Spitting Image • TFC 3.0 • l.t. au

Chapter Fifty Four

54

LOUIS' POV

Tonight is the alumni dinner. Exciting? Not quite. I'm not in the mood to be around.... People. It's been a hectic week and I don't want to go around a room, asking people how they are.

I've actually made up my mind in not going. I was sat in the dining area, improvising a plan and waiting for Catherine's or Jerry's call but I know all too well Jerry's not going to contact me with anything. He doesn't trust me anymore. Not since I told him I'm not signing the application for spring league.

What's he up to? I've got no fucking idea.

"No, Summer! I'm not gonna hide things like that!" I hear Seth's voice getting louder. Then followed by Summer's complaining.

"I don't want them to fight anymore, Seth." She sounds like she's begging.

"But this is not in our place to hide it. It's been going on too long." Seth tells her what I assume is his attempt of a whisper. He's not very good at it.

I stand up and stood at the foot of the stairs and wait for them to come down.

"You know mum's gonna be so mad and......" Summer trails off as she spots me at the end of the stairs. She bows her head and so does Seth.

They try to get away but I grab the back of their shirts the last minute. I hear her yelp as I pull her back but not too hard. Louise's and Blaine's head pop out from behind the sofa.

"What's your mother going to be mad about?" I ask them both forwardly. Seth, for someone so confident, is now bowing his head like a two year old. And Summer is tongue tied for the first time.

"Seth," his head snaps up at the mention of his name as I thought it would. "What's going on?"

He looks at me nervously then turns to Summer. I looked at her and saw her shake head. She looks down the moment she realises I was observing her.

"Your mum and I didn't raise you to be liars," I tell them firmly then turning to Blaine and Louise. "All of you. And if this is a family matter, we're going to discuss it." I tell them. Slowly, the two sunk into the couch in an attempt to hide. "Go to the couch... We'll talk about it."

Seth and Summer looked up in fear as if to oppose. Their eyes scream panic. "Dad-"

"Now... Go on." I tell them and they walk to the couch with slumped shoulders. I follow closely behind them as Seth and Summer sit in between Blaine and Louise.

"What is going on?" I ask them. Blaine and Louise glance at each other but don't say anything. Summer fidgets in her seat and Seth keeps his head down. We're not getting anywhere with this.

"Blaine." He looks up immediately at the sound of his name. He looks passive and indifferent like he always does. "What's going on." This time, I said it more firmly.

Blaine looks at Seth who shakes his head. "I'm gonna tell him-"

"No!" Seth cuts him off and it only raised my suspicion further. "I'm gonna get into more trouble!"

"Seth!" Louise raises her voice in a pissed off tone. "You're only making things worse! Just say it!"

"Say what, Louise?" I ask her, crossing my arms.

Seth rises from his place and points a warning finger at Louise. "Don't you dare!"

"What did you do this time?" I ask him, spinning him around.

"I didn't do anything." He says in a quiet voice.

"Then why won't you tell me-"

"Seth saw you, dad!" Summer raises her voice through the commotion. Seth quivers and eventually sits down.