Going Down In History

We got up in silence and prepared ourselves for what we were about to encounter. No doubt my mom would practically castrate Chris without laying a finger on him. Just by her death glares and vicious ways of talking.

A short time later we were speeding to the local Red Lobster. We were already going to be late and the fact that Chris was dreading this was making him drive even slower. As we neared the restaurant he sank lower and lower in his seat.

He was practically on the floor of his car when we pulled into the restaurant. I grabbed his hand reassuringly and he lifted himself into his normal position. I heard him gulp down whatever was forming in this throat before he opened the door to let himself out.

I held onto his hand as we walked into the restaurant, making sure he wouldn't run away, though he did try a few times. I gripped his hand tighter and looked around for my mom. I could see the back of her head and just at that moment, she turned and looked straight at me. Now I wanted to run.

Instead of running, I slowly walked over to her with Chris in tow, who was doing nothing more than staring at his feet. My mom stood up and I let go of Chris's hand to hug her. I could tell that she was looking at Chris from over my shoulder when she gave me the hug, I don't know what the look said, but I knew she gave him a look for I heard Chris's breathing hitch.

She let go of me and gestured to the seat across from her. I grabbed Chris's hand and pulled him in next to me, he still hasn't said anything. He was playing with his menu and hiding his face, I knew he was ashamed to even be here, let alone facing my mother.

"How have you been?" Here it starts. This is how my mom would start a conversation that was filled with disapproval.

"I've been just fine." I said my words slowly, giving her a 'don't you dare' kind of look. "How have you been?" She just shrugged as if she didn't care about my question.

"How about you Mr. Spencer." Her voice was filled with acid at his name. I felt him stiffen beside me and he just continued to stare at his menu.

"Mom! Stop it!" I snapped at her. I wasn't going to deal with this.

"What? His name is Mr. Spencer isn't it? At least it was a year ago when he was your teacher." I could see the sides of her lips twitch, wanting to go into a smile at what she had done, but she refused to let them. I glared at her.

"Mom. Cut it out or I'll leave right now and refuse to ever see you again. I won't even talk to you, ever." I kept my voice steady and completely serious. If she didn't stop, I would walk out and never come back. She looked thoughtful for a second and picked up her water to drink.

"Fine. I'll be civil." She said and put her water down. "When are you guys leaving?" Chris's head snapped up and looked at me in awe.

"You told her?" He was shocked and just gaped at me. I shook my head.

"No, she knew." I shrugged and he turned to look at my mom for the first time. I could see them both size each other up before he spoke.

"We leave in the summer." He stated. He kept his voice level, though I knew he was dreading even speaking to her for what she might say in return. She only nodded slowly and took another sip of her water.

"Where are you going?" I knew this was coming. We didn't know where we were going yet. I had an idea that Chris knew where we would vanish to, but that was a long way off yet.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you that. I'd rather not have people follow me." He was sure to accent me. I looked at him confused and he sighed. "Charlie, maybe it's best to go back to your house." He spoke softly. I stared at him in disbelief and slowly shook my head.

"No. I won't. I refuse." My voice was shaking now. Was he really serious? He was now looking at the table and I could see he was holding back tears. My mom just stared at us with a sly smirk plastered on her face.

"Charlie. You don't understand, you'll never be able to get anywhere if you're with me. You could be the greatest person in the world and you would never know because all people would think is you are the girl that ran away with her teacher. I don't want that for you." I knew that he was trying to reassure himself that this was what was for the best, but he didn't do a very good job. I saw a single tear roll down his cheek.

"I'm not leaving you. You're stuck with me and that's final." I think he figured it was best that he drop the subject until later. I didn't want to give my mom the satisfaction of doubting our relationship. But the doubt was already placed in her mind, she was going to eat at this for days to come.

My eyes slowly left Chris and turned to the waitress that was going to take our orders. I just ordered soup, I would probably not even be able to finish that. I was feeling sick to my stomach at what Chris had said. My eyes always came back to him when my mom and I were talking for the rest of the time. He didn't say anything more or even look me in the eyes. His words kept replaying in my head. My heart was slowly breaking.