The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Meeting The Parents

Piper: Chapter 37

On Saturday evening, I stood outside of Justin's house, holding a tub of potato salad, wearing a dress that I'd borrowed from Elena that was much fancier and more expensive than anything I would ever own, feeling the rush of nervousness that I'd pushed aside ever since Justin had invited me. 

Where's that newfound optimism now? My hand hovered over the doorbell, until I finally felt stupid enough standing there that I actually pressed it.

"Pipecasso!" Justin smiled at me as he swung the door open, looking at the dish in my hand and laughing a bit, "Still looks like it could be for leprechauns to me. If it's as good as it looks, I'll bet Leo would fight a leprechaun for it."

I smiled at his words and opened my mouth to respond before noticing the polished and slightly stiff pair standing behind him, "Um..."

Following my gaze, he cleared his throat, "Ah, right, sorry... come on in. These are my parents - Dr. and Dr. Cameron." He smiled a bit wryly.

"You can call me Adrian, if you prefer," Justin's father said with what looked like a very practiced smile.

"Mrs. Cameron or Clara is just fine with me," his mother said, though there was something off about her tone, "I'm not quite as attached to my doctorate as Adrian, probably because EVERYONE in my field has one."

Putting the strangeness down to nerves, I inclined my head politely, "Piper Breen. It's nice to meet you both."

"We know."

"Justin just talks about you so often," Clara chimed in.

"Mom!"

I laughed a bit at Justin's whining before holding out the dish of potato salad I'd brought, "Thank you for inviting me to dinner. Justin said I should bring my own contribution. I thought potato salad would complement your food nicely. Justin always goes on about how good it is at school."

Justin made a face, but his mother seemed pleased at the thought, "Well, maybe I should go back to making lunches for him and Leo to take to school. I know that the schools provide it, but... I just don't know if it's all that nutritious."

Thanks a lot, Justin mouthed to me, making me stifle a giggle.

"Now, don't worry about that, Clara, the schools are highly rated and I'm sure they're only feeding our boys the best."

"You're probably right," she sighed and took the potato salad, trying very hard not to look visibly disgusted as she looked it over, "I... don't know whether this will go with the meal or not."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Mom," Justin said, "Let's just give it a try."

"Right, well... okay," she said, looking back to me after another moment, "Dinner's already on the table, so I hope you're ready to eat."

"Of course," I replied, "Justin was just texting me about how starved he was today. I'm sure he'll eat AT LEAST two helpings." Justin's murderous look made it VERY hard not to laugh as we walked into the dining room where Leo was already waiting, looking up with a grin when we stepped through the doorway.

"Hey, Piper!" he said cheerfully, eyes locking onto the dish in his mother's hands, "Did you make that?"

I nodded, "Yeah, my mom's recipe."

"Awesome! So it's not going to be nasty like my mom's cooking!" he grinned.

"Leo!" his mother exclaimed, appalled.

"Oh, I'm sure he's just going through his 'picky eater' phase," Adrian said, though he clearly didn't believe it himself, "Don't worry yourself, Clara."