Page 250 of We Shouldn't Be Together
She shrugs. “I guess.”
I groan, scuffing my way out of the bedroom. “It’s bad enough I have Milo’s crap taking up space in my bedroom. Now you’re hanging out in his room. This is not my idea of a fun weekend.”
“Gosh, Kai, I’m so sick of all your complaining,” Jamie snaps. “I’m sorry I’m not as privileged as you!”
I turn back around. “Excuse me?”
“I’m the one getting kicked out of school. My aunt is away. Plus, I have to work at the café while finishing all this homework.”
Shame hits me from every angle. “I’m sorry, James. I just hate that everything has changed. Things used to be so easy, but I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”
“I just need your support. Don’t you see how hard all of this is?”
I pull her into a hug. “No, I get it. I just miss hanging out with you.”
She hugs me back and then pulls away. “Just give me an hour to study and then we can hang out.”
“No, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll call Tabby so I won’t bother you anymore.”
I can’t help noticing how much Jamie dislikes the idea of me leaving to hang out with Tabby. But she can’t have it both ways. She either stops studying and spends time with me, or she studies and I see my girlfriend instead. Besides, my brother will be here to fail at another level of a video game.
Ugh.
What the actual hell?
Why was Jamie playing that game with him?
I can’t. I can’t think about it. It hurts my brain.
I make it downstairs, and Mom and Grandma are in the kitchen, preparing lunch. I tell them I’m going out to meet Tabitha, but Mom corners me before I pick up my car keys.
“Grandma and Grandpa want to go to Morton’s Café tomorrow for breakfast,” she blurts at me.
“Yeah, okay,” I drawl, not seeing the big deal.
Mom grins. “Ask Tabitha to join us.”
“Mom, I…”
“Don’t start with me.” Her hands plant on her hips. “I want the family to meet your girlfriend.”
“But that’s a lot of family; including grandparents.”
Grandma shuffles in beside Mom. “And what’s wrong with your grandparents meeting your girlfriend?”
I slouch, hating the idea of offending this sweet old lady. “Nothing, Grandma. I’d take just you and Grandpa to meet her if Mom would let me.”
Mom sniggers. “She won’t let you. Can you ask Tabitha if she’ll join us?”
I nod, backing away as I lift my phone. “I was about to call her, anyway.”
“Tell her we will pick her up on the way,” Mom calls out.
I shudder at the thought. Umm, no. I’ll be driving her with no need for Mom and Dr. Jones to come face to face. I already successfully avoided that at the soccer field. Besides, Tabby’s dad gave us the green light to hang out today, unprovoked. The smartest move I can make is not seeing the guy for a week, so I don’t mess up whatever goodness he sees in me.
On the phone, Tabby was hesitant, but quickly agreed to hang out with my family. I gave her several chances to back out, but she was up for the challenge.
She figured seeing as I’d had dinner with her family—and dealt with her brothers one too many times—that it was high time for her to spend time with my family. I tried to let her off the hook, pointing out the awkward encounter with my parents after last week’s soccer game. Her giggle put me at ease, and she told me that hardly counted.
