The Professor's Daughter [Part 2 of 2]

16 | Can't Hide The Truth

Leah's POV

It is currently 6:00pm and I am waiting on Jennifer to come out of the bathroom so we can leave. She finally sprung the whole "going to my parent's house" thing on me after this morning's events, so I have been panicking since then.  I mean, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be because I found out that Jennifer's father (my former professor) won't be there. He has been out of town since school ended apparently. So it'll just be Jen's mom.

Jennifer comes out of the bathroom looking like she just walked out of a magazine. Tight, army-green jeans with two tears in the knees, a white, thick-strapped tank top that is partially tucked behind her belt, and wedges. Her hair is down and has subtle waves in it, and she has her make up done perfectly. I look her up and down and the smell of her perfume and hair products hits me. "You look hot." I grin. She shakes her head and adjusts her bracelet, "you look beautiful. I like that color on you." She winks, noticing I am wearing one of the things she bought for me.

I am wearing a pair of tight, light-wash jeans with a few holes in the thighs, a pale yellow tank top that has small floral designs on it, and flats.

"Thank you, my girlfriend bought it for me." I tease. She grins and kisses my lips quickly, "come on. My mom is very impatient when it comes to these things." Jennifer says, walking towards the door.

I follow the sound of Jennifer's wedges tapping against the ground all the way to her car. She lets me in first, then she gets in and we start the drive to her parent's house.

While she drives I stay quiet, looking out the window and at her. She mouths the words to the song that is playing and I smile to myself a little. "I love you." I say, not really meaning to say it out loud. She grins and puts her hand on my thigh, letting her chilly rings touch my bare skin.  I look at her hand, studying her fingers and how her hand is placed on my leg. Her touch. The feeling of her skin against mine is the most perfect and comforting thing in the world to me. I think I am slowly falling back into how I felt before. No more fear and reservations... I am starting to trust her again. It is a good feeling.

After a long drive, Jennifer turns into the curvy driveway of her parent's home and I sigh quietly.

"Don't do that. Don't be nervous, because I will be nervous. When I get nervous... things go bad. So please, just don't act nervous!" She says. I laugh a little and nod my head, "okay, okay! Sorry... I'm just- excited." "Good. They'll like you, and Dani is here so you'll have a familiar face." She says, turning the car off.

As her hand hits the door handle I grab her arm and stop her, "baby?" "Yeah?" Jen asks, looking at me attentively. "I love you." I say and she giggles and leans over the console to my lips, "I love you too."

-

I have been inside of Jennifer's parent's house for a grand total of seven minutes now (yes, I counted) and I am still nervous. I am scared to even speak because I don't know what is going to come out. I guess it isn't as nerve-wracking as if could be though! Jennifer's dad isn't here, so I just have to meet her mom today. Meeting her dad is going to be an entirely different story seeing as that we already know each other.

"Jennifer, how long have you and Leah been seeing each other?" Jennifer's mother asks. It is obvious that she is a very professional, tense, and bold woman. It is very intimidating. "Mm, since about January I guess... so six months." "And we just now hear about her?" Her mom asks again. Jennifer cuts her eyes at her mom and things get sort of quiet for a moment.

"How old are you, Leah?" Jen's mom asks. I look at Jennifer and her eyes widen dramatically. She comes closer to me and pulls her hands down my forearm, grabbing my right hand. "She just turned 21, actually." Jennifer grins and I just look at her. What??

"Oh. Silly me... I thought that this was the girl who got you sent to jail because she is underage!"

Jennifer and I both get silent and I look at her, scared to death. My heart beats fast and Jennifer was obviously caught off guard by this. We didn't know her mother knew! Jennifer closes her eyes and bites her lip, still not saying anything. Please, say something.

I make the mistake of looking up at her mom and she is giving me the most evil stare in the world. This could not get any worse, could it?

"Care to share anything, Jennifer?" Her mom asks, folding her arms over her bright pink sundress. I swallow hard and Jennifer lets go of my hand.

"Mom, you don't know the story." Jennifer says, as if that is going to help. Jennifer glances at me and I feel a wave of panic come over me and I can't take it. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.

I turn my back and go out the front door with tears welling in my eyes. As I leave, I meet Danielle and her husband at the door. "Hey! What are you-" she stops speaking when she realizes I am crying and leaving the house. "Leah!" Dani calls out. I go to Jennifer's car and get into the passenger seat and close the door behind me. This is not how I envisioned tonight going.

Not even a full minute passes by and I see Jennifer coming through the front door. She comes directly to the door and taps on my window. I pull the handle and the door pops open and she grabs it and sighs.

"Are you okay?" She asks me, kneeling down beside the car, looking up at me. "Am I okay? Fuck no I am not okay, Jennifer! She hates me!" I say, continuously wiping under my eyes to try and salvage my make up. "Le..." she mutters, putting her hand on my knee. "See! You know I'm right." "She just... she doesn't have a good first impression of you! It isn't like we can't fix it. It isn't your fault, baby. She can't hate you if she doesn't know you." Jennifer tells me.

Suddenly, Danielle runs outside and over to the car, "what the hell happened?" "Did you tell her?!" Jennifer asks her sister, angry and standing up so that the two are at eye level. I reach for Jennifer's hand and she looks down at me and backs off. "Tell her what?" "She knows I fucking got arrested for sleeping with Leah!" Jennifer hisses. "I didn't say a thing. I don't know how the hell she found out! There is nothing anywhere about you or your stay... I mean, I literally had all of that shit erased from everywhere. I shredded every hardcopy myself, Jennifer. She had to of talked to someone! You know how she is.. she knows all the right people."

I sigh and fan my face with my hand and Jennifer groans and smacks her hand against the top of her car, "fuck, Dani! I just- I wanted this to go well. I wanted her to not be a fucking psycho and I wanted her to like Leah." Jennifer says. "I know... just... come on. We just need to talk to her!" Dani insists.

Jennifer and I take a couple of minutes to cool down before we follow Danielle back inside the house.

I had a lot of ideas about how meeting Jennifer's mom would go.... this was definitely not one of the things I had considered.