Page 79 of One Night

"Can't go where?" Kira asks. I turn and see her behind me, adjusting her ponytail.

"To dinner at Dylan's house."

"He invited you to dinner?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going."

"Why not? As far as I know, he's not the greatest cook but it's nice of him to try."

"He's not the one making dinner, and it's not at the house he rents. It's at his actual house, the one he grew up in. His parents' house."

She comes around in front me. "He's taking you to meet his parents? Wow, this is serious."

"I know. And it's not just any dinner. It's Thanksgiving dinner. He even gave me an invitation." I hold it up. "He wants an answer by tonight."

"And you're going to tell him no?"

"Well, yeah, obviously. I've dated him for a week. I can't go home with him for Thanksgiving."

"Why not? It's just dinner. And his family lives in town. You can go for a few hours and leave."

"Kira." I set the invitation down. "This is Thanksgiving dinner. That's a huge deal. And his whole family will be there, including his grandfather. If I go, they'll assume Dylan and I are serious."

"You two ARE serious."

"After a week? I don't think so."

She sits beside me. "Amber, don't lie to yourself. You know you and Dylan aren't the typical couple. It's not like you just met. You've been thinking about him since you met him last May. And he spent all that time searching for you."

"Yeah, but we've still only been dating for a week. It's too soon for me to meet his family."

"Dylan doesn't seem to think so. And it's not like you have anything else to do. If you don't go on Thursday, you'll just be sitting here watching TV, eating cereal for dinner."

"I won't be eating cereal. I have at least three frozen dinners just waiting to be eaten."

"Or...you could have a homemade turkey dinner at your boyfriend's house. Come on, Amber. It's just dinner. You're not announcing your engagement."

"I might as well be. Showing up for Thanksgiving is serious, Kira. You admitted it just a minute ago and now you're acting like it's no big deal."

"Because I thought about it and decided it's not that big a deal. If you were flying home with him to attend Thanksgiving, then yeah, his family might read something into that, but since they live in town, it'll be seen as more of a polite gesture on Dylan's part. You weren't able to go home to Michigan so Dylan invited you over. College students do that all the time. They can't go home and end up spending the holiday with whatever friend lives close by."

"I guess, but I'm more than just a friend."

"They don't have to know that. If you really don't want his family to know the truth, you and Dylan could say you're just friends."

"I suppose we could do that."

"There you go." She stands up. "Problem solved. I gotta get going. See you tonight for dinner?"

"Maybe. I have to work at the hospital until five and then I might have dinner with Dylan."

"Tell him yes. I don't want you sitting here alone again on Thanksgiving. It's depressing."

She leaves and I look at the invitation again. Part of me really does want to go, but going means fast forwarding our relationship to a place I'm not ready for. I'm not supposed to meet Dylan's family. Not yet. Not until I know where this is going, and right now, I have no idea where we're headed. My feelings for him are intense, and I still don't trust that they're real. It all goes back to that night. That magical, hot, perfect night. It messed with my emotions, made me feel things I've never felt. I was on a high, and with Dylan back in my life, I feel like I'm on it again. Back living in the clouds, but knowing full well that at any moment, it could all end and I could come crashing back down to Earth. I've seen it happen with my parents and I don't want it happening to me. It's that fear that makes me afraid to be with Dylan.

"Got a boyfriend yet?" Emily asks as I turn the page on the book we're reading. I just started and she's already distracted.

"Emily, come on. We need to finish the book. We didn't even finish the one we read last week."

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