[ C h a p t e r - T w e n t y - S e v e n ]

Chapter 27

I fixed my purple dress; it was uncomfortable as it lumped up beneath me. I nervously pulled at my hair which was curled. “Calm down, Savannah.”

My eyes flickered to Jonah who was giving me a reassuring smile. His smile helped me a little bit but I was still scared that I was going to mess up and say something they wouldn’t like. “I’m trying.”

“I know you are,” he replied, squeezing my hand as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant we were going to be eating at. The place was intimidating, with the fancy valet service and the large building.

“This is… fancy,” I whispered as I stared out of the window. As we got out of the car, Jonah gave the man his keys.

“Your name sir?” the valet man asked with a pompous look on his face. Why is he so arrogant? The only thing he does is park cars!

“Jonah Davis,” Jonah replied as he stared at the man. The man was short, only a few inches taller than me but at least 6 inches shorter than Jonah.

Jonah and I were ushered in by a lady who offered a friendly smile. We stood near the man who was standing on a podium. “Reservation?”

“The Davis Family, seating for 10,” Jonah stated in a professional voice, as if he’s done this before. I stared at him and he winked at me, causing me to blush and look away. The guy at the podium smiled at us.

“Right this way,” a man announced as he brought us to a large table. It had ten seats and I furrowed my eyebrows; Sierra, Sabrina, Weston, Georgia, Diane, Gregory, Jonah, His mom, His dad, and me. I hadn’t realized it was this many people.

He pulled the chair out for me and allowed me to sit down. I smiled at him as he did. He took the seat to my left which happened to be at the end of the table. I wonder who’s going to sit across from us. I hope it’s not West and Georgia, they’d make me laugh and by the looks of it, laughing in this restaurant is frowned upon.

Jonah looked at me with a smile. “They should be here shortly.”

“Do you do this often?” I asked him and he smiled at me.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“You know? Go out to fancy-schmancy restaurants?” I replied as I took in the sight. Most of the people here are middle aged, most likely wealthy and they probably own businesses that I buy things from.

Jonah shrugged again. “I used to do this a lot when I was in my early teens, and then I stopped around age 15.”

I wonder why. “Why?”

I hope I’m not being nosy. “Well, because I got sick of having to do this once a week when I could be skateboarding and playing videogames with my friends," he shrugged and I nodded.

I looked down at the silverware. The spoons looked the same. Should I know the difference? I looked at the tablecloth which seemed to be silk or some other fabric. It was red, a pretty shade of it. I looked up and saw Jonah staring at me. I felt my face warm up as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Was he…blushing?

I laughed and managed to keep it at a sane level, only earning a few glares from people around us. “You’re blushing.”

He glared at me. I turned in my chair to face Jonah. I furrowed my eyebrows as I reached out and grabbed his tie. I began fixing it and he stared at me while I did. It’s been irking me since we sat down. I looked up at him once I was finished and noticed that he had a small smile on his lips. “Thanks.”

I shook my head. “It’s no problem.”

I heard footsteps reach the table and I looked up to see a large group of people approaching us. It was the familiar six that I know and two unfamiliar faces. Well, I can’t say unfamiliar because I see where Jonah gets his looks from, and the twins. They both inherited the dark hair from their father, who looked like an older version of Jonah.

“You name sir?” I heard Weston mocking and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Jonah laughed, too and we smiled at each other as the two sat down beside us. Georgia was right beside me and Weston was next to her.

I looked directly in front of me to see Jonah’s mother sitting there. She was examining me as if I was something that had been sent to a laboratory. She finally stopped and met my gaze with a large smile. “You must be Savannah.”

“I am, you must be Jonah’s mother and father,” I smiled at the two. They gave me genuine smiles.

If I’m being honest, I’d rather be spending my Friday night playing Halo and eating as much chips as my stomach could hold- which was a lot. “You can call us Matilda and Tony.”

