Still Into You

When I finally met James’s parents it was definitely a night I could never forget.

James and I had been dating for nearly five months. James had met my parents about a month beforehand because they were tired of me denying I had one. My parents had a sixth sense for these kind of things and they had clicked with James. I mean, they had been willing to bail him out of jail once already and they still hadn't done that for my cousin.

If that’s not love, I dunno what is.

Anyways, so James finally agreed that we should introduce myself to them. James had been hesitant on the matter for the fact that his parents were much like his bipolar - sometimes they’re the nicest people on the planet and other times they remind people of serial killers. They were only in their marriage so long as James and his sisters were in school and the two were really at their wit’s end.

But we still felt that it was important for them to meet me if James and I were to continue dating.

So one Friday morning he came up to me at school and informed me that they agreed to have dinner at their home that night. On the outside I said ‘okay’, smiled, and shared a kiss with him. On the inside I was ready to have a panic attack and faint. It was tonight! I figured I might get a day to prepare or something, but that wasn't the case.

James saw through my facade and frowned, intertwining our fingers together. “We don’t have to do this today Sonya. We can wait.”

“No, no,” I argued. It was time to put on my big girl panties and do this. “They've been putting it off for weeks. If we don’t do it now, we might never get another chance.”

He studied me for a few moments before slowly nodding. “Okay. If you say so.”

After school he walked me home before heading home himself. He vowed to come pick me up at five thirty sharp, giving me two hours before I had to be ready. Of course for this two hours I went through my closet, dismissing half of my wardrobe. I had to give them a good impression and I doubted wearing torn up jeans and a band shirt would be the right approach.

My mom had ended up getting tired of listening to me curse everyone on the face of the earth and decided to help me pick out an outfit. We - well, okay, she - chose a simple black tank, purple high waist skirt, purple knee length socks, and my black Converse High Tops. Not too formal, but still with a touch of me. She curled my hair for me and told me the only makeup I was allowed to wear was thin eyeliner.

This whole process had taken an hour and a half, so I was left to twiddle my thumbs and second guess myself for a full half hour. My parents had forced me to sit with them as they idly chatted and watch baseball. I knew Zack was probably watching the same game with his parents, cheering on Anaheim. This calmed me a bit and, watching the baseball game mindless, I was a bit surprised when the doorbell rang at exactly 5:30.

I hurried to make sure I got to the door first and opened it to see James in his dressy outfit again - black jeans, white button up shirt, and black vest. He grinned, taking me into a hug with a light peck on the lips. “You look magnificent. And our shoes match so we are absolutely adorable.”

I smiled, blushing lightly. My parents came out to say hello and make sure he kept me safe. James politely asked if I would be able to spend the night at Matt’s home afterwards, which they agreed to. It had taken a few years, but they adored my friends and agreed to anything that involved them. This was very trusting so I felt bad that nearly every time we hung out I was exposed to things that were highly illegal.

Don’t worry, in my later years they learned everything.

We walked hand in hand for about three-fourths of a mile to James’s house. He had kept me talking the whole time, probably to distract me from what we were doing. It had worked because I didn't feel like I was going to pass out until we were walking up the walkway to his front door. I had been by before plenty of times with one of the guys to get him, but this would be the first time the door would open to have his parents greet me instead of him.

“Hello, you must be Sonya. I’m Barbara, Jimmy’s mother,” the woman spoke, a smile on her face. She seemed like a decent enough woman. She had dark hair and warm eyes, though they seemed very tired. It didn't really surprise me with how much James said his parents argued. It made me wonder how his siblings coped. I met them once but they didn't really stay around us long. They all had their own lives and didn't care to mess with each other’s, which all the siblings were okay with.

“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Sul - ” James gave me a short shake of the head, letting me know this would either upset her or cause her to snap. “Barbara.”

“Please, come in. Dinner is almost ready.”

“Would you like some help?”

“Aw, you’re a sweetheart, dear. But no, it’s fine. I’m nearly done.” I nodded before James laced his fingers with mine again and led me into the house. He ended up bringing me to the living room which held two couches, an overloaded coffee table, and a large television. There were a few pictures of the family on the wall, most of them old. On one of the couches sat the man who, I assumed, was James’s father. He was watching the same game I had been watching earlier.

