8 Chapter 8: Moving On (1/2)

Wes and I hadn't seen one another in a while. After making my big decision, I thought it was time we talked. At our usual spot in Mabel's, I broke the news, and he took it well. I was still convincing myself giving up magic was the right thing to do, but seeing how it fixed the cracks between Wes and me helped.

”You still want to do the family dinner thing?” I asked.

”Its tradition,” Wes said.

”We haven't been doing...whatever it is we're doing for very long,” I argued if only lightly.

”Having our families eat together doesn't mean we have to get serious, it's like a show of respect,” he said.

”A show of respect?”

”Eating together is a way of saying 'I'm interested in your son enough to be upfront about it,' but that's all,” he added.

”Really?”

”...For the most part,” he said with his eyes turned away.

”What does that mean?” I pestered.

”Well, if my parents don't like you... if we were following tradition, they would have the right to say no.”

”Say, no? As in, I can't date you?”

”My family isn't that old school,” he tried to convince me.

”But you still want to have dinner, though,” I argued further.

Family dinners felt like a serious thing. Regardless of whether or not his parents would have a say in our seeing one another, it felt too formal to have our parents sit together when we had only been dating for three months.

”Pitch, You gave up magic for me, so trust me when I say nothing will break us up,” he promised, but I could hardly take him seriously while he reached across the table to steal french fries from my plate.

He said nothing would break us up, but that promise was tested.

With school starting Monday morning, we didn't have a lot of time to put off the event. It was hard, but we made it happen the Sunday night before senior year. My dad took off work to make it, and Mom all but jumped at the opportunity. Still, getting everyone to show up wasn't the real problem.

Knowing Mom wasn't the reason Wes and I got trapped in the endless hallway made me see her in a different light. She was legitimately trying to change. My coming to that realization was the only reason I was willing to invite her that night, but that didn't change everything. My mother was still a wild card with years worth of magic at her disposal. I was willing to trust her again but not without fear of slip-ups.

It helped that we had dinner at a restaurant.

River Peak was one of the most beautiful restaurants in town. It was built in The Dead Woods, so tourists rarely had it in them to venture out and find the secluded spot. If they did, they might have seen it as a point of luxury in a dirt town. It was built on top of a literal river that flowed under its transparent flooring. The entire building was made with the idea of standing in the middle of nature without disturbing it. While walls were built to last, they also allowed plant life to grow on the structure, leaving it covered in natural flowers, vines, and even a few animals. The inside of the building reminded me of Wesson's house. Everything was made out of a unique wood known as Elephant bark, which changed color with the seasons even after being carved.

River Peak catered to most creatures the same way other restaurants catered to humans. I never ate there before that night. It wasn't a creature exclusive restaurant, but you wouldn't find many humans eating there out of the blue.

We were lucky enough to get a nice table close to a window but near the center of the floor where the river below us was most visible.

On one side of the table sat me, my mom and dad, and on the other was Wesson, his mom Iris, and his dad Calix. I talked my mother into not using magic for the night, and Wes got his parents to wear actual clothes. Wes was a little vague as far as what would happen at dinner. I figured as long as we got through the night without bringing the roof down, everything would be alright.

Honestly, the night was going relatively well. It was almost boring how easy things were. My dad made his usual cheesy jokes, Wesson's parents talked about their life before moving to America, and I hadn't suffered one of my usual accidents yet. The one hiccup we had was when Wes and his family started eating. They were shameless, they were wild, and I'm sure someone got it on camera. Still, all things considered, it could have been worse.

It was almost time to leave when I got up from the table to take a leak.

That was my mistake. That was the decision that ruined the night. The last thing I should have done was to leave the table. When I came back, they were talking without me about me.

”What is STR?” I heard my Dad ask.

”It's ok, we didn't know either until we got there,” Wes answered, and immediately I knew the conversation was taking a wrong turn.

”You wet to a music festival, with Pitch?” my dad asked Wes directly.

”We were gone for four weeks,” Wes answered honestly yet again.