Unintended Consequences

Chapter 2

Potential Trigger Warning - Light reference to alcohol abuse.
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    Years of practice allowed me to swallow my surprise and remain cool on the outside when I moved forward to hug Mrs. Johnson. "Thank you all for coming," I said softly as Mrs. Johnson released me from the hug but kept me planted in front of her.

    "Oh sweet pea, look at you! Every time I see you I forget how darn pretty you are." Her words made me blush slightly even though I knew she was just being nice. I think Mrs. Johnson is a pretty keen lady and she knew more than she let on. She always gave me a lot of compliments and love and I couldn't help but wonder if she saw how tortured I had been for years over her son.

    Mr. Johnson gave me a stiff nod as he moved around us to go find my dad. He never seemed especially happy to come here but I suppose that is just how the men in their family acted. Quiet, brooding, and kind of stiff.

    Annie's face was pressed into an iPad so I gave her a head pat and left her to wander blindly into the living room. Finally, I turned towards Archer. He stood just inside the door in all of his 6'4 glory, with his fists shoved into his pockets. College football was obviously doing him wonders—it was impossible not to notice how much muscle he had packed on recently. His face as usual was set in a slightly grumpy, slightly bored grimace. We made eye contact and he briefly nodded his head in greeting.

    "Oliver is upstairs in his room if you want to head up," is all I spared him before turning around to take Mrs. Johnson into the kitchen with my mom.

    Later, we were dishing up our plates and heading to the dining room to eat. My dad sat at the head of the table and before I could take my usual seat next to him my mom shuffled me to the other end. The adults all congregated around my dad leaving Brit, Kayla, and Annie to sit to my left. Archer and Oliver were the last to join us and took the two remaining seats to my right. A sharp scraping sound came from Oliver's chair as he plunked himself down.

I turned to give him a look and noticed how red his cheeks were. I raised an eyebrow at him in silent question, but his only response was a cheeky grin. My dad cleared his throat at the end of the table, and I looked up in time to see him shoot Oliver a warning glare. Once he had everyone's attention he lifted his glass. Oh no...

    "As you all know we have invited you here tonight to celebrate our little Lotty's huge accomplishment" he began. "It's hard to believe my baby girl is somehow old enough to be graduating high school but yet... here we are." Everyone at the table listened to my dad with smiles on their faces. Pink spread across my nose, as they all took turns looking over at me with proud faces. The emotion evident in my dad's voice was not helping matters.

    "Not only is she graduating soon, but we just got word last week that she has been accepted and will be going to USC! So cheers to Lotty, congratulations baby, we are all so proud of you!" Cheers of congratulations soared around the table and I took my time smiling at each and every face—except one. I did not want to look at Archer and potentially see the accusation in his eyes.

    I'm sure if I had looked at him, his eyes would have said, did you purposely choose the same school as me...? Did I? No gosh of course not. In fact, I really wanted to choose any school but the University of Southern California—where Archer was about to start his Junior year. But there was just too much going for it. It's a great school, and it's one of only a few that I wasn't waitlisted for.

    Plus it's only a four-hour drive from home so I would be able to come back more often when I inevitably got homesick. So no Archer... I am not still some lovesick puppy that is chasing you to college. If I had my way we wouldn't ever even see each other.