"My dad," he replied under his breath.
Kristy looked from Scott to his father and then to Peter and Sophie as they approached Mr. Barringer, "Did you know that he was coming?"
"Nope," Scott swallowed hard and squeezed Kristy's hand tighter as the three adults approached them.
"Hey buddy," Tom Barringer said enthusiastically as he reached them. "Happy birthday."
"Hey dad, I wasn't expecting you," Scott shook hands with his father and replaced his right back in Kristy's hand.
Tom brushed his hands together, "I asked Peter and Sophie to keep it a secret. It isn't every day that you turn eighteen."
"This is Kristy Underwood," Scott said all of the sudden. He didn't think it was necessary to add that she was his girlfriend considering they were holding hands.
Mr. Barringer smiled and greeted her. He had known that Shelby was out of the picture but he wasn't aware that Scott was seeing anyone else.
"Scott's team has a session at the climbing wall in a few minutes, Mr. Barringer," Peter said all of the sudden. "You're welcome to watch. Follow me."
*
"You ready to go Scott?" Peter called.
"Yea." Scott pulled off his fleece jacket and hooked his harness to the climbing rope. "I don't mind that he's here, but I wish you had told me first Peter," Scott said under his breath.
Peter nodded, "Next time then. Climber ready?"
"Ready. Belayer ready?"
"Ready. Climb away," Peter answered.
Scott walked up to the wall and made his way up a few feet. His father cheered him on from the ground. Scott looked down and surveyed the scene. Kristy was watching him closely and talking to Shelby at the same time. The others were cheering him on while David was busy putting on climbing gear.
"What do you think?" Shelby asked. "You both get to do the meet the parents routine all in the same day, plus your parents can meet."
Kristy smiled weakly, "I don't know, at least my dad and Mr. Barringer can talk business."
*
Kristy was waiting on the porch with Shelby when the Underwoods drove up. As usual Peter and Sophie were the first people to greet the visitors. Kristy stayed on the porch and observed the interaction.
Her mother seemed to be doing most of the talking. Kristy could see she was playing with the gold necklace she always wore, a sure sign that she was nervous. Her father was walking beside them with his hands in his pockets but at least he was paying attention.
When they got to the porch they greeted their daughter politely however awkwardly. Kristy introduced Shelby and they took her parents on a tour of the grounds.
They noted how clean the girls' dorm was and showed genuine interest when she showed them some of the artwork in the art cabin. Kristy had actually begun to relax when Peter called the family in to his office.
*
"Whenever parents visit I always hold a progress session. I think it's important that you two know how Kristy is doing here." Peter paused, "I want to start out by saying that Kristy fits in to her group well and I've never had to discipline her. Kristy's a good student academically, she participates in all parts of the program. I'm very proud of her progress so far."
"How is the drinking?" her father asked abruptly.
Kristy answered quietly, "I haven't had a drink since before the clinic, drugs either for that matter."
"I'm pleased to hear that," June said. "How does Kristy interact with the other students?"
Kristy scoffed, "Could everyone stop talking about me like I'm not in the room. I'm sitting right here!" Her mother pursed her lips and began playing with her necklace again.
"Remember what we talked about Kristy," Peter told her calmly. She sighed and crossed her arms. Peter went on, "She gets along well with the members on her team as well as other students. She's become best friends with two Cliffhangers, I believe you met Shelby earlier."
Kristy noticed the look on her mother's face, "Peter, they want to know if I'm sleeping around."
"Kristy please!" her mother cried in embarrassment.
"Well it is what you were thinking, wasn't it June?" Paul Underwood said in his low voice.
"You're both thinking it," Kristy laughed sarcastically. She saw the look Peter was giving her and checked herself. "I haven't slept with anyone since before the clinic either. But I do have a boyfriend. I'll introduce you both to him later if you promise not to act like assholes, excuse my language Peter. You can even meet his dad if you want. Scott is with out a doubt the nicest guy I've ever met and neither of you have anything to worry about. I'm safe here. Why don't you just trust me and believe that I'm trying to change?"
There was silence in the room for a long time. "Kristy, we want to believe you," June said timidly.
"But do you believe me?" Kristy asked loudly.
Her mother answered, "I'm trying. But to make sure that you're doing all right means that we have to ask you things like that. I appreciate your honesty, however colourful it may be."
"Thanks a lot mom," Kristy said under her breath.
"Mr. Scarbrow, may we have your permission to take Kristy in to town for dinner?" Paul Underwood wasn't really asking, but politely making Peter aware of his dinner plans.
"That's fine with me. She'll have to be back at Horizon by ten this evening," Peter replied. "There isn't much choice in the way of restaurants but you might enjoy George's Steak House."
June and Paul thanked Peter for his time as well as all his help with Kristy so far before they left his office and ventured in to the lodge's main room. Scott and his dad were near the door.
*
Kristy managed to introduce her parents to Scott and Tom Barringer without any big problems. Her father seemed a little stiff but he warmed instantly when he realized that Tom was a businessman like himself and the two men started to hit it off.
Unfortunately they got along so well that Tom insisted the five of them had dinner together. Now they were sitting around a table in George's Steak House while the three adults went on and on about business. Scott and Kristy awkwardly sat and ate their dinner.
"Oh," June said suddenly. "How's the food you two?"
"It's fine," Kristy answered quietly.
Scott joked, "It's not what we're used to eating back at Horizon, but it's really good."
"What's the matter with the food at the school?" Tom Barringer asked gruffly. "The amount of money we're paying to send you there you should be begging for seconds in that cafeteria."
"I was just joking. The food there is okay its just that they have to make it for a bunch of people so we don't exactly get steak and Lobster every night. The food is fine."
Kristy smiled, "The food at Horizon isn't bad at all Mr. Barringer. We just complain about it because we have to wash the dishes."
"How about that Tom? We're shelling out all that money and they don't bother to spend it on kitchen staff."
"There is a kitchen staff," Kristy clarified. "But they do the cooking. They clean the pots and things like that but the students wash the plates, cups and utensils."
Scott explained, "I've heard Peter give the whole speech before, it's about responsibility and contributing to the school community."
"Shelby, Scott and I do the dinner dishes Friday nights," Kristy said. "The rest of the team is helping Shel out tonight."
"The three of you wash the dishes unsupervised?" June asked.
Kristy nodded, "Yes, but we get to do the dishes instead of attending the Friday night activities. They're so boring and we never paid much attention so Peter decided that we'd be better off in the kitchen." Kristy realized her parents didn't approve of any unsupervised time between her and her boyfriend. "We don't do anything wrong! We just turn on a radio and get to work. Jonathan is on staff. He checks on us every once in a while to make sure that we're getting things done."
"I was under the impression that they wouldn't allow you to be alone with a male student. Especially one that you're in a relationship with," Kristy's father said.
"It's not like we're going to have sex in the kitchen!" Kristy said quietly. "Mr. Barringer, do you think that I could drive back to the school with you and Scott."
June twisted her napkin, "Really, we haven't seen you months, not even at Christmas. Please Kristy, that isn't necessary. Can't we get along for a few hours?"
"I was trying! I don't know about him," Kristy gestured towards her
father as she stood up.
"Lower your voice, Kristy you're in public," Paul Underwood said levelly.
She laughed, "They've been watching since we walked in. They know exactly where I'm from, dad," Kristy hadn't called her father 'dad' in months. When she did it this time it was clearly not a term of endearment.
"You'll have to excuse Kristy," Paul remarked in a low voice after his daughter had walked away. "She has an affinity for drama."
Scott cleared his throat, "May I be excused." His dad nodded and Scott went off in the same direction that Kristy had gone.
"What are you doing out here?" Scott asked when he met Kristy standing on the steps of the restaurant outside. "It's February Kris."
"It's colder inside," she muttered.
"Will you come back inside please?" he asked gently.
She shook her head, "Why, for them? So that they think I'm behaving?"
"No, for me. So I can get the feeling back in my toes."
"Thank you for joining us again," June said desperately when Kristy and Scott came back to the table. Kristy nodded and started eating again.
~
Driving back to the school in the car with her parents Kristy sat in the back seat and listened as her mom babbled on and on about people and things from home. Apparently her mother was redecorating the house for about the fourth time. "Don't worry, I haven't touched your room. We can talk about what you want to do with it when you come home this summer."
"When she gets home this summer she'll be writing her résumé. We won't worry about college applications until next year. But you aren't staying out of school for a year unless you have a job," Kristy's father said in his deep voice.
"Fine," Kristy replied. She looked to her mother, "Are you coming back to the school tomorrow?"
"We have a flight in the early afternoon," June admitted. "If you want us to we will."
Kristy sat back, "There won't be anything going on tomorrow anyway. And you already got the grand tour."
They got back to Horizon in record time, Kristy said an awkward goodbye to her mother and father. She even managed to hug her mom. But she only mumbled something to her dad and waved as they pulled away.
As she nodded at Sophie who was sitting on the porch to the main building and started walking down the path towards the dorms when she saw Scott and his dad pull up. A minute later Scott came jogging up to her, "Are you okay?"
