A/N: I absolutely love Tina/Artie. They're my fave. (:
I'm at my locker and Tee is helping me put away my books, when all of a sudden she's like, "Artie, I want you to meet my parents."
And I'm all, "Uhm?"
She goes on, saying that we've been dating for four months (and two weeks but I'm certainly not counting) and she thinks it's time we meet each other families.
"Tina," I begin, "your parents scare the crap out of me."
"But they shouldn't!" she protests as she takes my hand and squeezes it. "Artie, they're really sweet, they're just hard on me. Please? For me?"
That gets me. I would do anything for her and she knows it.
"I—alright, Tee. I'll do it… for you."
She smiles so big that I just have to smile back. But after she kisses my cheek, tells me she'll see me after school, and walks away, I am an inch away from losing it. Tina's parents… they're insane. And when I say insane I mean like Keanu Reeves crazy. They've actually planned out Tina's entire life. Step one: Graduate with all A's and a 7.0 GPA or some such crap. Step two: Go to Ivy League college, study to be doctor or lawyer. Step three: Marry Nice Asian Man.
Guess who's not Asian? Me. I'm not even close; my ancestors are from Scandinavia! I do not fit in with the pre-planned outline. I don't even get a Roman numeral.
And I don't think she's even told her parents about us. Crippled Scandinavian boyfriend? No. No way. Wringing my hands in Algebra 2, I'm thinking of all the ways me meeting her parents could be disastrous. I might not be able to get in the door. I might say something stupid. They could hate me and tell me to never speak to her again. For three hours I worry about what could go wrong.
The bell rings and I'm pretty sure I've aged 15 years in the last two hours. In the hallway, Tina practically skips to me. "I'm so glad you're gonna meet my parents, Artie!" She kisses me and hugs me and holy crap I've got to meet her parents.
I'm not ready for this.
Ohnoooo! What kind of shenanigans will Artie get into with Mr. and Mrs. Cohen-Chang? We shall see!