Mr. Anonymous

Chapter 7

So what are you up to tonight?

Not much, Mr. A- just watching a movie with my parents.

Mr. A?

And wow that's awesome. I wish my family did stuff like that. What are you guys watching?

Sorry Mr. A is just faster to type. Is that okay?

And yeah ever since we moved here, my parents have had way more time for me so they instituted weekly movie nights. We're watching "What Happened to Monday?" on Netflix.

If you wanna do stuff like that, why don't you ask your family?

It's cool, I don't mind the nickname :)
But did they not have time for you before or something? What do they do for a living?

And my family life is just kinda complicated. :/

My parents are great, but before we moved here, my dad was commuting for his job every day, meaning I rarely saw him. My mom's job at the warehouse didn't make her much money so she worked long hours. To top it off, my older brother (and best friend) had just left for college then, too. We all love each other and it couldn't be avoided, but I ended up alone a lot. It's cool, though.

Hey, I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm glad you guys get to spend time together now, though. My sister and I are best friends, too. :)

"It's family movie night! Get your nose out of your phone!" Audrey's dad scolded as he paused the movie.

"Who are you texting, honey?" Audrey's mom asked in a gentle voice.

Audrey paused, unsure how to respond.

"It's just a friend. Sorry, I'll tell them I can't talk right now." Audrey said as she quickly went to send one last text.

As they watched the rest of the movie, Audrey couldn't stop thinking about Mr. Anonymous. She wondered what he meant when he said his family life was complicated.

As the credits rolled, Audrey's parents gave each other looks, unbeknownst to Audrey.

"Audrey, honey, we wanted to talk to you about something." Audrey's mom started in a soft voice.

Audrey immediately put her guard up. She racked her brain trying to think of anything she could have done recently that could mean she was about to get in trouble.

"Don't worry you're not in trouble." Audrey's dad said, easing her concerns temporarily.

"Your father has a colleague that he needs to impress for the bosses, so we invited him and his family over for dinner tomorrow. Don't worry about it! Your brother is coming home from school tomorrow for the weekend so he'll be there, too! And Bill and Diana's twins are just about your age, so I'm sure you'll all get along just fine!" Audrey's mom rushed out.

Audrey had conflicting feelings. As much as she hated having company over, she knew that her parents had purposely kept this from her until the day before so she couldn't worry about it for long. And they had even made sure Austin could be there so she'd feel more comfortable.

Audrey put on her best fake smile.

"Great! I can't wait to see Austin! And who knows, maybe the twins will be cool!" She said, though in her head she was picturing identical twin Barbie dolls that Austin would be drooling over all night.