Come To Stay Page 4

  “We’re going out to Burger King for lunch. Want to join?”

  “Burger King? There isn’t one near the school.

  “I’m driving. I’ve got a car, you know.”

  “Oh… maybe another time. I’ve got a math test right after lunch and I need to do some last minute studying.”

  “Maybe I could help you. I’m pretty good at math,” he boasted.

  “Have you taken Advanced Functions yet?”

  “Is that the class you’re studying for?”

  “Yeah. And I’m kind of lost in this unit so I really need to study. Parker here has been helping me out a lot, actually.”

  Parker shut his eyes tightly and willed Gaylen not to look at him. Better yet, he willed to go back in time and stop Greta from saying anything.

  “This nerd?” Gaylen asked with disgust. “He’s been helping you?”

  “Yep,” Greta said. “He’s a whiz at math. I’m more of a science person myself but college admissions want me to have Advanced Functions too, so I have to do it.”

  “I’m sure I could still help you,” Gaylen said. “I haven’t taken Advanced Functions yet but how hard could it be?”

  “Hard enough to trip me up so I’m not sure you’ll be much help, honestly. Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll take a rain check on the Burger King.”

  Anger flashed across Gaylen’s face and for a moment, Parker thought he was going to yell. Instead, he took a few breaths and said, “Okay. Some other time. Let’s go guys.” then stalked off down the hall.”

  “Sorry about that,” Greta said.

  “Are you friends with him?” Tyler asked. “No offence, but he seems kind of rude.”

  Greta shrugged. “I guess I’m kind of friends with him. We don’t talk all that much honestly. Anyway, why don’t we check the photos and make sure there’s a good one for Parker to post?”

  “I’m sure you got a good one, Greta,” Parker said. “You always do.”

  Greta blushed. “You flatter me.”

  “I’m serious! My Myspace page was a mess before I met you.”

  “Yeah, I can attest to that,” Tyler said.

  Greta laughed. “Yeah, I could see that. Okay, I’ll send them to you after school.”

  “Awesome, thanks.”

  “Oh, speaking of after school, do you guys have any plans?”

  “Yeah, I have to take my brother to his violin lesson,” Tyler said.

  “Your bother plays violin?” Parker asked.

  “He just started. Don’t ask me why.”

  “Okay…” Greta said. “How about you, Parker? Are you free?”

  “I think so. What were you thinking?”

  “Well, there’s always the option to go to that Burger King,” she deadpanned. “But other than that, I actually need to go to the mall to buy some Christmas presents. Want to go with me?”

  “Sure, sounds fun.”

  The bell rang for second period.

  “Awesome!” Greta said. “It’s a date.”

  She spun on her heel and ran off, leaving a shocked Parker in her wake.

  “She didn’t mean that,” Parker said. He looked at Tyler. “Right?”

  “I don’t know! Why are you asking me?”

  “Well, you are the only other one here, to be fair. But she couldn’t have meant it like a date-date, because she asked if we were both free.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not going,” Tyler said. “So, it could be a date.”

  Parker shook his head. “Why must girls be so confusing?”

  “Mom, Dad, I’m home!” Parker called out. He turned to Greta. “As far as I know, only my parents are here but I should warn you that there is the possibility of you meeting my siblings as well today. I’m not sure if their extracurriculars are running anymore since next week’s the last week of school before Christmas.”

  “That’s fine, I’d love to meet your whole family,” Greta said. They both took off their boots and coats. “How many siblings do you have?”

  “Three, all younger. Ellie is thirteen, Jared is twelve, and Lincoln is eleven.”

  “Wow, you’re so much older than them and then they’re just one after the other. That’s… a lot.”

  “Yeah, I really don’t know what they were thinking. How many siblings do you have again?”

  “Just one younger sister.”

  “Ah, so your house isn’t total chaos all the time then, got it.”

