45 Days to Save the Bad Boy

Twenty-Two

"You must be Georgia," the lady said.  She was tall, with brown looking hair that had at one point been blond.  She looked like Dallas.  Or, I guess, Dallas looked like her.  Except for his hair color.  "And this is?"  

For a minute, I was confused.  Then I remembered Lucas, who was standing next to me in petrified silence.

"My brother, Lucas.  He's very protective and wanted to stay, if that's okay with you and Mr. Jones.  My parents were worried, and like I said, my brother is very protective.  Dallas is my first serious boyfriend, and well... my family wants to make sure I'll be safe."  I leaned in and whispered, "It's annoying sometimes, but I still love them."  I pulled back with a wink, which must have surprised Dallas' mom, because she seemed a little stunned.

"Anyway, Lucas doesn't have to stay.  I promise Luke, I'll be fine!  You can tell Mom and Dad that they were actually expecting me, and I wasn't planning on sneaking off with Dallas.  I'm fine!"  I playfully shoved Lucas, who sort of just rocked to the side and came back.  "Go on, have a life!"

Finally, the boy moved.  "Are you sure, Georgia?  I don't want you to be left without a ride incase things go sour.  Do you have enough money for a ride home?  Mom and Dad aren't going to be home tonight, they're out for business.  Do you have your key?"  The dummy was acting exactly how I imagined a protective older brother would.

"I'm fine, Lucas," I sighed heavily and turned to look at Mrs. Jones.  "I'm really sorry to ask this, but do you mind if he stays for just a few minutes?  Until he's satisfied that I'll be okay?  I'm really, really sorry about this, I wanted everything to be perfect tonight.  I wanted to impress you, not make you think I'm a mess."  I fanned my eyes for a moment, hoping I seemed worked up enough that I might cry.

"Oh sweetheart, it's fine.  I know all about protective older brothers, just ask Dallas about his uncle."  Mrs. Jones smiled at Lucas and I, beckoning to the doorway.  "Come on in.  You can get settled, and I'll let Dallas know you're here.  He's been pacing anxiously since he got home from school this afternoon."  

Pausing while leading us into the house's main room, Dallas' mom turned back to look at us with a guilty expression on her face.  "Don't tell him I said that.  He's supposed to look all cool and collected, or something macho like that.  Can you believe how much teenage boys are concerned about their image?  Oh, I'm sorry Lucas, I certainly didn't mean to - I was just saying Dallas is concerned about how he looks - I'm sorry.  I'll stop talking and go find my son now."

Lucas and I sat in silence as she walked away.

"She seems nice," I said.  Lucas groaned.

"She thinks I'm a weirdo!" he complained.

"Hey," I began sternly, "she was just caught off guard.  By the end of tonight, she'll love you.  Everything will go perfectly, so I don't want any of your pessimistic attitude tonight, you got it?"

"How can you not be pessimistic!?" he whisper-shouted.  "This is going to be a disaster!"

"No, this will be wonderful," I said with a bright smile.  "Absolutely wonderful!"

"Whatever," Lucas snorted, and buried his face in his hands while we continued to wait in impatient silence for Dallas.

One awkward silence and twenty minutes later, we were all sitting at the Jones' dinner table.

"I can't believe you two met through your brother!" Mrs. Jones gushed as she looked across the table at me and Dallas.  On the other side of Dallas was Lucas, and then Mr. and Mrs. Jones sat on the opposite side of the table.