Get-Together Summer by Lotus Oakes Page A

were good, a little to his
dismay; he didn't know any way to really describe how he felt about
it. His father in particular also enjoyed family meals; he would
sometimes hold the meal for hours to make sure everyone was there
in their proper place. Once, his mother's flight had been two hours
late getting in, and as a result they'd eaten at nearly midnight,
with his father pleased and smiling and his mother pale and pinched
from the flight, but also smiling. They'd been so happy to just
share that time together; the idea that a couple -- especially one
that had been so intimately close already, like Haley and Dirk --
would want to start eating at separate times seemed alien to him.
The fact that Haley was also already in the house, and that a
shower would only take maybe half an hour, made the whole affair
seem even stranger.
    He chewed and he swallowed, watching the plate next
to his from the corner of one eye. Dirk had laid it out nicely:
there were piles of eggs and two fat caramel-brown strips of bacon,
and two neat golden triangles of toast. Butter and jam had also
been laid out, with a fresh knife beside the fork. He took another
bite and forced himself to continue chewing. Every now and then he
glanced through his bangs at Dirk, who had taken hold of the
newspaper and was paging through it as he ate, careless with his
elbows on his table and his mouth half-open as he chewed. It was
disgusting, but it was so effortless that Simon almost envied
it.
    Dirk's plate was nearly empty by the time Haley
wandered into the kitchen, a towel still draped around her
shoulders. She was wearing another sundress, this one dark green in
color and cut off just above her knees. She was flushed soft pink
from the shower and bright-eyed, infinitely more alert than she'd
been when Simon had gone to wake her. She looked at her plate, but
she paused to stoop and kiss Dirk's cheek before sitting. "It looks
good."
    "Of course it's good." Dirk sat back in his chair,
pushing his plate back. He'd left a corner of toast behind, smeared
with a thin scarlet veil. "I made it, so you'd better believe it's
high quality."
    "Just like your ego." She rolled her eyes but smiled,
sitting, and looking at Simon. "Aren't you hungry?"
    He started a little, looking down at his plate. It
was still half-full. "Um. Yeah."
    "He was waiting for you," Dirk said, from behind the
newspaper. "He was really insistent on it."
    Simon flushed, but Haley shifted and kicked Dirk
under the table. "That's just how his family does it," she said.
"Don't tease him."
    "Ow, hey, I'm not!" He glared at her over the paper,
then sighed, looking at Simon again. "Sorry. My family's pretty
scattered, I'm not used to that."
    "Mmmm." He stuck the fork in his mouth, empty, biting
down on the tines.
    "Dad works in another city for one." Dirk leaned
back, his tone thoughtful. "Mom works the night shift. I'm lucky if
I see 'em both in the same house at the same time maybe once a
month."
    The silence that followed the statement was long and
stretched awkward; Simon stared down at his plate, trying to think
of something to say in response, but could come up with nothing.
Instead, though, Haley reached over and put her hand on Dirk's arm
softly. He started at that, as if out of a trance, then laughed a
bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Eh, it's not that
big a deal. Probably the fact that they don't see each other's the
only reason that they're still married."
    Simon's frown deepened. "That seems backwards."
    "Not everyone's gonna get the great love of their
lives." Dirk shrugged. "My parents like each other, but they got
married real young. I think they're more relieved than anything
else that they don't have to do more than occasionally hang out.
They alternated sending someone to come to my school for
parent-teacher conferences, and it worked out." He covered Haley's
hand with his and looked at her with a small smile. "Me, though, I
do kinda get it. If I'm going to be with someone, I've