“Oh, life just goes by so fast,” my mother was teary-eyed again. “Mybabyis going to be twenty-one.”
I blushed deeper.
“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it Cec?” My dad asked my mom. They reached for each other’s hands on the table, squeezing tightly and gazing at me tenderly. They were an attractive couple, with my mom’s perfect grace and my dad’s easy going smile. His hair was a little more salt and pepper than the last time I’d seen him, but it only enhanced his looks. His eyes had deep laugh lines fanning out, and his trim look proved how well he took care of himself.
“Oh, our little Eleanor is growing up,” Beckett cooed in an annoyingly high pitched voice. I turned to roll my eyes at him and he grabbed both of my cheeks tightly, pinching them until my eyes watered.
“Beckett!” I gritted out through puckered lips. “Let go!” I shoved at his chest and finally he let go with a laugh. I rubbed at my sore skin, completely and irreversibly tomato-red.
“Thanks for the wine, Nox. I’ll save it for something special.”
“Like your birthday,” he intoned, sounding more like a parent than a brother. “That’s why I bought it Els. I’ll be offended if you don’t at least try it. I made a special trip to Tokyo and everything.”
“I’m sure that was just torture,” I shook my head at Lennox. That was how he was, everything he did was usually for selfish reasons, but he had this talent for making you feel like he sacrificed everything for you. He just shook his head at me, that same indulgent grin twisting the corners of his mouth. “Thank you, seriously. And I will try it. Right now, it’s the only definite plan I have for my birthday.”
“What?” Beckett demanded. “That cannot be possible! Aren’t your friends going to take you out? Help you celebrate? Force shot after shot down your throat until you puke all over yourself and pass out on some filthy bathroom floor?”
I shot him a fast glance to see if he was serious, “Um,” I looked back at my parents, waiting for them to jump in with lectures on all things moral high ground, but they were just laughing at him. He was so spoiled! I shot him another glare, “Um, no. Britte’s younger than me and I’mnotmaking plans with Colton.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Grayson growled.
“Britte’syoungerthan you? She’s younger thanyou?” Beckett half shouted. That was a bizarre response.
“Yes,” I replied before he continued to get louder.
“Since when?” he demanded. He looked a little panicked. Beckett was the laid back, take everything in stride type. He played ball well and hard and gave his little athlete’s one hundred and ten percent. But the rest of Beckett was…. shallow. He never got upset unless it had to do with me and a boy, or me and some injustice done to me, or me and…. anything. But even Lennox and Grayson couldn’t cajole him into a fight with them. He just smiled and laughed at them whenever they tried. Eventually they gave up and turned their brotherly bonding of teaming up against little brother into a serious competition between the oldest two. But now Beckett looked more than riled up…. He looked panicked.
“Since, always. What is with you?” I whispered in an attempt to settle him down.
Beckett ran a rough hand through his hair and glared down at me. “First of all, I was counting on her to take you out and show you a good time. Some friend she makes. SEcond of all, I know I’ve seen her at parties around campus, getting lit up and going home with randoms. She’s obviously a bad influence.”
“Ok, you just said you wanted her to take me out? And now she’s a bad influence for going to a few parties?” This was really confusing.
“Britte’s a party girl?” My mom asked, sounding subtly out-raged. “But she seems like such a nice girl, with a good head on her shoulders.”
“Doesn’t she want to be a surgeon?” My father asked dumbfounded.
“Gah!” I growled in frustration. And then I mimicked Beckett’s misplaced outrage, “First of all, mom and dad, Britteisa good girl. Beckett’s out of his mind for painting this picture of her. She’s been to a few parties, but she is by no means a party girl. School comes first for her,always. Even over our friendship. Trust me. And sEcond, Beckett have you lost your damn mind?”
I swung around to face him, letting him feel the full force of my anger when the entire table fell silent.
“Cursing? At the dinner table? Eleanor,” my mother chastised.
Oh no.
How had I let that slip out??
“Sorry,” I mumbled and then dived for my water. Damn- the table-silencing mother of all curse words. Someone pull out the bar of soap.
Luckily the waitress stopped by at that moment and began taking our orders. I hadn’t yet looked at the menu, so while everyone gave theirs I glanced at the dinner specials, picked out the first chicken dish listed- just to be contrary- and then pretended I had been ready the entire time.
After the waitress collected our dinner orders and a few more drink orders from, well, everybody but me, Beckett squeezed my knee under the table. I waited until Lennox started telling stories about his trip to China before I acknowledged Beckett.
“What?” I whispered harshly.
“You’ve never cussed in front of Cecelia and Drake before,” he whispered back as if I didn’t know. He loved using my mom and dad’s first names, as if he were too cool for parents. They let him, because he was disgustingly spoiled.
“Give me a break; you say worse stuff all the time.”
