“Oh my God,” I whisper and attempt to make a getaway. I have nothing against the man, but the same way that I don’t want to be on Ace’s or Xander’s radar, I definitely don’t want to be on Albert Clyde’s radar. I don’t make it far, because Ace’s hand on my wrist immediately pulls me back.

“Relax,” Ace says in a quiet voice. “He’s not going to bite.” A pause. “Or, well, he won’t bite you, at least.”

“Alistair, stop whispering in the doorway and join us at the table,” Ace’s father says. “And introduce your guest.” His tone leaves no room for argument.

“This is Karina Ahmed,” Ace says, gesturing to me with a wave of his hand. “Karina, this is my family.”

I smile weakly. “Hello.”

Ace hesitates, and I don’t understand why until he points to the seat next to Mia. “You can sit there.”

Which means Ace has to sit next to Xander, since there are only six seats at the table.

Usually, I would refuse because it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Ace doesn’t like his brother. However, I also don’t want to sit next to Xander, and I definitely don’t want to cause a scene, so I quietly take my seat across from Ace.

“Shall we say grace?”

Ya Allah, I’m in a sitcom. I’m the Muslim girl sitting at a table with a typical all-American family about to say grace. Well, Mia and her mother are Black so at least there’s some solidarity, but this is still incredibly awkward.

“Dear God,” Ace’s father starts, and I bow my head in accordance, wanting to be respectful of their religion, even if this is one of the strangest situations I’ve ever been in. The few times I’ve been to Cora’s house, her family has never done this even though they’re Christian, too. My family doesn’t even sit down together for meals.

We eat on a strange schedule, where lunch is whenever you come home and dinner is an hour before you sleep. Since the timing differs for all of us, we rarely have meals together unless we’re hosting guests of some sort.

This family dinner laid out in front of me is very much uncharted territory.

“Thank you for your graciousness,” Ace’s father says. “Thank you for the roof over our head and the food on our table. Thank you for the meal we are about to enjoy, made by Tina’s wonderful hands. Thank you for Alexander’s acceptance into Yale University with a full scholarship. Thank you for allowing Cosmia to win first place in Midland High School’s talent show. Thank you for not landing Alistair in detention this week so he’s able to attend our family dinner.”