I Love the President's Daughter

Chapter 11: Dinner with the Parents

CALUM POV

Shit, shit, shit. I couldn't believe my parents were here. My dad was dressed in a grey suit and my mom had her long black hair in curls and was wearing a nice dress that she saved for special occasions only. 

Uncle Kent broke me out of my shocked daze by stepping forward and greeting his brother. "Red! Good to see ya!" He greeted jovially. My father, who was significantly taller than Uncle Kent, leaned down and clapped his back as they hugged. He then turned to my mother and hugged her politely, "Yael, nice seeing you." He told her. She smiled, "You as well." 

My parents then turned to me, "Calum." My mother whispered, pulling me into a hug. "Hi Mom," I greeted her, hugging her back. Dad and I exchanged a nod. 

I then turned to Scarlett's parents, "Mr. and Mrs. Beaufork, thank you so much for having my family and I tonight. I look forward to getting to know you." I told them. They both smiled politely, Mrs. Beaufork speaking up, "Shall we start?" 

--BREAK--

Dinner so far was going well to my relief. Scarlett sat directly across from me, rubbing her leg against mine underneath the table. "So Calum, our daughter tells us that you are really good at math and have been helping her by tutoring her, are you interested in teaching as a career?" Mr. Beaufork asked me, taking a sip of his wine. "I ha-" I started but was cut off by my father. "Good at math? Being a teacher? We sent him here just hoping he would finish high school, let's not get ahead of ourselves with talking about careers for Cal." My dad chuckled, causing a violent blush on my face and eerie silence from everyone else. 

I didn't dare look up from my plate, I was mortified. 

SCARLETT POV

Dinner was going well, and I thought my parents really liked Calum, until his mother and father started talking. They seemed to be tense and Calum and Kent seemed embarrassed, but they kept going. 

My mom seemed to feel bad for Calum, so she tried to ease the mood. "So Calum, how do you like living in DC with Kent?" She asked him. Calum gave a small, but genuine smile. "I actually really enjoy it down here. Uncle Kent's home is in a really nice neighborhood, our school is amazing, and I am really happy here." He replied, sneaking a smiled at me. Mom smiled at the two of us, and was about to say something else when Mrs. Blacklee perked up, "That's not what you were thinking when we first sent you out here." She mumbled, taking a sip of her wine.  

"Well that's because I was nervous about leaving my home behind, as anyone would be." He shrugged, taking a bite out of his plate. I reassuringly rubbed his leg with mine. "Well you wouldn't even be here if you would listen to some goddamn rules and stopped thinking with your fists and used your pea brain." Red Blacklee grumbled. I couldn't stop my mouth from flying open. "Red, that's enough." Kent snapped warningly. 

The rest of the dinner was quiet and it ended shortly later. Mom and Dad smiled politely and shook hands with everyone and then the 4 Blacklee's left, Calum's face looking defeated. 

Later that night, I heard my phone ring. Groggily, I wiped my eyes and looked at the caller id to see Calum was calling. "Calum?" I said. "Yeah, sorry for calling so late, I just wanted to apologize for dinner." He said, his voice filled with embarrassment. At this I sat up, turning on my bedside light, "What? You didn't do anything wrong Calum, you were great tonight." I told him. "But my parents made everything so awkward." He stated. "But that wasn't your fault, you weren't the one to make things awkward, my parents like you." I told him. "Okay, I'm sorry for calling so late, I'll see you tomorrow." He told me, and we hung up.