The Scars She Hides

Part 19 - Dinner at the Pierce's

CHARLOTTE

The bike had barely pulled to a stop before I scrambled away from Holden. I stiffly removed my helmet, and handed it to him, avoiding eye contact and turning my face away from him entirely.

"Oh come on." Holden nudged me with the helmet before pulling it out of my hands. I had refused to speak to him on the drive home, and had declined his caffeinated bribe with the harshest glare I could muster. Holden had finally relented his attempts to pull me from my bad mood, and driven me home.

"I think you are overreacting." He huffed at me, leaning back on his bike and crossing his arms. "So I forgot to mention my mom would be there, big deal. It's-"

"Big deal? Big deal?" My voice rose in pitch with every word. "Do you know how embarrassing that was?"

"Why would you be embarrassed?" He asked, confusion twisting his brows upward.

Why would I be embarrassed? I don't know, maybe because the guy I liked had taken me to meet his mother and didn't think a THING about it? Because I had walked in there blind and made a fool of myself. Because I liked Holden and he obviously saw me as a little sister figure, and it was more obvious than ever now. My cheeks burned as I fought to find something reasonable to admit.

"B-Because your sister gave me the fifth degree and your mom..." I trailed off. His mom was perfect. She was warm and nice, she laughed at my attempts at conversation in a nice way, like she knew I was nervous but that was ok. The total opposite of this hulking mass of jerk in front of me, who had spent the entire time snickering at me behind his mothers back.

"Tiffy was just mad she lost the bet, she'll come around next time."

"Next time?" Oh no. There would be no next time. No matter how nice his mother was, I would not be doing that again. Holden nodded, like it was obvious that I would be spending more time with his family.

A laugh escaped my mouth, it was high pitched and full of disbelief.

I most certainly would not be doing that again.

—-------------

I most certainly did it again.

The next Friday Gene extended an offer to join them for dinner through Holden. It was obviously unrefusable. How could you say no?

'Dear Gene, thank you for the invitation to dinner. I must anxiously decline.
Against all reason I have fallen in love with your son, and he has mercilessly placed me in the friend zone as of last week's impromptu introduction. I will now proceed in avoiding your entire family like the plague. Sincerely, Charlotte.'

Sounds polite enough right?

I obviously said yes.

Which is how I found myself standing in the driveway of Holden's home on a Friday evening.

Nerves made my hands clammy, and the constant pulling of my long sleeves to cover my fingers didn't help either. It had taken me hours last night to find an outfit that I deemed appropriate for the dinner. Respectable, but not trying too hard. Mature, but not dressing over my age. Covering my nightmarish scars, but not looking like a nun.

I ended up with a pretty convincing Elena Gilbert cosplay.

With a mock neck top of course. Sorry Nina Dobrev, but I just don't have the assets to pull off a low cut shirt. And I had scars to hide.

Holden bumped my shoulder as he walked past me, slowing to catch my eyes.

"Come on." He said. Don't be so nervous. Is what he meant.