Hope for Better Weather

I ran around my house making sure I had everything I needed gathered up and packed as Henley sat on the bed staring at me and not offering to help, her way of showing she was still protesting mine and John’s plan.

“Did I already pack my black boots?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Henley shrugged.

“Henley!” I gave an exasperated cry. “I understand you’re still against this whole idea but it’s really important that I pull this off which is making me a bit nervous and you’re not helping.”

“Fine, I’m sorry.” Henley muttered. “I’m trying to be supportive but I just feel as if nothing good can come from this.”

“Believe me, I know how you feel. You’ve made that perfectly clear. You should know better than anybody though why I’m doing this.”

“I know…I just…I’m just not crazy about this idea. I really am sorry though for my attitude.”

“Thanks,” I sighed as I continued to look around. Going home always made me nervous and I wanted to make sure everything worked out perfectly. Everyone was constantly making fun of me for being a perfectionist and borderline OCD. Most people assumed I’d be messy and disorganized like other artistic people since I was a photographer but I was anything but – to-do lists and organization ruled my life.

“So, tell me what your plan for this weekend is again,” Henley prompted and I knew this was her final way of apologizing to me.

“I’m picking John up at 4:30 which will get us to Flagstaff about 7:00 pm so we’ll just have dinner with my family this evening, Saturday we’re just having lunch with my mom, Henry, Carys, Patrick, and Gabe, and then on Sunday we’re all going over to my aunt’s for Thanksgiving since the only time my entire family can get together is the Sunday before the actual holiday.”

“Got it. So I’m guessing you’re going over to John’s families on Thursday for Thanksgiving?”

“Yep.”

“Wow, you and John really did plan everything out,” Henley said.

“It was mostly me,” I said as Henley laughed and muttered something about how that wasn’t surprising.

I put the last things in my bag and zipped it up as I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was time to go pick up John. I said goodbye to Henley and she wished me luck before she drove off.

I made the short drive to John’s house and waited for him to come out. As he walked out of his house, locked his door, and threw his bag in the backseat I took in his outfit.

“Hey, how are you?” John asked as he slid into the passenger seat.

“Good. You?” I said while pulling out of his driveway to begin making the two and half hour trek to my hometown of Flagstaff.

“I’m good,” John said as he pushed his seat back to allow more room for his legs. “So does my outfit get the Clark stamp of approval?”

“Pardon me?”

“I noticed you looking over my outfit while I was walking out. So is it acceptable?”

I looked over at John’s outfit of dark skinny jeans, combat boots, and a nice flannel shirt rolled up at the elbows once more. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s just…different.”

“Different?” John asked and I nodded in response. “Clark, I wear a version of this nearly every day.”

“I didn’t mean different for you. I meant different than what my parents are probably expecting.”

“You told them about me?” John smirked.

“I kind of had to unless you wanted to get the third degree when we get there this evening. By telling them before we arrived they grilled me instead of you.”

“Fair enough. So what are they expecting? Did you not tell them I was a musician?”

“No,” I softly said with an embarrassed look on my face when I saw John giving me a look.

“Wow, even my fake girlfriend is embarrassed by me,” John chuckled.

“I’m not embarrassed by you,” I argued. “I just figured I should tell my parents about you, well mostly my mom, in small doses.”

“I take it your parents are very proper?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well you don’t talk about them much but when you do I get the feeling they have some money and act a certain way. There are also times when you’re caught off-guard and you do or say something that shows you came from money.”

“No I don’t,” I said indignantly.

“About five minutes ago you said ‘pardon me’ instead of ‘what’ which is what most people say.”

“Fine, yes, I came from a fairly wealthy family that is well-known in my community. My mother, Julie, is the vice president of a marketing company and my stepfather, Henry, is a lawyer.”

“What about the rest of your family? Do you have any siblings? And what does your dad do?”

“My…uh…my dad died in a car accident when I was six months old,” I softly said.

The atmosphere in the car got awkwardly quiet which was a feeling I was used to after telling people my father had died.

“Oh wow, I’m sorry, Clark. I had no idea,” John quickly apologized.

“It’s fine. I mean you didn’t know and it was a long time ago, I didn’t even really know him. Anyway, Henry married my mom when I was three so I’ve grown up with him as a father figure and I’m extremely close to him. As for siblings I have a twin sister, Carys, and a stepbrother, Gabe.”

“Carys?”

“Yeah, like Harris but with a C,” I explained and then changed the subject. “What about your family?”

“Well I have two younger brothers, Ross and Shane, my mom’s name is Jenny and she’s a secretary, and my dad works in sales. His name is John also so I’m named after him, but he goes by Jay. Actually, I’m named after him and he was named after my grandpa who was named after my great-grandpa who was named after my great-great-grandpa.”

“Wow,” was all I could say as I tried to trace John’s name back in my head.

John laughed at my surprise and confusion. “Yep, I’m the fifth – John Cornelius O’Callaghan the fifth. What about you…what’s your full name?”

“Oh no,” I shook my head. “My full name is embarrassing.”

“Come on, I told you mine which is pretty embarrassing. Plus don’t you think I, as your boyfriend, would know your full name?”

I groaned. “Fine…my middle name is Kent.”

I stared straight ahead at the road as I waited for John to catch on.

