Back out in the party room, I could relax and get a better look at the venue. The entire place was kind of a deluxe version of my high school’s cafeteria. They both had a sizeable stage with curtains, but this place had to be twice the size of what my school had. The tables weren’t those long, metallic, and uncomfortable things either. They were round and had tablecloths. My school would have been caught dead before spending money on something like that.
“Hello!” A peppy waitress in a fancy uniform waved me down. “And how many will be joining you this morning?”
“Just me today.”
“Oh.” She shifted awkwardly like I’d made some huge social faux pas that she didn’t want to point out publicly. It only lasted a moment before the excited demeanor was back, but I suddenly had a feeling that I didn’t belong at the party. “Right this way!”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, doing my best to remain as friendly as I could manage. Only some of the tables were occupied when she brought me to mine, so I didn’t know if they were already reserved. It certainly didn’t slip by me that the one I got was just about as isolated as possible, ensuring the guy who came alone was shoved away in a corner. The look on her face didn’t betray any malicious intent, but if she worked in customer service long enough, that could be faked. I was worried that ordering a soda would just get me kicked out, so I went with a sophisticated lemonade.
Even after she brought my lemonade and left with barely a glance my way, I felt weird there. I pulled out my phone and tried to keep my head down, which was the last thing I ever wanted to do at a party. What was the point if I didn’t try to mingle and socialize? Sure, free food was a bonus. Not a nice enough bonus to go through the effort of showing up. I had plenty of stuff at home I could make quick enough to not be an inconvenience to me.
“Ethan, what are you doing here?” I looked up from my phone to find Lori leaning over, palms on the table.
“Hey, Lori. You look really nice.” Since her hair was so short, she couldn’t do something too extravagant with that. Instead, she went all out with makeup, attention-grabbing earrings, a white dress, and matching evening gloves. High-class didn’t do her look justice. “I didn’t know if I’d run into anyone I knew.”
She sat down in the chair across from me and looked around nervously as if I was some freak that she was too good to be seen with. If someone compared our outfits, I wouldn’t blame them for coming to that conclusion themselves. “I didn’t think that you’d want to come. That’s why I told everyone not to tell you about it.”
“Wait, is that how I only found out about it today?” I was more hurt than I was angry. I tried not to let it show on my face, not that mattered with the girl across from me. “Why didn’t you want me here?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want you here! I didn’t think it was a good idea for you to come.” It didn’t look like she regretted that decision at all. “Ethan, with your...family situation, I thought it might be a bit much. That’s why I asked our team and Lizzy’s team to keep it under wraps. After that, it was just throwing away the flyer you got in the mail since I knew your sister would be too busy to focus on it. I guess one of them must have slipped in anyway.”
“Hold up a second.” That’s when I started to get angry. “You went through my mail to make sure I didn’t show up? What the hell, dude?”
“It’s our Family Day, Ethan. I just thought that you’d want to sit this one out.” It looked like she was starting to regret it. I couldn’t understand the process her brain went through that would make her believe it was okay at all.
“Lori, I’m defined by more than just my parents’ death. Yes, I miss them every day and I know that I have some issues that came from seeing them die. That event isn’t all of who I am, and even if it was, I want to move past it.” I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. Didn’t want everyone around us to think there was some big problem. “Even if I couldn’t go a day without breaking down because of them, it’s still my decision to come. I’m from a small enough town that I saw tons of classmates’ moms and dads at holiday charity events I did. I can handle seeing other people with their families.”
“Sorry, it’s not that I didn’t think you couldn’t handle it.” Lori went to rub her nose, stopping herself just before she came away with a smear of lipstick or foundation. “I didn’t mean to exclude you from it, but this is how these kinds of things go. You’re at the loner table because it’s really focused on the reconnection of family. A lot of people here don’t get to see their families until we host this, and with the attack, I made the call that it would be better to keep it from you until next year. I thought I was looking out for you. I should have given you the option from the start. I’m sorry, that was wrong of me.”
At the very least, I appreciated that she didn’t try to double down and tell me why she was right. It was incredibly rude and insensitive, but at least she apologized immediately, and it looked like she meant it. “I accept your apology. Just please understand that I’m not an actual child. I get that I’m younger than nearly everyone we’re around, but I don’t need to be coddled. My own girlfriend is four years older than me and she hasn’t once made me feel like I’m significantly younger than she is.”
“Well, she’s a century older than you, technically.” Lori chuckled and I couldn’t help but match it.
