Dinner with the West family.

For a moment I simply stood there, watching them. It was a heartwarming sight, a side of Sarah I was seeing for the very first time.

She was running and dribbling the ball with her feet as her three little siblings tried to get it from her. They couldn’t do it. Sarah was too good. She even taunted them, giving them an opening to take it before she lifted the ball and began juggling it with her feet and knees.

“You guys still suck,” she told them while laughing.

“Mister, don’t just stand there! Help us!” Cole told me.

I ran at Sarah, who now had to get a bit more serious. She set the ball on the ground and turned her back to me. Trying to get the ball like that was difficult.

“You’ve never even played soccer, right?” she asked me, keeping me away with her back and her shoulders.

“Nope, but it’s still 4 vs 1,” I told her.

That was when Cole and Violet swooped in at the same time, managing to kick the ball away. Robert ran as fast as he could to get it.

“We did it!” Violet jumped and cheered. “We got the ball from Sarah!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sarah shrugged nonchalantly, but I saw her holding back a smirk. “Let’s see how long you can keep it now.”

Robert passed the ball to Cole with surprising deftness for his age. I almost expected him to stumble or make a bad kick, but no, it was a pretty accurate pass. Cole, too, received the ball with a nice trap, stopping its momentum and passing it to Violet before Sarah was on him. And when she got it, she began to run away from Sarah, laughing all the while.

We played for the ten minutes Mrs. West told us she’d take to get dinner ready. She even called us from the kitchen window. It really reminded me of when mom would call me and Isabelle to eat. It felt kinda nice.

We all washed our hands and went over to the dining room. The table was neatly set and all plates served. Even the look of the food was top notch.

Mr. And Mrs. West sat down at both ends of the table, the three children on one side and Sarah and I at the other. With that, dinner started.

“Mister, you’re really bad at soccer,” Cole told me.

“He’s not bad!” Robert argued. “He’s better than you.”

Cole pouted. “That’s because he’s a grown up!”

“Cole, you’re being rude,” Mr. West told him firmly.

“Apologize to Oliver,” Mrs. West added.

Cole lowered his head. “I’m sorry…”

I chuckled. “Well, it’s true that I’m bad. I don’t play sports at all.”

For a while, we didn’t talk about anything specific, but I did tell Mrs. West that the food was amazing.

“Thank you. It’s very easy to make, you know? Do you cook, Oliver?” she asked.

“Ah. N-No, I don’t. I make breakfast for my mom and my sister every morning, but we always eat takeout for dinner and leftovers from the next day’s lunch.”

Mrs. West frowned. “Really? That’s not good for you.”

“Mom makes us keep a balanced diet, at least,” I clarified. “It’s just… she comes home tired, so…” As I was starting to explain the situation, I suddenly became aware and ashamed of something very obvious. “But… I suppose I could do it. I never tried.”

“You know, I find cooking to be very calming,” she told me, smiling. “It’s also a great way to show people how much you care about them. And on top of that, there’s nothing better than watching someone wolf down a meal you made for them and ask for seconds.” As she said that, I noticed that all her children, Sarah included, had already eaten over half their share. I had, too, without even noticing.

…

Yeah. If mom came home tired from work, why couldn’t I step up and cook us dinner? I had the time, didn’t I?

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of adding cooking to your skillset, Oliver,” Sarah said.

“Hm? I’m thinking about it. Why?”

She grinned. “You’re learning to do everything, huh? Aren’t you also gonna start learning how to drive with Alice?”

Mr. West laughed. “Is that so? Good. This is probably the best time of your life to start learning useful skills. Who knows if you’ll end up in a situation where you have to cook for yourself, right? And knowing how to drive is always useful. Speaking of, what do you have planned for university, Oliver?”

Uh oh. Plans? “I… can’t really say. I only know I’d like to study something music related.”

“Hmm… Performance or theory?”

“Performance, preferably.”

Mr. West nodded. “If so, then look into a Bachelor of Music degree. That’s what a friend of mine did. He told me it's far more focused on practical skills than a degree in arts, for example. There’s also music education, if you’re interested in being a teacher.” He smiled and looked at his younger children. “I get the feeling you’d do well there.”

That… didn’t sound like the best idea. The thought of potentially having such a direct impact in someone’s future was terrifying. But still, his advice was very much appreciated.

“Thank you. I think Bachelor of Music sounds more up my alley.”

Violet giggled. “‘Sounds’ more up his alley.”

That got a laugh out of everyone at the table.

We were finishing up with dinner and Mrs. West was serving us a bit of ice cream for dessert. And as she did, she asked me something very, VERY unexpected.

“Say, Oliver, why don’t you stay the night?”

“Eh?”

“Oh! Yeah! Stay!” Robert said, beaming.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Violet cheered along with her brother. “We can watch movies!”

“No, let’s go to the pool!” Cole said.

“Movies!”

“The pool!”

“Movies!”

“The pool!”

“Um…”

“We have two guest rooms, so it’s no problem,” Mr. West added. “You know we have a sauna and a hot tub, right? Stay and enjoy them. If it’s not a problem for you, of course.”

Sarah turned to me. She tried her best to keep her face neutral, but I could see the pleading in her blue eyes. “...You don’t have to work tomorrow, right? I… don’t think it’s a bad idea.”

Not only visiting Sarah’s house, but staying the night?

…

“I’ll… call my mom and ask her if it’s not a problem.” Mrs. West even asked me to give her my phone so she could talk to mom directly.

I was really staying over at Sarah’s house, then.

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