LS: The Beginning (25 page)

I leaned toward Lisa. "I'm guessing this is the part we go take
what we want to eat.”

She chuckled. “After you,” she said.

Her smile so warm and tender; indeed, Lisa was a
symbol of beauty. W
e stood up and went to the serving table.

“I finally meet the cousin who doesn’t visit,” Ryan said as he came over to meet Lisa and me.

“Hey cuz, I’m so sorry; been really busy. It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Same here.” His eyes fixed on the beautiful goddess beside me.

"How’s school?” I asked to focus his attention.

“Finishing this coming summer semester,” he said and eventually glanced back at me.
“You haven’t introduced me to your girlfriend.”

The word ‘girlfriend’ remained in my mind as a perpetual
echo.
Do we look like a couple?
Lisa’s facial expression didn’t change and this
made me wonder what was going on in her head. My ability to read minds
had
apparently malfunctioned on the wrong person.

“I’m sorry about that. She’s my good friend.
Lisa, meet my cousin, Ryan. Ryan,
Lisa.”

They shook hands. “It’s a pleasure meeting you,” he said.

Lisa smiled. “The pleasure’s mine.”

I hated introductions, especially when I had to refer to the girl I loved
as a friend. Lisa could hear what Ryan was thinking, but unlike Derrick, she was
amused because Ryan thoughts flattered her. Well, let’s just say Derrick
had done more than that.

“What’s up with those two?” Julie whispered.

“I really don’t know,” Stacey said. "Please, let's not talk about them today."

I turned to look at Stacey and she looked away. Definitely, she was battling with her conscience. Who wouldn’t?

We all returned to our seats after serving ourselves. As everyone began to eat, Lisa
and I simultaneously glanced at each other.

“
You first,
” Lisa said, but her lips never moved.

“
What are you scared of? Go first
,” I said.

Our stare seemed to get on someone's nerves. I don't need to say who by now, but if you don't know, it was Julie. Her face had turned red, and her hands clenched the cutlery in agitation. These were all signs of jealousy.

“
It is better we start eating before your friend over there does something stupid,
” Lisa said.

I smiled.
"You're right.
”

Seconds later Lisa and I began eating, but with the rate at which we ate, a snail would be worried about breaking a speed title. We released a phony grin each time someone looked at us. My cheek muscles were getting tired of the unnecessary adjustments. Sincerely, this was torture in disguise.

A formal meal consisted; first course,
main course, and dessert. Lisa and I skipped the first course, went straight
to the main and didn’t even consider dessert. Silence dominated the first two courses, but Susan and Justin couldn’t let it rule over dessert.

“Is there any problem, dear? You two didn't eat much and now you don’t
want dessert?” Susan curiously asked.

I was speechless, as I looked into Lisa’s eyes. How
could I explain to Susan and her husband we didn’t eat food without
exposing our secret? I guess the time for truth had finally come.

Lisa said, “It’s my fault.”

Just then Stacey whispered, apparently to herself, “This will be
interesting.” I gave her a terrifying look,
telling
her to shut up.

Lisa continued, “My doctor put me on a diet, so Stephen promised
to help me adhere to it by not eating much himself. So far so good; it
works.”

“Oh, I see,” Susan tentatively muttered.

Lisa looked round the room. "Your house is lovely."

"Why thank you, Lisa. I'm glad you like it, because Stephen over there hasn't said anything about it."

There was nothing I could say to justify myself, so I remained silent and smiled.

"What's your major, dear?” Justin asked.

“Mechanical Engineering, sir,” she replied.

“Please, call me Justin. By the way, have we met before?"

Lisa shook her head.

"Are you sure? Who
are your parents?” he asked, drawing everyone’s attention to Lisa.

“Mr. and Mrs. Morgan,” she said.

“I guessed as much. Honey, do you remember the Morgans?” He glanced at Susan, who was enjoying her dessert.

“Yes dear, we had brunch at their house once. Very nice people I must
say.”

"Thank you," responded Lisa.

Julie's soft tender hand crept under the eating table and located my thigh; she had switched places with Stacey and was presently
sitting beside me.
What is she trying to do?
I found the answer to that
question on her next move. She placed her hands on the zipper of my pants
, working her way to the top
.

I removed her hand and whispered in her left ear,
“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Don’t you like it?”

“I don’t. Please stop!” I demanded.

