Having gotten used to  avoiding Ethan all week had Lisha feeling pretty good by Friday afternoon. Well that was until she found out who was coming to dinner. Prancing into the kitchen for a snack she was feeling all was right with the world.

    “Hey Lish glad to see you in such a good mood,” her mother commented with a smile.

“Of course mom what is there to not be happy about? The first week of school is done it’s the weekend and I have all my homework done’” she stated while grabbing an apple from the fridge.

“That’s great honey cause we are having guest for supper. A new family who just moved back to town. I believe they have a son about your age. Jack Cartwright  and I ran into each other at the post office today.I heard he was back now and has a family . I just hadn’t had time to stop by and catch up so I figured we’d kill two birds at once and invited him and his family over. You know your father and I went to school with Jack right?,” she finished.

Lisha was floored. What the heck? Just when she was so happy about not dealing with Ethan her mom goes and invites him to her house. Her sanctuary. Life was so not fair. “Uhm , no mom I didn’t know that. But I’m sorry I can’t be here for dinner I already made plans.” Lisha lied.

“Sorry to hear that sweetie, but I already promised Jack you’d be here. He can't wait to meet you. Surely you can spare an hour or two with your parents so we can show you off.”

“Ugh mom you don't play fair,” Lisha complained . “Fine , fine I'll be here. What time?”

Kissing her daughter's check with a smile her mom said” They will be here at six sweetie.”

Mothers .. Lisha just couldn't believe the bad luck she was stuck with. Of all the people who could come to dinner it had to be the biggest jerk at school.

Figuring there's wasn't much she could  do about it she resigned to her fate. She’d just have to kill him with kindness. Since she was sure her mother would object to her doing anything else.

As far as Lisha was concerned this was the worst and using the parent card was a low blow.

At six sharp the doorbell rang freezing Lisha where she was. From her room she heard her father answer the door and greet the Cartwright's. She couldn't really hear the conversation and wasn't in a hurry to join it either but apparently her father had different ideas because he promptly called her downstairs. She thought fleetingly of trying to ignore it but couldn't bring herself to upset her parents. She knew she owed them better behavior than that. So she reluctantly made her way downstairs to greet the devil and his mom and dad.

Jack and Justine Cartwright were the picture of a model couple. All blond and tan with baby blue eyes hers may have had a boost from colored contacts but they fit her lovely. They both looked very young for their late forties which Lisha was pegging them at based on her mom and dad and the school friend comment. Of course them being all Ken and Barbie drew more attention to Ethan's dark looks . Though his perfect tan matched theirs. I think made her wonder where they lived before.While they were all undeniable beautiful their looks were opposites. Not that she was a genius in genetics but it did seem a little on the odd side.

Lisha’s mom noticed her arrival first and started introductions. To Lisha’s surprise Ethan acted as if he hadn’t been a jerk to her. He almost acted as if this was their first time meeting. She quickly decided two could play that game. She pasted on a huge fake smile and made small talk with his parents about their move and how they were settling into the Cartwright house. It was a little weird they kept calling their house by a name and since it was their name it just seemed pretentious. They were nice enough and having them over seemed to make her  mom happy so Lisha did her best to be a good daughter.

Dinner was going well Ethan was on his best behavior. Of course just as Lisha was settling into believing he really had any hope of being a decent person he agreed to help her get desert. She was just grabbing plates as he walked in the kitchen and closed the door. Lisha wasn’t sure what he was doing  so she just handed him the pie and turned to get dessert forks when he stepped closer and lowered his voice stating “Just so you know this changes nothing I still want nothing to do with you. No matter how much our parents try to put us in the same places at the same time. You are not my type! Never gonna happen!”

After his little speech he tried to push past her but she was having none of it. Lisha stepped back blocking his path stating “ I personally have no clue what your issue is with me nor do I care at this point. I do agree with you one one point and only one you aren’t my type either so there is no need for you to worry about what our parents have in mind because I already decided you weren’t worth my time. In fact I was only playing along to keep my parents happy. Don’t worry it won’t happen again.” With that she left the kitchen.As soon as Ethan returned to the dining room Lisha excused herself and left.