"Are you sure that there isn't anything that you would like to drink?" Michael's dad asked Mercedes.

She laughed. "Thanks, but I'm good, sir."

"Are you sure? We have soda, water, tea, coffee, juice-"

Michael cut his father off. "For the last time dad she doesn't want anything to drink."

His dad sat down across the table from the two teenagers. "Well, please let me know if you change your mind and would like anything to drink or eat-"

The goth cut his father off. "Don't start listing what we have in the fridge. She's already told you that she's not hungry."

"I know son. I'm just being polite, since you haven't offered your pretty friend here anything to eat or drink like a good host would." His father laughed and turned back to looking at the Hooters waitress. "Please let me know if you change your mind, darling."

She smiled. "Of course, sir."

"Its creepy that you call her 'darling'."

"Thank you again for driving my son home, Mercedes," his father said ignoring his son's comment. "And are you sure that he wasn't too drunk or high to find his house? I worry about him sometimes."

"Are you seriously asking that question again? I already told you that I wasn't getting drunk or high."

"All parents do, sir," Mercedes answered ignoring Michael's comment. "And your son wasn't high or drunk, sir. If he were high or drunk he would have smelled like it. It's a very particular smell, sir. The bathrooms at my work often smell like it if those hippies come by."

"What?"

"Lots of interesting people come to Hooters, Dad."

She gave an awkward laugh. "They do, but I ensure you sure that your son, Michael, isn't one of those interesting people. Well, he is interesting. But he isn't the getting high and drunk in a Hooters bathroom level of interesting. Well, mainly those guys just get high in the bathroom. Getting drunk in the bathroom would be stupid type of interesting, because we actually serve alcohol. Not to minors of course. Woah, I think we're really misusing the word 'interesting'. I apologize, sir."

The goth rolled his eyes. "You don't need to apologize for that. And you don't need to call him 'sir'."

His dad laughed. "Its alright. I'm just happy to hear that my son wasn't doing something that you call interesting-"

"I really misused the word-"

Michael cut Mercedes off. "He's trying to make a joke. It's failing as usual."

"Like all parents of teenagers I embarrass my son." His father rolled his eyes. "So, tell me Mercedes what do you plan to do after High School. You said that you're about to be a junior, right?"

"I did, sir. After High School I want to go to college to study Hotel and Restaurant Management. I've been working at restaurants since as long as I remember. I figure that I should stick with what I know. I also would love to minor in French."

His dad nodded. "Why French?"

"I'm about to be on my fourth year of French in school. I'm getting close to fluency, so I plan to keep going." She blushed. "I sort of started taking French classes, because I had a huge crush on this French guy when I was thirteen." She laughed. "He turned out to be gay."

"Uh…"

"Sorry, sir. I'm awkward with a rambling problem," she mentioned. "Anyway, Michael what do you plan to do after high school?"

Bitch. He turned to glare at her.

"I would love to know what Michael plans to do after high school as well," his fater stated. "He hasn't told me anything. What do you plan to do after high school, son?"

He shrugged. "Probably go to college. I don't know. Its none of your business."

Mercedes bite her lip in an awkward fashion then gave a weak smile. "Sorry, for making this conversation take a turn to the personal or whatever. Maybe I should go."

Michael's dad laughed. "Don't worry this conversation didn't take a turn to anywhere. Michael just doesn't like to think in future tense. You should try to help him with that."

Michael glared at his father and didn't say anything.

"Okay," she said weakly. "I think Michael should go to college to study Music Theory or English Literature. I think he would be good at that."

"He probably would, but I want him studying something that'll keep him employed."

He groaned. "Any major is a big gamble for the future."

His father turned to Mercedes. "He gets like this sometimes. I'm sorry."

"I get like that sometimes too, sir. It is all part of being a teenager. One day we're all going to grow up and realize that everything isn't butterflies and rainbows, and feel forever indicted to society because we scarred it with our obnoxious generic teenage personalizes. Or at least that's what my boss says."

"Your boss is right." The goth's father smiled. "It's a shame that my wife isn't home to meet such a nice girl."

"Where is mom exactly?" the tall goth asked finding a subject change that wasn't going to be about him. "Not that it matters or anything."

"Your mother is working late and having dinner with her coworkers," his father answered. "It's a shame that she wasn't able to witness the first time her son brought a girl home."

"Oh? Really?"

"That's not true," Michael spat. "Henrietta comes here all the time."

"Yes, but Mercedes is a girl that your mother would actually like. Henrietta is just so… well-"

"I haven't actually really met Henrietta before, but I think she's nice and really talented. Michael tells me that she writes most of their band's songs," the Hooters girl mentioned cutting the goth's father off. "I think that's amazing, because I find song writing ridiculously hard."

His father smiled. "Henrietta has a bit of a mouth. She once said that my wife's cooking looks and tastes like some demon jizzed all over some frozen TV dinners."

"She didn't say that to her face," Michael insisted. "Where you eavesdropping on our conversation? And didn't you tell me that eavesdropping is rude?"

"We were all sitting at the exact same table." His father turned to face Mercedes. "I'm sorry, that you have to listen to this, darling-"

"Calling her 'darling' is creepy, Dad."

The goth's father sighed. "Do you see what I have to put up with?"

"Its just all part of being a teenager, sir."

"You really don't have to call him 'sir'."

Mercedes gave an awkward laugh. "I should probably head home before it gets too late, sir. I have a mother that worries about me just as much as you worry about your son."

