When Worlds Collide

Chapter 11

"Ow, Vera!" I winced and held my head, to which she grabbed my wrist and pulled it off.

"Well, if you wouldn't let your hair get so bad, it won't get all tangled," she snipped, spraying more water into my hair and continuing to comb out all the knots.

"Yeah, what's up with that? You're always on my tail about my hair and you look like you crawled out of a dumpster," Benji huffed from the couch, his eyes still glued to the cartoons on the TV.

"That's right. You tell him love," Vera leaned over and gave him a fist bump. Of course they had to get along so well and gang up on me. "Ivan, how are we doing on time?"

Glancing at my phone, I told her we had an hour before Ethan came to pick us up. I jolted at the sudden feeling of a cold, wet, sensation on my head. Vera came around to stand in front of me, combing the gel through my hair and pulling it off to the side. Another figure appeared in my peripheral, but when I tried to see who it was, Vera scolded me for moving and turned my head to face her again.

"Vera, your dress is all ready hun," Mrs. Clarissa spoke from somewhere behind me.

"Thank you Mrs. Clarissa, that was so nice of you to iron it for me."

"Of course, that dress is going to look so good on you," she replied as Vera stepped back to admire her work. Mrs. Clarissa walked over to stand next to her, gasping as her hand came to rest on her chest.

"Oh Ivan, you look so handsome," she breathed, lips turning down dramatically as though she was trying not to cry, and a triumphant smile graced Vera's red lips. "Vera get your dress on, I want pictures of you two in the garden!"

I couldn't wait for Ethan to finally arrive, because the copious amount of pictures Mrs. Clarissa wanted of Vera and I was getting absurd.

"Okay, stand next to those flowers out front, they are going to look so great with the dark blue in Vera's dress. Yeah, that looks really good. Ivan, come on, you can stand closer to her for goodness sake, you're not going to catch cooties."

I rolled my eyes at Mrs. Clarissa, grumbling in displeasure as I smashed myself into Vera's side, looking like an absolute fool standing a few inches shorter than my date. In my defense, Vera's heels were probably tall enough to pierce through someone's head.

We were in the middle of another photo taking session on the porch when Ethan's car rolled up front. Anxious to get away from Mrs. Clarissa and the camera, we bid her goodbye and hurried down the steps to the car.

"Alright you two! Make good choices! I'm just a call away if you need anything!" Mrs. Clarissa yelled from the porch, Mary and Benji standing on either side of her, both waving obnoxiously. I felt my cheeks heat up despite the cool autumn air, seeing Chloe in the front beaming and waving back to my family, Ethan staring at me intensely from the driver's seat. He had a strange expression on his face that I had a hard time deciphering. It was contemplative, and I could almost see the gears turning in his head, but his eyes were slightly widened as though he was trying to take everything in.

"Hi guys!" Vera greeted cheerfully as we climbed into the back. I met Ethan's eyes in the rearview mirror, that odd, fiery gaze still dancing in his irises. I smiled stiffly, and that seemed to snap him out of it, because he turned around in his seat to give me a proper greeting. Once we finally got onto the road, Chloe was quick to take over the music, Ethan's car was soon booming with heavy hip hop music, the bass loud enough to make your rib cage rattle around in your chest. Even the car door rattled obnoxiously against the metal frame. It was less than pleasant, and definitely not what Ethan and I would listen to when we are together. Ethan never liked the music too loud, always making some comment that he still wanted to be able to hold a conversation. Vera, however, seemed to know all the words as she and Chloe screamed the lyrics, and although the external stimulation was a bit much, I was just glad Vera was having a good time. I could suffer through for her sake. Ethan's gaze settled on mine again in the rearview mirror, an apologetic and almost concerned look on his face, a silent form of communication that we've always seemed to possess. I hoped my eyes were able to convey that I was alright.