“You know what I mean. She is functionally twenty-two years old.” Right as I was about to continue, the waitress came by and offered me a refill. She looked a lot happier that I wasn’t alone at the table. That interruption finished cooling the situation off. “Look, thank you for thinking of me in your own way. I know you weren’t trying to hurt me. Trust me to make decisions like this on my own. If I trust you enough to be under your command, then trust me to decide if I can handle a party.”
“Understood.” She leaned back in the chair and looked a hair more relaxed. “Don’t feel bad if it does get too much and you need to leave. People can get a little stuffy at these things, but no one would take it personally. Oh, and if anyone bothers you about being here alone, you let me know.”
“Why? So you can have another fight like that gas station one?”
“Please, if that was a real fight, I wouldn’t have gone for the hair. It was just the fastest way for me to get leverage on her and throw her off balance. Or you can kick them between the legs. Not even I was mad enough to do that to some random college girl.” Lori smirked and crossed her arms. “Really, everyone thinks they’re ready to throw down until they get their hair pulled. After that, it was just a quick punch and she wasn’t going to come back for another round. I could have taken that guy if he didn’t pull a gun on me.”
Something grabbed Lori’s attention and she looked between it and myself. If the party was a big enough deal that she’d put on makeup and wear a fancy dress, I didn’t want her to feel like she had to spend her time babysitting me. After all, one person sitting alone at a party is bad enough, but two? There’d be no misery loving company if I could avoid it. “Go, have fun. I’ll be here if you need me.”
She hesitated, only scampering off when we had a little staredown. The waitress came back, visibly and obviously disappointed that I was alone again. I didn’t want to make a big stink about it, so I just ordered as some cheese fries and onion rings. The event might have had a fancy thing going on, but a lot of the food on the menu was something you’d find at just about any American restaurant. When I realized that, it did agitate me that the waitress was looking at me like I just took her family hostage. Clearly, it wasn’t as high-class as it appeared.
I tried to enjoy my food without being too sour about the whole thing. The more I watched people pour in, the more I understood why Lori did what she did. Alex, Lizzy, Rosie, and Julio all came in with their families. Lizzy and Lori hugged each other, and their families exchanged similar greetings. Lizzy hugged just about everyone, with the family greetings being a bit more restrained with the people she didn’t know as well. Lori and Alex’s family looked happy to meet. Maybe some hopeful in-law bonding for the future. Watching them all laugh together put a smile on my face, though it was a bit sad to feel like I’d just been shoved off so I didn’t kill the vibe of the gathering.
The thing that bothered me was being there by myself. If I had Shelly and Rebecca, or even just one of them, I was pretty sure I would have been fine. Sure, the happy families made me miss Mom and Dad, but I always missed Mom and Dad. I felt so out of place at my little lonely loser table, slowly picking away at my junk food. I didn’t think it’d be that bad, my hindsight being little help to me while I finished up my food. I checked my phone for a message from Shelly to cheer me up. When nothing was there, so I decided that I’d just see myself out.
“I thought I saw a sad-looking blond in need of a pal.” Lizzy slid on the seat that Lori had been in. Lori looked nice, but Lizzy always took it to the next level. Even with her focus clearly on me, some of the guys in the room took notice of her beauty, her aura being a natural head-turner. As quickly as she sat down, she was on her feet again waving me over, making me question why she sat down to begin with. “Come here, I want you to meet my family.”
It would have been a losing battle to try and push back, so I begrudgingly followed her. I felt the envious glares of my male—and some female—peers burn holes into my back. There was no way she didn’t know that would happen. No doubt she was getting some kicks out of knowing most single guys in the room wanted to beat me senseless out in the parking lot. Hell, if I had been single, she probably would have thrown an arm around me to rile them up more. At least she had the decency to respect Rebecca a bit more than that. Mercifully, the walk to her table wasn’t too long, so the stares didn’t last. The smiles of the man and woman standing there alleviated some of the bad vibes the rest of the room was giving me.
“This must be Ethan!” A short, youthful-looking woman with black hair waved at me. When I waved back, she clasped my hand between hers and shook it emphatically. “I’m Laura. It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, you must be Lizzy’s sister! It’s so nice to meet you.” She was deceptively strong. It was a good thing that handshakes weren’t too much of an issue for me when it came to touching another person, because it felt like she was about to rip my arm out of its socket.
“Oh, stop it!” She blushed and tried to hide one face with her hand. “Martin, I believe this young man is trying to take your place.”