"Michael will walk you to your car. Won't you, Michael?"

She stood up from the table. "Thank you sir, for inviting me in. Your son really is special and the right type of interesting. Not the smoking pot in the Hooters' bathroom-" she cut herself off. "I really did enjoy our conversation."

His father stood up from his side of the table. "And we really enjoyed having you here, darling-"

"Calling her 'darling' is still creepy, Dad."

He ignored his son's comment. "Please feel free to come back anytime you like. My wife would probably love to meet such a nice and pretty girl like you that's friends with our son."

Mercedes smiled. "I would love to meet her too sometime." She held out her arms. "Also I'm a hugger."

"Oh, I like you."

Michael groaned as he watched Mercedes give his father a hug.

The hug ended. "Please come back here whenever you want. Michael go walk Mercedes to her car."

"Sorry, about my dad being well… my dad," he said once they were outside the house. "This was particularly weird for him. He normally isn't that social with me."

She laughed. "Nah, dude its cool. I've met all sorts of strange parents of dudes. You dad doesn't even make it into the top five of my list of weirdo fathers. I'm sure that your mother is cool too."

"Actually, my mother is way worse than my dad."

"I doubt she is as horrible as you think. I've dated an embarrassing number of guys. So far nobody can come close to Mrs. Donovan level of cray-cray. Well, they say the Broflovski mother is pretty insane, but that kid doesn't date anybody. Its probably because of his mother."

"Uh… hasn't Betsy Donavan been dead for like almost five years now?"

"I didn't mean to disrespect the dead or anything. She was just a little insane. Nice and good at baking but also insane." She gave an awkward laugh. "I guess the 'almost five years' thing gives you an idea of when I started dating. Huh?"

"I don't control your life."

She smiled. "I really did enjoy spending time with you. You really ought to come by my work and visit me again. Or we can hang out outside of my work. Not like outside in the parking lot. Like outside outside. Like at a place that's not my work."

"Yeah, that would be fun I guess. Uh… thanks for using your pageant skills or whatever to convince by dad that I wasn't doing drugs."

"I never actually won any of the pageants I was in, so I don't think it was my pageant skills. I think your dad really does know that you are a good kid."

He made a puff noise with his mouth. "Doubt it."

"Your family really is nice. The worry a little about you, but that's normal. Also do try to think about the future some." Without warning she gave him a hug. "You're really talented and I really think your band can make it big. It would be a real shame if your band didn't make it."

He awkwardly patted her back. "You could come to band practice some time if you want."

She pulled away from the hug. "I would love too. As long as your friends don't mind. I really don't want to be stepping over any boundaries."

"You wouldn't be," he stated as she opened up her car door. "Pete actually said that I should invite you to band practice sometime."

"Really? I thought that guy hated me-"

"He doesn't."

She sat down in her driver's seat. "Well, okay. Thanks for letting me drive you home. I really did have fun here. Even though your dad displayed his dad side towards you."

"He really did enjoy you being here. Sorry, about him calling you 'darling'. Its really creepy."

She laughed. "I work at Hooters. Believe me, I've been called way worse than 'darling' at work. And since when is 'darling' an insult?"

He didn't say anything to that.

"Well, I got to get home before my mom gets a rescue team to find me or something. See ya later!" She closed the door to her car.

"Bye." He waved as he watched her drive off.

Shit. Before he made it back into his house he realized that he forgot to get her number. One of the things Pete asked him to do.

"I like her," his father stated. "She's nice and pretty. Don't lose her."

"Dad, she's a waitress at Hooters."

"Its good that she has a job. Maybe it'll inspire you to get a job."

He sat down on the couch and took out his cigarettes. "Not going to happen."

His father took his box of cigarettes away. "Also smoking in the house is not going to happen."

"You suck Dad."

"You keep telling me that, son." His father sat down next to him. "So, how did you meet Mercedes?"

"Seriously, Dad? She was literally just here. You could have asked her how she knew me instead of going on to that stupid conversation about my future."

"You really ought to have some sort of plan after high school. After this summer you're going to be a senior. This time next year is going to be completely different for you."

He groaned. "I met Mercedes in elementary school when we were on that dance team together," he said answering his father's original question to avoid having the conversation about his future again.

His father laughed. "That's why she looked so familiar to me. Does she still dance?"

"She said that she dances in her room, work, with friends, and at parties," he answered. "She's not doing competition anytime soon or whatever."

"Oh okay. Why did you stop dancing?"

"I don't know, Dad."

"You should invite Mercedes to go dancing with you sometime. I bet she would probably say yes to that date idea."

"Yeah, she probably would."

"Then invite her."

"I don't just invite somebody to go dancing, Dad. Don't you know me?"

"You don't do a lot of things, Michael. You need to start looking at colleges and get a summer job."

He groaned and stood up from the couch. "I'm going to my room."

"Okay, good night son!" his dad called as he walked up the stairs. "Keep hanging out with Mercedes I think a girl like that would really be good for you."

"Yeah, whatever."

A/N

The chapter I can't wait to write is Mercedes meeting Henrietta. I'm a bit of a Henrietta/Michael fan, hopefully you can tell with the constant texting I have the two do, and Michael's little worry of what Henrietta would think. I just can't wait to write that chapter. I hope I'm not setting myself up for failure.

As always feel free to go all grammar correcting happy in a review.