The Road Trip

Chapter 4 - The Great Dinner Disaster

Chapter 4

The Great Dinner Disaster

When I got downstairs, I was greeted by seven familiar faces. My mom, Paisley, Mr. Daniels, aka. Greg, and the rest of the boys. Like me, they were dressed up. The boys all looked nice in dress shirts and ties, and if I do say so myself, our mothers had hot bods.

I frowned, not seeing my brother anywhere. "Where's Liam?" I asked, frowning. My mom turned around, peeking into the kitchen.

"I think he is on the phone with Nia." She whispered, eyes growing wide. After one glance at each other, every Daniel hustled out of my house like it was on fire. I raised an eyebrow, clearly, I had missed something. "Just leave it, honey. He'll meet us there."

"You go get in the car," I said, walking through the glass, french doors, "I'll be there in a second."

"It's your funeral." My mom muttered, hastening out the door. Really, what did I miss in an hour and a half?! Through the glass doors was the kitchen. Liam was leaning on the island, one hand holding his phone to his ear and the other holding a coffee mug. Steam rose from the cup, so I knew it was fresh. Other than that, he was completely ready in his black pants and blue shirt.

"Nia, listen to me," Liam growled, glaring at the ground. Whoa, Mad Liam Alert. Thank God he didn't notice me. I started backing away, scared he would blow up in my face. Trust me, it wouldn't have been pretty. When Liam was mad…. let's just say you should get out of the way. "I'm sorry, I had to come for Addie's birthday! No, I'm not running away." He paused, and I could hear Nia's angry voice. That's how loud she was yelling. "Don't you think I know that?!" He yelled, "I told you, I'm working on it!" His eyes flared, his knuckles turning white around the edges. "I don't have to put up with this bullshit!"

I flinched at how loud his voice was, frozen in place. If he saw me, as my mom said, it would be my funeral.

"You know what, Nia?" His voice dropped dangerously low, "You're full of shit." Nia started cursing on the other line, making his face grow red. With a grunt, he threw the coffee mug across the room with all his might. It hit the wall inches from my head, shattering into a million pieces. The sound echoed through my ears as I watched the brown liquid drip from the white walls. "Addie?" My eyes snapped to him. He looked shocked.

"Just stay home, Liam." I whispered, shaking, "Or go back to your home, whatever you need to do." Without waiting for an answer, I turned and ran. I couldn't believe he had to have a fight on my birthday, of all days. He couldn't put it off for a few hours while we had dinner? Now I would be missing my father and brother.

Silently, I squeezed into the van. Alex and Paisley got the middle seats, and Greg and my mom got the front seats, so I had to squeeze into the back with Luke and Trent. Because I was the last one in, I got the last seat. Which just so happened to squeeze me right up against Trent. Talk about uncomfortable.

"So," Said Greg, giving me a stern look. Oh no. "Since your dad isn't here, I feel compelled to say this. I heard from your mother that you're going to Holden's house after this?" Aw, dang. I forgot to tell my mom my plans had been canceled, so I knew exactly where this was going. "Anyway," He cleared his throat, "I expect you to come home with your, erm, what are the kids calling it these days? Your 'v' card."

My eyes bugged out as everyone, except Luke, started laughing. Two times in one day my virginity had come up. That must be some kind of record. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I stared at Greg in horror. He gave me an apologetic look, growing a little red himself.

"I.. Uh..." I stuttered, turning my gaze out the window. The lights that flew by were much better than facing my humiliation. "Actually, my plans for tonight were canceled...This is it." My mother sighed in relief, making me roll my eyes. Trent was still chuckling next to me, which made my blood boil. Discreetly, I hit his thigh.

“Good to know you’re still a virgin." He whispered in my ear, so close his lips brushed my skin. I forced myself not to shiver and focused on glaring at the cars that passed us. A few minutes of silence later, we pulled into the Olive Garden parking lot. “And now, Addie, I present to you your idiotic present, otherwise known as my brother." Trent pointed to across the parking lot, but I had to squint to see anything.

"Oh, my God, Chris!" I squealed, forcing my way out of the car and running towards him. His brown eyes sparkled as he wrapped me into a hug, plucking me from the ground and twirling me around, "Now all the Daniels are here!"

"Yes, ma'am." He laughed, setting me down. His heavy arm was slung across my shoulder as he walked me towards the door. Everyone else had already gone inside. "Happy birthday, Addie-Bug." I wrinkled my nose, he knew I hated that nickname. But I hadn’t seen him in months, I could live with the nickname for a night.

"How is college going?" I asked, shrugging his arm off of me. A worker opened the door for us, allowing me to walk inside.

