panic run throughout my body when I realized it was only a few minutes before five. I quickly pulled on my shoes before running down the stairs. I halted in front of the door when a thought crossed my mind.

“I don’t want to seem too eager. Wouldn’t it be weird if I was there exactly at five?” I asked out loud.

“Wouldn’t it be rude if you were late to officially meet her parents for the first time?” my mom retorted as she walked past me, lightly sipping on a cup of tea.

“Yes, you’re good. That’s why I keep you around,” I nodded before opening the front door.

“Have fun. Don’t embarrass yourself,” my mom called after me before I closed the door.

I patted my thighs nervously as I walked down the street. Though only a few seconds passed, I could not help but check the time every so often. By the time I had walked down the street and around the corner, it was 5:01. I let out a shaky sigh as I stood on Lee’s front porch. I hesitantly reached out, faltering a bit before I rang the doorbell. I could hear some laughter coming from inside before rushing footsteps. I raised my eyebrows in alarm when I soft thud could be heard from the other side of the door. Finally, the front door opened.

I gave a small smile to Lee before assessing her frazzled appearance. She was wearing a black knee length dress and black heels. Her hair was down but it looked very messy. She was in the middle of taking off an earring as she opened the door. She looked panicked but I thought she looked lovely.

“Adrian, I am so sorry. I totally forgot that I had a recital today so I’m dressed super fancy and this is just dinner and dinner isn’t even ready and neither am I and you’re here and I’m sorry,” she rambled off.

“Whoa, Lee, don’t forget to breathe,” I grinned down at her.

She glanced up at me before giving me a small smile. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath before stepping back, opening the door wider. “Please come in, Adrian.”

I smiled at her before shyly taking a step through the door and into her house. I stood there awkwardly as I looked around the entry way, taking in the warm colors of the house. Lee stood there with me as she took off all her jewelry before looking up at me.

“Again, I’m so sorry but I’m overdressed and I was about to change when the bell rang. And dinner isn’t even ready.”

“It’s cool. Do you want me to just chill here or…” I trailed off.

“You could hang in the living room or you could - ” Lee started but was cut off by a voice.

“Is this the famous Adrian Dawson?” a woman’s voice said.

I turned around to see a beautiful blond woman walking towards me. She was wearing black dress pants and a silk pink blouse but the way she walked so gracefully made her seem like she was wearing a ball gown. Her hair was pinned back so her blond curls tumbled down her back. She had a radiant smile and I could tell instantly from her light blue eyes that she was Lee’s mother.

“That’s me,” I smiled down at her.

“Let me look at you,” she grinned at me as she grabbed my hands. She stared at my face for a few moments before grinning wider. “You have a kind face. I can tell that you’re a good boy.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Oh, and he’s a gentleman! He called me ma’am, Nay-Nay, did you hear?”

“Yes, mom,” Lee sighed from my side.

“Nara, sweetie, you go upstairs and get ready. Adrian will keep me company,” her mom told Lee as she hooked her arm around mine.

“Are you sure?” Lee looked at me hesitantly.

“It’s fine. I’m here to meet your family anyway,” I shrugged.

“Okay,” Lee said cautiously. “Mom, don’t do or say anything weird, okay?”

“Sweetie, I would never. Now, go,” her mother shooed her off before turning towards me. “I’m Sarah Evans. You can call me Sarah, if you like. I’m so sorry that dinner isn’t ready yet, dear. It seems that Nara forgot that today was her and her sisters’ recital.”

“Recital?” I asked as she led me towards the kitchen.

“Nara and her sisters play instruments, didn’t she say? Nara plays violin, Nicky plays the flute, and Tessa plays the cello. My little musicians.”

“She never told me that.”

“Oh, well, Nara’s one of those people who won’t tell you anything unless you ask,” Mrs. Evans shrugged. “Do you play any instruments, Adrian?”

“I used to play the piano when I was younger. But then my instructors found out that I couldn’t read music and no matter how much they tried to teach me, I never could read it. It always bothered them that I knew how to play the pieces they gave me, though.”

“You could play the piece but you couldn’t read the music?” she asked me slowly.

“Yeah. I just needed them to play it for me once and I could play it after that.”

