A Little Hope

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Max, Gavin, we're home!"

Everyone's eyes shifted to the couple that walked into the living room. There was a moment of silence as they took their time to assess the situation before the woman's eyes narrowed on me.

"So, you must be Jewel then?"

I nodded silently. For some strange reason, her words did not sound welcoming.

Max's father glanced at his wife before shifting his eyes towards me and a soft smile crossed his face.

"It is good to finally meet you Jewel; I am Peter, Max and Gavin's father." His arm then settled lightly on his wife's shoulders. "This is my wife Julia."

"It is nice to meet you, sir." I answered, eyeing Max's mother sceptically.

"Yes, nice to meet you." She said shortly before her eyes focused on Eddie. "And you are?"

Good, so it's no just me then?

"I'm Edison Golding, ma'am. I am Max's partner in our music class project." He said confidently.

The woman's frown immediately disappeared and she offered him a kind smile.

Okay, so that means it really is just me she despises.

"It is nice to meet you Edison. I guess that means you will be over at our house often then?"

I glanced over at Eddie to see him giving me the same confused look I was giving him.

"Yes, I guess so." He muttered.

"Very well, please, do continue with your work." Julia's eyes then moved over to Gavin and his friends. "Matt, what did I tell you about putting your feet on the coffee table?"

Matt immediately dropped his feet from the table and offered the woman an apologetic look.

"Sorry... won't happen again ma'am."

"Good, now I'm going to bed so I will see you again in the morning."

She offered him a smile and glared at me one last time before stalking out of the room.

Peter frowned after his wife before facing the rest of us again.

"Well, I guess that means I'm off to bed as well." He scratched the back of his head uncomfortable when his eyes landed on me. "Um, sorry about... well... I don-"

"It's fine sir." I cut him off and shrugged one shoulder. "I'm used to a lot worse than that."

I forced a smile at him and started fiddling with my backpack's zipper. A few minutes later, he mumbled a 'goodnight' and disappeared down the hallway after his wife.

Well, that wasn't awkward at all.

"Sorry about that, she acts that way all the time. She's a bit of a... well..."

"Snob." Gavin stated bluntly, making Max flinch. "Only the men get past her because she's desperate to find a boyfriend for my sister, so Eddie got her approval a lot faster."

"Gavin!" Max protested, going red in the face with embarrassment.

I couldn't help but smile over at Max.

"Don't be embarrassed about it Max, facts are facts." Trevor called out from his chair.

"Yeah, it is about time you have your first kiss already. We won't even discuss the fact that you have never been on a date or had a boyfriend before either." Matt commented.