"It's great." He smiled, "I'm loving every minute of it." Chris was a photographer. His pictures were amazing. "I actually got into a special program this summer. Only five were excepted from my whole class.”

"That's amazing!" I exclaimed, giving him a surprised look. He had at least twenty young adults in most of his class. "When do you leave?" He glanced down at me, biting his bottom lip.

"Right after your competition on Saturday." My eyes widened in shock. He was staying longer than a day! I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing him tight. I didn't even care that people were staring at us. "Excited much?"

"No," I scoffed, quickly pulling away and lifting up my nose. "I have to spend the next five days with you, what a horrible thought. My voice dripped with sarcasm. He faked a look of hurt and I stuck out my tongue.

"Mrs. Knight?" A skinny waitress asked. "I will show you to your table now." We all followed the lady through the restaurant until she stopped us at a table that had enough seats. "Someone will be back shortly to take your order." Then she scurried off to help someone else. I ended up seated next to Chris and Trent, and across from me sat Luke.

'Are you excited Chris is staying?' Luke signed to me, smirking. I gasped.

'You knew!' I accused, 'And you didn't tell me!'

'Of course, I didn't.' He shot me a wink before ducking behind his menu, hiding his face from view. I rolled my eyes, picking up my own menu and glancing through it. Not that I needed too, I knew what I was getting. Spaghetti, my favorite.

"What may I get y'all to drink?" Asked a young man with bright green eyes and shagging brown hair. Freckles dotted his nose and his smile was piercing white.

"Water, please," I said quickly, setting my menu down on the table. He gave me a smile, nodding his head before turning to Trent. I furrowed my eyebrows, he looked really familiar. Maybe he went to my school or something. If I just concentrated hard enough...

"Coke, please," Luke said. For some reason, it didn't faze me in the way it should have. I think it was because I had heard him speaking earlier. So, instead of responding, I continued to stare blankly at my hands and try to place a name with our waiter’s face. I could hear his footsteps leaving, but no one resumed small talk. That got my attention.

"So, what d-" I cut off, glancing in confusion at the faces around me.

Chris and my moms’ faces were that of complete shock. Paisley looked proud, but Greg was indifferent, if not a little annoyed. Everyone else was just staring at Luke without emotion. Well, except for Alex. He was playing with his silverware.

Luke shifted uncomfortably under their gazes, throwing me a helpless look.

"What's going on guys?" I asked in bewilderment. "What happened?" Suddenly everyone turned to look at me. Huh, so that's how Luke felt. It was like being strangled in a sea of attention.

"H-he talked." My mom stuttered, furrowing her eyebrows, "Luke spoke. Like, with a voice." Out of nowhere, Chris stood up, knocking his chair over backward. He yanked me right along with him. I let out a little yelp of surprise, attempting to stand on my own.

"We'll be right back." He announced, dragging me away from the table. I glanced at Luke, giving him a puzzled expression. He winced, mouthing 'sorry.'

"What the heck, Chris?" I asked when I collected my thoughts. He was still pulling us through the crowd, heading towards the front entrance. He didn't say anything. His whole body was rigid, his jaw set tight. What the hell was his problem?! Chris finally released my wrist when he had pulled me into the warm night air. "What's your damage?!"

"Addison," He said slowly, "My kid brother just spoke. The one that's been deaf all his life." Oh...Right, that was a secret. "How the hell is that possible?! He never does that. He hates when mom tries to make him. And how are you not freaking out?!" He turned to face me, searching my face for an answer. It was surprising how mad he was. Shouldn't he be glad?

"He went to speech therapy this past year," I muttered, crossing my arms. Even if it was summer, I was a little chilly in my strapless dress. Chris spun around, clenching his fists tightly. "What is it?" I placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face me. He relaxed slightly, but his jaw was still clenched.

“My mom made him go, didn't she?" Slowly, I nodded. "Damn." He hissed, making my eyes grow wide. Chris didn't curse. He said it was 'nasty.’ "I knew this would happen." I raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused. Luke hadn't seemed so depressed or angry about it.

"What?" I asked, attempting to look him in the eye. He would just look away, avoiding my gaze. Even though I just got brief glances, I’m pretty sure I saw tears shining in his eyes.

"When Luke was born, my mom was upset. She didn't want a deaf child." He finally sighed, defeated. I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. Paisley had always been great about Luke's disability! "She wanted him to get the Cochlear Implant Surgery, but the doctors and my dad convinced her to wait until Luke was old enough to decide on his own. Needless to say, he decided not to have the surgery. Luke doesn't mind being deaf. He says it makes him who he is."