I glanced at Lisa, and she was smiling. It hurt me to realize that Lisa
heard our little conversation.
I should watch what I say in front of Lisa
, I thought.

“Julie, what's your major?” asked Susan.

“It's the same as Stephen's: Physics.”

“Hmm, very interesting.”
I can see why you’re all over him
. This part Susan didn’t voice.
“You’re English?” she rhetorically asked. “Where are your parents?”

“My parents still live in England, but they have a house here in the US. They come over during the holidays and return back to England for work.”

Funny enough, Susan didn’t request for the name of Julie’s parents. She wasn't interested in knowing that much about her. Susan
didn’t dislike her, but then one could tell that Susan wasn’t too friendly with her either.

Dinner was finally over and it was time to say goodbye to Julie, and the others.

“Thank you so much for having us,” I announced as Lisa and I stood up.

“Why hurry?” Justin asked. He glanced at his watch. “The night is still young. Let’s go to the
games room and have some fun.”

No!
I quietly complained, but Lisa seemed excited over the idea, so I agreed to Justin’s proposal. I stayed very close
to Lisa while going through to the games room. I had a feeling Julie wasn’t going to give up. The room was almost the size of my living room and dining room combined. It was filled with various types of indoor
games: a mini golf section, couple of arcade games, a pool table, dart boards,
a snooker table and a poker table. The snooker and pool table looked very much alike;
the differences were the color and patterns of both the balls and the tables, and of course the size of the tables.

We kicked off with playing games of our individual choices. Lisa and
I chose snooker.
Ryan and Bobby – his friend – picked arcade games. Stacey
and Julie chose pool, which was right alongside the snooker table. I'm so sure it was Julie who'd picked the game. She was becoming obsessed. Justin and Susan decided to play golf.

As usual Lisa was leading, but I never knew how she did it. Unlike
normal players, she would pocket multiple balls with every single hit. A ten minute game was over in less than five. To us, it
seemed normal, but I couldn’t guarantee the same for people like Julie and Stacey
who’d stopped to watch us.

Justin and Susan were really fun to be with. They were the true
definition of parents: friendly, supportive, caring, and protective. I grew up
mostly alone with my mother, but that didn’t make my parents less worthy
than Stacey’s. Still, I admired the Fords.

“Okay, it’s time we play a game together,” Justin suggested. “Let’s play
poker.”

Susan looked at
him and uttered a sentence in a low voice: “Some
of us are underage.”

This meant
Bobby and Ryan wouldn’t be able to play, which
would spoil the whole playing together thing. Lisa and I were also
minors, according to the law, but we weren't treated like ones.

“I have a game we could all play and it’s a card game. It’s called Jackpot.”

Everyone stared at me as though I'd spoken in Nigerian.

“Let's gather at the poker table,” I instructed without giving them a
chance to voice their opinions. Was I that selfish? Maybe I just wanted to
impress Lisa. Gladly, no one declined nor objected. I explained the rules of the game to everyone. “So do you all understand?”

“Yeah, I do,” Lisa answered, followed by Justin, then Susan. Only Stacey
still had a problem comprehending.

I went over it again, but this time illustrating more with the cards. Eventually everybody grasped the concept of the game.

“Okay. So would everyone like to play?” I asked.

Everyone gladly joined, although I knew Stacey’s participation was solely
because she didn’t want to be the odd one out.

We divided ourselves into two teams: boys versus girls.
It was a good choice, though, because putting Lisa and I together in a game like that would be cheating due to our ability to read minds. To make the
game more interesting, I decided we would sit mixed, which was a girl next to a boy on the round table.
I was glad Lisa was seated by my right, but sad Julie was at my
left. I couldn’t switch sides with a teammate, it would look pretty childish,
so
the best I could do was to hope she didn’t repeat her previous act.

The game began. The score was the same after some minutes, because Lisa and I kept on reading our opponents’ minds and getting the identity of their cards. This ruined the fun in the game.

“
Let’s stop this
,” her velvet voice said. Telepathy was a rare communication.

“
Yeah, you’re right
,” I replied.

We continued the game, but no cheating this time around. The suspense rose as we carefully passed the cards, looking at each
other to see who was going to make a sign to their teammate. The rate of
everyone’s heartbeat startled me, as they increased due to the tension. Though, Lisa’s heart rate remained steady.