Page 124 of My Family

"Dad, this is Miles," I say when we reach them. "He's one of my roommates. And this is Ms. Sparks, our art teacher."

"Vikki, please," she says, extending her hand to my father.

Her sleeve of tattoos is visible beneath her rolled-up cuffs.

"No 'Ms. Sparks' on weekends."

My dad shakes her hand, then Miles's.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Thomas."

Miles nods but doesn't say anything.

His blue eyes are watchful, taking everything in.

"We're heading back to our table," Ethan says smoothly. "You should join us."

I catch the casualness in his voice.

He's trying very hard not to say anything about Vikki and Miles standing together.

"Sure," Vikki says before Miles can respond. "We were just about to grab some food anyway."

We all head back to the table, where Marie and Tyler are still sitting with their plates.

Jack spots us from across the yard and comes jogging over, his nephew no longer with him.

"Hey!" he calls. "My sister's getting Theo some ice cream. What's going on?"

"Family gathering," I say, gesturing to our growing group. "Pull up a chair."

Jack drags over an extra bench, and soon we've got a full table: me, my dad, Ethan, Tyler, Marie, Miles, Vikki, and Jack.

It should be awkward, this mismatched collection of people, but somehow it isn't.

Marie immediately starts asking Vikki about her art background.

"What the fuck is this, a reunion?"

Harry's voice cuts through our conversation as he approaches the table.

Behind him is a woman in her fifties with perfectly highlighted blonde hair, designer sunglasses perched on top of her head, and the kind of tan that comes from regular spa visits.

"Language, Harry," she says.

"Everyone, this is my mother, Diana," Harry says with exaggerated formality. "Mom, these are my… colleagues."

I almost laugh at his choice of words.

"We're your friends, jerk," Jack says. "We've been stuck here together for years. We went to your house!"

"Sure, Jack. Keep telling yourself that," Harry says, always an asshole.

"And you're alive?!" Jack asks.

We all look at him like he's crazy.

Diana bursts out laughing, so we all laugh too.