His & Her Circumstances
Chapter 8
"Okay," I say to him, blocking the entrance of the front door. "You are now entering Reisert territory. Now I must warn you, this is a crazy place. Who knows what may happen. Are you sure you want to enter?"
Jackson smiles as he reaches for the doorknob. "I'll take my chances." The door swings open yet no one is there to greet us. "They're here somewhere," I whisper to him as we enter the foyer and into the living room. "So keep on the lookout. The only sane one around here is my mother, but she's a little too sane."
"Is that her right there?" questions Jackson, peeking into the kitchen.
"What're you doing!" I exclaim, my voice still hushed. "We almost got away!"
"Lisa, is that you?"
"Oh, hi Mom." I know there is no way out now. I decide to surrender myself and emerge into the kitchen. My mother is standing by the counter, making herself a cup of coffee. Her brown hair is pulled back into a reserved bun and she has on a skirt and blouse. Even on her days off she never seems quite comfortable.
"Who's your friend?"
"Oh, let me introduce him to you." I pull Jackson into the kitchen. "This is a friend from school."
Jackson puts out his hand. "Hi, I'm Jackson St. Clair. Nice to finally meet you."
My mother takes a second to examine him, as all mothers do when their daughter is bringing home a guy. After silently approving, she takes his hand, managing to crack a smile. I applaud her for the effort. "Nice meeting you." She squeezes his hand and lets go. "Now are you in Lisa's class?"
"Yes, all core classes."
"Ah, I see."
This conversation was going nowhere fast, so I decide to save Jackson by saying, "Well, we're gonna go upstairs now and work on some homework."
"Okay. Well if you guys get hungry we have plenty of snacks."
"Thank you Miss Reisert," Jackson says before following me out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Why does my mother have to be so cold?"
"She seems nice."
"Are you kidding me? Where were you?" We reach the upstairs hall and suddenly bump into someone leaving a room. Great, another obstacle to deal with.
"Lisa, there you are. I was h—" His eyes meet Jackson's and his happy face turns into a sullen one. "Nice to see you again, the boy who stole away my daughter."
Jackson stiffens, trying to find the proper words to respond for such an accusation. He goes for a "Sorry, I should've asked your permission first."
"It's not his fault, Dad. I'm the one who didn't tell you I was going somewhere." I attempt to push him away, but he doesn't give in this time. Although I had cleared up this issue earlier, he is too content in playing the all too familiar interrogator role when dealing with possible the boyfriend of his daughter.
"It's fine Lisa." Jackson's gaze returns to my father. "I believe we started on the wrong foot." He extends his hand. "I'm Jackson ."
"St. Clair?" He ignores Jackson's hand and turns to me. "Isn't he the one you h—" My foot finds his toes. "Ow!"
"Isn't there somewhere you need to go?" If it was possible to die of embarrassment, I would've died right here. There's a reason why I didn't mention Jackson's name when my father was reprimanding me for my sudden disappearance last Friday. It was an explanation even I couldn't wrap my head around.
"Not at the moment," he replies, unaware of the hint. "But where are you two off to?"
"My room."
I hurry towards my bedroom, finally thinking that I'm in the clear. But this is not the case. A warning sign flashes through my father's head and he stops us. "I think it would be better if you two go downstairs."
"But Dad!"
He ignores me and looks at Jackson. "Don't you think so?"
Not knowing which side to take, Jackson simply smiles and shrugs.
"You see Lisa, he agrees with me."
I moan, knowing that I have lost this battle. "Let's go, Jackson."
"That'a girl," my father says in my ear as we pass him to get to the stairs. I turn back to give him a dirty look but he has already disappeared into the bathroom. My attention diverts to Jackson by my side as we go down the stairs. As we reach the living room, we seat ourselves on the couch. There is a cushion in-between us—a comfortable barrier.
"Sorry about that," I say to him.
"No problem," Jackson reassures. "He's just trying to look out for his only daughter."
Just as he says that the door bursts open and two girls jump in, both carrying their share of shopping bags.
"Lisa!" Abby calls out. "We have somethi—"
They stop dead in their tracks as they spot the new guest. Their bags drop to the floor.
"You are an only child aren't you?" Jackson whispers.
"They're my cousins." I whisper back. What luck.
"Um…hi." Kirsten finally says.
Jackson gets up from the couch. "Hi, I'm Jackson St. Clair."
"No way," says Abby in a low voice. Kirsten shoves her elbow into Abby's stomach. "Hey! What was that for!"
Through clenched teeth Kirsten responds, "Introduce yourself, you moron."
What a spectacle they're making of themselves! I can't help but hang my head in embarrassment.
"I'm Abby and this is my irritating sister Kirsten."
She receives a knock on the head from that comment as her sister says, "I'm Kirsten Reisert."
"Kirsten and Abby," repeats Jackson. "Nice to meet you."
"So," says Abby, "What's the deal with you and Lisa?"
Before he can respond, Kirsten shouts, "God Abby! What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me, but something's defiantly screwed in your head!"
"I'm so gonna kill you when we get home!"
This little argument causes Jackson to laugh. "You two sure are cute."
The two girls immediately stop their bickering. Kirsten blushes, looking down on her feet, while Abby just puts on a wide grin on her face.
"Well, err—we're gonna grab something to eat, aren't we Abby?"
"But I'm not—"
"Let's go Abby," said Kirsten through a forced smile. She drags her sister into the kitchen and I, recovering from my embarrassment, resume talking to Jackson. Meanwhile my dad finds his way into the kitchen and the family—all except me, of course—decide to have a family meeting.
"So anyone mind telling me who this Jackson kid is? I mean, wasn't he the one who—"
"Yeah," answers Abby. "He won that class election."
"I thought she hated him," says my father.
Kirsten jumped in. "Tell me about it! Lisa spent days trying to figure out ways to defeat this kid. How did it come to this?"
Although they attended their discussion to be a secret, it certainly wasn't. Jackson, overhearing, gave me a questioning look. I let out a sheepish grin.
"His parents run that hospital don't they?" my mother asks. "He must be loaded."
"Maybe Lisa dating him would be a good thing," says my father. "Trips to the doctor can be very expensive nowadays."
I can't take any more of this torment. I can feel my face starting to twitch. With my eyes fuming with anger, I lift myself off of the couch and make my way to the kitchen.
"Uh, Lisa?" says Jackson. I must look very strange now, looming beside the doorway like that. But I am too furious to care. Oblivious to the danger, my family is still chatting away. Kirsten was the first to notice my presence.
"Uh guys…."
Too late. Quickly and silently I slip into the kitchen. Since Abby was closest, she will become my victim.
"WILL YOU GUYS JUST SHUT UP!" With my hands around Abby's collarbone, I shake Abby vigorously. She instinctively scrunches up her shoulders and winces.
"You're choking me!"
"Lisa!" my mother says in disapproval. "It's rude to act in such a childish manner. We have guests!"
"Well it's rude to talk about people behind their backs, especially if they can hear you!"
The bickering comes to an end and I remember that Jackson is here. I haven't handled the situation well and made it more embarrassing with my 'choke your cousin' act. I find some courage and come out into the living room. Jackson is still where I left him, on the couch. "You done?" he asks.
I laughed nervously. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"I'll tell you what. Why don't we go to my house instead. I'll show you around the place."
I am relieved. Jackson always had a knack for changing the situation around.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun."