Chapter 13
Jared's POV
"Are you sure your parents aren't going to mind?" I said as I pulled up in front of her house.
"Yes!"
"What about your dad-"
"You'll do fine, I promise."
"Okay," I still wasn't sure. "Are you sure I look alright? I mean, what if-"
"You look great, stop worrying! I'm sure they'll like you just the way you are."
"I guess." I still wasn't sure.
We walked up to her front door and just as she was about to turn the handle, her dad opened the door as if he was expecting us at that exact time.
There was an awkward silence as her dad looked at me from head to toe.
"Hi, dad!" Taylor finally said, while giving him a hug.
"Hey! It's been a while! And who's this?" he said, still not taking his eyes off me.
"Dad, this is Jared. Jared, this is my dad."
"Nice to meet you." I smiled while strecthing my hand out for a handshake. He glared at me. He didn't seem to be in a friendly mood.
I tried my best to look confident and completely focused but I could tell that it wasn't working.
I noticed a woman near the doorway. She ran outside and gave me a hug. I figured then that the woman must have been Taylor's mom.
"Hi! I'm Taylor's mom. You must be, Josh? George?"
"Jared," I corrected her. Politely, of course. "Nice to meet you." I stretched out a hand but just as she was about to shake it, Taylor's dad gave her a look which made her put her hand down, awkwardly.
She signalled for me to sit down and went into the kitchen. I heard them talking even though I tried my best not to listen.
"Haven't you noticed something?" he said quietly.
"No. He seems like a nice boy-"
"Oh. So you haven't noticed the fact that that 'nice boy' is white?" he whispered back to her.
I looked at Taylor and I could tell that she didn't like what she was hearing either.
"That doesn't matter! Now stop talking, they're in the next room."
They came back and her mom smiled politely while her dad obviously forced a half-smile on his face. I sighed, thinking if this was a good idea.
Taylor's POV
"How's the food, Jared?" My mom asked.
"Delicious, Mrs Williams."
"Oh please! Call me Jean."
I smiled at her friendliness. At least she's making an effort, I thought. I looked over at dad. He poked at his food, unhappily.
Mom seemed to have noticed this and decided to break the silence.
"So, how long have you two been dating?"
"10 weeks, I think." Jared answered
My dad's head shot up straight away.
"Really? So it's not serious then-"
"Dad!" I said.
"David!" She nudged him. "What is wrong with you? I am so sorry, Jared." She turned to him.
"That's okay. It is actually serious-"
"Really? What makes Taylor so special than all those other girls that you've dated?"
Tarynn put her head down. I glared at her. She had obviously told them a little too much.
"Taylor's different, she's-"
"Different? You mean different as in black?"
"That's enough, David." Mom said, trying to resolve the situation.
"No it's not enough! Why is she even with this guy? There are hundreds, no, thousands of other decent boys for her to be with." I opened my mouth to speak decided against it. Anything I said would just make it worst.
"Look, Mr Williams-"
"You two shouldn't even be together! It's not normal or natural, in fact."
"Why do you think that?" he said, with a slight tone of anger.
"I'm not explaining myself to you-"
"It's because I'm white isn't it?"
My dad was silent. And so was everybody else.
"Jared, I'm sure that's not the reason-"Mom was still trying to calm everyone down.
"You're damn right it is! I knew there was something up the moment I heard about this," he turned to me. "You didn't even tell us!"
I stood up. "I didn't tell you because I knew you were going to be like this!"
"Taylor, it's okay. Just calm down-"Jared said quietly.
"No it's not okay! I don't think you appreciate being talked at like that." I looked at my dad.
"That's enough, Taylor! What do you think people are going to say when they find out who you're with? People will think that you're just a cheap, no-class-" he shouted.
"Don't talk to her like that!"Jared snapped back at him.
"Excuse me? Who are you to tell me how to talk to my own daughter? With your history I wouldn't be surprised if you went back to drugs and slept with anyone you can get!"
"David! ENOUGH!" my mom shouted. I had never seen them get this angry before.
Jared was quiet. He looked like he was carefully choosing his next words. "T...that's none of your business. I'm not going back to drugs or anything like that. You must be pretty naive if you think that I would mess up what I have with Taylor. Look, I know that I haven't made the best impression but that doesn't give you the right to judge me. I love Taylor, " he took my hand and squeezed it gently. "You guys might not like me now, or even in a million years but can't you just accept the fact that we're together?"
I waited for my dad to explode in anger. Or for my mom to say that Jared had gone too far. But all I saw was shock. Even my dad was silenced.
"Wow," mom finally said. "If you're serious about this, then I'm okay with it." She turned to look at my dad. "Well, David?"
He said nothing. He stood up and left. Typical, I thought.
