“For Chick-Fil-A? Of course not! Let’s go!”
“We’re just waiting for Emily to decide if she wants to go with us.” Jake was giving me a look that seemed to say, I dare you to say no to this kid. I took one look at Drake’s expectant face and knew the two brothers had made my decision. I stood up.
“Well, let’s go if we’re going.”
On the drive there, Drake talked the whole time, literally. Neither of us could get a word in. He talked about anything and everything.
We were a few minutes away from the restaurant and Drake had been quiet for a few minutes. “Emily, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, Drake.”
“Where’s your mom?”
The question stole my breath. It was out of left field. Of course, Drake would want to know where she was. He had only seen my dad around. “Um…she’s…” I tried, but I couldn’t think. I needed to think of something fast. “She doesn’t live around here anymore.”
“How come? Doesn’t she want to see you, Emily?”
I found the words coming as if from nowhere. “You see, Drake, my mom and dad are divorced. So, my mom moved away when she got her new job. We weren’t really close, so I stayed with my dad.”
I really hoped that would make the questions stop. “Oh,” was the only reply.
Jake tried to brighten the mood when we parked. He told Drake that he could go and play after he ate, which definitely brought a smile back to his face.
Inside we ordered and made our way over to a booth by the glass, so we could look in once Drake went to play. I don’t know if I was glad that I would be alone with Jake or not. What I did know was that I didn’t want Drake asking me questions about my mom.
I ate without talking. I let Jake and Drake do all of that. It was cute seeing the brothers together and enjoying themselves. Drake finished his meal quickly and ran off to play. For the first few minutes, our eyes followed him around.
Then Jake spoke. “Where is your mom?”
“That’s none of your business.” I tried to speak curtly, but instead I sounded fragile.
“Okay.”
Okay? That was it? Are you telling me that Jake Benson just gave up on making me talk? Maybe I should mark this on my calendar.
We were sitting in silence when three people came up to our table. I recognized the short blonde one as the girl who was by Jake’s locker the other day, but the other two were lost on me.
She spoke and again my gaze went down. “I thought today was a day for just you and Drake. You know, just brothers.” By her voice, I could tell she was mad.
All Jake said was, “It is.”
“Then what’s she doing here?”
Oh, how I wished I could leave. Why did I ride with him? I knew that if I looked up, I would see what I feared most in the blonde girl’s eyes.
The guy that was with the girls spoke up before Jake could. “Yeah, man, if you didn’t want to come, you should have just said so. You didn’t have to lie.”
“I didn’t.” But he was. “Claire, Emily is here because I wanted her to be.”
“Oh, get real Jake. You have one class project with her and now you are hanging out with her? Really? You shouldn’t hang out with people just because you feel sorry for them.”
“I don’t feel sorry for her. I like hanging out with her, so I am.”
“You like hanging out with her? Please. She can’t make eye contact, much less talk.”
Just then, Drake came running out of the playhouse room and found his way into my lap, ignoring our surprise guests. “Emily, this one is more fun than McDonald’s! It’s empty too. Will you play with me?”
His eyes were pleading with me. I couldn’t have said no even if I wanted to, which I didn’t. This was the perfect escape. To my surprise, my voice came out as it always did when I talked to Drake, clear and confident. “Of course. Lead the way,” I said as he hopped down and I slipped my hand in his.