I noticed the twins at the end of the table, sitting across from each other and Jonah’s aunt and uncle were across from their children. I felt Jonah squeeze my hand and I sent him a nervous smile. “Shall we order?” Mr. Davis piped up.

~~~

We spent about a half hour ordering. I'm not sure how much the bill came up to because Mr. Davis said he'd cover it; but I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty when I ordered a meal that was a bit more expensive than what I'm used to. Jonah assured me that it was okay but I felt bad just taking their money in the form of food.

We made small talk until our meals arrived, Jonah’s parents were telling us about their flight here and we listened intently. They flew first class and I wondered if Jonah and the twins did, too. When the food arrived, I felt a wave of relief crash over me. I’d been starving and I was scared that my stomach grumbling would get louder and it’d ruin my first impression on Jonah's parents.

“So, Savannah, how are your grades in school?” I thought about the question. The last time I checked my grades- which I struggled to bring up, they were all B’s and two A’s.

“I have the majority of ‘B’s’ but I have a few ‘A’s’,” I explained and Tony winced.

He placed his glass down. “What classes do you have ‘B’s’ in and why?”

“I have a ‘B’ in physical education because I’m terrible at that and in Algebra 2 but I’m bringing that up thanks to your son. I have a ‘B’ in art also because the teacher says I don’t have on artistic eye,” I admitted.

Tony frowned but Matilda decided to speak up. “What classes do you have ‘A’s’ in?”

“I have ‘A’s’ in all of my core classes aside from Algebra 2. I also have ‘A’s’ in almost all of my electives aside from art,” I informed them. They nodded their heads.

Matilda decided to speak up again. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“Well, I like to play video games and I like to cook," I held back the urge to admit to stalking their son’s Facebook page night and day.

Matilda nodded. “You sound a lot like Jonah aside from the fact that he can’t cook.”

I smiled and nodded. “I realized that; he burns everything.”

We laughed at Jonah’s expense while he smiled at me. Tony gave me a grin. “Do you have a job?”

I nodded. “I do have a job; I often work 10-14 hours a week depending on my school schedule; school always comes first.”

Tony and Matilda looked impressed and I held back from fist pumping. I stole a glance at Jonah and he was chewing a piece of his steak. He grinned at me and the juice from the steak spilled out of his mouth. He quickly wiped it with a napkin and I smiled.

“How old are you, Savannah?” Matilda asked me curiously.

I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “I’m turning 17 in 11 days,” I smiled happily.

“Your birthday is so soon; what are you going to do?” Matilda asked and I shrugged.

“I honestly have no plans; I just want to sit at home and play videogames. I might hang out with my friends and family, but I’m not planning on having a party," I confessed and Matilda nodded.

“I understand; Jonah was always like that; he never wanted a grand birthday party. I don’t understand why; he had plenty of friends in school,” Tony stated as they stared at their son in confusion. He just sheepishly looked away.

“What do you like about my son?” Matilda cut to the chase, there was no beating around the bush with her and I appreciated that.

I stuttered slightly. “W-well, I like how he academically and athletically excels. He’s funny, too, so that’s a plus. We also have common interests which is always good. Overall, he’s pretty cool. He’s cute, too.”

I can’t believe I added that last part. You guys aren’t really dating! You can’t just say stuff like that! Don’t you think I realized that about .2 seconds after it slipped? Georgia nudged me under the table and I wanted to bury my face in this expensive food. “I’d like to think so.”

I looked up at Matilda as she explained that with a grin. Jonah smirked at me. “You’re pretty cute, too.”

I wanted to crawl under the table and die. Tony rolled his eyes before laughing. “Okay, enough of that.”

Tony smiled at us as we continued eating, making casual conversation.

~~~

“I think that went well, don’t you?” Jonah asked as we drove to my house. I let out a sigh of relief the moment we sat in the car and I hadn’t talked since.

I nodded my head tiredly. “I felt like I was a loser. ‘I like to play video games in my free time,’” I mocked myself in a slurred voice.