It was nearing the end of the game and they were still neck in neck. He ignored our entrance, his leg bouncing and his eyes concentrated on the television. I could hear the angry mutterings he was speaking under his breath but unsure of what he was saying. As James and I sank onto the other couch perpendicular to his I couldn't help but ask, “Anaheim or Baltimore?”

He barely glanced at me before turning to the screen again. “Anaheim, of course. Baltimore has nothing on them.”

“I agree. Baltimore hasn't really brought anything to the field this season.”

He nodded in approval. I glanced at James to see him with a faint smile on his lips. Obviously it was a good choice of mine to talk at least a small amount of sports with his father. I didn't know that much, only what Matt and Zack went on about, but sports were interesting. I was a weird child, I liked to watch sports and observe how players react and also how the fans do, too. For the most part I have a small stack of useless sports trivia in the back of my mind.

Just as the game ended, Anaheim winning, Barbara came back into the living room to let us know dinner was ready. On the short walk to the dining room, James’s father introduced himself as Joe. We spoke a little of the baseball season - mostly about how wonderful the Angels have been - as we settled at the table. I’ll skip over the boring details and get to the part on how this was such a memorable dinner.

So after we had eaten the delicious food, James and his father cleared off the table and went to do dishes, as was customary in the Sullivan household. This left Barbara and I to talk. She asked me about my family life, if I had siblings, the works. I thought it was strange to be so interested, seeing as how they had steered clear of families during the meal, but answered her questions anyways. When the men had come back in, James moved his chair from the side perpendicular to me to sit right beside me, his hand slipping into mine. As was the norm when we were around each other.

Can you blame us? Hand holding is very important.

Well, anyways, here is where that memorable part comes in. Barbara, seeming to make it seem like a small statement, says, “Sonya’s parents are still together.”

“Is that so?” Joe asks, looking across the table to his wife. I felt James’s grip tighten on me and I looked over to him curiously. He, however, was busy staring his parents down. I had a feeling sparks were going to fly.

And boy was I right.

“Yes. And they seem happy.”

“Then why don’t you see if they’ll give you pointers?” Joe asked mockingly. “Maybe then her mother could teach you how to be a proper human being instead of a bitch.”

“So how about them Ramones?” James spoke, attempting to cut between the pair. He might as well have not spoken.

“And you think you’re any better Joe? Maybe if you would stop being such a condescending asshole - ”

“Please Barbara, you and your goddamn mother are exactly the same.”

“Don’t you talk that way about my mother!”

James sighed as their voices escalated. By now they were rising from their seats and yelling. My eyes were wide and I could hear my blood rushing in my ears. I had barely felt James tugging my hand and pulling me to my feet. I silently followed him to the hallway where he grabbed a black backpack that was sitting on the floor. Once that was slung over his shoulder he let me outside where it was considerably darker. It was seven-thirty by now and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.

“I’m sorry about them,” James suddenly spoke. I looked over to see him holding a blank face but I could tell by his posture that he was embarrassed by his parents’ antics. “I was hoping they would behave, but it seems that’s not in their understanding.”

“It’s fine. I guess they didn't like me, huh?”

He turned to me with a small grin. “Oh, no. They definitely liked you.”

“But...”

“Sonya, if they didn't like you, they would have done that in the middle of dinner. Since they lasted until afterwards, that’s their way of giving you approval.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

He smiled, stopping me to kiss my forehead. “I told you they’d love you.”

“Now if they could only improve on making it obvious.” He laughed as we began to head back down the road.

James’s parents had definitely ended up liking me. In later years, once they got divorced and were no longer forced to be around each other, they had each demanded James and I come to have dinner with their new significant other to make up for the times they had embarrassed themselves. Joe and Barbara were definitely people I trusted with my life. They were amazing people in their own ways.

After a few minutes of walking I realized that we were, indeed, on our way to Matt’s house. I recognized the elementary school which was located only two blocks away from his house. Soon enough, James and I were on the Sanders doorstep. He rang the doorbell and we silently waited. The door opened to show Matt, smiling. “Hey guys. The ‘rents and Amy are gone for the night. How’d dinner go?”

“Dinner, good. Desert was bad,” James spoke as we walked inside, finally letting each other’s hand fall to our sides. Matt nodded sympathetically as he shut the door behind us.

“Well the living room’s set up for us. Brian got grounded and Zack bailed for Gena. So it seems it will just be you guys, Val, and I for the night.”

“Fucking Zack. This is the, what, third time?” James scoffed.

