The Freshman Tease ✓

40. Brunch

Katie

"I really appreciate this Tina," I say gratefully. I was struggling to get anything done in preparation for brunch; getting dressed, doing my hair, putting on makeup. I ended up calling Tina on the verge of tears and a mental breakdown and she immediately drove over.

"Don't worry about it Katie," she smiles as she curls my hair into loose waves. She managed to do my makeup exactly how I wanted it, probably even nicer than what I described in fact. We look through my closet, and we're a bit limited, it has to be something that I can get my casts through. We decide on a lace maroon dress, one that I can pull over, rather than step into. Tina carefully helps me maneuver into it. "You look really pretty," she says, smiling at me proudly in the mirror.

"Yeah you do!" Stephanie insisted she join in over face time.

"Thanks you guys," I say shyly.

"I'm so excited for you Katie. It was only last week when I told him to tell you about his feelings, and now you're already meeting his family!" she says cheerfully.

"I'm so nervous." I groan.

"Hey, Ray was nervous too but my family likes him! Right Ray?" The phone turns a bit to show Ray sitting across the room with who I assume is Stephanie's dad. "Yes Steph," he laughs.

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Tina gives me a reassuring smile, as she finishes up with some hairspray.

My phone buzzes, she picks it up from the dresser and hands it to me. It's a text from Lincoln. "Oh, Lincoln's here. I gotta go now Steph."

She waves enthusiastically. "Good luck!"

"Tina, would you mind pushing me to the elevator?"

"Of course not," she smiles, and helps me put my winter coat on, before pushing me down the hall and into the elevator. "Hey Lincoln," Tina says, as we walk outside. It's freezing, but it hasn't snowed, luckily.

"I can take over from here, thanks a lot Tina, happy holidays," he says, hugging her.

It takes a bit of lifting and shuffling, but Lincoln helps me get into the passenger seat.

"Alright, tell me about your family, I need to be ready." I didn't get much sleep last night, partly because of how uncomfortable it is to sleep in two casts, but also because of the stress in anticipation of brunch today.

"Aw, don't worry about it too much Katie," he laughs. He turns and sees the serious look on my face. "OK OK. Well, I guess we can start with my dad. He's an accountant, likes hockey, and just a pretty laid back guy. I can't imagine there's anything out of the ordinary you might say that would make him dislike you."

"OK, and your mom?" I ask, slightly less nervous now.

"She can be a bit forward, but she's very kind and sweet. She's an elementary school teacher, so she's pretty patient as well."

"Alright, and your sister?"

He looks a bit nervous. "Well...honestly I don't know how my parents ended up with such an uptight daughter," he laughs.

"Not helpful," I scowl.

"Alright, alright sorry," he regains his composure. "Jasmine is two years older than me, and tends to have very high standards on...hell, everything."

"I don't like where this is going," I let my head thump back against the headrest.

"Hey, don't worry OK, I'm sure she'll like you. She's in law school right now, she's studying at Harvard."