It's Pucking Complicated

A Detour

ISADORA

Knox's text lights up my phone and makes my heart beat faster, but only because I'm not really looking forward to going camping.

I have awful memories where camping is concerned, so that's understandable, but there's also a little something that has changed deep inside of me where Knox himself is concerned.

I thought being away from him for the past few days would be enough for the idea of fake dating him to cement in my mind, but if anything, time has only made me more nervous about this whole situation.

Are we really doing this?

It makes no sense for me to have doubts at this time, but I've always had a different way of processing things. Usually, I jump straight to acceptance of anything that happens to me, then start doubting myself along the way.

Who knows? Maybe this camping trip isn't going to be as hectic as all our interactions have been.

Ugh, why does this sound like famous last words?

The text simply says, I'm outside. I grab the duffel bag I packed for this moment and head out. Thankfully, Rodonia isn't in, so I don't have to see her face.

Honestly, things between us have been so tense after our massive argument. I've already applied to change rooms, but I don't know how lucky I'll get at this point in the semester.

I just can't stand her presence anymore. Every time I look at her, even if it's accidentally, she's already glaring at me.

It's not like I stole her man or something. I know she had a crush on him, but she laughed at me when I asked her why she was going to sleep with Cleo that night, so what's she on about?

I push all this to the back of my mind and prepare myself to deal with Knox. I open his car, climb in, and simply say, "Hey."

"Hey."

There's something immediately off about him. He's a total grump most of the time, yes, but he's in an especially bad mood today.

Before I can stop myself, I ask, "Is everything okay?"

He looks at me from the corner of his eye. "Yeah."

It's all he says, so I don't follow up that question with another. Hell, I don't know what even prompted me to ask him such a thing.

I browse through social media on my phone just to pass the time and he keeps his eyes on the road. The silence in the car is stifling but none of us puts any effort into breaking it. At this point, I think it's better not to say a word to each other unless we have to.

This camping trip is going to be just great, isn't it?

An hour later and we're still on the road. I want to know how far the campsite is, but I don't want to ask him a question just for him to answer me rudely and worsen the mood. Gosh, I wish I could just block him out and not care about his silence. Well, I don't care about it, but I hate this kind of awkward situation.

Knox drives into a more luxurious residential area and that makes me suspicious. I look at him from the corner of my eye, wondering what he's doing. What is this place? It doesn't look like there's a campsite anywhere near her.

Suddenly, he starts looking at me from the corner of his eye, too, and we make eye contact in this way. He clears his throat, shifts in his seat, and then tells me, "I'm just here to pick up my gear. The tent, sleeping bags. Anything else I can think of."

"Where's 'here'?"

"Home."

The neighborhood is behind us, and he's driving through a lone road that leads to a house further up the mountain. A few minutes later, he slows his car to a stop in front of a set of wrought-iron gates. His home is a double-storey, massive structure of stone, glass, and dark wood.

It's almost as big as my father's house.

Knox parks his car right in front of the garage. I look around the expansive lawn and the marble fountain right up front. It's a beautiful home and somehow, I can imagine him running around this place.

He fits right in. It shouldn't make sense, but it does.

"I just need a few minutes," he claims as he pulls the brake. "You can stay in the car or stretch your legs."

I decide to stay in the car. I watch as he opens his door and climbs out, not looking back as he makes his way around the car and enters the house through the front door. I let out a breath and take the seatbelt off for now, just so I can be more comfortable.

I look around for a handful of minutes, then I'm distracted by my phone again, so much that I don't see a woman dressed in all white walking toward me. Her light knock on the window makes me jump and drop my phone.

"Hi!" she says in a friendly voice. She looks so much like Knox that she can only be his mother, though she's definitely older than I expected. She has to be in her early sixties. "And who might you be?"

Out of decorum, I open the door and climb out, forgetting all about my phone. "Hi. I'm Isadora. Isadora Halvick."

"Huh," she says, smile still wide. Their eyes are the same unsettling shade of blue. "Well, I'm Jane Mohrelian. Knox's mother. You can call me Jane."

She offers me her hand and I shake it. This would be the perfect moment for Knox to show up, but I don't see him anywhere. Jane keeps holding onto my hand and is now guiding me toward the entrance. I'm pretty sure my face is as red as a ripe tomato. "He mentioned that you were in the car, and asked me to leave you alone, but I can't do that. Are you a friend of his?"

"Uh...Yes. We're friends."

Her thin, arched brows nearly touch her hairline. "Knox has never brought a girl friend over. This is a first. As you can imagine, it's a very exciting moment for me. Come on in! I baked some cookies. They're fresh out of the oven!"

We head inside and sure enough, I can smell them in the air. My mom's a baker in her spare time, so our house almost always smells like this. "Julius! Honey, come say hello to Knox's friend!"

"Huh?" I hear a man respond.

"Come and say hello!" she says in a louder voice before winking at me. "My poor husband. He's practically deaf in one ear. Here, Isadora, why don't you have a seat? Would you like tea with your cookies? Milk? Coffee?"

"Coffee, please."

"Coming right up!"

The man named Julius—Knox's father, of course—who's a little older than her appears in the kitchen. I climb off the cool metal stool and close the distance between us, smiling even though this is very awkward for me. "Good afternoon. I'm Isadora."

His eyes are wide as he glances at his wife. "You don't say. And you're Knox's girlfriend?"

"Girl friend," Jane answers, emphasizing the space between the words.

"Huh," he says again, looking back and forth between Jane and me. "And where is Knox?"

"Upstairs? Who knows? He came to fetch the camping gear."

Mr. Mohrelian asks me, "You're going camping?"

"Yes, Mr. Mohrelian."

"Please, call me Julius. I need to tell him that we're out of a few things. Do you think he's in the garage?"

"He went upstairs."

"Oh. I'll go looking in the garage, then."

Jane shakes her head and laughs as her husband shuffles toward the front door. She sets a plate of steaming chocolate chip cookies in front of me. My mouth waters. They smell so good. "Poor Julius. If he weren't so stubborn, he'd have a hearing aid by now, but Mohrelian men are stubborn to a fault."

I can only smile.

"So," she asks, narrowing her eyes at me, though she's still smiling, "how did you meet my son?"

Before I can answer her, Knox shows up.