Take it you’re not having a good time.
It actually hasn’t been too bad. Went shopping with mom, all the while bragging about how great her friend’s children are doing. As if I’m slumming it at UW.
Sorry. Just a couple more days.
I really miss you. I’m so happy for you though!
Thanks. I miss you too. Text if you need me.
“Well Bunny, are you ready to go get something to eat?” my dad asks me.
Looking up at him, I grin and say, “Yeah, let me go freshen up really fast.”
I quickly shoot Jase one last text before heading up to my room.
I will. Love you!
Love you too.
?????
Dinner last night was surprisingly pleasant, although my parents continued to talk all throughout dinner as though I wasn’t even sitting there. I have learned, with them, that sometimes it is better to be invisible than not.
I am finishing getting ready for our four o’clock reservation at the club. I have been keeping to myself most of the day with a run first thing this morning and then studying in my room. No one has said anything about my avoidance, but that’s nothing new.
Wearing the dress dress that I got yesterday while shopping with my mother, I slide on the black pumps and put in a pair of pearl earrings. I take one last look in the mirror before grabbing my wool coat and going downstairs.
My parents are sitting in the library having a drink when I walk in.
“Don’t you look lovely.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I say as I stand in the doorway. “It’s almost time to go. You ready?”
“Yes,” my father says. He stands up and takes my mother’s hand before helping her up as well.
When my mother walks towards me, she doesn’t say a word, and I wonder what’s got her strung so tight. I shake it off and follow my parents out to the drive.
“Oh, hey. Do you mind if we take separate cars? I was thinking about visiting Katy after we leave the club. I haven’t seen her since summer.”
“Of course, darling,” my father says as he opens the car door for my mother.
“Great.” I walk over to my car and hop in. Katy and I grew up together and we try to see each other when we are both home from college on breaks.
When I pull up to the prestigious Seattle Golf and Country Club, I am greeted by one of the valets. He opens my door and helps me out of the car where I am rejoined with my parents. Walking in, I plaster on a smile as people begin to say hello to my parents and myself. The faces never change, only the occasions.
When we are seated at our table looking out over the immaculate greens, our waiter approaches, and I quickly order a glass of wine. Looking down at the menu card that is placed on the center of my place setting, I let out a sigh of relief that this year they are actually serving turkey instead of the dreadful duck they had last year. But of course, it’s not your traditional turkey, not that I even know what that is since I have spent every holiday dinner here in this very room. They are serving a porcini-soy stuffed turkey with shallot-truffle gravy. Nothing can ever be simple.
When the waiter returns with our drinks, my father orders some hors d'oeuvres before our main course. My father lifts his glass and makes a quick toast before we clink and take our sips.
“So, Bunny, how is this school year going for you?”
“It’s been really busy, but I am managing to maintain my four point GPA, which should make you proud.”
I hear my mother softly chuckle as my dad says, “You know how important grades are to me, and it shows that you care. Of course I’m proud.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
My mother clears her throat, and I eye her when she says to my father, “She’s a dance major, honey. How hard can it be to have a four point?”
Clearly she had one too many cocktails in the library back home, because she is being more bold than usual. I tell myself to let it go so that this doesn’t wind up in an argument.
My father doesn’t say anything when she continues, “Sorry if that came out rude, but have you given any thought as to what you will do after graduation this spring? Have you applied to any graduate schools yet?”
“Graduate schools?” I ask as I shift my look to my dad and shake my head feeling like this choice of conversation was premeditated.
“Yes, well, your mother and I were concerned about your next step.”
“You know I have always planned on dancing. That has never changed.”
In a much softer voice, my mother says, “We were assuming that you would be taking a more serious outlook on your future. I mean, we have allowed you these past four years, hoping you would grow out of this little ballerina dream of yours.” She says this as if I’m a child with foolish dreams, like when a little girl says she wants to be a fairy princess when she grows up.