“Well, sweetheart, why didn’t you just keep playing?”

“After my parents divorced, my father took our piano. But my best friend has one so sometimes I play when I go over to his house. Mostly only when his little sister asks me to though.”

“Oh, your parents are divorced. I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal. I love my mom and she raised me right,” I nodded.

“That’s sweet,” she smiled. “Oh shoot, I don’t know what I should make for dinner. Cooking is not my forte.”

I glanced up to find Mrs. Evans flipping through a recipe book of some sort with one hand on her hip and anxiously biting on her thumbnail. I looked around the kitchen before stepping forward to lean on the kitchen island.

“I can cook. I can help you, if you like,” I offered.

“You can cook?” she smiled up at me.

“My mom figured I should learn at some point so she made me learn. And I grew to love it,” I explained.

“I would love it if you would help. Can you cook garlic shrimp? I’ve been wanting that for so long but I’ve never been able to get the recipe just right,” Mrs. Evans said as she pushed her recipe book towards me.

I glanced over the recipe quickly before nodding a few times. “This is an okay recipe. I think what your problem is that the taste never seems enough, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay, what you needed to do was add three gloves of garlic instead of 1 and you should try added red pepper flakes. Do you have those?” I asked.

“I think I do,” she nodded as she made her way to a cupboard and began going through jars of spices.

After she set a small jar of red pepper flakes, Mrs. Evans began making her way through the kitchen and taking out all the ingredients to the recipe. I bit my lip nervously as I watched her before I began rolling up my sleeves. Mrs. Evans allowed me to mince the garlic and cut some tomatoes and she began to cook the shrimp in a pan of hot oil. After a few minutes, I was beginning to feel comfortable in the kitchen and was talking casually with her when Lee entered the kitchen, wearing jeans and a loose white top and her hair in a ponytail. I grinned up at her before looking back down as I chopped up the garlic.

“Mom, you’re making him cook dinner?” Lee asked as she stared at her mom disbelievingly.

“Honey, he offered. It’s not like I forced him.”

“I like cooking, Lee. It’s cool,” I assured her.

“This is so embarrassing. I invited you to dinner and now you’re the one cooking it. Okay,” she nodded.

I laughed out loud as I glanced up at her. “You need to calm down.”

“Yes, magic genie,” she smiled up at me as she pushed herself up to sit on top of the island.

I felt my ears burn up as I remembered the first day she asked me to walk her home. I had almost forgotten about that incident but when she called me a genie, I instantly remembered her soft lips at my ear as she asked me to walk her home.

“Adrian, the shrimp is done, what now?” Mrs. Evans asked.

I sighed in relief as she interrupted my train of thought. Lee was smiling mischievously at me, as if she knew what I was thinking about. I looked down at Mrs. Evans with a smile. “Do you mind if I take over?”

“Go ahead,” she smiled as she stepped back.

I took a step back to grab the pan of oil before throwing the garlic and pepper flakes into the pan. Mrs. Evans instantly took a step back as the food sizzled loudly. I concentrated on the pan below me before grabbing the bottle of white wine from the counter and pour some over the garlic. I could hear Mrs. Evans and Lee whispering behind me but I did my best to tune them out so I would not embarrass myself. After I added basil and tomatoes into the sauce and let it cook, I put the shrimp back in the pan and let it cook. After stirring it around for a few minutes, I lowered the heat on the stove and stepped back.

“It’s done,” I looked over my shoulder at them.

Mrs. Evans dipped a spoon and lightly tasted the sauced. She smiled up at me before saying, “Adrian, you have a gift. This is exactly what I’ve been wanting.”

“Happy to help,” I grinned at her as I glanced briefly up at Lee, who was smiling at me.

“This is amazing. You kids go to the dining room. I’ll put this on some plates and get everyone else down for dinner.”

“Do you want any help with that?” I asked, already looking around for some plates.

“No, no, no! You already made dinner, let me do something. Go!” she lightly pushed me and Lee into the next room.

