Looking Back

Chapter 16: Friday

Friday, I dressed warm and nice before going to over to Tanner's house. I didn't want to disappoint them. When I saw that Tanner was still dressed in the clothes he wore to school that morning, I felt like I was over dressed. I felt embarrassed. "Am I too dressed up?"

"No, you look really nice," he complimented taking in the new long-sleeved sweater I was wearing with a pair of cute fuzzy boots, and bejeweled jeans.

"Do you think your parents might think I'm over dressed?"

"No. Not at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Tamara, stop fretting. You look beautiful," he said growing exasperated.

"Am I getting on your nerves?"

"No. I don't think you could ever get on my nerves."

"Then why are you so tense?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous." He smiled at me, but it didn't last long.

"What's so nerve wrecking?"

"I didn't want to tell you, but I know keeping something from you is wrong." He sighed. "I'm pretty sure my mom and dad want to know all there is to know about you if you know what I mean."

"Oh, no."

"I'm sorry, Tamara." He took my hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"If they find out about my dad's drinking problem, what do you think will happen?"

"I don't know."

"They probably won't approve of me," I said thinking of the worst possible scenario.

"Tamara, you're not the one with the drinking problem. It's your dad. And it doesn't matter what my parents think, okay?"

"Okay." I still was unsure.

Once we were parked outside Tanner's beautiful home, he asked was I ready. I could only answer with a nod. Tanner came to my side of the truck and helped me out. It was becoming a routine.

"Thanks."

"No problem." He placed his hand on the small of my back making it impossible for me to think straight. We never were this close before.

Not like this anyways.

I didn't step away from him either, because I didn't want to. I liked being close to him.

When we stepped foot on the porch, I immediately began to worry about my appearance. "How do I look?" I turned to where Tanner was looking straight at me.

"You look beautiful," he answered.

"Does my hair look okay?"

"It looks perfect." He reassured me.

"Okay." I was going to have to take his word for it since I didn't have a mirror at the moment. I took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Once we were inside, the games began.

The dinner was nothing like I had planned. Getting to know Tanner's parents was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I thought they would ask questions pertaining my personal life, but they gave me a choice of answering.

"We don't want to pry," said Mr. Stone. "It's just-"

"We want to know who are son is getting acquainted with," finished Mrs. Stone with a gentle smile on her face.

When I saw that their intentions weren't to condemn me and pull Tanner away from me, I felt a released to tell them about the situations about my parents. Not mentioning my father being abusive. They agreed to pray for my parents, and for me to have a successful future. They were nowhere near arranging his life to perfection like I thought they were going to. As long as he was happy, they were happy. And that was the end of the conversation at dinner.