Chris took a deep breath, "The surgery doesn't always work, and if it does it's not the same thing as regular hearing. Yeah, he should be able to understand words and respond to them better, but he doesn't want it. Apparently, my mom won't give up her stupid quest to make Luke 'normal.'" I didn't believe it. Paisley, the woman who I thought was okay with the whole thing, had been secretly trying to ‘solve’ it the whole time.

"So that means..." I trailed off, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"It means that my mom decided to ignore my dad by forcing him to go to speech therapy. If she did that, then she could force him to get the surgery." Chris sat down on a nearby bench, placing his head in his hands. I sat down next to him, taking a deep breath. My mind was racing.

"But he could tell the doctors he doesn't want it, right?" My voice shook slightly as I spoke. Chris looked at me carefully, raising an eyebrow as if to say, are you stupid?!

"He could, but I don't think it would work. He’s a minor, my mom makes all of the major the medical decisions." I groaned, letting my head fall back to the top of the bench, "Come on, Addie. They're going to wonder where we went.” I knew he was right, but secretly I wanted to just sit there and look at the stars and be able to forget about my troubles for just a moment.

“Just wait,” I muttered, breathing in and letting it out through my nose. This whole thing was a little unbelievable. Luke should’ve told me. I could have....tried I could've tried to do something about this. Groaning, I leaned my head onto Liam’s shoulder. He leaned into me, placing a hand on my knee and squeezing. “Okay, let’s go.”

We made our way back into the restaurant and, after convincing the lady at the door that we had been in here before, finally got back to our table. I took my seat silently, eyeing the water that had been set before me. No one spoke, which was a little unnerving. Fidgeting in my seat, I glanced at Trent. He was twirling a fork in his hand absentmindedly. I grabbed my phone from the pocket in my dress and sent a quick text to Luke.

What happened? Why is it so quiet?

Luke started fishing around in his pockets, raising an eyebrow at me. I nodded, sticking my tongue out at him.

My mom and dad got in a fight...Your mom took my dads side so now my mom is pissed.

I resisted the urge not to laugh. Of course, Paisley was upset, my mom hadn't ever fought against her in an argument.

Ouch. Was it about the Cochlear-thingy?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke stiffen. Oh great, he didn't want to talk about that...Well duh, Addie! I'm so stupid sometimes. I mentally face palmed myself.

We'll talk about it later.

I saw him shove his phone back in his pocket, so I took that as a sign not to text. Instead, I set the phone on my lap. It was still awkwardly silent, so I ran my fingers through my curls. That didn't help. I could've cut the tension with a butter knife. I jumped as my phone vibrated, glancing at the name that was flashing on the screen. Trent?

Oooh, are we texting? I wanna join!

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. We had exchanged numbers for emergency purposes but had never actually used them. Until my seventeenth birthday, that is.

Well, we're done now, so bye.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and he was scowling at the screen. The way his eyebrows met in a 'v' shape kinda made him look like Oscar the Grouch.

Aw, come on, Addie. I'm so bored!

Too bad, I went to your birthday dinner, so you have to suffer.

I quickly shoved my phone in my pocket, turning it off so that I wouldn't get any more texts throughout the dinner. Trent groaned beside me, making me chuckle. Just then, the waiter came back. He had two other people with him who had their hands full with trays. After quickly handing out our food, they disappeared.

"I'll be right back," Trent announced, standing up and hurrying off. I didn’t even think it was strange, knowing Trent he was off to go do something completely inappropriate. Shrugging, I dug into my spaghetti. Everyone else did the same, still not speaking. Trent returned to the silence, glancing around and rolling his eyes. I didn't blame him, I felt the same way. Honestly, this was a pretty bad dinner. When we were just finishing our plates, Alex's voice startled me. He had been silent the whole time - which was a miracle in itself.

"What's a 'vcard?" He asked innocently. I choked on the water I had been swallowing. Where had he heard that?! Oh, my god, in the car! His dad had said it! I quickly looked at my mother, who was horrified. All the boys had burst out laughing, gripping their sides.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,"I glanced around again, noticing the parade of Olive Garden workers marching towards me, holding a little cake with a candle in it. So that's where Trent had gone. My cheeks started to burn like a flame. I hated the attention with a burning passion. Well, at least that would make Alex forget his question. I focused my gaze on the workers, who were coming up behind Luke.

"I wanna know!" Alex screamed, throwing his arms out to the side. That sent his sprite flying in the air, and it landed on Luke's lap. I gasped as he flew up, hitting the arm of the man who was carrying my cake. Time seemed to slow as the cake went flying through the air. Even before it landed, I saw it coming. This really was turning out to be the worst birthday ever.

I screamed as the cake landed on my head, sending the gooey chocolate frosting flying in every direction.