Whispers In The Dark

Anna

Anna

I felt sick and uneasy. It had never occurred to me that my mom’s absence from home was abnormal. She hadn’t spent much at-home time since my dad was alive, but the confused look that flashed across his face suggested otherwise. And then my dad was brought up, and my heart ached with longing and nostalgia to have him back for Christmas. He was worth more than any clothes or CDs. And then, to make matters even worse, I found out that Jessiah hadn’t informed his parents that he invited me to spend Christmas with them.

His mother crossed her arms. “Jessiah, care to explain?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Anna was alone, and I figured you wouldn’t mind, so…”

Her face softened a bit. “You should have asked me first.”

Jessiah shifted his feet and laughed. “Sorry,” he apologized. He took my hand and smiled at his mother. “It’s Christmas, Mom! Let’s have fun!”

She rolled her eyes, but a smile graced her lips.

Jessiah pulled me into the dining room behind his mother. It seemed to double as a living room, with the large dining table on one side and a couch, TV, shelves on the other. There were two older men, a young girl, and two older women (besides Jessiah’s mother).

Jessiah kept me close to him. His introductions were murmured into my ear, his hand tight around my waist like he was trying to say, “She’s mine.” It made warmth spread throughout my entire body.

He pointed to the older men, one with graying black hair and glasses, and the other with a shaved head and mustache, “The one with glasses is my dad, and the one with the mustache is my uncle.” He pointed to the older women. “Those are my aunts; Aunt Debbie and Aunt Kendall. Aunt Debbie has the oversized sweatshirt on, and Aunt Kendall is the one with the red hair.” He nodded toward the young girl, who couldn’t be older than seven. “And that’s Kelly, my cousin.”

Their eyes were on me. I did my best to keep up with names, but my face was heating up and their gazes were making me more self conscious by the second. I tugged on my clothes, trying to make myself look presentable. Was I under-dressed? Over-dressed? Black leggings and a sweater felt weather-appropriate, but were they holiday-appropriate? I suddenly regretted agreeing to Jessiah’s offer.

“This is Anna,” Jessiah announced. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Everyone’s faces, except for Jessiah’s parents, were full of curiosity. One of his aunts (Kendall, I think) opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Zack running into the room, Jared hot on his tail.

Jared was screaming and Zack was laughing. Jessiah’s mother intervened quickly, scooping Jared up into her arms.

“Hey!” she yelled. “What’s going on?” She looked at Jared’s frosting-covered face and her eyes widened to saucers. “What happened to you?”

Zack giggled, and it seemed she didn’t need an explanation. She glared at him. “Zack…”

“It’s just cupcake!” Zack exclaimed. “Jeez!”

The entire family broke into laughter. Jared was the only one not laughing. He huffed and squirmed in his mother’s arms. She let him down between fits of laughter and he ran off.

“Clean yourself up!” she yelled after him.

Everyone returned to the conversations they had been having before we entered. Jessiah led me to the dining table, where his uncle, father, and mother were sitting.

Jessiah pulled out the chairs across from them, one for me and one for him. He waved his hand toward one of the chairs and grinned goofily. I mocked a curtsy and sat down, pulling the chair closer to the table. Jessiah sat down next to me and immediately laced his fingers with mine.