W O R D S : 1306
D A T E : 9/1/18

There's nothing worse than thanksgiving.

Now you might be thinking : Ruby, how can you say that, it's a time where you can eat as much food as you want with no consequences-

That may be true, but there is another large factor that comes into play.

Family.

Thanksgiving was the time my family came to visit. Of course, none of them were normal. If you put the worst possible family member quality's in one pot, and then mixed a few people in, that would be my family.

Both sides were messed up. My mom's side were sort of stupid, and asked a lot of stupid questions. They knew no boundaries, and would say basically anything without realizing how messed up it was.

My father's side were just unapologetically assholes, which is strange considering how nice my dad is.

It wasn't a good look.

Today's the 1st day of thanksgiving break. The day my family arrives, and temporarily messes up everyone's life.

I tied my hair back into braids, looking at the clock uneasily.

1 hour left.

Putting my shoes on, I walked downstairs. My brother was lounging on the couch, watching tv. I slapped him on the back of the head as greeting, and jerked away when he tried to hit me back.

Walking out the door, I walked down the sidewalk, and crossed the street. Since it was the last day before break yesterday, Connell got home early, and downed just enough liquor to make him drunk.

Unfortunately, he refused to give me some.

I let myself into his house, petting his dog affectionately.

I found Connell in his study, grading papers. Exhaling obnoxiously, fell on the chair in front of his desk. He barely looked up, his eyes focused intensely on his paper.

"Are you kidding me?" I complained, putting my feet up on his desk. This made him look up, but only because he wanted my shoes off his desk.

"Why are you grading papers on your first day of break," I continued, pointing to the stack of papers on his desk.

Connell gave me a blank look, putting down his pen.

"What else am I going to do?" He asked, giving me a pointed look. I smiled coyly.

"Well, I can think of plenty of things."

Connell rolled his eyes, picking his pen back up. I let out an irritated sigh and stood, walking around the desk.

Grabbing the papers, I shoved them to the side, and sat on the empty space straight in front of him. Connell lifted his pen and looked at me.

"Give me attention," I prompted, lightly kicking his knee with my shoe.

Connell gave me a really look, but still put his pen to the side.

"Okay. How are you, Ruby?" He asked sarcastically, leaning back in his chair.

"Awful, thanks for asking," I answered, crossing my arms.

Connell was about to motion for me to continue, but I was just starting.

"You see, my family is coming."

Connell gave me a blank look.

"How can that not make you nervous? Do you have any emotions?" I pouted. Connell just shrugged.

I exhaled, putting out my hands to Connell. Connell grabbed them after a few seconds, standing.

Connell pulled me up by my hips, and then forced me to follow him downstairs. I sat at the kitchen counter as he pulled out yet another beer.

"How can you keep drinking that, it doesn't even taste good," I mumbled, crinkling my nose.

Connell popped the cap of, looking at me.

"You shouldn't know that," He gives me a look, before taking a big drink. I smiled, lifting my shoulders.

He sat down next to me, putting the beer on the table- and out of my reach. It might taste bad, but I would try anything to get me through the day.

"What are you doing over break?" I asked, tapping my fingers on the granite. Connell paused, then shrugged.

"My parents aren't really thanksgiving people," He told me.

I smiled, looking fully at him.

"What are your parents like?" I prodded, poking him on the shoulder.

Connell had a distant smile on his face before he told me about his parents.

"They're good people, both of them. My father is a little rough around the edges, but he's nice overall. My mom is a fast judge of character, but is kind to whoever she meets," He told me, tracing patterns onto my arm. I put my chin in my hand, looking out the window at my house.

My own parents weren't much off, just a bit opposite.

"Would they like me?" I asked, looking at him. Connell chuckled, nodding. A big smile settled on my lips.

We talked for a while longer, mainly me complaining about the travesty that was going to become my life, and Connell doing little to comfort me.

In the middle of one of my rants, I saw out of the corner of my eye, my Aunts bright yellow jeep pull into my driveway.

With a squeak, I stood, turning. Though they couldn't see me, there was no way I wanted to see them.

Connell watched as they got out of the car, amused. He patted me on my leg, and pointed outside.

"You should probably get home," he laughed. I gaped at him, before hitting him on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you'd toss me to the dogs like that!" I growled, stomping my foot.

"Well, you are a wolf."

I rolled my eyes at him, looking out the window once more. Another car pulled up... the other side of the family.

I let out a long breath, before grabbing Connells' beer and taking a big swig.

"Hey, hey, hey," Connell chastised, grabbing it from me. He frowned at me as I shook my head, trying to swallow it.

When I was done, I straightened up, and turned towards the door.

"I think I'm ready," I mumbled, taking a step forward. Connell stopped me, pulling me back by the hand.

"Now you smell like beer," He pointed out, cupping my chin with his hands. I pouted, before smiling.

"I know how to fix that,"

I leaned forward before he could stop me, kissing him warmly.

Connell wrapped his arms around me, kissing back. He let me kiss him a few times, before grabbing my arms and separating us to breathe.

"That definitely didn't help," he said slowly, looking at me in the eyes.

"It helped me," I told him, turning. I walked out of the door before he could stop me again.

I took my time walking home, even though it took less then a minute. As I walked up the stairs, I could hear the chattering behind the door.

Clenching my fists and taking a deep breathe, I walked in, smiling.

My family greeted me warmly, taking me by the hand. It took a while for them to become overbearing.

For the next hour, I was forced to tell them everything I had been doing in the past year since they last saw me. I left out a lot of details, mainly about Connell and me failing senior year.

Then, they started talking about what we'd be doing for the next few days. I wanted to groan as they all collectively decided we'd be going on a picnic the next day.

It was going to be a long few days.

Authors Note

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for how absent i've been. There's not really any excuse- although I did go on a lot of trips in the past month. I'm so behind on chapters, so I should be updating a lot. I hope you guys have been enjoying the book so far, and I'm excited to show you what's up next for Rejected!

Love,

Elle Kay