Having finished their breakfast, and their morning routines, the Anderson brothers go next door to meet Ben and his boyfriend Alex. The two are waiting in Ben's driveway, laughing on the hood of his car.
"What's wrong with Eric?" Ben asked, after getting a look at Eric's sullen expression.
"Eh, he's just being Eric. Let's get going. It's already quarter of," Nate says, sparing a quick glance back at his brother. Eric's idiosyncrasies may be normal to him, but to other's Eric is a grade-A weirdo. What teenager enjoys studying and taking tests more than playing sports and spending time with people his own age? Eric, that's who.
"Should I even ask what you two were up to last night?" Nate asked after the four entered Ben's car. Alek grins and remarks that it's best not to divulge things like that in front of a minor. Not that Eric is listening. He has his window open, and the only thing he can hear is the sound of the wind passing. He could careless about the mindless gossip.
"We're all minors," Nate points out.
"Oh ya. Well gentlemen don't kiss and tell." Alek said quickly, winking.
"So there was kissing involved?" Nate gets a very fox-like grin on his face (irony intended).
"Dude, we're the gay ones here. Don't try to steal our thunder." Ben said.
The second Ben pulls into a parking space and stops, Eric jumps out of the car. Nate shouted something at him, but Eric doesn't have the hearing capabilities the others do. And he doesn't care what Nate is shouting. The further away from the others the better.
"Why can't they just leave me alone?" he muttered to himself. He likes being on his own. Charts, numbers, and textbooks are easier to understand than people. People, they're so... irregular.
Eric stops at his locker to swap his textbooks and folders. As he does, a pair of hands suddenly cover his face.
"Julie, I told you before that doesn't work. I can smell your perfume," he sighed.
"You're no fun Eric." she said, lowering her hands. She pouts, and it has the desired effect. Eric leans over to give her a quick kiss, and that wipes the pout off Julie's face.
"Sorry, I had a rough morning." he said.
"That's okay. Did you talk to your parents about this weekend?" Julie asks. Eric internally grimaces. He hadn't. He knew they would allow him to spend the weekend with Julie and her family while they visited Julie's aunt and uncle, but he wasn't sure he was ready to make that kind of commitment. He's done the "getting to know you" dinner, the school dances, and all the other milestones. But Julie was only his first real girlfriend. Why was she so insistent on his meeting the rest of her family? They'd only been dating for a month. Were relationships supposed to move this quickly?
None of his brothers' romances went this way. As a matter of fact, most of Nate's relationships ended after the third date. Eric didn't know why, he suspected it had something to due with the nights activities. Every time Nate went on a third date, he'd load his pockets with breath mints, cover himself in cologne, and stuff half-a-dozen condoms into his wallet.
"Uh, well I was, I mean I wanted to, and then I, uh..." Eric finds himself stumbling over the simplest of words. Julie's smile quickly fades again, only this time a peck on the cheek won't bring it back.
"They said no?" she assumes.
"No, I mean they didn't say no. Actually they, um, they didn't say anything. I didn't ask them yet." Eric finally admits.
"Eric..."
"I know, I'm sorry. But this is supposed to be a family trip isn't it? Why should I intrude? Your father wasn't thrilled when you told him you invited me right?" Eric was quick to change the subject to Julie's parents.
"Well, no he wasn't. But that's different. He's been so stressed out lately. He's got a lot of work to do, and stuff. And he and my mom have been fighting again..." Julie's voice drops off close to the end of her sentence.
Eric is suddenly wracked with guilt and regret that he'd brought up her parents. His own parents had such a happy marriage he often forgot that others weren't so lucky. Martin Stovall was the town mayor. And as good at his job as he was, that didn't excuse his inappropriate behavior.
"I'm sorry. Look, you're only going to be gone for one day right? Why don't you go with your folks, and I'll stay behind. Then we can spend all of Sunday together. That way everyone wins. I can meet your aunt and uncle on another occasion, maybe when your father's not so stressed out." Eric offers. Julie considered Eric's idea for a moment before nodding her head.
"Alright." Is all she has to say.
The bell rings and ends their conversation. Julie gives Eric a kiss goodbye and rushes off to her first class. Eric lingers in the hallway, wondering how long he'll be able to avoid meeting the rest of Julie's family. This wasn't the first time she tried to get him to meet them, and Eric felt it wouldn't be the last.
"I'm too tired to deal with this ***" he thinks aloud. Eric shuts his locker door, and shoulders his suddenly heavy backpack. Though he only has two or three things inside, it feels like it weighs two hundred pounds.