When the doorbell rang, Hazel rushed to open it. She was nervously waiting for him to arrive so she could warn him about her cheeky family. They’ve been wanting to get to know him better because he was the one friend she ever mentions as often as she talked about Jan.
“Please don’t mind them, they’ll probably be asking a lot of questions … they’re so weird,” she whispered to his ear.
He laughed lightly, “I don’t mind, I’d love to meet them … my mom told me to bring this for your mom,” he was holding a bottle of Chardonnay.
Claire came over with open arms and gave him a warm welcoming hug, “Hi … it’s so nice to finally have you at our house … come in, Lee, do you want to help out my husband with the barbeque at the back?”
“Mom?” Hazel whined at her mom, she really didn’t want her parents to hog on Lee the whole night and made him uncomfortable.
“Sure … I love grilling, I do that all the time at my house,” Lee replied.
“See, Hazel … he loves to grill, just like your dad … come inside, let’s meet everybody,” Claire rested her arm on Lee’s shoulder and escorted him inside.
“Here’s for you Mrs. Williams, my mom sends her best … it’s her favorite,” he handed her the bottle.
“Oh that’s so nice of your mom, please ask her to come with you next time, I would love to meet her too.”
Hazel rolled her eyes, she had lost her friend to her parents in one swift move. She followed them to the backyard. Lee glanced at her with a big smile, he seemed to enjoy the warm welcome her mother gave him. She smiled back, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
Then her mom looked over her shoulder and mouthed something to her, “He’s sooo cute!”
She blushed, hoping Lee didn’t notice the gesture. He was cute especially with his hair pulled to the back and tied in a micro ponytail, he wore his favorite earrings which her dad would probably freak out about later. What’s cuter was the fact he was wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim overall, her favorite outfit, but Lee made it look like it was cool.
The older kids hung out at the Gazebo drinking beer, while Hazel and her friends were sitting at the picnic table not far from the grill. Claire had put up hanging garden lights for the occasion, she realized it was probably the last time they were going to have a family moment like that for a long time.
Max and Theo were leaving for college, it almost felt like she was losing two sons at the same time. And then Hazel will probably leave less than two years after that. She hugged her husband and looked at the kids from afar, she sighed heavily and kissed Edward on the lips. Soon they will be back into being that couple that started the whole family in the first place, just the two of them but not merely as complete.
After dinner, or more like after her parents drilled questions at Lee on the picnic table while they ate, Hazel managed to get him away from everyone and played Fortnite with Jan and Kyle in the living room TV. The older kids continued their more adult conversations with Hazel’s parents and drinking beers because they were allowed to.
“He even wears the same outfit as her … isn’t that cute?” Peyton made a remark as she watched them from the backyard.
Theo raised his brows lazily and sipped on his beer.
Peyton turned to him and squeezed his cheeks with one hand, “Why are you pouting? You looked so bored all night?”
“Do I?” he didn’t realize he was not enjoying that night as much as everybody else.
“Yeah, we’ve won the tournament, we’re supposed to be celebrating, and here you are frowning.”
He rested his elbow on the table and leaned his head on his palm, “Was I?” his eyes were looking at the two couples inside the house, they were jumping, dancing, laughing, and just being silly with each other.
Peyton wrapped her arm around his waist, “Do you wanna leave early? We go back to my house and do our own stuff?” she whispered in his ear and grazed her teeth on his earlobe.
“What? No … Claire made an effort to invite us here, I don’t want to leave early … I’m fine, really, just tired … maybe.”
She strokes his hair and looked into his eyes, “Come on … what is it? Tell me … you haven’t been yourself lately … you don’t want to spend time at my house anymore, you told me to go out with my friends, is something bothering you?”
Yes, something was bothering him, but he wasn’t sure why. He stared back at her and felt the spark he used to have when he did that was not there anymore, he was confused. But he kissed her lips and told her he was fine.
Peyton was no fool, she noticed the change lately although she couldn’t figure out why. She was the jealous type and she was worried that TJ was seeing other girls, with his popularity and good looks, it could be anyone. She first thought it was one of the other cheerleaders, but he seemed to want to go home early and spend more time at Max’s house than anywhere else. Then she saw the drastic change in his mood when Lee arrived at the barbeque.
She took her phone and browsed her Instagram. Sure enough, she caught Hazel’s post in her timeline. It was Lee posing with Hazel’s cardboard cut out in her room, Hazel slipped between them, her eyes crossed and her tongue was out. The caption was, “When your new best friend needs approval from your cardboard cutout … tee hee … ”
She showed it to TJ. “Look … they’re so cute it makes me physically ill,” she joked.
Theo glanced at it and forced a smile, he looked away almost immediately and drank his beer.
Peyton never saw it coming, could it be?