  He gestured down the hall and they walked into the kitchen together. Both his parents were cleaning up from dinner in there.

  “Oh, hi kids,” his mother said. She wiped her hands on a hand towel and walked over to them. “How was your day? Have you had dinner?”

  “It was good and yes, we got McDonald’s,” Parker said. “Uh, mom, dad, this is Greta. Greta, these are my parents, Adrienne and Brandon.”

  “It’s really nice to meet you both,” Greta said.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, honey,” Adrienne said. “Parker has never brought a girlfriend home before!”

  “Mom!” Parker snapped. “You know, she’s not my girlfriend. Just a friend.”

  “I’m so sorry, it slipped my mind,” Adrienne said. “That really was my bad, I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, Greta dear.”

  “It was an honest mistake,” Greta said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “While we’re on the subject,” Brandon said, “would you be interested in dating him?”

  “Dad!”

  “What? It’s an honest question! Now, Greta, I know he’s not the most handsome fellow in the land—”

  “Oh, Brandon! He’s very handsome.”

  “I guess he’s alright. But more importantly, he is very smart, involved at school, he gets along great with his siblings—”

  “We’re leaving,” Parker announced. “Come on, Greta, we can go into the living room.”

  He gently pulled her through the kitchen to the living room.

  “We’ll bring you two some snacks in a minute!” Adrienne called out, as Parker closed the kitchen door behind them.

  “Sorry about them,” he said. He gestured to the couch and they both sat down. “They can be a bit much sometimes.”

  “I think they’re sweet!”

  “Yeah, that’s what all my friends say when they first meet them. But they’ll wear you down over time, don’t you worry.”

  Greta laughed. “I guess everyone knows their own parents best, so I can’t really comment. Hey, you can take off your Christmas sweater now if you want. Or is the deal to wear it the whole day?”

  “The deal is in fact to wear it the whole day, unfortunately. And while I’m certain you wouldn’t tell Tyler that I took it off, all my siblings are snitches. This is quite possibly the worst deal made in history.”

  Greta laughed. “Yeah, you don’t say.”

  The door swung open. Parker turned, expecting his mom bearing the promised snacks but instead, Jared and Lincoln were standing there.

  “Hey guys,” Parker said. “This is Greta.”

  “Hi,” Greta said with a small wave. Lincoln waved shyly while Jared continued to stand there in silence, wide-eyed. When nobody said anything for a moment, Greta tried to break the silence. “How are you two? Looking forward to Christmas?”

  They both nodded slightly but once again didn’t respond.

  “Generally, to have a conversation, you have to speak,” Parker said.

  “I have homework to do!” Jared squeaked and ran from the room. At the same time, Ellie slipped into the room.

  “Bye?” Greta said.

  “Sorry about him,” Parker said. “He’s become oddly shy recently.”

  “He’s embarrassed because his voice cracks all the time,” Ellie said. She walked up to Greta and stuck out her hand. “I’m Ellie. I’m in grade nine at Crestwood.”

  “Oh, it’s nice to meet you,” Greta said. She shook her hand. “Wait, didn’t Parker say you’re only thirteen?”

  “She ski
pped a grade,” Parker explained.

  “Oh, that’s awesome!” Greta turned to Lincoln again. “I’m sorry, I forget how old you are. You’re still in elementary school, right?”

  “I’m in grade six,” he said quietly.

  “Excited to start middle school next year?” Greta asked. Lincoln just shrugged.

  “It’s too bad none of you are in grade right with my sister.”

  “Jared’s in grade eight,” Ellie said.

  “I thought he was only a year older than Lincoln, though.”

  “Our elementary school was very big on skipping grades,” Parker said.

  “Jared mentioned a new girl in his class this year,” Lincoln said. “I think he said her name was May. Is that her?”

  Greta nodded. “Yeah, that’s her. We just moved here in August.”

  “Where are you from?” Ellie asked.