We turned to watch Mrs. Evans walk back into the kitchen as we stood in the dining room. Lee slightly turned to glance up at me before giving me a small smile. She touched my arm gently before gesturing for me to follow her and sit down at the table. I sat to her right at the table, looking up occasionally to give a smile to Mrs. Evans, who kept coming into the dining room to put down plates of food and glasses of water on the table.

“So how you holding up?” Lee asked me as she looked over at me, her chin in the palm of her hand.

“Your mom is nice, I like her. Now I know why you’re so beautiful,” I nodded.

Lee flushed along her cheeks and was about to say something when Mrs. Evans walked in with a large grin and said, “You are just the sweetest! I love you already.”

“Mom!” Lee exclaimed.

“I tell no lies, Nara Lee,” Mrs. Evans sang as she walked away.

“She is so embarrassing,” Lee groaned as she covered her face with her hands.

“Parents are supposed to be. I, for one, plan on being the most embarrassing dad in the world.”

“You’re awful,” Lee smiled as she shook her head.

“Yes, I am,” I grinned with a nod.

At that moment, a girl with light brown hair walked into the room. She blinked in surprise when she noticed me before giving me a small smile before sitting down across from Lee. I glanced at Lee, who was looking away and sipping on her glass of water, before looking back at the girl. She looked very different from Lee, as she had darker hair, freckles, and I was surprised to see that she had one blue eye and one green. She appeared very different from Lee but I could also see similarities in them. She was blatantly staring at me but for some odd reason, I did not feel perturbed by her stare. I gave her a small smile that she returned before speaking.

“You’re the one Nara talks about all the time, aren’t you?” she asked, causing Lee to choke on her water.

“Tess!” Lee hissed at her as she wiped the water from her mouth.

I laughed at Lee as I offered her a napkin. She wiped the water away as she avoided gaze but I could see the pink flush to her face. I smiled down at her before looking back up at the girl. “I might be. I’m Adrian Dawson.”

“Then yes, you’re him. I’m Tessa, Nara’s little sister,” she introduced herself.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she said as she fiddled with the fork in front of her.

The room was quiet for a moment before the sound of rushing footsteps skipping down the stairs came from behind us. Tessa briefly glanced up before looking back down. I turned around to see the sister I had already met, Nicole. She gave me a large smile before sitting down next to Tessa and across from me. She gave me what looked like a shy glance but then she continued to stare. Unlike Tessa’s stare, I felt very uncomfortable under Nicole’s gaze.

“It’s good seeing you again, Adrian,” Nicole smiled at me.

“You too, Nicole.”

“And you remembered my name. How cute,” she grinned.

“Will you stop flirting with every boy you see?” Tessa sighed as she leaned back in her chair. Nicole sharply looked away from me to glare at her sister and was about to retort when a voice called out from the doorway.

“Now, now, I can’t have my darling girls fighting,” Mr. Evans’s voice rang out as he walked in.

I immediately stood up once I saw him, somewhat surprising Nara Lee. Mr. Evans gave me a small smile as I awkwardly stood there before he stepped forward to offer me his hand. I nervously shook his hand as he assessed me.

“Hello, Adrian, how have you been?” he asked as he sat down.

I sat down as soon as he was settled in his seat before answering with, “I’ve been doing just fine, sir.”

“Good, good. How’s your mom?”

“She’s doing well. She’s really busy with Jack and Cecilia’s wedding,” I answered.

“When is that, by the way?”

“This coming Saturday, sir,” I told him.

“Your father must be excited.”

“He is, even if he tries not to show it too much. Cecilia doesn’t even bother to contain her excitement, it’s kind of cute,” I grinned.

“I like Cecilia, she’s really sweet,” Lee commented.

“You met her, love?” Mr. Evans asked.

“Yeah, Adrian’s mom invited me to go shopping with them for decorations. That’s when I sent you that picture of me and Adrian in the…” Lee trailed off before looking away with an embarrassed smile.

“In the wedding dress and tuxedo?” Tessa commented with a teasing grin.

“The what?” Nicole asked quickly.

“Oh, that picture of you in a wedding dress and Adrian in a suit. That was just precious,” Mrs. Evans commented as she walked in with the last two plates of food and placed them in front of me and Lee.

“You just showed everyone that, didn’t you?” I asked Lee with a smile on my face.