Jonah laughed. “Are you calling me a loser? That’s all I do! At least you have a job, I’m still searching.”

“I heard the ice cream place in the same plaza as my job is hiring,” I replied and he looked at me with an interested look.

“Same plaza as your job, you say?” he questioned me and I nodded.

“Yes," I replied with a smile.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the dance?” Jonah asked me with a frown.

I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t dance or shop; what happened to just hanging out?”

“Fine, you can’t see my dance moves anyway; you’re under 18. You’ll need a permission slip,” Jonah responded and I laughed.

"I'm starting to think that you really can't dance," I told him. He smiled at me as he pulled up to the front of my house.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You’re working tomorrow, right?” he asked me and I nodded. “Mind me stopping by your job?” I shook my head.

“That’d be nice; Mere isn’t working and sometimes, I get bored,” I explained as I fiddled with my hands. His eyes were boring into mine as he spoke slowly. He enunciated every word.

He nodded his head. “I’m going to go apply for that job, too.”

“Good luck,” I smiled as he leaned in and kissed my cheek.

“I can’t wait for that one month mark," he jokingly whined.

I felt my face redden. “Cheeseburger.”

“What?” Jonah asked me, eyebrows furrowed and a small smirk on his lips. “Did you just say cheeseburger?”

“Bye!” I muttered as I got out of the car, wanting to slam my face into a wall for embarrassing myself like that.

As I entered the house, my brother was casually sitting there. “Did you get that kiss yet?”

I frowned. “Not quite.”

My brother groaned. “Tell me when you do.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why can’t I have a normal brother?”

“Why can’t I have a sister that can tell a guy that she likes him?” my brother asked.

“Maybe the same guy who’s keeping me from telling Jonah that I like him is the same guy that’s keeping me from having a normal brother,” I remarked and Jeremiah glared at me. I just smiled in response before walking upstairs.

~~~

“How’d it go?” Mere asked as I put her and Dana on a three-way call. I pressed the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I played on the XBOX. “Hello? Earth to Savannah! I asked you a question!”

Dana giggled, not at all intimidated by the longer friendship of Mere and I. “I…heard you. I’m…busy...killing people on…Call of Duty. You cheater!” I screamed as I slammed the XBOX controller down onto my bed. It bounced a bit before settling between my arms. I grabbed at my hair.

“Are you sure they aren’t just better than you?” Dana questioned and I glared at the television screen as I was returned to the lobby.

I scowled. “Are you sure they aren’t just better than you? Of course they’re not better than me Dana; they’re noobs,” I mocked her voice.

Mere was in a full on laughing fit but she sobered up to ask me her question. “How’d it go?”

“Oh, it went well. Jonah said his parents like me. I guess it’s good,” I muttered as I rolled onto my back.

“If it’s good then why are you so upset?” Dana asked me and I sighed.

I rolled back onto my stomach. “I want it be real!”

“Make it real,” Mere stated and Dana made a sound of agreement. I groaned, running my hand over my face.

“It’s not that easy!” I complained.

“Caleb was convinced about 3 days ago! Yet Jonah still kisses your cheek and holds your hand. Answer me this, does he do it when nobody’s around?” Dana’s question caught me off guard and I was silent for a minute. He does, like he did when we were in the car.

“Yes,” I muttered.

“Was that a yes I heard? It was, right? Of course it was because he likes you! Just tell him that you like him and he’ll make it official," Dana continued.

“Or you can man up and demand that the relationship is real. Don’t give him an option to disagree; if he tries to fight it- put him in a plastic bag and put him in your basement. Don’t forget to use chloroform,” Mere stated as if it was the obvious answer. It seemed as if she spoke from experience.

I was silent. “I think I’d rather go with Dana’s answer. But I’m not going to go with either. What I’m going to do is go to sleep. Goodnight!” I exclaimed before I hung up with a sigh. Why are relationships so challenging?