“Oh, leave the two alone. It’s not her fault she’s shy,” I defended. Gena really was a sweetheart. The guys thought she didn't like them since she rarely talked, but she was just intimidated by them. All of us knew how much the guys’ approval was essential for our relationships to work and she was just scared they wouldn't like her. It was a long, confusing, and never ending circle kind of process.

“Well I think we should change. We’re much too overdressed,” James spoke, looking down at our clothes. I wrinkled my nose and nodded in agreement. Being around the guys you tend to feel overdressed in a skirt. I’m not exactly a hardcore tomboy, but I’m also not a girly girl. I preferred jeans, skirts only on special occasions or those random times I feel like being particularly girly.

We left to Matt’s room to deal with our outfits. I dug in one of his drawers to find a pair of Val’s pajama shorts. She practically lived over here half the time so there were plenty of clothes she would lend me in here. Just as I was about to dig for a shirt, a piece of cloth landed on my head and covered my eyes. “What the hell?”

I pulled it off and looked at it to see James’s ratty Motley Crue wife beater. And, notably, my favorite shirt of his. I looked up to see his back to me as he pulled off his vest. “I figured you might like to wear it.”

“And you’re right,” I giggled. I pulled off my outfit and pulled on the shorts and tank. The tank was, of course, pretty long. It went halfway down my thighs, the shorts barely peeking out underneath. I turned around to see James in just pajama pants, his back still to me. I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my cheek on his back. “I love you James.”

James tensed up. He slowly turned around in my grasp. His eyes looked like they were beginning to water, taking me by surprise. Was this a bad time? Just as I opened my mouth to apologize he captured my lips in a kiss. I blinked before quickly returning the kiss. We didn't separate until he had won dominance with our tongues and we were both out of breath. “I love you too, Sonya.”

With that, our hands laced together as they always did and we headed to the living room, our faces with permanent smiles. We walked in to see Matt and Val cuddled on the couch. As we usually had, covers and tons of pillows were placed between the entertainment center and couch. Matt looked over at us with raised eyebrows. “Please tell me you guys didn't just - ”

“No,” James cut off, confusing me. What on Earth was he talking about? (Excuse me for being completely oblivious, okay? James told me later that Matt had thought we had some form of sex, causing me to laugh nervously. I had never been exposed to those kind of things and felt awkward Matt thought I could.)

“So what are we going to do guys?” Val interrupted. Both guys looked away from each other’s intense stare to look at their significant other.

“I dunno. Movie?” James offered. I nodded my head in agreement.

“Can we watch a Disney movie?” Val begged. Matt groaned while James simply looked down at me again.

“Do you want to, babe?” I nodded, shyly this time. He smiled, kissing my forehead. “Alright, Disney it is.”

“Thanks for sticking with me Jimmy,” Matt grumbled, crossing his arms. Val leaned up to his ear and whispered something, causing Matt to grin and nod. I was confused and James just told me to forget it with a grimace on his face.

“How about The Lion King?” I offered with a smile. Val squealed and agreed. I got comfy in James and I’s floor cocoon as he put in the VHS. Soon he was letting me cuddle into his side as the opening scene filled the screen. Soon enough, at every song, all of us were singing loudly. This is how the night went. Matt didn't seem to argue with our Disney movie agenda anymore. By midnight Val was dozing off so Matt took her to bed and left us alone.

I tried to stifle my own yawn but it bellowed out before I could stop. James smiled, wrapping his arms around me tighter. “You tired babe?”

“I wanna finish this movie first,” I whined childishly. We were almost to “A Whole New World” on Aladdin. I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish the movie, but I also knew James never went to bed this early. I didn't want to disappoint him by having me crash so soon.

“Sonya, it’s fine. Just go to sleep.”

“No,” I spoke defiantly.

James smiled and kissed my temple. He fell silent as the music began to play. Softly he sang, with Aladdin, “I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, when did you last let your heart decide?”

I smiled softly, my eyes slowly sliding shut against my will. But, seeing as how much I loved this song, I had to join in. “I can open your eye, take you wonder by wonder. Over, sideways and under, on a magic carpet ride.”

“A whole new woooorld. A new fantastic point of view.”

“No one to tell us no.”

“Or where to go.”

“Or say we’re only dreaming,” we finished together. James begun to sing Jasmine’s part in a terrible pitch that was supposed to be a girl’s as I was drifting off into sleep.

I loved James Owen Sullivan, I truly did.