When I get into the main party room, which is the size of the seven of my bedroom, half the expected guests have arrived. There are about twenty-five people in the room so far. The Pecanhogens must have a massive table to be able to fit over fifty people. I see my sister across the room holding a wine glass and talking to Nathan. He is four years older than Sam, who is my age, and four years younger than my sister who is twenty-two. I notice Sam staring at me in my peripheral vision and I want to avoid talking to him, so I walk quickly over to my sister, pretending not to notice Sam.
“What took you so long outside?” Sasha asks.
“Your creepy brother wouldn’t let go of me,” I say to Nathan.
“He has a big crush on you, ya know,” he says as he bends down to whisper in my ear. Nathan is about 6”4 and Sam is 5’”4 which makes it hard to believe that they are related, but I guess Sam has several more years to grow. “Sash told me earlier today that he did. He seems a bit stalker-ish if you ask me.”
“He likes you and he doesn’t know how to act. You can’t really blame the kid for that,” my sister adds.
“I remember when I was his age I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to get it.” Nathan makes a fair point. Just as I am about to say something else, Mr. Pecanhogen taps three times on his glass with his spoon and a silence falls over the guests. “Dinner is served.”
As we make our way to the table, I manage to squeeze myself between Sasha and my mom’s boyfriend, Curt, so I won’t have the misfortune lf sitting beside Sam. As we gather in the dining room, I notice name cards on the plates. I see his name card and read the two names on either side of him; neither of them belongs to me. I end up on the other side of the table directly across from him.
I feel uncomfortable throughout the duration of the meal because every time I look up from my food, Sam’s eyes stare right into mine. I am fortunate enough to be sitting beside Nathan. I lean over to him so we are in whispering range and say, “Could you please tell your psychotic brother to tone it down a notch?”
“I was wondering if you noticed.”
“How could I not? ”
“If you could, cut him some slack.”
“Okay I will. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” I smile a bit as I center my body weight. Sam looks a bit hurt, but there is no way he could’ve heard us because I could barely hear myself over the chatter of the other guests. I think he is jealous that I was talking to his brother and not him, so I smile at him genuinely. Or at least I try to. I look at his plate and he barely touched his food. I wonder why? Unknown to me, I am attending a seven-course dinner. The first dish that is set out is soup, then caesar salad. Next there is steak. I eat the entire thing because I think it’s the main meal though it’s merely the third course. The rest of the food served makes me sick looking at it. Don’t get me wrong, it looks amazing, it’s just that when I over eat the thought of more food makes me feel ill.
A while later I notice Sam starting to slump down in his chair. What the heck is he doing? I pretend not to take notice of it. I feel something poking my leg. “I didn’t know the Pecanhogens owned a dog,” I said to Nathan.
“They don’t. Why do you say that?” I jump in my chair shaking the table slightly. A few people look at me, and I just say, ‘excuse me’. “Are you okay?” Nathan asks me.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I bend down as if I’m picking up my napkin that I had dropped when I’m actually seeing what was touching me, Sam’s foot. I quickly stand up, and ask to be excused while I go to the bathroom. As I get up, Sam sits up straight in his chair again. I go to the bathroom to get away from him. When I get out, Sam is leaning against the doorframe with his foot propped up against it. “Excuse me,” I say, “I need to get by.” He doesn’t move. “Why were you touching me under the table?” I ask annoyed.
