Anxiety Attack

Chapter 12

Finley's P.O.V

My mother blinked several times and my father immediately stood taller, puffing his chest out as he took note of Eli's lip ring.

Eli shifted uncomfortably before coming forward, heading for my father. "Nice to meet you sir," he said, holding his hand out for my dad to shake.

Dad blinked, his tough act vanishing at Eli's manners. "Nice to meet you too," he responded, grasping Eli's hand in a firm handshake. "So how did you meet our Finley?"

"We have a couple classes together," Eli said, glancing at me. "She's a very smart girl, so I asked her to tutor me in math."

"And that's all?" Dad queried, raising an eyebrow. "No... side deals?"

I could feel my face burn red as Eli blinked, fidgeting nervously, unsure how to answer the question.

Thank God for my mother, as she snapped back to life finally getting over the fact that I had brought a boy home.

"Tom, don't scare him off," she scolded her husband and turned, beaming, to Eli. "You're very cute," she observed.

Both Luke and I facepalmed. "Mom, you can't say that," Luke groaned. "You're married and he's seventeen."

"So?" Mom replied, acting nonchalant. "I'm just saying he's cute! And you didn't have a problem with me saying Allie's pretty!

"That's because Allie's a girl," Luke said, "God, Mom."

"Don't sass me, young man," Mom said, firing up suddenly.

Luke and I exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing. Mom must have a visit from her monthly gift.

"Finley, why don't you go get changed for dinner," Mom said, clearly dismissing me. As I was heading up the stairs, leaving Eli with my crazy parents, I heard my mother exclaim, "Luke! You and Allie are so cute together!"

I rolled my eyes as I opened my bedroom door. Yes, Allie and Luke were cute together, but my mother didn't need to squeal about it.

After changing into nice clothes, I stood in front of my mirror, self-consciously tugging my skirt down so it wouldn't rise up too high. I spent another five minutes staring in the mirror pathetically wondering if Eli would like what I was wearing.

"Fin?"

I turned around to see Eli standing at my door cautiously, knocking on it.

"Yeah?" I answered, tugging at my skirt again.

"Dinner's read- whoa," Eli paused mid-sentence, jaw hanging open as he stared at me.

I tugged at my skirt more viciously. "Y-Yeah?"

Eli took a step into my room, mouth still ajar. "You look..." he paused. "Wow. Just wow."

I felt self-conscious. "I-Is it b-bad?"

Eli shook his head slowly. "You look amazing. I've never even seen you in a skirt."

"That's b-because I l-like jeans m-more," I explained, fiddling with my fingers.

"Well, you should wear them all the time," Eli said matter-of-factly, walking into my room and glancing at the walls and pausing by a poster pinned on my wall. "The Vamps," he read aloud, glancing at me. "Didn't think you were the kind to have boy band posters on your wall, Fin."

I blushed, looking at my Vamps poster. "I'm not allowed to like one boy band?"

"No," Eli deadpanned. "You're not."