“Wait…you mean? No way,” John chuckled.

“I’m afraid so. My name is Clark Kent Henderson. My dad was a huge Superman fan and he’s the one who got to name me. My mom named my sister whose full name is Carys Noelle Henderson. My mom loves Christmas so that’s where Carys’ middle name came from. I think she definitely got the better end of the deal.”

“Being named after a superhero is pretty cool though.”

“Not really, especially since Superman was a guy. You have no idea what kind of teasing I went through when I was younger.”

“Well if it helps, I think it’s really cute and cool.”

“Thanks,” I smiled at John, relieved he wasn’t making fun of me.

“So you said you were pretty close to your stepdad?”

“Yeah, I’m actually closer to my stepdad and stepbrother than I am my mom and sister. My mom and sister kind of consider me the black sheep because I’m more artsy while they’re more business minded.”

“Oh, I see,” John nodded. “You think by bringing me home to meet everyone you’re just solidifying your position as the family black sheep.”

“I never said that,” I argued.

“Yes but you said I was probably different than what they were expecting.”

“You’re just different than Patrick is all.”

“Who’s Patrick?”

“He’s…uh…my…he’s,” I paused as I tried to stop stuttering and gather my thoughts. “He’s married to my sister….her husband…my brother-in-law.”

“And I’m guessing he’s not a musician?”

I laughed at the thought of Patrick being a musician. “No. He was the president of his fraternity at Northern Arizona and he works downtown Flagstaff as a financial planner at a bank or something.”

“Well this will be interesting,” John said but he almost sounded excited about it.

“You have no idea,” I muttered.

The rest of the car ride consisted of casual conversation as John and I tried to learn enough facts about each other to be able to convince my family we were dating. We finally pulled into the driveway of my childhood home and I inwardly groaned as I realized that there was no way of getting out of this now. I loved my family but had learned through the years that it was easier to put up with them from two and a half hours away.

“Ready?” I asked John as I turned the key in the ignition to turn the car off.

“Let’s do this,” John smiled.

We grabbed our bags from the backseat and made our way into the house. As soon as we stepped inside we were greeted with the smell of my home – freshly cleaned laundry, cooked food, and candles.

“Oh, Clark. I’ve missed you darling,” My mom said as she wrapped me in a hug. “What did you do to your hair though, dear?”

“I added some layers, mom.”

“Oh. Well, the good news is that they’ll grow out. That’s an interesting outfit you have on. You know, I was watching What Not to Wear the other day and they said to be wary of wearing peplum tops because they make your hips look bigger.”

“Gee thanks mom. It’s great to see you too,” I sarcastically said. “I would like to introduce you to John though.”

As I said his name John stepped forward and held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Lewis.”

I sighed in relief that John had remembered to call her Mrs. Lewis, my stepfather’s last name, and not my father’s last name – Henderson.

“It’s wonderful to meet you too, John, and please, call me Julie. Clark has told me a little about you but not nearly enough.”

“Well you know how Clark is. She gets so wrapped up in her own thoughts and what she’s doing that she forgets to tell people about things that should be told,” John said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders as if it was second nature.

“You’re right about that one,” Gabe, my stepbrother, said as he entered the room with Henry, my stepfather. “Clark just kind of lives in her own little world.”

“That’s just one of the many reasons why we love her though,” Henry said. “I’m Henry by the way. Nice to meet you, John.”

“Nice to meet you too, sir,” John said.

“Clark! You’re here,” Carys squealed as she entered the room with Patrick trailing behind her. “I’ve missed you so much baby sis.”

I rolled my eyes at the show Carys was putting on for John. “You’re older by six minutes, Carys, and I’ve missed you too.”

“It still counts. And you must be John,” Carys turned and winked at John.

“I am. You must be Carys and you must be Patrick.”

“Clark, you’ve got yourself a good one here,” Carys smiled at me.

“Thanks,” I forced a smile. “Well now that we have the awkward introductions out of the way I think John and I are going to go relax. It was a bit of a long drive.”

“Actually, Clark, all your guys’ friends from high school are getting together for dinner. Carys, Patrick, and Gabe are going so I figured you and John would join them,” my mother chimed in.

“I’ve already told everyone about John and they’re dying to meet him,” Carys smiled.

“Oh well I’m not sure we’ll be able to make it. John is probably exhausted,” I said, trying to find any excuse not to go.

“Don’t be silly honey. I’d love to go and meet your friends. Plus I’m sure you haven’t seen them in a while,” John said.

I glared at him but knew there was no way I was getting out of this one. “Well, it looks like we’re going then.”

“Great. Let me grab my jacket and then we’ll head out. Everyone’s meeting about 7:30,” Carys said.
Carys, Patrick, and Gabe began walking out to the car as John and I followed behind.

“What are you doing?” I hissed. “Introducing you to my family was one thing but introducing you to my friends from high school is a completely different ball game.”

“I don’t want to be the jerky boyfriend who doesn’t try to get involved in your life,” he whispered back.

“You’re my fake boyfriend, remember?”

“I still want to be a good one though.”

“Fine, whatever,” I conceded as John and I crawled in the backseat where Gabe was already sitting.

As Patrick began driving John grabbed my hand and made some comment about how he was excited to meet my friends. Carys practically swooned while I once again glared.

It was going to be an interesting night.