He dropped his arm, and cleared his throat when he realized it was me. I knew he wasn’t aware that I lived here, and so I’m sure it isn’t a welcomed surprise. We blankly stared at each other, neither of us saying anything.

I gave him a tight lipped smile, moving to the side so that he could come in. He said nothing, only walked past me. I closed the door, before walking behind him, and diverging when we got farther into the room.

“Hello Mr. Wood,” My mother grinned when she saw him, reaching out to hug him. I rolled my eyes, my hands reaching for my necklace. She was a peoples person, but I was sure if she knew what he did, she wouldn’t be as friendly.

Connell and my parents did the general adulty thing, talking to each other even though the food was ready. Zach came to join me on the couch, sighing when he realized it was going to be a few minutes until we could eat.

By the time my parents and Connell were done talking, time had passed, and I was far to hungry to care that Connell was even here.

I was sat across Connell, him sitting at one head of the table, and me at the other. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and whenever he did, he would immediately look down to his plate.

I ate quickly, hungrily putting lots of food on my plate, and eating it soon after. Though no one else seemed to notice, my mother sure did, and she shook my head when she saw me nearly choking on quite a big piece of food. When I was done swallowing it, she decided to start asking me questions to slow me down.

“Ruby, how was your day,” My mother asked, stopping me from grabbing another bread. I let my hand fall back to my lap, frowning to myself. Sure, I was on my fourth, but what did that matter?

“Fine,” I mumbled, stabbing my salad with my fork. My mother, not accepting such a simple answer, urged me to elaborate.

“I just, didn’t do much,” I continued, letting my fork rest on the rim of my bowl. My mother let out a hum, before turning to my brother, asking him how he was. I was glad to have her off of me, knowing she was just trying to get an answer out of me because we had company. On any other day, she would have been okay with just a fine.

I sat quietly as my parents and my brother talked. After a minute of that, my parents decided to start directing questions at Connell. He seemed to be taken by surprise, but only nodded along with a smile on his face.

“Where are you moving from?” My mother asked Connell, and Connell picked up his glass of water, seeming to inspect it.

“I’m from Washington. I must say, Virginia is quite different,” He mused to himself, taking a sip his water.

“Well, what about your old pack, what were they like?” My mother asked. Connells eyes changed, and he suddenly became very distant. Not that my mother would see that, everyone on her side of the family were known for asking uncomfortable questions without realizing it.

Connell didn’t answer for a few seconds, his hands turning white as they tightened around his glass. I was afraid he was going to break it.

Instead of breaking it, he just put the glass down, a pleasant smile crossing his face.

“They were well enough,” he said simply, his eyes meeting my mother. I knew that was all he was going to say, and I also knew that that was not all that his pack was. Still, it was rude to badger.

I was impressed by Connells ease of letting things go. He was soon engaged in a conversation with my father, any anger from the previous question gone. I thought it was admirable, if only Connell as a person wasn’t so jackassy.

The dinner continued much in the same fashion, my parents directing aimless questions at each of us. When I was nearly finished, my mother seemed to remember something, and started asking me more questions.

“Ruby, Maddie’s mom told me that you have a new English teacher, is that true?” My mother asked. Immediately my head went up, as did Connell’s. Our eyes met one another, and I narrowed my eyes, my lips turning down into a frown.

“Yes,” I mumbled, going silent.

“Well, what do you think of him?” My mother questioned. My eyes lifted, and I smiled lightly.

“Oh, he was a real ass. A complete bore, not to mention he has some sort of vendetta against all of us. We were all so excited to have a new teacher, but now we’re debating on whether or not we should sign up for some porn sites using his computer,” I said seriously, my eyes only going to Connells when I finished. His eyes were wide, and he looked quite nervous.

“You wouldn’t do that though, right!” My mother was making motions, trying to get me to shut up. If she knew that Connell knew well what I was actually talking about, she wouldn’t be making such motions. She would probably be trying to strangle him.

“Of course not mother, it’s not like he hurt me in any way,” I said angrily, my voice getting louder with every word. Taking a deep breath, I smiled, looking around the table.

“I’m not angry,” I smiled. My parents, and Connell, both looked at me, not knowing what to say.

“Actually, I’m a little tired. I’m going to go to sleep,” I stood, picking up my plates and putting them in the sink. I left soon after that, feeling the eyes of Connell burning into my back. Is it bad I can tell the difference?

When I got to my room, I just fell into my bed, screaming in my head. I fell asleep not long after that.