Her face pinched together. “Are you immune to all the noise in here?”
Now that she had mentioned it, all the chatter around us stood out more, but it didn’t bother me. Growing up in a lively home had made me used to ignoring irrelevant noise.
Alex walked up to us with a plate holding only two spoonfuls of potato salad. He climbed over the bench and sat down next to me, close enough that our legs could’ve touched if I had wanted them to.
“How have you been?” I asked, trying not to be too obvious about how curious I was about where he kept disappearing to.
“It’s been nice getting to know everyone better, although I don’t quite understand your aunt Darcy’s obsession with potato salad.” He looked down at his plate. “I mean, it’s good, but it’s still just potatoes and mayo.”
“That’s the Drapers for you,” I said, smiling in sympathy. No one outside the family should be forced to endure our boring stories.
“The only thing I have to admit is…” Alex scrunched his face. “…the constant chatter is giving me a headache.”
“That’s also the Drapers for you,” I said, lowering my voice as I finally understood why he left so often.
Alex shrugged. “Every family has its quirks, don’t they?”
“Not as many as ours, though.” I turned to him. “Did you know, for example, that every time someone marries into the family, they have to take theDrapername?”
“Stop telling half-truths.” Mila kicked my shin. “Everyone has at least gone with a hyphenated last name, but that doesn’t mean theyhave to. Just like not every boy’s first name has to start with a D anymore.”
“Oh!” Alex’s eyes opened wide. “Now I get it. Dorian, Daniel, De…bastian,” he said, pulling his lips in as he corrected himself so he wouldn’t say the name he had promised me he wouldn’t use. He took a bite of the potato salad. After chewing for a second, he swallowed and pointed his fork right at me. “I guess you don’t, but I like your traditions.” His eyes asked for forgiveness. “I didn’t grow up with fun quirks like this.”
“Sure, I’d love them too if I could leave whenever I wanted to,” I blurted out.
Mila kicked my shin again, this time hard enough to make me slide back in my seat. The entire bench moved with me, and therefore, Alex too.
“Ouch!” I said, rubbing my shin.
Alex looked under the table and chuckled. “Did you just kick your brother?”
“Someone had to,” Mila said, glaring at me. “He knows why.”
Alex shot me a look that made it clear he was on my side, but then he shoveled more potato salad into his mouth and didn’t comment further.
“So, guys, since my timing earlier was pretty bad,” Mila said, “why don’t you talk a little bit about music?” She grinned and, without a care in the world, got up and left the two of us alone.
We looked after her, then at each other, both wrinkling our noses at the strange turn of events.
“That wasn’t awkward at all, sis,” I said, as if she could still hear me.
For a moment, we sat there, not exactly in silence because the noise of the party washed over us. Alex’s shoulders rose up to his ears as he grimaced.
“Still got a headache?” I asked.
He took a few breaths, then nodded. “I really enjoyed talking to everyone, but…” He glanced at me, then at his plate. “It’s tough.”
“Do you need some alone time?”
“Oh, no. I’d love to keep talking to you. I don’t know what Mila told you, but I was kind of sad we didn’t get to talk about music, especially after hearing that you also… you know?”
A big laugh from my dad from behind him made him flinch and shut his eyes until it died down. He blinked only his right eye open.
“I really can’t watch you suffer, Alex.” I leaned closer. “I’ve already talked to everyone else. We could sneak away for a bit, if you want.”
“Sneak away?” He turned his head left and right, as if he needed permission. “Even if we went to the main house, I’d still be able to hear everything, I assure you.”
“Well, lucky for you, I know the perfect place to find some peace and quiet. So, what do you say?”