“Adrian, are you the type of person who smiles when they’re nervous?” Tessa asked.

“Yes,” I grinned wider. “Yes, I am.”

“Aww, bless him. Look at how wide he’s grinning right now,” Nicole teased.

“Can we eat now?” Lee interrupted the teasing loudly.

“Yes, yes! Everyone, dig in,” Mrs. Evans told us.

We ate in silence for a few minutes. I kept glancing at Lee only to catch her occasionally looking up at me in return. I could sense the others at the table looking at us at times but I did my best to remain calm and ignore their stares. I was sipping on my glass of water when Mr. Evans spoke up.

“This is delicious, sweetheart,” he told Mrs. Evans.

“Don’t give me credit. Adrian made it,” she smiled at me.

All heads turned me instantly. I cleared my throat nervously before giving them a small smile. I looked down at my plate and awkwardly scratched the back of my head. Tessa was smiling to herself as she continued to eat while Nicole and Mr. Evans continued to stare at me.

“Well, Adrian, you have a talent in cooking,” Mr. Evans complimented.

“Thank you, sir.”

“He simply is amazing, Henry. All he did was glance at the recipe in my book for a second and he immediately knew what I needed,” Mrs. Evans told him.

“It was nothing, Mrs. Evans,” I smiled awkwardly.

“Oh, stop, call me Sarah,” she told me with a flick of her hand.

“So, Adrian, what do you plan on doing after high school?” Mr. Evans asked me.

“I was thinking about attending a culinary school,” I nodded.

“You didn’t tell me that,” Lee said, furrowing her eyebrows.

“That’s because I just thought of it right now,” I told her with a grin.

She let out a small snort of laughter before nodding, “You’d be good at that.”

“I figured you’d do something with journalism,” Tessa commented.

“Journalism?” Nicole inquired.

“He’s the editor in chief of the yearbook staff, Nicky,” Tessa commented.

“You are?” Mrs. Evans asked.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s my third year on the staff but last year’s E.I.C told me that the advisor has been looking at me for editor in chief since my first year.”

“You have talents all over the place! Cooking, journalism, piano, and you have such good manners. Is there anything you can’t do?” Mrs. Evans asked teasingly.

“I can’t bake,” I answered with a laugh. “Cakes and cookies and all that stuff confuse me. I can never get them right.”

“Isn’t that funny? That’s all I’m good at,” she grinned.

“You’ll have to teach me sometime, ma’am.”

“It’s Sarah, Adrian. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“At least once more, ma’am,” I answered.

“It’s not use, Mom. He’ll keep calling you that,” Lee spoke up.

“My mom taught me that it was good manners to. I’m just being respectful,” I said.

“Your mom must be quite a woman,” Mrs. Evans commented.

“My mom is the greatest. I love my mom,” I nodded.

Mr. Evans spoke up, “Jocelyn is a great woman. It seems only natural that she’d have a good son.”

At that moment, something brushed up against my leg. I jumped at the sudden contact before looking up to find Nicole giving me a coy smile. I glanced at Lee in the corner of my eye but she did not seem to notice my sudden jump. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were talking to each other from across the table and Tessa was eating quietly. Ever so slowly, I could feel something brush up my leg once again. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and refused to look back up at Nicole. I could feel her stroking my leg with her foot so I casually moved my leg to the side. I could hear her huff from the other side of the table but I was lucky enough to have Mrs. Evans announce that dinner was over and we could leave the table if we wished.

“Adrian, come with me to the living room,” Lee said instantly as she stood up.

“Um,” I hesitated, “Do you need help cleaning the table, Mrs. Evans?”

“Oh, no, dear, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? I can wash the dishes, if you like,” I offered.

“You’re too sweet but go ahead with Nara, sweetheart,” she smiled as she gathered the dishes.

I nodded slowly before smiling down at Lee and following her into the living room. The living room seemed to fit Lee’s family very much. The room gave off a very warm and close feeling and there was even a huge touch of Nara Lee in the room with a large blue painting on the wall. I looked around the living room before noticing a wall that held dozens of photographs in frames. I walked over to the wall and examined all the pictures of various people. They all looked different from each other but the one thing that connected them all was that they all had extremely light colored eyes.