  “Vancouver, B.C.,” Greta said. “We moved here for my mom’s work.”

  “I bet Vancouver was a lot more interesting than here,” Ellie said.

  Greta shrugged indifferently. “It was nice there but it’s good here too. It can be fun to move to a new city. Have you guys ever moved?”

  “We moved when I was five,” Parker said. “Just before Jared was born. Our old house didn’t have enough space for four kids.”

  “It barely had space for two,” Ellie said. “Parker and I were sharing a room until then.”

  Adrienne walked in, carrying a bowl of popcorn.

  “Here you are,” she said. She placed the bowl down on the coffee table in front of Parker and Greta.

  “Oh, thank you Mrs. Wilson,” Greta said.

  “Call me Adrienne, dear. What would you like to drink? We have water, milk, iced tea and lemonade.”

  “Lemonade would be great if it’s not too much trouble.”

  “Coming right up. Ellie, Lincoln, go do your homework and leave them be.”

  “I already finished all my homework,” Ellie said smugly.

  “I don’t have any homework,” Lincoln added.

  “Well go watch TV in the basement then. Just give them some privacy.” She ushered them out of the room.

  “What do they need privacy for?” Ellie complained as she left.

  “So, your siblings see nice,” Greta said in the ensuing silence.

  “That’s one word for them.”

  “No, really. I mean, I didn’t exactly get to talk to Jared, but Ellie and Lincoln were sweet.”

  “Here are your drinks!” Adrienne sang as she walked back into the living room. She placed both cups on the coffee table. Parker expected her to leave again, seeing as she had kicked Ellie and Lincoln out so they could have privacy, but she continued to stand there, smiling at them broadly.

  “Was there something else, mom?” Parker asked.

  “I just want to get to know our guest, honey,” she said. She sat down on the armchair across from the couch. “So how did you two meet?”

  “I’m sorry about this,” Parker muttered to Greta. At normal volume, he said, “We met at Walmart a couple weeks ago, mom. She was working when I went to buy the sweaters and we realized we’re in the same math class at school.”

  Adrienne clapped her hands together.

  “Oh, that’s so sweet,” she said. “I still remember when your father and I met. It was years ago, of course—”

  “Okay mom, maybe you can tell Greta that story another time.”

  “You’re right, sweetie,” she said. “Greta, you absolutely must come for dinner sometime.”

  “Alright, Mrs. Wilson.”

  “Please dear, call me Adrienne. Mrs. Wilson is my mother-in-law.” She laughed merrily. “I can tell Parker wants me to get out of here now so you two can be alone but just know I’ll be in the other room if you need anything at all, okay?”

  “Thank you, that’s very nice of you,” Greta said.

  “How do you do that?” Parker asked once his mom had left.

  “Do what?”

  “Make my parents love you as soon as you walk in the door. It’s like you have this perfect smile that makes them melt or something.”

  Greta laughed. “What can I say? Adults love me.”

  “It’s so weird. Not that I expected them to be mean to you or anything, but I thought that at the very least, they wouldn’t immediately start asking if you were my girlfriend. Sorry about that, by the way. They can be a bit intense.”

  Greta waved her hand lightly. “Don’t worry about it. I was kind of interested in hearing her story about how she met your dad, though, why did you cut her off?”

  “Mainly because she tells that story every single chance she gets. Don’t worry, you’ll hear it eventually. I guess it’s pretty sweet but once you’ve heard it over a hundred times, it starts to lose its charm.”

  “At least your parents have a romantic love story at all. My parents were just introduced to each other by mutual friends, dated for a couple of years then got married. And here we are.”

  “That’s still romantic.”

  She shrugged. “It’s typical. Not something you tell at parties. Popcorn? I just realized you couldn’t even reach it where it was sitting.”

  “Oh yeah, thanks.”

  They sat and talked for a while longer. Finally, once the sun had gone down, Greta yawned and looked at the clock.

