Page 8 of Claimed by the Fallen
Mom shakes her head and suggests we go claim our table. Annie and I follow her inside The Pier. It’s not quite five yet, but the hostess seats us anyway. Looking around, I see the restaurant isn’t busy yet. The dinner crowd probably won’t arrive for another thirty minutes orso.
We sit down and order drinks. Mom sticks with water. Annie and I order sweet tea. The waitress quickly returns with ourbeverages.
I’m in the middle of taking a sip when a sharp pain stabs mychest.
“Ah!” I cry out, leaning forward. I put my drink down and press both hands against mychest.
“Ronnie?” Mom’s voice is laced with concern. “Are youalright?”
“My chest hurts,” I tell her, rubbing the tenderspot.
“Did your tea go down the wrong tube?” Annie asks, trying to be helpful. Though, she couldn’t be more off base. I’d never been stabbed with a knife, but I imagined this is what it would feellike.
I shake my head and breathe in through my nose and out of mymouth.
Dad and Joey arrive. They sit, still talking about Joey’s new car, until they see my painedexpression.
“Sweetheart?” Dad frowns. “What’swrong?”
“Her chest hurts,” Mom explains. She turns and asks me, “Did you eat something spicytoday?”
I exhale and say, “No.” This definitely isn’t heartburn. I drop my hands and try to straighten my spine. The movement tugs the skin across my sternum, and I barely hide mywince.
Everyone is looking at me. I paste on a weak smile. “It’s alright. I’mfine.”
My parents share a look. “Are you sure, honey?” Mom asks. She looks at my dad, again. “Do you want to gohome?”
“No,” I tell her. I pick up my tea and take a sip. “I promise, I’m fine. I think you were right. It was probably something I ate.” I don’t reveal I’ve only eaten wheat cereal and a turkey sandwichtoday.
The waitress appears and distracts everyone. I use the reprieve to continue and breathe through the lingering pain. Gradually, the stinginglessens.
Joey and Dad order their drinks. Then, we all place our dinnerorder.
“So, Joey,” Dad begins after we’ve all passed our menus to the waitress, “Veronica tells us you are going to school out of state.” I’m thankful the conversation has moved away from the odd pain in mychest.
Joey swallows a sip of soda. “Yes, Sir. I’ll be atSyracuse.”
“New York?” Dad acts like I hadn’t already told him that. “That’s quite thedistance.”
Joeynods.
“Do you have family upthere?”
“I have an aunt and uncle in New York City. They’ll be there if I needanything.”
“Yes, but I’m sure your parents and friends will missyou.”
I glare at my dad. What is he trying to do? Does he want Joey to feelbad?
Annie chimes in, “Don’t worry, Joey. Ronnie and I have already planned to take a road trip up there when you move in to the dorms. We’ll have two extra weeks before our classes start at TexasState.”
The weight of my parents’ stares lands onme.
“Is that so?” Mom asks. She sounds calm, but I know the signs she’s about to give me an earful. Her cheek always twitches when she’supset.
I shrug. “Well… yeah. We’ve talked about it. We want to see where Joey will be living, and you know how much I hate flying.” I give my mom a pointed look, silently asking she not lecture me in front of myfriends.
“Don’t worry Mrs. Messenger,” Annie speaks up. “My parents will probably be coming with us. At least, my mom will. You know how overprotective she can be.” My friend bats her eyes at my mom, using her charm to appease my parents. Annie’s always been good at getting me out of hotwater.
