Washed out Rock Song

“Why did Dad have to invite him over here?” Kira moaned. She leaned up against my bedroom wall. “I thought Friday family dinner was for family only.”

I shrugged, sitting up on my bed. “Dad being dad.”

“I haven’t seen him since, you know,” Kira said. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to sit at a dinner table with him all night.”

“Well it’s not all night,” I reminded her. “At least you get to leave early for your game. I’m the one that has to be with him all night.” Maybe I should have taken Kira more seriously when she was trying to convince me to try out for the cheerleading team. Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have been a cheerleader if you paid me. “Just remember to pull him aside and beg him not to tell me that you hooked up. If he thinks you have a reason to keep it from me, he won’t suspect anything weird.”

“How am I supposed to ‘pull him aside’ without that being suspicious?” She asked.

“Uh, I don’t know,” I said. This night was beyond stressful. “I’ll ask Dad to help me and Mom in the kitchen.”

“This is so not going to work,” she said.

“Kira,” I said, standing up in front of her. I put my hands on her shoulders. “Don’t fuck this up.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll try.”

The doorbell rang and her eyes widened.

“Come on,” I pulled her arm behind me, dragging her to the staircase. We could hear John and my dad greeting each other at the door. “I’ll go down first, follow in like thirty seconds.”

I started down the stairs.

“Hey,” John smiled at me. He was way too happy to be here right now.

“Where’s your sister?” My dad asked.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” John said.

Right on cue, I heard Kira’s footsteps behind me coming down the stairs.

“Hi,” Kira smiled, “I’m Kira.” She held her hand out to him. Exactly how we planned.

“John,” he said, shaking her hand. He looked at me and back at Kira. I could tell he was freaking out now.

“Dad,” I said, “We should help Mom in the kitchen.” I turned to John. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

“Do you need any help?” he asked. He was clearly desperate to not be left alone with Kira.

“No, it’s fine. Kira will show you to the dining table.”

I pulled my dad away to the kitchen. I wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation so I quickly asked my mom what she needed help with. I told my dad to help her stir the sauce and grabbed a bowl that needed to be put on the table. I left the kitchen and stood at the wall outside of the dining room listening in to my sister and John.

“Look, I know this is weird,” Kira said, “But you can’t tell Leah. She cannot know about our hookup. She would kill me and it would crush her.”

“Why would it crush her?” He asked.

“She likes you, you idiot,” she said, which is something we definitely did not rehearse. Kira obviously wanted to get this show on the road though.

“Look, I like Leah too,” John said, “But you’re her sister, I…”

“Exactly,” Kira said cutting him off. “She likes you, you like her. If you tell her this, it will just cause problems for everyone. Let’s just keep our mouths shut and pretend it never happened, okay?"

John was hesitant at first and I wondered why. Maybe he just felt uncomfortable. “Okay,” he sighed.

I thought it was time for me to break the tension now and I walked into the dining room and place the salad bowl on the table.

I took a seat next to John. “Kira, why don’t you go help bring the rest of the dinner in?”

She seemed relieved and basically ran out of the room.

“I didn’t know that Kira Shannon was your sister,” John said.

“She is,” I said. “Well, step-sister. Why, do you know her?” Time to test if Kira’s plea worked.

He shook his head, “just know of her."

Part of me was disappointed that he wasn’t honest with me, but I’m not sure why. I already knew how manipulative he was.

My parents and my sister came in with the rest of the food now. My mom and John introduced themselves to each other and everyone sat at the table and starting putting food onto their plates. I could tell that both, Kira and John, were uncomfortable, but I was thankful that my parents couldn’t tell.

Kira ate fast and it wasn’t long before her plate was cleared. She stood up. “Great dinner, Mom. Have to go, bye.” She pushed in her chair and started towards the hallway.

“Not so fast, Kira,” my dad said. “We have a guest. At least say goodbye to your sisters boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, Dad.” I said, annoyed. I felt my cheeks start to turn red though. Kira told John I liked him twenty minutes ago and now my dad was calling him my boyfriend. If I didn’t seem pathetic before I definitely did now.

I looked at John’s face and he was smirking a bit.

Kira sighed and turned around to face John. “Um, bye John, it was nice to meet you.” And just like that Kira was gone.

The rest of dinner went by way too slow for my liking. My mom and dad both drilled him with questions and he had a good answer for every one. I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he was good with parents. I can’t say I’m surprised though, I’m sure he’s had plenty of practice.

“Dinner was great, Mrs. Dunn,” John said as my mom started picking up dinner plates. “Do you need help with the dishes?”

“Thanks for offering, but I think we’ve got this handled. You two can go on, watch a movie, listen to music, whatever it is teenagers do these days.”

I think my parents were just surprised that I had a guest over at all, even though I wasn’t the one that invited him, they didn’t care what we did.

I pushed out my chair and got up, John followed. I led us into my room and flopped down onto the bed, just ready for this night to be over.

“Wow, I didn’t think your room would be so clean,” John said sarcastically, sitting at my desk.

My room was a mess and I really didn’t care. I just shrugged.

“So you and your sister,” John said, “Are you guys close?”

I nodded and looked up at him, “Very.” He looked nervous again. “We tell each other everything.” As much as I loved torturing John, I couldn’t ruin everything that I’ve already done. “Well, not everything. She’s pretty private about her love life,” I lied.

“Oh,” John smirked.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, your sister might have told me something about your love life when you were helping your parents in the kitchen.”

“Mhm, and what’s that?” I questioned, although I already knew what it was.

“She said that you like me,” he smirked.

“I like you?” I laughed and sat up. “You wish.”

He stood up and sat next to me on the bed. “Be honest,” he said, “Do you like me.”

He was looking into my eyes like he did yesterday on the bleachers. Those bright green eyes. I felt his hand rest on top of mine. I swallowed and I suddenly felt nervous. My heart was beating faster and I stood up, but I didn’t answer his question. I know Kira wanted me to put a move on things, but none of this would work if I went too fast. Right now I’m still just a girl he’s trying to conquer. I need it to be more than that.

“Leah,” he said. I turned around and faced him. “Why are you so scared of me?”

It was a good question, really. “I’m not scared,” I said, even though I was, kind of. I was scared that this wouldn’t end up the way I wanted it to.

“Then why can’t you answer the question?” He asked, “And why do you run away from me every time I touch you?”

I looked at the ground. I didn’t know how to answer his questions, because I didn’t know why I did those things either. I looked back up at him. He was upset.

“Look,” he stood up. “I’m going to go. If you don’t want me here, there’s really no point in me staying. You don’t like me, I get it.”

I didn’t object as he walked out of my room. I listened as he made his way down the stairs and out the front door.

I hated myself for hating him, or maybe I hated myself for not hating him. I didn’t know exactly what I was feeling right now, but I know that I had to do some major damage control now.