Don't Hide Your Love Away

4

I got dressed up and took a deep breath.
They're on a trip in Hawaii. It's easy to say.
I took another deep breath and stepped out my front door into the hallway.
I was immediately caught by surprise by a ball flying towards me and smashing right into my face.
"Aahg..." I groaned in pain and grabbed my nose to make sure it wasn't bleeding.
"Oh my goodness I am so sorry!" A woman gasped running over to me.
Her chocolate hair was thrown up messily, and her cloudy eyes gave off a dreary, sad feeling that I felt all the way to my core. For someone so young, she looked like she has been through a lot.
I looked at her and smiled.
"It's alright." I chuckled, noticing a little girl hugging the ball that just attacked my face.
"Elle, say you are sorry." The woman said nudging the girl.
Elle looked up at me, her thin blonde hair falling gracefully, covering her eye.
"Sorry." She said quietly, holding the woman's hand.
"It's okay." I said smiling at her.
She smiled back and giggled.
The woman looked at me.
"My name is Brianna and this is my daughter Elle. We just moved in." She chuckled.
"I'm Dexter. It's nice to meet you." I brushed my hair back and she patted Elle's head.
"Well I've gotta go to a dinner... I guess I will see you again." I said smiling.
Brianna smiled and waved before walking off with Elle.

I stepped up to the school entrance, enjoying the crunch of the gravel underneath my feet.
I opened the door and after hesitating, I stepped in.
A light chatter drifted out from the cafeteria and I swallowed.
This is going to be awful.

I stepped into the cafeteria, immediately being greeted by the soft orange glow of the newly strung lanterns that hung from the ceiling.
It creates a sense of panic inside that I tried to ignore.
I looked around and saw everyone with their families.
Cookie and Alyk were in a big group, everyone was getting along and chatting.
I looked to the other side and saw Nathan and his girlfriend Felicia. They were with a much smaller and simpler group. I could easily distinguish who was family with who...
I then saw Gale with his girlfriend and their families... hmm she must go to a different school.
My eyes searched the building and saw Ally, Daysha, and Julian were all together... at a big table... with six empty chairs.
Daysha looked up and I could tell she gasped because she is just so dramatic. Her mouth opened, and her hand slapped over it two milliseconds later. Julian looked up and instead of smiling, I saw his brow lift. Ally was last to look before they all stood up and made their way over to me.
"Hi." I said smiling.
"Hi... where is your family?" Daysha asked in a serious tone.
I ran a hand through my hair and looked at the ground.
"They..."
Fuck... they can't be in Hawaii- they will know it's a lie! Because I would have mentioned it earlier...
"They couldn't make it. Sick." I improvised.
They all seemed to give me the exact same look.
"That must... suck... come on they're serving spaghetti now." Julian said grabbing me by the arm and walking me over to the table.
"Hey guys!!" He yelled suddenly, catching everyone's attention.
"So we actually aren't meeting his family! His family couldn't make it so you won't get to meet them tonight. Some other time though." Ally said loudly.
The only place you will get to meet them is my court date...
An old lady smiled at me and waved.
I waved back.
"Hey mom, I am gonna sit next to Dexter, ok?" Ally announced.
No... spend time with your mom... not me.
Ally skipped over and pulled out the chair next to me, sitting down.
"You can sit with your family..." I said softly, smiling weakly at her.
She cocked her head to the side.
"I see her every day. I can spend two hours across from her." She laughed pushing me playfully.
A tinge of jealousy and sadness exploded in my heart.
Julian sat down on the other side of me and Daysha sat down next to Ally.
I looked down at the table as everyone talked.
I caught the eyes of a guy, a bit older, and more rugged as Julian. Also known as his brother, Ezra.
He smiled at me.
"Hey Dexter sweetie, are you going to eat?"
I looked up at Julian's mom who was smiling. She looked a tad like Julian. He looked more like his dad.
"Yeah..." I said wearily, picking up my fork and spinning some spaghetti onto it.
I took slow, tiny bites... I wasn't all that hungry.
"Julian, you have spaghetti sauce on your chin." His sister laughed. She was named Holly and has brown hair.
Julian wiped his face.
"Shut up Holly." He scoffed rolling his eyes.
"Don't tell your sister to shut up." His dad bellowed in a deep voice.
Julian sighed and put down his fork.
"Fine." He said picking up his cup and taking a drink.
"So Dexter... I hear your mother makes dolls?" Daysha's mom said.
My eyes went big.
"Yeah." I said, having a dreadful voicecrack.
"Dude are you alright?" Julian asked.
I just nodded.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out this mini ragdoll.
"My mom made this... about ten years ago." I said.
Just before it happened.
Daysha's mom smiled.
"Awe and you kept it with you for that long?" She asked.
I nodded, turning my eyes to Daysha's older brother, who passed me a napkin
He touched his finger to his lip, signaling I had food on my face.
I wiped my mouth off and crumpled the napkin up, setting it beside me.
"Hey Dexter, do you have any sisters?" Holly asked.
I nodded.
"How old are they?"
I gulped. "33, 32, 31, 31, 30, 29, 29, 29, 29, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 21, 21, and 20." I said smiling as strongly as I could. Which was fucking hard sense there's so many numbers to say.