Millie

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"Don't worry, we don't actually do the whole giving thanks and stuff thing. Or thanksgiving in general, really." Liz looked up to think. "This just happened to coincide with the national holiday."

"Ugh, thank god," I said in relief. "I was afraid I was gonna' have to act grateful."

Liz rolled her eyes at my lack of compassion and how fazed I got by all those touchy displays of human affection.

I watched uneasily as the maids placed all the plates filled with way too many food down on the table.

I still hadn't grown accustomed to all that maid, butler situation, even after having dated Leon for a while for some time prior to that. Man I liked him...

The butler, I mean. He was so sarcastically funny, it was hilarious.

"Jade?"

I snapped out of it and looked over to Liz. "Huh?"

"I swear I never get used to you randomly zoning out like that." She giggled. "And it's already been almost a decade."

Liz's parents breezed in elegantly through the sliding, wooden doors of the living room, wearing a pair of smuggish looks that perfectly complemented their expensive clothes.

I saw how Liz immediately sat up straight and noticed her body growing stiff to their presence.

That isn't a toxic relationship or anything...

"Good evening," her father greeted us.

All the while, they both gracefully took a seat at each end of the table.

I nodded blankly, I just wanted to get this over with, the quicker, the better. And so the dreadful dinner began.

There was a flatscreen on the wall opposite to the table that was showing one of those low budget movies that no one actually watched. I could faintly hear how the psychotic nanny from the movie bitched about how she was in love with the kid's dad, which seemed to be a trend on those kind of films.

"So there is this exhibition coming up, where I'm going to hang my work up for others to see," Liz explained while she looked down reluctantly at her plate. "It's an open day at Brown, so parents and other outside people are welcome to come in and have a look." She finally looked up, meeting her parents' judgemental stare.

"Sorry, honey," Liz's mom began. "We're really busy with work at the moment, but I'm sure you'll do great."

Liz's face was shrouded with a veil of disappointment that she quickly covered up. "No, that's fine, really," she assured them. "I was just making conversation."

I gave her a sympathetic look before going back to poking the roasted chicken with my fork.

"Liz, I know it's a while from now but we're going out of town in a few months and we won't be able to be here for your 18th birthday," Mr. Astor said.

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