Sunday's in the Alexander household consisted of pancakes and old soul music playing throughout the house. With mom and dad always working, this was their way to make time to catch up with me at the end of every week. I could already smell mom's secret Chocolate chip pancake(her secret being a splash of nutmeg) smell filling the house with the most pleasant hint of vanilla. My stomach churned even more when I smelt bacon cooking on the stove top as well. Dad's only request ever for breakfast was that mom honored his wish of buying the $20 bacon at the butcher's. Dad pressed play on the speaker as soon as he saw me enter the kitchen. "It's Alright" by Sam Cooke started illuminating the house. My dad grabbed my mom as she stacked the last few pancakes on a ceramic plate. "It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, honey, it's alright. Long as I know,long as I know that you love me, it's alright" dad sang out as he twirled mom along in the kitchen. This was always my favorite part of every Sunday. They always had admiration for eachother for as long as I could remember. I hear stories of couples getting older and losing their way, but not my folks. You see, my father taught me from a young age that when you marry someone, that doesn't mean you ever stop trying to woo them. He made sure my mother never had to lift a finger when it came to household work. Every Friday was date night and every Saturday he would bring her flowers before she would wake up. After 24 years of marriage, it was stronger than ever.
"Okay, okay. Can we cut this out and eat, i'm starving." I groaned not wanting to witness them smooch all over again like last time.
"You know Kathy, I think our teenage son here needs his own dancing partner so he would stop being such a grump every Sunday" dad chuckled.
"Paul, I think you might be right. I do feel this, this underwhelming feeling for a teenage boy not bringing any girls home for us to meet yet. Quite questionable don't you think?" Mom raised her eyebrows at me and back at dad.
"I believe so, especially one who complains so much about our little love nest but has kept himself off the market for a certain Holloway" dad retorted back.
"David you need to let it go son. You don't deserve to always go to breakfast stag with your parents" mom laughed back.
They looked at eachother before bursting out laughing. For a moment I thought we were on the same team. I took two pancakes and began to munch while they laughed in the corner. Pathetic. This little charade continued on until dad smelt the bacon burning which snapped him out of it real quick. I sat in silence as they conversed about opening another coffee shop and how Gerald Parker got a new Harley Davidson which dad used as his argument for why he should get one too. Also pathetic. This continued on until my parents realized I was about to get up from the breakfast stool and go back to my room.
"Stop, sit back down David. You know we were joking with you son" mom implied.
"Yes son, your mother and I don't mind being your breakfast date on Sundays. So what's new with you? I noticed you looked a little bummed when you came home last night" he said.
"It's nothing" I shrugged off.
"David Leroy Alexander. Talk to us, it's catch up day remember? You promised to keep us in the loop" she scolded.
"It's really nothing. Look, I have the party tonight okay. I'm leaving at 4. I'm fine, really mom" I said. She laid her hand on my cheek while offering a small smile.
"Look Dave, we can't stop you from making your own decisions but just remember that we trust you. That trust is built on your honesty and so far you haven't lied to us until right now. What's wrong?" She then insisted.
"Did you get a girl pregnant?" Dad interjected before clearing his throat.
"NO" I yelled back, "it's nothing like that. It's just girl problems."
"Problems like what to do when you feel things for girls?" Dad raised his eyebrows at me before continuing on, " we had the sex talk with you before right?" Mom looked at me surely waiting for an answer.
"No it's nothing like that guys. Evie and I just had a little argument and I guess it threw me off a little" I finally surrendered. Mom sighed with relief before taking a big gulp of her tea on the counter. Dad stood up without a word and went upstairs. Mom tried avoiding eye contact until dad reentered the kitchen again with a box in his hand.
"Here" he said as he handed me the box. I scanned the box and the one word that caught my eye almost knocked me blind. "CONDOMS WITH EXTRA LUBRICANT" was written in bold letters. I looked back and forth at my parents as they looked on with a smug face.
"Look, like we said we trust you. More than anything, we want you to be practicing safe sex so I went out to pick up a box for you when you said you're spending the day at Evie's house in case you ever decide to take that step with her" dad explained.
"We want grandbabies but we can wait okay" mom added.
"Uhh, I kinda don't know what to say. That wasn't why--- I mean thanks guys" I said as I scratched my neck. I didn't want to tell them the argument wasn't because sex but Evie refusing my proposal of commitment. I matched pathetic more than I should at this point. After breakfast, I helped mom clean up and stack away the dishes. I watched basketball with dad and talked about how practice had been going.
After lunch, mom and dad decided to go to the coffeeshop to finish some paperwork. With the house to myself, I decided to make the first move and text Jenny to come over. She agreed instantly and said she'd be here in 20 minutes. I ran upstairs to take a quick shower. I decided on just wearing black basketball shorts and a blue plain tshirt. I grab a few snack and lay them on the living room table. Unsure of what Jenny preferred, I had Lay's in one bowl and a Quinoa knock off of potato chips. I figured to brew her some tea and settled on having a beer.
I heard a knock on the door and welcomed Jenny in. Seeming to take a little of my advice, she was wearing white washed shorts that covered more than her butt and a black crop top. I did say a little of the advice but it was something.
"You have a nice house David" she said as she gazed around in awe.
"Well, my mom spent an entire 6 months decorating after we renovated and well, this is it" as I motioned my hands back at the entrance to the whole house. I continued," well I thought it would be cool if we hungout before we head to the party tonight".
"Oh okay, sounds just like last night huh" she winked. This girl was relentless.
She vetoed Naruto and most of my suggestions, but somehow talked me into a chickflick. "The Vow" started playing and Jenny took this as an opportunity to cuddle up on my lap. She laid a throw pillow on me and laid down on my lap while hugging the rest of my leg. The movie continued on and for a moment this felt nice. After a while, I caught myself playing with her hair and gazing at her which she didn't seem to mind. When Channing Tatum decided to kiss Rachel McAdam's, Jenny awed out loud while she had the biggest grin. I've never witnessed this side of her. This sappy, cute, sexy girl sprawled out across my couch and lap. I guess that talk had gotten to her more than I thought. For once she wasn't premiscuous or made any advancements, only stared at me when the sex scenes would come on and wiggled her eyebrows.
"I don't know who would leave Channing Tatum," she said frustrated, "he's gorgeous and was nothing but understanding this whole time and she just left him".
"I can relate. Good guys always get overlooked I guess." I shrugged.
"You were never overlooked. You have no right to even say that. I have always tried to get your attention David but you never noticed me. The only way i'd get your attention was whenever I laid moves on you. I've always saw you." she argued back.
"You snuck in to the boy's locker room naked and threw my towel" I said back.
"Yeah but I thought you only noticed me when I was revealing my body to you or kissing you. That's the only time I ever got to be seen by you" she then was facing me, trying to search my eyes while I searched hers. What is it with couches these days?
"I have been trying to get you to look at me the way you do that Holloway girl. The way she lights up your eyes. The way she's able to get you to approach her in the halls without even any indication she wants to be bothered. The way you get nervous when she starts talking to you. I've always wanted to be her" she continued while breaking our gaze. In a swift motion, I pulled her to face me again before crashing my lips onto hers. She had confessed more than I know she wanted to. I can admire her for that. With no hesitation, Jenny began to kiss back. This kiss was.... different. She didn't try to stick her tongue down her throat and I wasn't fighting to get away from her. I could feel the heat radiate my body. Have I been finally cleansed of Evie Hollway?