Hogarth sat between his mother and Dean, while Mr. Franklin and Deidre sat next to each other. Annie announce,
"let's say grace first before we eat. Hogarth, would you lead us". Trying not to roll his eyes in front of his mother, Hogarth said,
"Yes, Mom. I'll say grace." Hogarth said the usual prayer but tonight he felt so awkward saying it, especially around Deidre. He even stuttered a few times in the process. He hoped Deidre wasn't listening and seeing how much of a klutz's he is. After what seemed like forever, he finally finished the prayer.
"That was a splendid prayer there, Hogarth", Mr. Franklin complemented. To Hogarth's surprise, Deidre nodded in agreement, smiling presently. This made him blush and he hid his face.
"Thank you, sir", he said with his voice muffled. Annie looked at her son concerned.
"Hogarth, honey, are you okay?"
Hogarth lifted his head and assured his mom,
"Yeah I'm cool Mom. I'm cool. Well, let's eat!" He laughed awkwardly. Deidre giggled back and Hogarth tried not to blush in front of her. Everyone helped them self to a chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, and bread rolls. While they eat, the adults chatted casually, while Hogarth and Deidre sat quite eating.
Hogarth would sneak a few glances of Deidre when she was not looking, but not for too long. He felt like he wanted to at least say something to her, but he didn't have the courage. Deidre did sense that Hogarth was staring at her a little, and it was a little ticklish to her. So she decided that she would speak to him.
"Um, hey, Hogarth. How are you?", she said a little shyly. She looked at Hogarth and waited for a response. Hogarth perked up in utter surprise, his eye wide. "She spoke to me", he thought a little excited. "Come on, man! say something back. Just something." Without thinking too hard, Hogarth made his move.
"Hi uh, hi, Deidre. I I'm good. You look cute-"
Instantly, Hogarth slapped a hand to his mouth, turning red all other.
"OH MY GOD! I JUST SAID THAT OUTLOUD!", he frantically thought with all capital letters. "STUPID! STUPID! SO STUPID!"
Deidre sat there, a little shocked at his response. She was quiet for a moment before, "oh, okay. Thank you for the complement." She smiled at Hogarth sheepishly. Hogarth smiled back stupidly.
Dean noticed this and broke the silence saying,
"Well, I'm sensing a lot of awkwardness between the two of you. Am I the only noticing this?"
Mr. Franklin laughed at this.
"They weren't awkward around each other when they were little. They'd chase one another around the house and would play hide and seek for hours. Don't you remember that, Annie?"
"Oh I sure do. They would hide so well that it took me a hour to find them. They also build huge block forts. Hogarth would join them, teaching how to build larger forts and played war with them. I loved when he did that."
Mr. Franklin and Annie talks about more memories while the awkwardness grew between Hogarth and Deidre. They were too embarrassed to even look at each other.