The man protectively wrapped his arm around her, the good-natured and laidback look on his face telling me he wasn’t anywhere near upset. He was stunningly handsome with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a full beard that did nothing to hide his strong jaw and chin. I nearly had the same reaction I had when I first met Lizzy. I felt self-conscious just looking at the guy, forcing myself to not let my eyes wander around the rest of the room. Thank God he wasn’t in a swimsuit. That made it a little easier to keep eye contact, even if looking at him made me feel a touch plain.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, Ethan,” Martin said, sticking out his hand for a much firmer and quicker shake. “Our daughter speaks very fondly of you.”
That made Laura’s reaction make a lot more sense. I accidentally did the most basic TV line to win over your girlfriend’s mother. I just about burst out laughing, managing to refrain enough to keep it at a friendly smile on my face. Lizzy was not and would never be my girlfriend. That didn’t mean I had to laugh in the faces of her parents.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Your daughter has absolutely won over my sister and myself, Mr. and Mrs. Quick.” I smiled at Lizzy and she had a rare shy look on her face. “I can see where she gets her energetic personality and charm. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out what my Anomaly was. I haven’t told anyone this, but she’s actually inspired me to try and become a teacher here at Luna when everything settles down. I want to help people find their gifts like she helped me.”
“You should have told me that, Ethan! That’s so nice to hear.” Lizzy sounded so touched I was worried she’d start crying. The arrival of her actual sister spared me from that.
After that round of introductions, we chatted and made small talk for a while. Mrs. Quick was a history professor, meaning she was enthused to hear about me wanting to become a teacher myself. Mr. Quick was a movie editor, which seemed like a thankless job. Her sister was a junior in college and thinking about going into hotel management. The entire family was tight-knit and adored each other. Lizzy and her sister were as close as Shelly and I, which was refreshing to see. Too much TV told me that siblings barely tolerated each other, usually treating each other like crap until the inevitable heartwarming family moment was required. That made it a relief to see real sibling truly support each other and their goals without sarcasm attached. Lizzy was counting down the days to see her sister’s graduation.
Then, surprisingly, Alex and his family came by. Unlike Alex with his hero complex, his parents were mostly relaxed. Even his dad was just chilling out, despite his history in law enforcement. I always thought people who had jobs like that had a tendency to have sticks up their butts. Alex’s serious personality made me paint a picture of what I thought his father was like before ever meeting the guy too. Wasn’t proud that I judged a book by its cover, and that it was a cover that I created in my head.
His mother, Penelope, was a quiet blonde woman of average height. While she didn’t look out of place at the party, she did appear on edge. Maybe being in a room filled with people who had superpowers, but had no immediately identifying characteristics that told you who they were or what they could do, would make some people uneasy. Still, she looked more than happy to be around Alex. Whenever he casually mentioned Lori, her eyes lit up. She absolutely adored hearing about her son’s girlfriend. Since I’d been warming up to the guy after our rocky start, I couldn’t help but share some of her enthusiasm for my friends’ relationship.
His dad wasn’t big on the details of his time in China, something I recalled Alex mentioning on our trip to the Tomb. The bits he did share seemed rehearsed and he added a sense of forced positivity to his words. I could tell he’d spent years learning how to say the “right things” about his work and where he came from. His time there was formative of his personality and influenced how Alex was brought up. He tried to pass down the sense of duty and pride down to his son, even before they learned about his powers. It definitely worked, but it might have been going a bit too far. I liked the feeling of doing good and helping, maybe even craved it to an extent. When I looked at Alex, I could see that he was someone who wanted to make it his identity. If superheroes were to become a real thing out in the world, he’d be first in line to sign up.
Alex’s dad took Penelope’s last name Snow, and their son was obviously given it at his birth. Neither one looked eager to share the reasoning behind that. Without wishing to be insensitive to the people who were going out of their way to include me, I assumed it was another part of Alex’s father wishing to leave his life in China behind him. I could understand the logic behind that if that was really the case, so I just decided to leave it at that. When they started to talk more about the future, I quietly slipped away, not wanting to intrude too much on their fun.
“Hey, come here, I want you to meet my parents too.” Lori’s voice only surprised me a little. I was getting better at not being startled by people sneaking up behind me.
She had a knowing grin on her face when she started to pull me along by the sleeve of my shirt. I narrowed my eyes at the back of her head. “Did...did you set this entire thing up?”
“You looked lonely over there and it’s Family Day. As boring as the name is, it’s aptly named for how we handle the event.” We both stopped for a couple crossing in front of us. Lori looked both ways like she was about to walk across the street and carried on. “You’re our family too. And yes, that includes Alex, before you ask. So, since you’re all of our family and today is Family Day, it’s only fair that you get to meet the parents and siblings of the people who love and value you. It’s kind of like meeting the in-laws, just with less pressure and passive-aggressive judging.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I felt myself blush, both embarrassed and happy at the same time. It was a treat to meet the parents of people who’d become such a big part of my life.
“Don’t say anything. I’m sorry I thought it was best to exclude you from this. I really am.” She brought me over to the table where her parents waited smiling. They were definitely in on Lori’s little plan. They tried, and failed, to hide it. Like their daughter, I couldn’t exactly place where their ancestry came from. I could see Lori had her father’s eyes and hair while getting her mother’s general facial structure. “Mom, Dad, this is Ethan. He was my first assignment, and he’s my best friend.”
“Lori talks about you all the time!” Mrs. Davis stood up and wrapped me up in a tight hug. Either Lori didn’t tell her mother about the touching thing, or her mother simply forgot. If it was the former, I did appreciate her discretion about my personal issues, even if it meant I went still for a second in the embrace. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for my little girl. She’s grown so much since she’s met you and I’m so proud of the woman she’s become. Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Debby. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
I took it that Lori didn’t tell her parents about some of the more hurtful things she had said, but I didn’t really blame her. When you were talking about the crappy parts of your day, mentioning some of the nastier stuff you said to your friends probably wasn’t on the top of the priority list. When I glanced at Lori, she did look a bit ashamed and embarrassed, so my guess was likely right on the mark. I left her to fidget with her evening glove and turned my attention back toward her mother.
“We wouldn’t have made it out of Missouri without your daughter’s quick thinking and strong leadership.” I smiled just enough to make it look like I was about to start gushing over her daughter. I was learning that parents loved hearing about the accomplishments of their kids. “It was because of her that we were able to get Megan to Luna safe and sound.”
“Megan is that little girl, right? Poor thing.” Mrs. Davis shook her head solemnly.
“Yes, she’s my...” I trailed off, struggling to find the right words for what Megan was to my family. She wasn’t quite a little sister...
“Surrogate daughter?” Lori offered, arching an eyebrow.
“Whoa, I don’t know about that. I don’t know anything about raising a kid.”
“It’s a big responsibility. Lori’s ended up a good girl, but when she was twelve, she was such a nightmare.” Mrs. Davis shook her head again, this time with a fondness from her memories. “I think it was the hormones running through her from puberty.”
“Mom!” Lori hissed, looking around to make sure no one overheard. “He doesn’t need to know about me going through puberty.”
“She just doesn’t want to lose face in front of the people she’s taking care of.” Mrs. Davis grinned and patted me on the back. She gestured toward her husband at the table. “Jonathan, please say hello to the nice young man.”
He mumbled something of a greeting without looking up from his phone. After he smiled when Lori brought me over, he had been engrossed in the device. I didn’t want to be a jerk and bring it up, though it did seem a little rude to be on your phone at a party and even ruder to be on your phone when your daughter brought someone over to meet you.
“Work has him on his phone all the time now.” Mrs. Davis crossed her arms and frowned, sending him pointed looks that ultimately went ignored. “I’ve barely gotten any alone time with him. We used to be inseparable.”
“Mom, I really don’t think Ethan wants to hear about how you don’t like Dad’s work life.” Lori looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole from embarrassment. It made me grin. It was hardly the worst thing I’d ever seen a parent do. Some of the parents of my old classmates were mortifying with how embarrassing they could be.
“What’s got you so grouchy, hon? Is everything okay?” Mrs. Davis put a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Are you still worried about the dress, sweetheart? I promise, sweetheart, you can pull off the backless look. Lizzy wouldn’t have picked it out for you if she thought one without a back wasn’t a good fit. You look beautiful.”
“No, Mom, it’s not the dress.” Despite that, Lori shrunk back a little bit and tugged at the dress. “I’m going to step out for a bit.”
We watched Lori awkwardly weave through the full room, carefully trying not to bump into people dancing with each other. She wasn’t nearly as adept at precise and careful movements in fancy clothes as Lizzy. I held my breath until I couldn’t see her anymore, afraid she was going to cause a major disaster at the party by crashing into a waiter carrying plates of food.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Davis. Do you want me to go check on her?” I asked gently. She looked upset without a hint of surprise in her features.
“Thank you, sweetie. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately.” Worriedly, she looked in the direction of the main door, but Lori was nowhere to be seen. “I hope all the stress isn’t getting to her.”
I gave her a quick smile, letting her hug me again. Expecting it, I was able to return it. I paused for a moment to see if her father wanted to acknowledge me. His phone kept him captivated, a stressed look running down his face as he chewed his lip. I took that as my cue to leave them be for a little while.
I was surprisingly good at moving through throngs of dancing people, some in varying states of inebriation. A very friendly, albeit very drunk, woman was trying to get me to dance. She was actually friendly enough that I felt legitimately bad for turning her down, but making sure Lori wasn’t planning to assassinate congressmen or whatever she skulked off to contemplate was more important to me. Even if I wasn’t already very happily taken by Rebecca, one look at her told me she was out of my league anyway. She wouldn’t have too much trouble finding a willing guy to lead her around the dance floor. After dodging two more couples, I found Lori standing by the door, looking like she was insanely agitated in her fancy outfit.
“You sure it’s not the dress? You look like you want out of that thing as quick as possible.” I leaned against the wall and slid my gaze over the room. Thank goodness it was all ballroom dancing going on. Had it been nightclub dancing, I would have bumped into everyone out there without a doubt.
“It doesn’t help,” she admitted with a groan. “I like it, but it’s not exactly something I’d have picked without Lizzy’s help.”
“In all seriousness, are you okay? You didn’t exactly flip out on your mom, but you were pretty close.” I watched this one clumsy girl step on her partner’s toes at least half a dozen times. Poor guy winced each time, making sure he laughed it off with her. “Don’t you want to dance with Alex? I want to see him approach it like he would fighting a bunch of criminals. With the same gusto, I mean. Not that I want to see him punch you into the sky.”
“Eh, you probably wouldn’t mind seeing that once. He was very adamant that he’d not be taking part in any dancing.” She elbowed me and giggled. The laughter was short-lived, being cut off with a sigh. “It’s just embarrassing. I mean, what person wants to have their mom talk about their puberty and all that? You’re basically the little brother I never had and I’m technically your boss now. I just wish she’d take me a little more seriously.”
“She does, trust me. To her, you’re always going to be her baby. You could be forty-five, have kids of your own, and have a well-paying career. Wouldn’t matter a bit. You’re still going to be her little girl until the end of time.” If I had something like it on me, that would have been where I pulled out a faded picture of my family to stress the importance of it all. “Your mom doesn’t want you stressed out. What has you so riled up, Lori?”
“I’m still too much of a jerk and I’m worried about the upcoming boat party. All of us are going. Our team, Lizzy’s team, Mrs. Carmichael, and your sister.” Nervous and ignoring her makeup, she started to chew her bottom lip, white teeth clashing against bright red. “I don’t think I’ve done enough to prepare you guys to dive headfirst into a bunch of other superpowered people. It won’t be a building like this. We could figure out some escape here if we had to. On the water, if something goes wrong, our escape is seriously limited. Throw on that I’m still not good enough at treating my team better, all of it just lives in my head all the time. I’ve had nautical-themed nightmares.”
“Why don’t we go dance? Maybe it’ll get your mind off it for a bit.” I walked out, turned around, and held my hand out for her. I was comfortable enough with Lori that I didn’t think it’d be an issue. I wasn’t attracted to her, and with how much she adored Alex, I certainly wasn’t going to be a threat to him. When she smiled and placed her palm in mine, I did feel like I owed her a warning. “I have never danced once in my life. Not like I was going anyway, but you did pick me up before my prom.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to dance with Rebecca? Would she be okay with this?” Lori hesitated, almost making a nearby dancing couple bump into us.
“I’m pretty sure she trusts me and you. You just said I was like a little brother anyway. Don’t exactly think she’d find that threatening to her girlfriend status.” We positioned ourselves in a miserably sloppy ballroom dance form. I was only comforted by the fact that it didn’t look like anyone else was exactly a pair of competitive dancers either. “Please don’t step on my toes with your heels. I don’t want a hospital trip.”
“I’ve done one dance like this in my life, so no promises. I’ll try to lead.” We both started slowly moving, making sure we weren’t going to trip over each other or slam into the backs of unsuspecting bystanders.
When we settled in and got something resembling a groove going, she looked up, her eyes wet. “Thanks for this. I really am glad to have you in my family.”