Luis' POV

It didn't take long for Jessica to drive us out to her suburb. It wasn't as fancy as some of the neighbourhoods in which the preppies lived, but it was quiet, and green. Very green. There were plenty of tall, established trees, and the gardens were neatly trimmed. Shiny cars were parked in swept driveways in front of large pastel houses, and athletic looking women jogged past in grey sports gear. It was a nice neighbourhood.

In contrast, I remembered the small house we rented back in Miami. It was brick, and drab, and the other buildings next to it were only a few inches away. It smelt funny over in that area, and the only people jogging down the footpath were the ones who were running away – from home, or from the cops.

Jessica parked the sedan on the empty driveway in front of a large cream house. "Well, this is home" she said.

I lifted my eyebrows. "I thought your parents were green grocers". She laughed at my surprise.

"Well, we still do quite well. But this was left to Mom by Great, Great Auntie Aggie when she went to the nursing home years ago. She died not long ago, actually. She was well past one hundred and was rolling in money but I've no idea how she got it"

We stepped up onto the porch, and she opened the door for me, calling "Mom, I brought him home!"

I entered the foyer, and followed Jessica through a door to our right. Once in the Living room, I looked to the right and saw a tall man with thinning brown hair reclined in an armchair, his right leg elevated, and in a cast. A smallish woman with chestnut curls was bent over, smoothing a tablecloth on the coffee table.

The woman straightened, and quickly looked me over. "So this is Luis. Well, he's very cute, isn't he?" she said amusedly, a coy smile on her lips. What? Did parents normally say that? This woman, in her light green skirt and cream cardigan had called me – cute? Jessica and her father sniggered.

"Come Gilly, don't scare him off" teased Mr Miller.

Mrs Miller smiled warmly at me. "Hello, I'm Gilly," she said, clasping my hands with her own, "and this is Albert. I presume you heard about his leg?" she inquired.

I nodded. "Uh, yes, I did. You tripped on a crate?" I asked politely.

"Yeah, damn thing was in the way. Anyway, please, sit down" Mr Miller (or Albert) told me. Jessica and I sat down on the lounge. My back was ramrod straight.

"So, Luis, I hear that you're on the Varsity hockey team. What do you play?" he asked. Ok, hockey, I could talk about that.

"I'm a forward."

"I was a forward too, back in the day" he reminisced.

Jessica jerked her head to face him. "You played hockey?"

Her parents laughed. "I was in the JV team until the end of sophomore year. I gave it up to concentrate on school – I started slipping."

I nodded, "Eden Hall says that we have to have a C average, but Coach prefers a B average."

"Ah yes, that was the same with us too. So, what's your specialty? Or are you a good all-rounder?"

Jessica spoke up. "He's really fast. He's been clocked at 1.9 seconds from blue line to blue line."

Mr Miller whistled, "Geez, that's quite a speed. Now, I remember good old Speedy Douglas, I can tell you that even he wasn't as fast as that but he did -"

He went on to tell me of his glory days whilst Jessica and her mother exited the room together. As I listened to Albert, I felt the tension slipping away. He was pretty much a normal, middle aged guy. He was far from the stern, proud image that I'd conjured up in my head. Instead, he sat in a pair of shorts (due to his cast), and a pale yellow polo shirt. He didn't lecture me about what I could, and could not do with his daughter – he just continued to recount fond high school memories. I could live with that.

*

Jessica's POV

"Well now, Jess, he's rather nice isn't he?" my mother commented as she opened the pantry door.

"Ofcourse. I wouldn't have brought him home if he wasn't" I rolled my eyes. My Mom slapped me playfully on my behind as she came up to where I was at the counter, slicing teacake.

"None of that cheek. Besides, I approve him – even if it is only based on looks" she smirked. Argh! My mother may have looked the part of dutiful housewife and green grocer, but she was a constant tease. She was a lot like me, but more outgoing.