"Is your dad coming back tomorrow?" Kristy answered ignoring his question.
"Yea, just for the morning, we didn't have a chance to meet with Peter today. You've got a follow up with Peter right?"
"I guess so," she answered in her voice that meant she didn't appreciate the topic of conversation. "Scott, I don't want to talk about all of this right now. It's been a really long day and I just want to go to bed." Scott sighed.
"Don't look at me like that. I promise we can talk about it until our teeth hurt tomorrow but I'm not up to it right now. Okay?"
He smiled a little and kissed her goodnight at the steps to the Cliffhanger girls' dorm, "I'll see you at breakfast."
*
"Peter it was fine. I'm not traumatized or anything," Kristy sat cross-legged on the couch opposite Peter's desk the next morning. "I'm actually surprised that my father didn't wipe down the seat with his handkerchief before he sat down. I think the highpoint of the evening was getting to talk business with Scott's dad. They won't be back anytime soon."
"What about dinner? Did that go well?"
"Daddy dearest wasn't too pleased about our Friday night dish team. He's a little touchy about me and anyone of the opposite sex, go figure."
Peter caught her eye, "I wish you wouldn't be so sarcastic all of the time."
"I'm a teenager, therefor sarcasm is my best friend."
"What about Scott?" he laughed. "How did he fair in all of this?"
She smiled, "At least my parents were happy he had money. God I hate that about them. I don't think Scott likes my father, but he was cool the whole time never lost his patience or anything."
"That sounds like Scott," Peter replied.
"Yea. He wants to talk about all of it though, I guess to make sure I'm okay." She paused, "I am okay by the way. It's like I get two one on ones out of this, one with you and another with him."
Peter clasped his hands together, "Don't you feel comfortable talking to Scott about your parents?"
"You know me Peter, I'm always willing to talk about touchy subjects," she realized she was being sarcastic again but decided it didn't matter.
*
Scott and his father met with Peter later on in the morning. It was quite possibly one of the easiest meetings Scott had ever had in that office. Peter had nothing but good things to say for once and told Mr. Barringer that he had a lot of confidence in how Scott would fair after graduation.
A few minutes before lunch Scott and Kristy were waiting outside by Tom's rental trying to say goodbye. They had already spend half the weekend dealing with their parents and were anxious to have some free time that they always looked forward to on the weekends.
"I almost forgot," Tom Barringer cried all of the sudden. He leaned in to the back seat and pulled out a gift bag that he obviously had not picked out since the colours matched. "I hope you didn't think I forgot. This is for your birthday."
Scott took the bag and pulled away some of the silver tissue paper. Inside there was a key chain with a mini football attached to it and only one key on the ring. "What's this for?"
"What does it look like?" his father cried excitedly. "Look in the bag, there's more."
Scott pulled out a Polaroid of a navy blue brand new Jeep Cherokee, "Is this mine?"
"It will be waiting for you when you get home this summer."
Scott smiled from ear to ear while Jennee tried not to laugh at him. "This is awesome, thanks."
His father cleared his throat and mentioned something about leaving. "It was very nice meeting you Kristy. I hope I'll see you again."
"It was nice to meet you too. I'm just sorry things didn't go better last night," she replied.
"Don't worry about that. We all have our moments," he reassured her. Kristy stepped back so that the father and son could say goodbye. Then Tom climbed in to his car and sped off.
Scott immediately took Kristy's hand and started walking back to the buildings, "I think my dad must have hit his head or something. He's never been this cool."
"Well he got a first hand look at what it's like to treat your kid like a delinquent when he went to dinner with us so maybe he decided to shape up," she joked.
"I'm sorry about dinner last night," Scott said quietly.
She shook her head, "You didn't do anything wrong. My parents are still in the 'judgmental assholes.' I'm just embarrassed that you and your dad had to be there to witness a typical Underwood family outing that's all." She squeezed Scott's hand for a moment, "They want me to get a job when I get home. I'm sure that will be interesting. My dad will want to plant me in some receptionist chair in his office and my mom will want me at the Travel Agency with her. I'm thinking more along the lines of folding sweaters at the Gap."
"For the discount of course right?"
"Oh of course," she laughed.
*
Kristy – Mar 5 02 -- … So the parental units have come and gone.
And I'm glad that's over. I guess I'm glad they came early and only Scott
and his dad got to watch the festivities instead of the entire school.
At this point I can honestly say my father is still not over it. My mom
is just worried about what people will say about her, and of course me.
I'm such a disgrace to the family and everything. Sarcasm! Hmm, textbook
defense mechanism. I'm a therapist's dream patient …