Chapter Three: Family Dinner:

“What are you doing back here?” Kim asked with her head cocked to the side. Mallory looked up from her plate.

“It’s nice to see you too,” I said.

“Kimmy!” mom said.

“It’s fine,” I said. I sat down at the table. She put her hands on her hips.

“You didn’t wash your hands,” she said. I put up my hands.

“Okay, okay,” I said. I got up and went to the bathroom. I could feel her eyes on me. She hasn’t changed at all, has she?

Moments later, I returned to the table. Mom and my sisters looked up at me. I sat back down at the table.

“Why are you back?” Mallory asked. I sighed and lowered my head.

“They fired me,” I said. My sisters looked up at me.

“What?” they asked.

“Why?” mom asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my forehead. My sisters didn’t speak at first. They looked at each other. I raised my eyebrow.

“What?” I asked. My sisters didn’t speak at first.

“Come on,” I said. “Spit it out.” Kim held out her phone.

“You are going to want to see this,” she said. I looked at her screen. The color drained from my face.

“What the hell is this?” I asked.

“Nathan!” Mom said.

“It’s bad,” Kim said. “Really bad.” Her phone slipped from my hand. My former headmaster in a sex scandal? This didn’t make any sense.

“When was this?” I asked.

“Look at the date,” Kim said.

“Huh?” I asked. She pointed to her phone on the table.

“Oh,” I said, looking down. I picked up the phone and lit up the screen. I looked at the date of the article. I looked even more confused.

“This was today?” I asked.

“Yes,” both of my sisters said. They paused for another moment. I looked at them both.

“What is it?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“There’s more,” Mallory said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. She showed me her phone. One look at the screen and I already knew what that was.

“Oh,” I said. “So it’s gotten that bad?” My sisters looked at each other at first.

“You don’t seem surprised by this?” Kim asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

“I heard the rumors,” I said. I leaned back in my chair. “Damn.”

“Watch your language!” Mom yelled from the kitchen.

“Sorry,” I said. Mallory leaned forward over the table.

“So what are you going to do now?” she asked. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess I will stay here for a while. I don’t have anywhere else to go. I lost both my job and my apartment in the same day. My former apartment manager turns out to be a criminal who’s on the run and wanted by police. Some of my stuff might be gone too.” Mallory and Kim just stared at me.

“Wow,” Kim said. “I’m so sorry to hear that, dude.” I pressed my lips together and nodded. Mom walked into the room with a wooden spoon in her hand.

“Dinner’s ready,” she said.

“Great, what are we having?” I asked.

“Chili macaroni,” she said. “I found the recipe online.”

“Okay, let’s eat,” I said. Mom turned and walked into the kitchen. She came back with a big pot. Now, I am a decent cook myself. Just enough to get myself by for the week. But nothing can compete with a mom’s cooking. She served me first. Once everyone got their food, mom joined us at the table. We mostly ate in silence. The whole time, I only had one thing in mind. What the hell am I going to do in the morning?

I happened to look up and see mom looking at me.

“Mrs. Washburn is looking for someone to volunteer for the library this summer,” she said.

“Okay…” I said. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s just something for you to do until you figure out what to do next.”

“Alright,” was all I could say. I picked up my spoon and took a bite of my chili macaroni. It was pretty good like I had expected.