"Maybe he found it funny," Amy suggested. "He might think you’re amusing."
Or crazy. And rude.
"I'm dating Kevin," Kelly repeated, more forcefully this time.
“For now,” Dina muttered under her breath.
Kelly knew her roommates had a point. Kevin was... fine. There was no future there, but she was realistic about that.
“When are you heading back to Bergen for Celia's wedding?" Dina asked skillfully, redirecting the conversation away from the awkward discussion about Kevin.
She knew exactly when Kelly was leaving—they'd all marked it on the kitchen calendar in red—but she was offering Kelly a graceful exit from the relationship interrogation.
Kelly latched onto the lifeline gratefully.
"Next Thursday. The wedding's on Sunday, but Mom wants me there for the rehearsal dinner Saturday night, and she's arranged some sort of family brunch on Friday that I apparently can't miss."
"Three full days with your family?" Amy whistled low. "You're a braver woman than I am."
Kelly would actually be there longer, but she didn’t mention that to her roommates.”
“Trust me, it wasn't my choice. My mother insisted. Said it would look strange if I flew in just for the wedding itself, like I was trying to avoid them."
Kelly stood and emptied her plate of leftover grilled cheese into the trash.
“You are trying to avoid them,” Amy pointed out. “As much as possible.”
“But I don’t want it to be obvious.”
“Why not? Maybe if they knew you were avoiding them, they might take a look at how they treat you,” Dina said.
Self-introspection? Fat chance.
“You don't understand what it's like. My mother will spend the entire weekend asking me when I'm going to settle down, have children, or move back to Illinois. My father will make passive-aggressive comments about my 'little podcast hobby' and ask if I've considered teaching again, since it's a 'more stable career path for a woman. They’ll compare me to Celia and, of course, to Rob, the golden child who can do no wrong.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling chilled despite the warmth of the kitchen. Was it terrible that she was hoping for a bout of pneumonia or maybe getting hit by a taxi so she’d have a good excuse not to go?
Something flickered in Amy's eyes, a mixture of sympathy and frustration Kelly had seen before.
"Tell them to pound sand. Seriously, fuck 'em, Kelly. Celia is a suck-up, and your brother. Shit, I don’t even have the vocabulary for that pompous little prick. He’s a man-child, and I feel sorry for his wife and kids. How your parents overlook all of his issues, I have no idea. He’s a walking red flag.”
Kelly simply shook her head at Amy's bluntness. Her roommate's family dynamics were completely different from her own. Amy's parents treated her like a treasured adult, not an eternal disappointment.
"It's not that simple," Kelly protested. "They're my parents, and they’re a little old-fashioned. I love them."
Most of the time. But she didn’t always like them very much.
"Old-fashioned is using cloth napkins at dinner," Amy countered. "Your parents are mean, opinionated, and they playfavorites between their kids. That's not old-fashioned. That's just crappy. I’m sorry to say it, and I know how I sound right now, but honey, we don’t want them to hurt you again."
Too late.
Kelly took in a shaky breath before she replied.
“They're the only parents I have."
The resignation in her own voice made her wince. When had she accepted that this was just how things were? That this was all she deserved? Looking back, it had been years ago, to be honest.
She stared down at the counter, absently tracing a pattern in a droplet of spilled coffee. Her shoulders had hunched forward, her body physically curling in on itself as if to protect her heart from the truth of her roommates' words.
