From Chapter 1: The Meeting

Calm down, I told myself as I gazed into the bathroom mirror and struggled to pull my long brown hair into a tidy French braid. This is going to be fine. I glanced at my watch. My boyfriend, Hunter Niall, was due any minute. Normally I would have been thrilled to be spending and evening with him, but tonight was nor ordinary night. No--tonight was the official meet-the-parents dinner, and I was beginning to feel sick with tension.

I was distracted by a quick tap on the door.

"Come in," I called.

My sister, Mary K., walked into the bathroom. "Is that what you're wearing?" she asked, starting at my faded blue jeans and soft purple fleece shirt.

I looked down at my outfit. "What's wrong with this?"

Mary K. just signed and marched through the bathroom to the door that lead to my bathroom.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To find that shirt Aunt Eileen gave you for Christmas," Mary K. said. "I know it'll look great on you, and besides,s he and Paula are already downstairs, waiting for us."

"That shirt is practically see-through," I argued as Mary K. rummaged through my drawers.

"Which is why you'll wear it with this," she countered, holding up a pale tank top. Mary K. pulled the sheer stretchy shirt off a hanger in my closet and handed it and the tank top to me. "At least you're wearing superlow jeans," she said as I yanked off my fleece. "You've got the body for them."

I pulled on my new outfit and stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. The stale blue shirt did make my dark eyes seem warmer, and the pink tone of the tank made my skin rosy. Once again, I was amazed at my sister's ability to pull together an outfit based on clothes I hardly ever wore.

Just then the doorbell ran. "Show time!" Mary K. said brightly.

I stifled a groan. For the hundred time, I wanted to kick myself for letting my parents invite Hunter over for dinner. It had seemed like a good idea when Mom suggested it, but not that the night had arrived, my heart was racing. It didn't help that my mom had decided to make a big event out of it, pulling together an ambitious dinner menu and inviting my aunt Eileen and her girlfriend, Paula, over, too. What if they don't like him? I worried as I stared at my reflection. My parents had met Hunter before but only briefly, in casual settings. Comparatively, this felt more like a college entrance exam.

I could hear the muted sound of greetings in the front hall. Mary K. pulled on her sweater. "Let's go," she said.

Excerpt from Sweep 9: Strife
© Cate Tiernan & 17^th Street Production, an Alloy, Inc.

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