Teacher's Pet

“Are you freaking out?” I asked. “Because it kind of seems like you’re freaking out. You look hot, but I don’t want you to be stressed about this. It’ll be fine.”

She was wrestling with her T-shirt, which had gotten twisted and turned half inside out. “Of course I’m freaking out,” she said. “My dad calling like that was probably the last thing I ever expected. And him wanting to take us out to dinner is . . . I don’t know, kind of weird, don’t you think?” She yanked the T-shirt over her head.

“It might be a good sign,” I said. “It’s not like he called and is wanting to meet just me down some dark alley or something. I think enough time has probably gone by that your father realizes how much he misses you, and now that school is out and he’s seen you’ve managed to keep your grades up, he’s probably going to apologize for being so hard on you. That’s what I think.”

She tried to force a smile. “I hope you’re right, then.”

All right, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit nervous about the dinner. I was never that interested in doing the whole meeting of the parents thing, but if things went well tonight, I knew it could go a long way in repairing Tessa’s relationship with her mom and dad.

We met them at Sunset, which was a nice, bistro-type place, though not too over the top. They were waiting out front for us.

“Nice to meet you,” Tessa’s dad said, firmly shaking my hand.

“Likewise,” I said. There was an awkward silence.

“Great,” Tessa’s mother said, clapping her hands together. “Why don’t we go inside. This is one of my favorite places.”

Inside, the hostess led us into the dining room, and we were seated at a linen-covered table. Tessa sat to my right; her father was directly across from me. Wine was immediately ordered, and when our waitress brought the bread basket over, Tessa snatched a roll out and started pulling it apart.

I reached underneath the table and put my hand on her leg, not to be frisky but to help try to calm her down.

“I’m glad the two of you were able to come out with us tonight,” her father said, after the waitress returned with the wine. He took a sip and then looked at Tessa. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, and I’ve certainly missed that.”

Tessa nodded. “Me too, Dad,” she said.

He turned to me. “And you, Leo. I originally wanted this dinner to just be with Tessa, but seeing as you seem to be a part of her life now, I wanted to meet you as well. I might not necessarily approve of the way you two first got together, but since you are a part of Tessa’s life, I’m not just going to pretend you don’t exist.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “I really do. And while our relationship might not have started out the most orthodox way, I want you both to know how much I care about Tessa.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” her father said. He looked at her. “I might not approve of the way you do everything,” he continued, “but that’s normal. Your mother and I were both very pleased that you managed to get your grades back up and we hope that you’ll keep them that way, not because we want you to

, but because you want to do it for yourself, to give yourself the best possibilities when you graduate.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Tessa said. “I want that, too.”

The rest of dinner went by smoothly, probably helped by the fact that we killed two bottles of wine, but I think everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. And when we were standing back outside again, Tessa’s dad shook my hand, and this time, he smiled and clapped me on the back.

“Do you golf?” he asked.

“Badly,” I said.

“Well. We’ll have to get you out on the course sometime, if you’d like.”

“I think that sounds like a lovely idea!” Tessa’s mother said. She hugged Tessa, and then came over and hugged me. She was a little tipsy, I could tell. “I’m so glad we were able to all get together and enjoy a meal like civilized people! I just had a good feeling about tonight.”

“I love you guys,” Tessa said, giving her dad a hug. They said goodbye once more and then started to walk down the block toward their car. We watched them go, waving when they finally took off.

“I’d say that went pretty well,” I said as their taillights disappeared around the corner.

Tessa had a smile on her face. “It did,” she said. “It went way better than I thought it was going to. I’m actually really surprised. Though the fact that my mom is a little buzzed probably helped.”

“Your dad’s not a bad guy. I can tell that.”

“He’s not. And he wants to take you golfing. Definitely a good sign. Though don’t feel like you have to go or anything. I’m not sure how you feel about golf.”

“Eh . . . it’s a little . . . boring. But I could probably manage for a day.”

“We should do something,” she said.