Laugh Until You Cry

20 Shopping

“I think that this is a brilliant idea,” Mason tells me over the phone. “You and Andrew desperately need to get it together.”

“I know,” I sigh. “I think we’re doing okay.”

“So you’re not fighting anymore? Why do I find that hard to believe?” She wonders skeptically.

“You know, there was a time that we made a really adorable couple,” I remind her as I sit down on the edge of Andrew’s bed and start running my fingers through my wet blonde hair. I’d just taken a shower since Andrew and his whole family went to visit Marie’s parents a few hours away. It’s Christmas Eve and tomorrow, there’s a huge Christmas party at Andrew’s uncle’s house but because Marie’s mother can’t do road trips, they drove up there to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with her parents. They invited me to go with them but I declined since I thought that it’d be awkward to join in on their small family gathering when I’ve never even met Marie’s parents. “We’re working things out.”

“Well, good for you. I’m happy for you guys,” She says. “Just please don’t get pregnant while you’re gone. You have a bright future.”

I let out a little laugh. “Did you join a teen pregnancy prevention club while I’ve been gone?”

“Okay, excuse me for not wanting one of my best friends to wreck her future with a baby. I mean, right now is when you’re the most vulnerable. You’re excited and happy to be back together and all reasonable thinking just goes out the door,” She tells me slightly joking.

“I never said that we were back together,” I tell her.

“I know but that’s just because you like to complicate things,” She says and I can practically hear her eyes roll through the phone. “Once you are back together, though, make sure that you take precautions.”

“It’s not complicated, Mase,” I laugh at her. “We’re just taking it slow. And again, I’m not going to get pregnant. We’re at his parents’ house for God’s sake.”

“Yeah, you should probably wait until you get back then,” Mason agrees with me. “Anyway though, I’m still excited that you guys aren’t fighting anymore.”

“I think everybody’s excited for this,” I mutter with a small laugh. “I think he’s planning something big. Probably for after the Christmas party or New Year’s but he’s being suspicious about something.”

“He is somebody who’d do something romantic like that,” She says. “But I didn’t know that you were going to a Christmas party. With his family?”

“Yeah, it’s a big party at his uncle’s house or something. It’ll probably be majorly awkward considering I don’t really know any of his family except for his parents and his brother. I don’t even know how he’s going to introduce me to his family considering his parents still think that we’re really together. Big families always make me a little nervous,” I explain to her as I grab the remote to his TV and turn it on, turning it to a station that I like to watch.

“See? I told you that it’s complicated,” She chuckles. “But you’ll do fine. Just go with it and relax. His family is really nice. I mean, I’ve only met his parents but I’m just assuming that they’re all as nice as his parents, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“I hope they’re all as nice as his parents,” I sigh. “Andrew says that they’re nice but he could just be saying that to make me feel better about it. It didn’t work very well though. I’m not nervous that much about meeting his family as much as I am about seeing his family and comparing it to mine. His family is like, everything that mine isn’t and it’s really awesome that he has all of these amazing people around him, you know? It just sucks that whenever I’m with his parents, I’m wishing that mine could be more like them. It just sucks.”