“This is your family?” I asked Lee.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “These three are Taryn, Rory, and Kimi. They’re my cousins from my dad’s side. And these are Billie, Madeline, Damien, Trevor, and Sophia. They’re my cousins from my mom’s side. Billie and Taryn are the oldest. Then it’s Madeline, me, Rory, Nicole, Damien, Tessa, Trevor, Sophia, and Kimi. That’s my uncle Jackson and his wife Charlotte and that’s my aunt Anna with her husband Mark.”

“Okay, so beauty is genetic. Alright. You could have just said you came from a beautiful family,” I shrugged.

“Shut up,” she laughed.

“I’m serious!” I exclaimed. “I feel so unattractive in your presence. Your beauty is blinding me, I need sunglasses.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she shrugged with a small smile. “You sit on the couch for a bit, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” I nodded at her.

I watched her leave the room before I walked towards the couch and sat down in the middle. I rubbed the palms of my hands on my thighs anxiously as I looked around the room. I could hear Mr. and Mrs. Evans talking in the kitchen and there was the faint sound of a cello coming from upstairs. I sat on the couch in silence for a few moments when the cushion next to me caved in and a body bumped into mine. I jumped back in surprise when I realized that Nicole was sitting very closely to me. She gave a small smile as she curled her legs up and nudged herself closer.

“Hi, Adrian,” she murmured.

“Uh, hi,” I stammered.

“You look really nice tonight,” she complimented as she ran a finger down my arm.

“Thanks,” I said uncomfortably before shifting myself to the right so I could move away from her.

She did not seem bothered that I was moving away from her as she simply shifted her body to lean even closer to me. “You know, I’ve had a crush on you ever since we first met that day in the hallway.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. You were just so cute and nice; I couldn’t get my mind off of you.”

“Thanks, I guess. But, I’m sorry; I’m not interested in you like that.”

Nicole blinked in surprise, her head slightly jolting back. She licked her lips and glanced away for a brief moment before staring at me seriously. “But why?”

“Because I like Nara Lee,” I told her.

“You can like two people at once. If you don’t want her know, she doesn’t have to,” she smiled as she leaned into me.

“No, Nicole,” I lightly pushed her off of me. “I like Lee. A lot. I have for a long time and she’s the only one I like.”

“But I’m prettier than Nara is,” she scoffed.

“What do looks have to do with anything?” I asked her seriously, furrowing my eyebrows at her.

“Everything,” she exclaimed. “You’re hot and so am I, we should be together.”

“You can’t possibly be serious in thinking that way. Looks are not everything.”

“Looks get you anything you want if you look good enough.”

“Not if your personality is ugly.”

Nicole’s lips parted in shock. She blinked a few times before whispering, “Are you calling me ugly?”

“No, I’m not. But your way of thinking is clearly warped,” I shook my head.

“No. No. I’m pretty, Nara’s ugly, and you should be mine,” she said before she pulled my down by my collar.

It took me a moment to realize what exactly it was that Nicole was doing. I had a very strange sense of déjà vu as Nicole pressed her mouth to mine, not unlike Cassandra. I blinked in surprise and held my hands up in shock. I could not believe that this was happening to me again. The only person I had ever imagined pressing my lips to was Lee’s and for the second time in my life, somebody I did not even like was the one kissing me. I put my hands on Nicole’s shoulders and was about to push her away.

“What’s going on?” a voice rang out.

I quickly pushed Nicole away from me and turned around to see Lee standing in the doorway. She stood there with her lips parted in shock and her eyes wide. She glanced back and forth between me and Nicole, waiting for an answer. I could see Nicole looking at me in the corner of my eye but I could not tear my gaze away from Lee. Lee bit down on her lip before looking down. She nodded slowly a few times but would not look back up.

“Okay. Okay,” she whispered before turning around and running up the stairs.

“Lee!” I called after her.

I stood up quickly and I was about to run after when a small hand grabbed my wrist. I stopped suddenly and looked down at Nicole, who was staring up at me and holding my wrist tightly in what seemed like desperation. I needed to go after Lee but as I looked down at Nicole, I knew there was something that I had to do first.