Dangerous

Chapter 3: Ashlynn

As soon as I heard the car pulling into the driveway, I ran downstairs. "Chad's here!" I yelled as I passed the kitchen.

Opening the front door, I stepped out on the driveway, excited to see my boyfriend. Much to my disappointment, there was a sickly sweet smell hovering around Chad as he got out of the car and walked towards me.

"Seriously?" I asked, waving a hand in front of my face. "You're getting high right outside my house? Did you forget who my dad is?"

"He's a cop. So what?" He shrugged, unconcerned.

"He's not just a cop, Chad." Reaching out, I plucked the vape from his hand. "He's the head police chief of this entire town. He can arrest you for underage use of drugs. And besides that, it's not good for you." I sighed. "My parents wanted to have dinner with you. Can you please go dispose of this, or whatever, and come back?"

"Yeah, I guess." He took the vape from my fingers and walked down the steps. I waited until he turned the corner before opening the door.

My mom was in the foyer, looking over my shoulder. "I thought you said your boyfriend was here?"

"Yeah, he is," I said, closing the door. "He's just grabbing something from his car and he'll be right back."

It felt like ages before we were all sitting down at the table. Even after all of the introductions had been made, the tensions didn't lessen. Mom seemed very anxious and nervous, constantly fixing the decorations or getting up to go to the kitchen. Dad was intimidating as always, asking constant questions and not taking his scrutinizing gaze off Chad. The conversation went from sports, current jobs, dream jobs, plans for the future, college, and everything in between. But things got interesting when the conversation somehow turned to the topic of gangs.

Chad was sticking with the thought that the gangs weren't the ones in the wrong, that there was nothing inherently wrong with what they were doing. My dad, of course, had other opinions. The conversation started to get heated, Chad arguing over even the tiniest things. I tried to clear my throat to get their attention.

"Is there something you wanted to add?" Dad asked.

I sighed and set down my fork. "Would it be okay if we stopped talking about this? It's a complicated situation, and obviously, we have different views."

"The gang system, and everything involved, is quite difficult to understand or explain," Dad remarked, shooting a look at Chad.

"It doesn't seem that difficult to me," I muttered.

Chad nudged my foot and shook his head, telling me to stop. I looked down at my food. I wasn't really hungry anymore. Picking up my fork, I pushed the food around on my plate, waiting for someone to speak.

"Now that that's over, how about some dessert?" Mom asked, also getting up from the table.

Chad glanced at me and then back to my mom. "Uh, I was thinking that Ashlynn and I would get dessert while on our date? Is that okay with both of you?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Mom commented. "Your dad and I will take care of everything here. You two go and have fun, okay?"

Oh, thank goodness. "Yeah, that sounds good," I said, getting up from the table. My parents got up as well and walked us to the door while I grabbed my stuff.

"Thank you both for dinner," Chad said, reaching forward to say goodbye to my parents. "It was great to meet you both."

"Thank you for stopping by, and you're welcome back anytime," Mom gushed, ignoring the handshake and pulling Chad in for a hug.