She looked at the book in my hand. “Am I interrupting you?”
“No, of course not! I’m just studying a little bit, but please come on in.”
She sat in one of the chairs and I sat on my bed waiting to hear what she wanted to talk to me about.
“My husband and I just want to apologize again for Abby’s behavior toward you Skylar. We have always been careful not to raise children who feel entitled to everything and I fear that we missed the boat with Abby. I do not want you to think that we condone her behavior in any way because we don’t. Just remember what I told you yesterday, the ‘stuff’ does not matter to us, trips and things do not matter to us. I don’t want you to feel that anyone in this family thinks of you any differently because you haven’t done some of the things we have been able to do. What matters to us is that our son cares about you and you care about him, that’s it. Okay? So please don’t let Abby’s rude behavior change your opinion of us.” Her eyes were so sincere and it kind of shocked me a little bit because I sat there thinking, she’s worried about what I’m going to think of them? I’ve been worried this whole time of what they would think of me!
I smiled at her and I instantly felt better about the entire situation. “Okay, thank you Mrs. Hunter.”
She smiled at me and then stood to leave. “You’re welcome dear. I’ll let you get back to studying. We’re going to play games in a little while so please feel free to come down and join us.”
She closed my door behind her and I sat there for a minute kind of dazed at how nice she was. I smiled and immersed myself in my textbook for the next hour. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew Jonathan was gently shaking me awake. I was out of it for a second and didn’t remember where I was at first but then it all came rushing back to me.
“Hi.” Jonathan’s smile was so beautiful.
The butterflies went crazy as I returned his smile. “Hi, I guess I dozed off. What time is it?”
“It’s just after 6:00. Everyone is downstairs playing games and watching TV.”
I quickly sat up, frantic that I had slept for too long. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”
“Relax, it’s okay. They’ve only been gathered down there for 30 minutes, it’s no big deal.”
“Okay, well I’ll be ready in five minutes.” I quickly freshened my makeup and a few minutes later we joined everyone else downstairs.
Chapter Six
The next couple of days flew by and I had a great time getting to know Jonathan’s family. Claire and I really hit it off and I also really liked Emily. Abby never really warmed up to me and Barbi, well, she was Barbi. She and I would never be friends but we were cordial.
I was sitting by the fire with Jonathan and his mom and dad while everyone else was either outside playing in the snow or taking a nap, so we had a chance to have some really nice quality time together.
Jonathan’s mom looked at me. "I hope you're having a nice time Skylar, I know it can't be easy to be away from your family over Thanksgiving.”
“I’m having a wonderful time, really this has all been so amazing, thank you again for inviting me.”
"Are you ready for finals when you get back to school?" Mr. Hunter seemed to always have work or school on the brain, I could see why he was so successful.
“I will be, I brought some of my books with me so that I could study during any down time we might have.”
He smiled at me and I could easily see Jonathan in him. “You’re a smart girl.”
Mrs. Hunter looked over at Jonathan who looked like he was deep in thought. “Honey, is everything okay?”
Jonathan glanced at me and I could tell that he was about to talk to his parents about the band. I gave him an encouraging look to let him know that I was there to support him.
“Actually, mom, dad, I have been wanting to talk to you about something.”
They both looked at him giving him their full attention.
He looked nervous and he glanced over at me again and I winked at him and nodded to let him know that everything would be okay. That seemed to give him the courage he needed.
“I want to invite you both to come see me play at the Shadow Room in January.”
The silence in the air was deafening but I was so proud of Jonathan for taking the first step. I could see the look of anger on Mr. Hunter’s face but he probably kept it under control because I was there. Mrs. Hunter looked surprised and I could see a small smile turn up the corners of her mouth as she looked over at her husband.
"We would love to see you perform Jonny," she looked over at her husband whose gaze was ice cold as he stared off into the distance, “wouldn’t we, honey?”
Mr. Hunter said nothing for a couple of minutes and we all sat there in silence waiting for him to speak. It was pretty awkward for me to be there but I had to be there to support Jonathan. I looked down at his hands and they were trembling a bit and I felt so bad for him that he was that nervous to talk to his parents about the band.
"Dad, I know you're probably not interested because you think this is just a hobby for me but this is something that I really do love to do and I think if you come see me you will see you that I’m actually pretty good at it.”
"I have no doubt that you're talented Jonathan, I just don't want you to lose focus on what the ultimate goal is, what you have been groomed for all of your life. But if you want us to see you perform I’m sure we can arrange that.”
Mrs. Hunter's smile was enormous and I could tell that she was really excited and wanted to see his band. That had to make him feel good because he did tell me earlier that if his mom was on board then his dad would be on board too. It totally looked like his mom was on board and I couldn’t be happier for him. Now, all we had to do was make sure they actually showed up and stayed for the entire set.
Jonathan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as a cautious smile spread across his face. “Really?”
His mother looked at his father and answered for both of them. "Yes, really, just let us know when and where and we will definitely be there!”
Later, when we were alone, I gave Jonathan a big hug and told him that I knew everything would be okay.
“See, I told you if you just invited them to a show they would come see you. It will all be a piece of cake from here because, I'm telling you, once they see you perform live they will be blown away. I'm sure your parents have no idea how incredibly talented you and the band are Jonathan, just wait, it’s going to change everything.”