Shine On

She wished he didn’t want to go. She could have swung by the house quickly, then told everyone her friend was waiting for her. But no, Rupert had to be a gentleman. This was the only time she didn’t enjoy that part of him. While she drove to her mother’s house, she tried to think of possible stories that would excuse them from lunch. Maybe she could tell her mother they got hit by a car and they had to spend hours in the hospital. Or perhaps some aliens took them away to Mars. Mars sounded so nice right about now.

As they walked up the pathway to the door, Harper took a hold of Rupert’s hand. He hesitated holding it in return. “Is this going be alright?”

“It doesn’t matter if they think it’s alright or not.” When she said this, he laced his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. She smiled up at him as he rang the doorbell. Possibly, this visit wasn’t going to be so bad.

Not long after the doorbell rang, Harper’s mother opened the door with a grin on her face. Her mother looked nothing like her; she had almost black hair that was cut to her chin, her eyes were brown and she was tall. The only thing Harper and her mother shared in appearance were their small, pointy noses and their lips, not too big, not too small. The grin faded from her face a little when she looked from Harper to Rupert. Then realizing she forgot her act, the grin appeared again. “Hello!” She chimed. “Who’s your...erm...friend here, Harper?”

Harper took a deep breath. She was already annoyed and they weren’t even through the door. “Hey, Mom. My friend here is Rupert. Rupe, this is my mom, Nina.”

She could feel Rupert’s hand loosen from hers slightly. He waved with his free hand, then shoved it into his pocket. “Hello!” Harper knew he was uncomfortable, even more so than usual. Even she was uncomfortable in the presence of her mom. Her grip on Rupert’s hand tightened hopefully letting him know that she was there. He looked at her with a smile.

They walked in together when her mom stepped aside. When they stepped into the living room, her grandparents were sitting on the couch watching infomercials. Rupert’s hand let go of Harper’s. She went to grab it again, but he had already had both hands in his pockets.

Harper coughed loudly to get their attention. Her grandfather looked all around until he saw her, his face lit up. “Oh, Carol. Look who just walked in!” Her grandmother turned around as well. They rushed over to Harper and pulled her into a group hug.

“It’s great to see you, dear! Look how big you’ve gotten. Have you grown? I think you’ve grown.” Her grandmother fussed over her.

“She’s definitely grown and I don’t mean in size. She’s got a young man with her, Carol.” Her grandfather pointed out. Harper’s face immediately turned red as did Rupert’s.

Her grandmother spun around to take a look. “Would you look at that!”

They both gaped at him as if he was a painting on display at a museum. Harper laughed to herself as she watched him as well; he didn’t know what to do with himself. He decided to smile at them while looking from them to Harper.

She decided to put him out of his awkward misery. “Guys! Stop! This is my friend, Rupert. Rupe, this is Carol and Bill, my embarrassing grandparents.” Rupert grinned at them and waved.

“Lunch is served!” They heard Harper’s mother sing from the kitchen.

When her grandparents left the room, Harper stood on her tippy toes and kissed Rupert’s cheek. He genuinely grinned for the first time since they arrived. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, and kissed the side of her head.

“I feel like the awkward turtle in the land of hopping bunnies.” She groaned as they made their way into the kitchen. Rupert tried to contain his laughter, but it wasn’t working out too well. Harper laughed too. “Well it’s true. We’re awkward turtles, dude.”

“Well, there you are.” Harper’s mother said in a haughty tone when they came into the kitchen. “What’s so funny?”

“Turtles.” Harper replied. Her and Rupert were snickering as they took their seats next to each other at the kitchen table. Her mother’s lips were pressed together in a straight line. Laid out on the table was a bowl of salad and various kinds of sandwiches. Harper felt like she was at a formal luncheon or some sort, although she wasn’t surprised. They all ate in silence, as if things couldn’t get anymore uncomfortable. Harper started having thumb wars with Rupert under the table to make things more interesting on their side of the table. Every time they bummed their hands on the table or started to giggle, her mother would throw her a stern look. Rupert would stop politely, but Harper would give her mother a stern look in return.

“So where did you two meet?” Her mother asked when they were finished eating.

“At a strip club in London.” Harper replied grimly. Her mother and grandparents were taken aback by her comment.

Rupert’s eyes widened. “Uh no, she’s joking! We kind of ran into each other while she was in London.” He told them as he kept his eyes on her.

“And then we went to a strip club.” She added, still as serious as can be.

Rupert laughed trying to play it off. “She really is joking.”

“Oh so you’re not from here?” Her mother seemed to perk up when she realized he wasn’t from here.

“Uh...no. I’m from England.” He answered politely.

Her mother flashed him a sweet, yet conniving smile. “What are you guys going to do when you have to go back?”

Harper’s heart dropped into her stomach. She should have seen this coming. It always happened. For some reason, her mother still resented Harper for going through a tough time when her father left. Psychiatrists and therapists cost a lot of money and having a child with severe depression spoiled her perfect picture of them. How dare Harper do that to her. She never got over it apparently.

She felt Rupert’s hand grab hers under the table. She wanted to rewind to earlier that day when she felt truly happy and secure. She wanted to go back to being alone with Rupert. She could feel all of her walls building up again, afraid that she was going to get hurt again.

“We’ll figure it out.” Rupert told her mom optimistically. He glanced at her with a smile, that same look he gave her before as if to tell her everything’s okay. She gave him a weak smile back. How were they going to figure it out? He lived in another country, while she had to say here. “Uh...where’s your bathroom?” He whispered in her ear.

“Oh! It’s up the stairs, the first door you see.”

He gave Harper’s hand a squeeze and pardoned himself before leaving the room. Her grandparents had retired to the living room again while her and her mother sat at the table in silence. They didn’t make eye contact. Harper was waiting for her mom to get up and start clearing the table, but she stayed at the table.

“Why do you have to ruin everything for me?” Harper suddenly blurted out. She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Her mother shrugged. “I was just bringing you back to reality.” Her tone was smug.

“I am in reality, mother!” She yelled.

“Oh please.” Her mother laughed. “You’re running around with that boy like you have no care in the world. It’s a bit selfish if you ask me.”

Harper gasped. “Selfish?! I’m selfish for wanting to be happy for once? If anyone should be happy for me, it’s you. But that’s too much to ask of you, isn’t it?”

“Yes you’re selfish! All you care about is how happy you are. Have you thought about how he’s going to feel when he has to leave you here? Have you thought about how you’re going to feel when he leaves you here? You’ll probably get all depressed and end up in the hospital again just like you did when your father left! I don’t want to deal with THAT again!” Her tone remained smug and calm.

Harper was fuming. It took all she had not to run out of the room crying. But she was stronger than that. She couldn’t believe her mother brought up that time in her life. However it confirmed that her mother still felt bitter towards her for that. Of course she would bring it up just to bring Harper down. She had no idea what to say back. She was afraid that if she tried to say something, she would break down.