  “It’s getting late,” she said. “I should head home.”

  “I’ll walk you,” Parker offered. Greta smiled.

  “That’s very nice of you, thank you.”

  It was dark outside, save for the Christmas lights on people’s houses and lawns. Most houses on the street had multicoloured Christmas lights, leaving an interesting hue on the sidewalks.

  “I think the house on the corner of my block wins for best decorations,” Greta said as they walked past it. “They have lights all over their house, wire-and-lights statues all over the lawn, and even reindeer on their roof. It looks awesome.”

  “It’s very bright,” Parker said. “I’m glad I don’t live across the street from them.”

  “The people who live across from them are an older couple who sit on their porch all day to yell at people, I don’t feel bad.”

  “I’m sorry, they go outside all day solely for the purpose of yelling at people?”

  “Yes, exactly. They’re a bit behind in the times. Every time I walk past, the wife yells at me for not wearing a dress, and then if I do wear a dress or skirt, she yells at me for wearing too short of a dress or skirt. She thinks I should be more ladylike or something.”

  “She sounds delightful,” Parker said flatly.

  “She is certainly something,” Greta said. “Oh, this is my house.”

  “I like your decorations,” Parker said as they walked onto the porch. “Did you put them up yourself?”

  “My sister and I did,” Greta said. “We do it together every year.”

  “That’s so sweet.” He sighed lightly. “So I guess this is it.”

  Greta turned so they were facing each other rather than standing side by side.

  “So it is,” she said. “Thank you for walking me home.”

  “Oh, it was no problem. Had to make sure you got home safe, right?”

  She grinned and looked down. “Yeah. That was really sweet of you. I would invite you in for some coffee or something, but my mom is pretty overbearing about guests, especially anything last minute. Has to clean the whole house before anyone can see it and everything.”

  “Don’t worry about it, I understand. It’s getting late, anyway, I should get home before my parents start to worry. I’ll see you on Monday?”

  “Yeah. Call me?”

  “I actually don’t have your phone number.”

  “Oh, sorry. Want me to put it in your phone?”

  “I actually don’t have my phone on me right now, I forgot it back at the house.”

  “Okay, then…” She dug out a permanent marker from her pocket. “I thought I had a pen, but I guess this
will do. You don’t mind if I write on your hand, right?”

  “Go for it.” He held his hand out for her and she quickly wrote her phone number on it. He glanced at it to make sure it was legible. “Cool. I’ll text you when I get home.”

  Greta smiled widely. “Great.”

  She glanced at her door then back at Parker. Parker’s heart quickened as he looked into her eyes. This was it. If there was ever a moment to kiss her, it was then. He stepped closer so they were almost touching and slowly leaned in. Then the front door swung open from the inside and he stumbled back so fast that if the railing had not been there, he would have fallen off the porch. As it was, he just managed to catch himself on the cold railing as his feet slid on the slush.

  “Oh my gosh, Parker! Are you okay?” Greta asked. Parker righted himself again as quickly as he could without falling over again and plastered what he hoped was a confident smile on his face.

  “Totally fine,” he said. “Just lost my balance there.”

  He looked to the source of their interruption. A middle-aged woman, who could only Greta’s mother, was standing in the doorway. With her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face, it was clear that she knew what Parker had been about to do and she did not approve.

  “It’s late, Greta,” she said. “Time to come inside.”

  “Yeah, just give me a minute to say goodbye to Parker,” Greta said.

  “No, not a minute. Come in now.” She stepped to the side so there was room for Greta to walk in, opening Parker’s view to the inside of the house. In the hallway, a couple of steps behind her mother, was a preteen girl. Parker quickly recognized her as May, from the photo Greta had shown him a couple of days earlier.

  “Three different boys called the house for you, Greta,” May said. She looked at Parker with a devilish smile and said, “All three wanted to pass on the message that they want to go to the Winter Formal with you. I wrote down their names.”