County Falls

Chapter 12: Meet the Parent

The weekend came quicker than expected and I found myself nervous for dinner. It would be the first time I ever brought a boyfriend around, hell, there was no boyfriend to bring around until now. I paced around the my room changing from outfit to outfit. I wasn't satisfied with anything in my closet. I ran to my moms room so see her doing the same thing.

"Why are you acting nervous? Im the one who's supposed to be nervous."

"This is really different for me Kai, I've never had to meet a boy you were seeing."

I smiled a little. As wrong as it sounded, It was actually making me feel better to know my mom was a nervous wreck. I received a text from Justin that said he was about 10 minutes away. I rushed out of my moms room and settled for my gray sweater dress, tights and boots. It had rained for the past week with no ending in sight, so I grabbed my hooded jacket and waited in the living room. Mom came out a few minutes later and sat next to me on the couch. She wore dark jeans and a blazer which made her look ultra chic.

"Now you make me want to change." The doorbell rang.

"Too late hun." My mother stood up and straightened her shirt.

I ran towards the door, took a deep breath and opened it. Justin stood there with a bouquet of flowers in hand. He looked adorable dressed in a black button up, a pea coat and dark jeans.

"Hey babe." Justin kissed me on the cheek. He walked over to my mom and shook her hand. I saw her eyes scan over him, sizing him up. If she felt a certain way, she didn't show it.

"Hi Mrs. Evans. These are for you." He nervously handed her the flowers.

"Thank you so much Justin and please, call me Katherine." It was odd to hear her to tell him to call her Katherine. In all of my years, whenever she met a new person she was comfortable with, she would tell them to call her Kat. I didn't know whether to take that as a sign of her initial feelings or not. "Im going to put these in water and then we can go."

We arrived at the restaurant just in time for our reservations. I told Justin that my mom's favorite food was sushi so he found the best one in town to try and impress her. It seemed to work when she gave him a genuine smile as she saw the choice of restaurant. As dinner progressed, I started to loosen up. Justin seemed relaxed as he answered all of my moms questions. When he grabbed my hand, I looked over at my mom, worried about her reaction, but she gave me a sweet smile. She asked about his parents and what they do for a living. They discussed his plan after high school and whether he saw football as a career. Things turned a bit awkward when my mom brought up Jase.

"How is the team treating you? Ive heard of other schools hazing their new players but I know Jason would never do that. Isn't he a wonderful person?" She asked Justin.

"Yes Katherine, I've worked with a lot of different team captains and he's been the best so far."

"I believe it. That kid is a natural born leader, don't you think Kai?"

"Sure mom, speaking of leading," I said to steer to conversation away from Jase, "Justin is in the Leadership Club at school."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Tell her about the charity events you've been involved in."

Justin started telling my mom about the club and I breathed I sigh of relief. Unfortunately my relief was brought to a sudden halt when the topic of birthdays came up, after Justin mentioned his and my mom took the opportunity to share her idea of a sweet 17.

"I've been trying to convince Kai to have a seventeenth birthday party. Nothing too big, just a few of her friends at the house."

"And I've been trying to tell my mother that seventeen is no big deal."

"When is your birthday Kai?" Justin looked over to me and asked.

"December 15th" I mumbled. I didn't mind turning a year older but ever since my dad left, the idea of celebrating it with a party seemed pointless.

"We should just do what we do every year."

"We can't sit around and eat cake while watching television again. Seventeen deserves more than that." My mom pointed to Justin with her drink and asked "Don't you think having a sweet 17 would be perfect? We missed out last year but its never too late to celebrate." Justin took a sip of his water. I could tell he was thinking of the right thing to say to make both my mom and me happy.

"I think its a great idea Katherine." My shoulders dropped. What a kiss ass. He decided on the answer that would thrill my mom. She nodded in approval and talked about her plans for the rest of the night, which included decorating the house with streamers, balloons, and a Disney princess cake that I get every year. There was no way I was going to let any of this happen, except for the cake. The cake could stay.

After dinner and then frozen yogurt for dessert, Justin pulled up to the house and walked us to the door.

"I was a pleasure to meet you Justin." She shook his hand. "You seem like you have a good head on your shoulders and I'm happy that my daughter chose you as her first boyfriend." I buried my face in my hands to hide my embarrassment. "Please come by any time." She came in to give me a hug and whispered "I'll give you some time alone. Don't be long." She kissed my forehead and went inside.

I turned to Justin who's head was faced down and hands were in his coat pocket.

"Thank you so much for tonight. I hope my mom wasn't too hard on you."

"She was great. I can see where you get your sense of humor from." My brow furrowed. I didn't know whether I should take that as a compliment or not.

"So, I'll see you at school?" I asked.

"Definitely." He gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "Good night Kaia."

When I walked inside the house, my mom was in the living room pretending to watch television.

"Alright, spit it out." I said. She sat up quickly and turned the volume down.

"He's really handsome Kai."

"That's it?" I curled up on the sofa next to her.

"And he's really sweet and charming. I approve."

"I feel like theres a but at the end of that sentence."

She stared at me blankly. "Well, how can I put this? He seems to be... experienced."

"What do you mean?"

"Like he's had a few girlfriends before."

How did she gather all of that information in one dinner? "Well we haven't talked about it but I'm sure he wasn't a monk at his last school."

"Just be careful Kai." She warned. "Boys like him have needs."

"Mom!" I buried my face in to the pillow. Could my life get any more humiliating? "I'm going to bed." I leaned forward and grabbed her in to a bear hug. "Love you mom, Thank you for being so nice to him."

"Anything for you Kai." She said and squeezed me tight.

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