We arranged our trays, mine of food, and hers of our tea things, and we progressed down the hall, back into the living room. Dad finished telling Luis his hockey story whilst Mom clamoured around with cups and spoons. I studied my new boyfriend's demeanour as he sat talking with my father. He appeared interested, and had relaxed considerably during my time away in the kitchen. Dad approved, I could tell. If he did not, he wouldn't have been talking so freely with some random teenage guy. He'd sit there grunting, talking about nothing in particular. But Luis wasn't to know that. So when he was asked what his parents did for a living, I saw him tense up once more.

"Uh, well, my Dad works for the railways, maintaining the equipment, and my Mom is a cleaner. She works in a cafe twice a week, and various houses during the other three days" he responded in an almost defiant voice.

My parents nodded and went on to ask him more questions. How was he chosen for TEAM USA? Did he originally want to accept the Eden Hall scholarship? Has he settled in? When did he move from Cuba? Did he have siblings?

Luis answered as politely as he could, giving enough detail to satisfy their curiosity. I saw his left hand clench at one point, and I pitied him. I wished that I could tell him not to worry, that my parents were not overly picky, and had both decided that they'd liked him not long after he walked into the room.

It was approximately an hour after the visit began, when Ryan appeared in the doorway, taking in Luis and the rest of my family with an amused smile. "I thought I heard talking." He turned to Luis, who stood up. "Ryan, Jessie's brother" he said shaking my boyfriend's hand.

"Luis Mendoza" he responded. They both sat back down. Ryan turned in our parent's direction.

"Well, has he passed the interrogation?" he asked, trying not to laugh. My parents both chortled, whilst Luis' eyes darted back and forth.

"Yeah, he's fine" my father replied. Luis' posture relaxed a little - the worst was over.

*

Luis' POV

After shaking hands with Albert and kissing Gilly goodbye, Ryan, Jessica and I made our way out the door to the car. Ryan had been on the football team at Blake, and was one of those guys who were popular by nature. I understood why Jessica was so close to him. I barely knew Ryan, and yet I felt comfortable talking with him.

"So, shall I drive you back? Or would you like to risk Jessie's driving?"

Jessica swatted him on the arm before grabbing the keys out of his palm. "I'm actually getting way better; thanks to all the practice I've been having lately".

"Soon I should start charging hiring fees," he joked, "or I could just give the damn thing to you and buy a new one. I don't even want to think about what might've happened on that backseat."

"Ryan! We haven't done anything!" she protested. He coughed, and unless I was not mistaken, I could have sworn he muttered 'yet', under his breath.

*

It was around 5pm when I wandered back into my room, discovering the whole team (minus Charlie and Adam) sprawled across beds, sitting on desks, lounging on the floor. They stopped talking upon my entrance.

"Well, look who's pleased with himself," commented Russ "where've you been all day?"

"I was at the movies with Jessica, and then I went to her house to meet her family and had afternoon tea" I responded.

"Afternoon tea? With like, cake and tea?" asked Averman. I nodded, whilst some of the others chuckled. Connie beamed.

"It's good to see you behaving for once."

"He'd have to – she's a yuppie. They've got standards, you know" commented Portman. The Bash Brother hadn't paid me out nearly as much as I thought he would. I think it was mainly due to the fact that my new girlfriend had inflated his ego without meaning to.

"So what are you guys all doing in here?" I inquired. After all, it was getting a little close in there.

"Discussing what to do with Charlie and Adam. Got any suggestions?" Julie asked.

I shook my head. "No idea. Charlie's just gotta get over it. Maybe Audrey can have a talk with him?"

Not long afterwards, the team vacated the area, and I was left with Guy. "So, how was meeting the parents?" he wanted to know.

"Nerve-wrecking but good. They like me, and so does her older bro, so I don't have to worry about things on that front." I answered.

"Yeah, Connie's parents are great like that too," Guy nodded, folding up some of his clothes. "I only wish I could say the same about little Joey...feral child..."

Another chapter up - I've been on a roll lately, haven't I? However, tomorrow afternoon I'm going home for the holidays, and although there is some dodgy dial-up internet down there, don't expect too many updates. 1 or 2 maybe. I will keep writing, so upon my return, I'll have an updating spree.