Chapter 5: The Underwoods pt. 2

Rain

Just as I thought, this was going to be an awkward dinner. I felt my father staring daggers at me from the head of the table. His thick black eyebrows had spots of gray in them. They were bunching in the middle from the confusion of seeing an unwelcome guest. My sister, Raven, sat on his right side. Of course, she would. She was the oldest and the most reliable. Her long dark hair was tied back neatly tucked in a bun sitting at the nape of her neck. She was wearing her usual all-black business suit. Now I saw why Noah asked if my family were vampires. 

To my father’s left was Robyn. He had his hair pulled up to show off his fresh undercut. His loose-fit silk shirt was black with white repeating patterns of palm trees. Next to him was his wife, Phoebe. Her skin was darker than Noah’s, and her short, natural hair was dyed red. She wore a dress that was almost the same color as her skin complexion. In her lap sat her son, my nephew, Ryden. She was holding a bottle to his lips. Noah and I sat across from them, next to my sister. There was no way this awkward atmosphere was all in my head. My fingers found my hair once again. 

Raven was looking at Noah suspiciously. “So Noah,” she began. “How do you know Rain?” 

“He’s my stalker,” Noah answered with a smirk.

Raven and Robyn looked in my direction. So Noah was going to make this dinner harder than it needed to be? Got it. My fingers started getting tangled in my hair. Robyn was attempting to hold back a laugh. He knew I was nervous. The staff came out with the roast that was going to be our dinner for tonight. They sliced the roast and served it to each person sitting at the table. 

“I hope you like a roast, Noah. If I had known we were going to have guests, I would have requested something you like to be prepared,” Raven said in the most passive-aggressive way possible. 

“Sorry about that sis,” Robyn responded. “Rain told me he had someone coming over. I just forgot to relay the info.” 

“No worries. I usually eat fish tacos or something at my uncle's diner,” Noah said.

“So your family owns a food establishment? May I ask what it's called?” Raven asked.

“Alvarez Seafood diner. It’s right on the boardwalk overlooking the cove. I’ll give you a discount if you want to come by.” 

“No, thank you. You couldn’t have met at the diner, so I assume you met at the cove?

“Nope,” Noah answered, looking at me. He was trying hard not to smile. 

He found this amusing, and I just wanted to crawl into my room and never come out again. 

“Are you sure?” Asked Robyn. “Rain was gone for a short time at the cove party last week. When I found him, he was standing under the boardwalk. 

“You let him leave your sight?” Raven said, all her attention now on Robyn. 

“It was for a short time. Nothing happened,” Robyn responded with a mouth full of roast.

Raven looked at me and then at Noah, who was calmly eating his roast beef. I could tell he wanted to smile because he knew his plan of getting me to speak was working. I was seconds away from either having a panic attack or screaming. 

“Well, we did see each other at the cove party, but that’s not where we met,” Noah said, a smile cracking across his face. “He needed my help with something. You know, people have certain needs. And I’m talented at meeting them.” 

Why would he say that? I could feel my family getting more and more curious. Even Phoebe was studying me while Ryden made typical baby noises. 

“Well, Rain, I hope you’re attempting to be safe. The cove isn’t the cleanest place…to have your needs met.” Raven said.

Robyn was ecstatic. “If I’d known that’s what you were up to, I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to look for you,” he laughed.

My siblings were evil. I wanted to scream. There was no way this dinner could get worse, but then Noah spoke again.

“He wanted to know if I could scuba dive—”

I quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late. The room had gone silent, as though someone sucked away all the oxygen. I didn’t dare look at my family. Especially my Father. I underestimated Noah. He made this dinner ten times worse because now my family knew I was scuba diving again. He was an evil mastermind. My family looked at each other but stopped when they saw the rage in my father’s face. He spent the dinner being quiet like usual, but now he spoke.

“What did you just say?” 

I removed my hand from Noah’s face. 

“I said this roast is good. Premium stuff here. Tastes expensive.” Noah rambled before picking up his water and sipping it. 

My family immediately read the room. I was sure I had pulled out a lot of my hair at this point. 

“I’m going to take Ryden upstairs. I think he’s tired,” Phoebe lied. “Robyn, honey, help me, would you?” 

Robyn swiftly got up from the table to help his wife with a task that didn’t exist. 

“Raindriel. In my study. Now.” My father said in a voice that left no room for arguments. 

I got up from the table. The heat in my face rising from embarrassment. When I looked back at Noah, his face expressed that he knew he accidentally said something wrong. I followed my father into the study and closed the door behind me.

He rounded his desk and sat down while motioning for me to sit across from him. 

“I thought you stopped doing things like this, Raindriel,” My father said, disappointed. 

I stayed silent because I knew my father wouldn’t see my point of view. No matter what I said. We stared at each other. I waited for him to continue. 

“What was the point of paying for all those therapists if they weren’t going to fix you?”

“Did you think Romaris needed fixing too?” I asked, anger creeping into my voice.

The disappointment on his face made my stomach turn. My fingers were pulling at the ends of my hair. Of course, he thought I needed fixing, another broken item to be put together and placed into the picture of a perfect family he had created. I didn't know how to be the son he wanted. Not wanting to know what else he thought of me, I left the study.

 I walked back out to the dining room to ask Noah to go home, but his seat at the table was empty. Raven already handled that, I assumed. Should I message him? 

Walking through the foyer, I saw Noah leaning by the front door, typing away on his phone. I stopped at the staircase and stared at him. He walked over to me then grabbed my wrist with his right hand. He pulled a pen out of his pocket with his left hand. Noah began writing something on the palm of my hand. He was so close to me I could smell his shampoo. Coconut. When he finished, he looked up at me through his sparse eyelashes. 

“You’re going to damage your hair if you keep touching it so much,” Noah said as his hand hovered where I was pulling at my hair. His line of sight shifted to meet mine. I blinked hard. I didn’t know how to react to a situation like this. He smirked at my visual confusion. Then he turned around and left. 

I didn’t know how long I was standing at the bottom of the staircase. I didn’t even remember walking back to my room or lying on my bed. I glanced down at my hand and saw a phone number. Noah’s phone number. What a weird guy. I smiled.