Chapter 25

       For some odd reason, Mom and Dad invited both me and Holden out for a family dinner. I was guessing it was because Holden's birthday was around the corner and while they weren't happy at the choices he made, they still wanted to celebrate with their family.

       They even invited Cleo to come with us because they haven't really met yet, and because they hadn't seen their granddaughter much. 

       I just hoped the dinner wouldn't be too awkward.

       "I still feel like we should have some sort of code if you're starting to feel uncomfortable at the dinner," I said to Cleo while I was helping Guinevere to get ready.

       "Why would I feel uncomfortable?" Cleo asked.

       "Because of the small feud my family is going through," I said. "I bet ten minutes won't even pass before they bring up Holden's relationship with Shaw. That actually reminds me of something. We're going to eat at The Gold Mine and if Shaw is working, that will make it a lot more awkward."

       "Well, if I somehow do start feeling uncomfortable, I'll just say Celeste needs a diaper and I forgot to pack some," Cleo said. "And are you sure the code is for me, and not for you?"

       I sighed. "I'm just getting tired of arguing with them and them shi-- crapping on Holden's relationship. It's just so clear how much Shaw cares about my brother, and that's all that should matter. If Shaw won't hurt Holden, then I don't see what the big deal is."

       And that was true. Shaw had risked his life going into the city hall which was up in flames just to save Holden. If that wasn't good enough for Mom and Dad, then I didn't know what was.

       Once we were all ready, we left our house and headed to The Gold Mine for the inevitable awkward family dinner. Everyone else was already there, including Holden. And of course, as soon as Guinevere saw Holden, she rushed over to him and gave him a hug. "Hi, Uncle Holden!"

       Holden did look grumpy but as soon as his niece gave him a hug, the grumpy look faded and was replaced with a smile. Guinevere then insisted on sitting right beside Holden because she loved him so much.

       I should be jealous, but she was making him smile so I decided to look past it.

       Since Mom and Dad never really met Cleo, I introduced them to each other no matter how mad at them I was. "Mom, Dad, this is Cleo," I said. "Cleo, these are my parents Lawrence and Tara."

       "Nice to meet you," Mom said, giving Cleo a smile though for some reason it seemed... kind of fake.

       I ignored the look, however, as Cleo and I sat down at the table. Not long after, our waiter walked up to the table which immediately annoyed Mom and Dad, but amused Holden a whole lot.

       The awkward situation was definitely going to come sooner rather than later.

       "Hi, my name is Shaw and I'll be your waiter today," Shaw said and I could tell he was trying not to say it with an annoyed tone. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

       I already knew what Dad wanted to say to Shaw and it didn't surprise me when he actually said it, like he did every single time Shaw was our waiter. "Can we get another waiter?" Dad asked.

       Holden scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything in reply. I didn't blame him.

       "Sorry, all the other waiters are busy at the moment," Shaw said, trying even harder to keep his cool otherwise he wouldn't get in trouble with his boss. "So, can I start you off with something to drink or not?"

       Holden was the last one to tell Shaw what drink he wanted and he decided to be a little pest to Mom and Dad, though I didn't blame him. "Are you on the menu?" Holden asked.

       Shaw chuckled. "And a Dr. Pepper for you. I'll be right back with your drinks."

       As Shaw walked away, Holden couldn't help but watch, and then Julian punched his shoulder. "Ow," Holden said. "What was that for?"

       "Stop being all cute with your relationship," Julian said. "It makes me feel lonely because I'm forever alone and it sucks."

       "You're only sixteen, Julian," Dad said. "You can't expect to find someone so young."

       We all knew that was directed towards Holden, but nobody said anything about it. This dinner was going to be a lot more awkward than I thought, so I really hoped the twins were able to take all the tension away by telling their lame jokes.

       Shaw came back with our drinks, and then took our dinner orders. After he left, everyone was silent and I was trying to think of something to say, but most of my thoughts were quite angry towards my parents and it would be best not to bring them up now.

       Or at all since they weren't going to listen.

       Thankfully, Noah thought of something. "Hey, guess what happened at school today? And before you say, no, I didn't get my head stuck in a toilet. At least not this week."

       "He did last week," Julian said. 

       "I just don't get how you're constantly getting your head stuck in a toilet," Mom said. 

       "That's a topic for another day," Noah said. "Anyway, at school someone decided to bring a pig to school and let it loose in the hallway."

       "Don't tell me it was you two," Dad said.

       "Uh, of course not," Julian said. "If it was, I'm pretty sure the principal would have called you about it. And don't think he didn't because he doesn't know it was us, because it wasn't."

       Dad sighed. "When are you two going to stop getting in trouble at school."

       "We didn't get in trouble," Noah said. "Because like Julian said, he doesn't know it was us. I mean, it wasn't us."

       While we were talking, my cell phone kept ringing, so I looked to see who was calling. It was an unknown number, so I put it on vibrate and ignored the call.

       But they kept calling over and over again, so I had to excuse myself from the table to answer. "Hello?" I said.

       "Josh, hi," Cassidy's voice said on the other line. 

       "Why are you calling me?" I asked, trying not to sound mad.

       "Oh, because I just wanted to give you a warning," Cassidy said. "I'm not done with your family."

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THE END. :O

lol

I CAN FINALLY GET THE OTHER BOOK STARTED YAY. I'm going to go post the character and cast list SO LOOK OUT FOR THAT.