Chapter 49: Unworthy

Caspian gave up on ringing the doorbell and rapped loudly on the front door.

"Coming," a voice from inside yelled. Deathly silence followed.

Caspian tapped his foot impatiently; I matched my breathing patterns to the sound of his feet tapping the ground..

"Where are the keys?" The same voice from earlier sounded hurried.

I heard someone reply, but the sound was muffled by the thick door that stood between us and the occupants of the house.

The door swung open so suddenly that Caspian and I were hit with a large gust of wind, causing us both to blink. A woman with ocean eyes gazed intently at me. I was in her direct line of vision, and she didn't bother looking to the side before examining me. Her eyes travelled from the top of my head down to the tank top I wore, and further down to my white shorts. She looked at my ankles for a while, before making the return trip back to my face. She tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind her ears, before thinking better of it and pulling the hair tie out of her messy bun, allowing her greying blond hair to cascade down her shoulder. Her face was round and chubby. A few wrinkles mapped their way from her mouth to her eyes. Her thin lips curled up into a smile when she saw who was standing next to me.

"Cas, my dear boy," she exclaimed her hands flying out towards him. Caspian took a step back. Her hands fell back to her sides. She didn't look surprised that he acted like that, only disappointed; as if she knew that she wouldn't get the embrace she craved, but she was willing to keep trying anyway.

"Who is this?" Mrs. Gray asked, briefly turning her face toward mine, before pronouncing me unworthy of her attention and fixing her eyes on Caspian again.

"My girlfriend," Caspian told her, looking at me when he said the words. It was easy to get lost in those eyes and forget what was going on around me. I didn't meet his gaze, worried that he would cause me to get so caught up in the moment, I'd come across as rude.

I sheepishly smiled at his mother. She jutted her bottom lip out, confirming what I already knew: she didn't like me. She had expected someone better for her son. Someone prettier, taller, someone that was less me. Someone worthy of her son. I knew I shouldn't worry about what she thought, because if she wasn't worthy of Caspian's love, she had no right to determine who was and who wasn't. Yet the way she looked at me still managed to scar me.

I held my hand out towards her, and to my surprise she completely ignored my attempt to be polite.

"What about Amber?" she asked, preoccupying her wandering eyes with something in the distance. "I quite liked her."

Her words hit me like a blow to the chest. What was it about Amber that made people worship the path her feet treaded on? It couldn't be her personality; she didn't even have one. It was probably the fact that she looked like something off the cover of a teen-mag. I ran a hand through my hair, trying to tame my wild mane; but I only succeeded in frizzing it up. I sighed in defeat.

"Amber and I are just friends." Caspian looked like he was about to pop a vein in his forehead. "If even that much," he muttered, so softly that his words got swept up by the wind before she could hear them.

"Well, do you want to come in?" Mrs. Gray asked us, opening the door wider.

"No," Caspian replied. "We're just going to wait here for someone less..." he put his index finger on his chin, as if he was trying to think of the right word, "......impudent," he finished, rolling his eyes for emphasis. Why did he bring me to meet his family, if he didn't even like them himself?

"Cas!" A little girl appeared by the door. She chewed nervously on the red ribbon that stopped her blond pigtails from unravelling. Her big brown eyes stared at Caspian in adoration, while her lips pulled back to reveal a big black hole where her two front teeth should have been.

"Hey, Molly." Caspian immediately changed his tone at the sight of this girl. "Come meet my girlfriend." He walked up towards her and scooped her up into his arms. He walked towards me with Molly balanced on his hip.

"Hi," I cooed, not sure what the appropriate way to greet a tiny tot was.

"This is my sister," Caspian clarified.

"Are you going to marry Cas?" she asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Umm...." I looked to Caspian for help, only to see that his face was just as red as mine.

"We've known each other for a couple of months," he teased. "I think it's about time."

"Yay!" Molly screamed. "I'm going to be the flower girl."

I didn't think it was possible, but more blood flowed to my cheeks, giving me the appearance of someone who had just crossed the Sahara Desert and was now badly sunburnt.

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Gray chimed in. I was actually kind of surprised that she was taking this seriously.

Caspian wiggled his eyebrow at me, causing me to laugh uneasily.