“So he’s rounding the corner, drifts into a long slide across the wooden floor, yelling at the top of his lungs ‘I’m outta control!’. And he crashes right into the Christmas tree, knocking things everywhere.”

Laughter burst out around the table while I covered my face with my hands. My uncle had effectively put me into a hole six feet deep, then left me there, desperately trying to bury myself with my own hands. My family typically used me an entertaining scapegoat, due to my constant antics and natural tendency to get into troublesome situations. I had always been the odd one in the family, always marching to the beat of my own drummer.

“rMmmmmm,” I groaned, peeking through my fingers at the bemused expressions splashed across their faces, like haphazardly thrown paint across canvas.

“There are times when having you around is a good thing,” Lynn sneered quietly.

Shooting her glare, I mouthed, “Shut it or else…”

“Come on…why don’t you tell some stories about Lynn? It’s not exactly fair you know. She’s awkward and not that bright…she has some funny stories too.” I knew that I was whining a bit, but I was going to shift the focus off me however I could.

I could feel the scowl and her evil eyes boring into my skull, but I fended them off with a snicker and a grin that only caused my cousin’s scowl to deepen.

“You know, I hear that you get wrinkles if you scowl too much,” I said teasingly, looking in Lynn’s direction. “Isn’t that true?” I asked, my wide-eyed gaze sweeping from my cousin to my aunt, sitting just to her right.

“Oh well…I don’t have problems with wrinkles. But I’m going to go wash my hands before dessert. I’ll be right back.” Hopping up and excusing myself from the table, I started away before anyone could respond.

“Alright. Well, when Lynn was about 5…” I heard my aunt’s voice say, as it slowly mixed into the ambient noise and faded into the background. Finally, I was free.

Strolling out of the restroom, I checked my hands to see if they were totally dry, and ran into Steph as she was coming out of the women’s restroom.

“Oh hey! Didn’t see you there.”

“Hellos. I had to go to the restroom too.” she replied.

“Are my aunt and uncle still telling stories?” I queried.

“Actually, my parents started sharing stories about my brother, so I thought I should go before they started with me,” she said, while laughing to herself.

Her laughter was like the tinkling of silver bells, pure notes of innocent clarity. They floated and danced through the slightly humid air, finding a perch among the rafters. I couldn’t help but smile seeing her laughter light up her face.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

“But isn’t everyone waiting for us at the table?”

“No, I told our families that we were going to go outside after I found you.”

“Oh…?”

“Come on,” she coaxed, and grabbed my hand with both of hers.

“But where are we…” I questioned her haltingly.

Without saying a word, she smiled, tugged at my hand, and off we ran through the lobby doors and into the darkening night sky.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

“I’m gonna shower,” I announced, kicking my shoes off and running for the bathroom door.

“Wait a sec! I called it first!” Lynn screamed in protest.

With a 3-4 stride lead on my cousin, there was no way she’d catch me as I dashed for the bathroom. Sure, she mentioned that she wanted to take a shower when we got back to the hotel, but she never actually called it. At least that’s what I remember.

“Too late,” I sang, as I slid across the tile floor, past the open door, and slamming it shut behind me.

I could hear her muttering underneath her breath about annoying cousins, something or another, and I smiled to myself.

My face was covered in grime from the day’s activities. Leave it to my uncle to take us on a whirlwind tour of some of the more obscure historical spots in Paris, coupled with architectural sightseeing. I typically would have appreciated the architecture, but I was way beyond the brink of information overload. At this point, I simply wanted to space-out, while staring at the pale blue sky.

We had been in Paris for almost a week, and I had barely seen Stephanie because of my family’s crazy itinerary. I’d seen her twice at breakfast, once around dinnertime, but it was always somewhat awkward, seeing how both of our families were always around when we saw each other.

I quickly showered and hopped around to get dressed. Hearing a knock on the room door, I opened the bathroom door and peered out, hoping to see Steph’s face. Wishful thinking I guess, because all I saw was my uncle talking to Lynn about something. Not bothering to listen, I closed the door and finished getting dressed.

“Hey, come on, get outta there!” Lynn cried. “You’ve been in there for half an hour! Boys aren’t supposed to take that long!”

“Half an hour isn’t long! Or would you rather I sit here and not come out for another half hour?” I teased.

“Hurry up! My dad told us to meet downstairs for dinner. We’re gonna be eating with your girlfriend’s family!”

“Wait, what?” I opened up the door and quickly jumped out, stumbling over my own feet in the process. “What did you say? Eating with who?”

“I told you, your girlfriend’s family. I guess we’re having dinner with Steph and her family,” she said, sounding smug, guessing that it might make me squirm.

“Oh…,” I replied, not quite sure how to take the news.

“Crap, crap, crap…,” I muttered to myself.

I liked Steph, I really did, but I had never been too fond of any large familial type of gathering. A family dinner, especially with another family, was akin to setting up a situation where I could potentially end up center stage. Having my exploits and antics exposed to the world was not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted to spend some time with Stephanie.

Wonderful. That’s all I needed. A family rodeo.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…