What a Girl Wants

Chapter Nineteen

Parents' Weekend arriving meant that finals were just around the corner. And both had come around faster than Mandy could have ever imagined. "Miranda Bailey, open up. It's your parents," Elena Bailey said excitedly through the locked dorm door.

Mumbling silently, Mandy got out of bed, quickly checking her face and her room before she let her parents in. "Hi, mom. Hi, dad," she responded hugging them both. They came in with two bags from the Waffle House. Food. "Thank you. I am so hungry. How was your trip?"

"It was good. Your father still drives like he's 24."

"We got here safely, didn't we?" William Bailey asked winking at his daughter.

"It's good to see you guys," Mandy told them truthfully as she bit into a pecan waffle.

"We love seeing your face, too, baby," Elena said. "But those nails! They're so short. Since when do you keep them so short?"

William rolled his eyes. "Lena, she's too busy with her schoolwork to be worried about her nails. Right, sweetheart?" Mandy just nodded. There was no way she'd ever find the words to explain to her mother just why her nails were that length. Nope!

The three of them continued to eat. And there were several times when she just wanted to tell her parents about Gabby. When they saw her, was she going to be able to control her smile? Or the sparkle in her eyes that only happened around the sophomore? God, she thought, I have to reintroduce them to Gabby, my girlfriend. The Baileys went to a lecture on the lawn that the school was hosting. Since she was way more settled than the last time, Mandy introduced them to more people. Afterward, they watched a volleyball game on the pitch between women from Wellesley and some guys from Framingham State. The ball bounced in her direction. "Throw that back, please!" A guy called out. Mandy picked it up and tossed it. "Thanks!" The two of them made eye contact.

Mandy knew that face. "Don't I know you?"

He threw the ball over his shoulder and walked over to her. "Yeah, I remember you, too. Miranda, right?"

She nodded. "And... Ben?"

"Yeah."

So entranced in their conversation, she forgot that her parents were sitting right next to her. Ben raised his brow, darting his eyes from them to her. "Oh, mom, dad, this is Ben Something-Or-Another from Fram State. Ben, these are my parents, William and Elena." He shook hands with them and Mandy could see that they liked him almost immediately. She hoped they would react the same way for Gabby.

"So, uh, where's your g..." Mandy shook her head inconspicuously. "Good friend?"

"Yeah, where is Scotty?" William asked as Ben's face turned apologetic before he said by ran back to the game.

"And the other one... Gabrielle," Elena added. Mandy's stomach spun into tiny knots. "I thought we'd have seen them by now."

Mandy glanced around. "They're around somewhere, I think. Their parents are here for the weekend, too."

"How are they?"

"They're... really good."

Her father's back began to hurt because of the six-hour drive and he headed back to her room to lay down while Mandy and Elena went to lunch. "So, um, that Ben seemed nice."

"Yeah, he might be." They surveyed the food. "I don't know him that well. We just met at a party once."

"Oh?" Her daughter nodded. "Do you think you'd like getting to know him?" Picking up her sandwich, Mandy bit into it. With a full mouth, she wouldn't have to answer any more questions. Especially ones about a guy she didn't want to know. Yeah, he was handsome, but he wasn't— "Gabrielle!" Elena said snapping Mandy from her thoughts. "Isn't that her?"