When we got to my parents’ house, dinner was already being set up on the table. My mom sat down silently on the far end of the table, with her lips pursed and her beady blue eyes narrowed. Ashley and I sat down carefully as far away from her as possible, on the opposite end. After we all said grace, my dad picked up his fork and began cutting a side of ham. “So, Ashley, we invited you and Spencer to come over here tonight so we could meet you…formally. She’s told me that you guys are living together now.” Ashley put her hand on top of mine and cleared her throat. “Yeah, we are. As I’ve told Spencer, I’m really committed to her, and I enjoy being with her and living with her. We’ve lived together for the entire school year as roommates.” “You can’t be committed to each other.” My mother sneered from the other end of the table. We all whipped our heads around to face her. “You’re nothing but a filthy whore that has seduced my daughter! You can’t possibly be committed to her; you’re just using her!” she spat venomously. I could see Ashley stiffen up in her chair. “Mom, stop it!” I pleaded. “Mrs. Carlin,” Ashley said, with controlled anger in her voice. “That may be your opinion of me, but I will never leave Spencer and I’ve proven that to her so far.” “Enough, Paula!” my dad snapped. ‘We’ve gone over this before; Spencer’s decision is to be with Ashley, and that is who she says that she loves, and Ashley says that she loves her back. That’s all we need to know.” “You may not care about how Spencer’s taking a path straight to hell, but I do, Arthur- ” “We can’t judge her anymore, Paula! Spencer is old enough to know what’s right or wrong now, so leave it be.” He said firmly, not leaving any room for my mom to argue any further.

           The entire remainder of dinner, my dad simply asked Ashley personal questions, like where she was from, her family, what she was majoring in; all that boring crap. My mother barely ate anything and glowered at us the entire time, which also affected my appetite. I sorrowfully picked at my food. Ashley seemed to notice, and rested her hand on my thigh reassuringly. After dinner, Ashley led me out the door and into the car. “You alright, Spence?” she asked, peering at me closely in the night. “Yeah.” I sighed, looking out the window of her Porsche. “Don’t worry, they’ll come around.” She said brightly, trying to cheer me up. “How do you know? My mom didn’t say another word after my dad told her to shut up, and Clay and Glen just looked at us like we were aliens from outer space that just happened to drop by for dinner.” I mumbled, running my fingers through my hair. Ashley reached for my hand and held it tightly. “I promise you, Spencer, that I’ll help you pull through this. Your family invited us over-that’s already taking a step towards accepting us; towards accepting you, Spencer.”