We decide to stop off at Liam's before heading to my house because I  am not ready to face my mother. But when I spot a silver Porsche parked in his driveway I panic, not wanting to face his mom either.

Liam looks at me after he parks and says, "There's someone I want  you to officially meet." I stare into his soft ocean blue eyes and I know I can't say no. I follow behind him as he pushes the front door open. I notice fewer boxes around his house and when we turn into the living room, I am surprised to see a room put together. His coffee table is now free from the bubble wrap and a leather recliner sits next to the couch. A  large entertainment center sits against a wall and an oversized TV sits in the middle. I'm shocked to find pictures on the shelves and a   younger Liam shines out of the frames. His blue eyes give away that it's him in all the photos.

While admiring the frames, I hear a smacking sound followed by a sucking noise coming from behind me. I  turn and see his mom standing in the kitchen, obnoxiously eating grapes out of a paper bowl. Her blonde hair is swept up into a ponytail and her shirt is so low cut it's hardly age-appropriate.

"Mom, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Ellie. Ellie, this is my mom, Lisa," Liam says hesitantly. She looks me up and down and I don't want to read her mind in front of Liam.

"Hi, Mrs. Greysor, it is nice to finally meet you," I say politely. She plunks her grape back into the bowl and wipes her hands on her shirt- real classy.

"What happened to your face?" She snaps and I immediately put a hand up over my nose.

"We had a powder puff game at school that got a little intense." I glance at Liam but she's still standing there, eyeing me as she places a hand on her bony hip.

"Looks like it, so what's your story? You were over here before, weren't you?" She asks as she walks over and pulls out a chair from the kitchen table. Liam nods for me to follow so I go and take a seat in the hard wooden chair opposite her. Does she know about me? I look at Liam and he nods. I'm kind of irritated that he told her my secret when it's not his secret to tell.

"Yes, I was here for school stuff. Hope that's okay?" I ask as I fidget with my hangnail under the table nervously.

"What's your interest in my son?" She snaps and she folds her arms on the table. I wasn't expecting to be interrogated so bluntly. Isn't this supposed to be the conversation fathers have with boyfriends? What could I have done to make her suspicious of me?

"My interest? Well uh, I really like him. He's a genuine person, he has a great heart and it's hard to find people that really understand me and my... abilities," I say, hardly able to make eye contact with her as I  do. She's making me nervous.

She nods as she plays with the grapes in the bowl and says, "Uh-huh. So where are you going? In life I  mean." This is why I avoid my mother's parties, everyone wants to know what I want to do in life and I haven't a clue. I shift my weight in my hard uncomfortable seat and glance at Liam. It's so hard not to listen to what's she thinking. I'm practically pushing away her whispers.

"Well I got into several colleges, but I haven't picked one yet. I think I want to be a lawyer of some kind but that's all I know." Liam puts his head in his hands and his elbows rest on the table. I can tell he's uncomfortable by how much he's squirming around but he wouldn't have introduced me to his mom if it weren't important.

"So, do you think that makes you special huh? Having a pick of schools to choose from? Little Miss educated," she bluntly states. "Well, I just want to be straight with you. Liam is my son. He goes where I go. He isn't going to college and he isn't following you to whatever Ivy League you decide on. Understand that, treat him right and we'll have no issues got it?"

I'm stunned. I never expected this from his mother. I mean, I wasn't expecting lunch on the veranda, eating finger sandwiches, and connecting over our love for Chanel handbags and Jimmy Choo's but I certainly wasn't expecting our first meeting to go like this. I wasn't expecting to be interrogated and told my boyfriend of a month wouldn't follow me around my entire life.

Maybe she is hoping to scare me off? Maybe she's trying to intimidate me? She clearly needs to get to know me better.

"Okay, if that's what Liam wants, then I can respect those terms," I say sharply and she angles her face away from me.

"It is. Glad we have an understanding," she says flatly. She slithers away from the table, grabs her bowl of grapes, and saunters out of the room. I'm still sitting in shock when Liam clears his throat.

"You're the first girl I've ever brought home. She wanted to meet you but I don't think she knows how to go about these situations," he tells me, still fidgeting. It's the first time I have ever seen Liam completely uncomfortable. He twirls his thumbs and taps his foot.

"She wanted to make it clear that she is the only woman that matters in your life," I say with a knowing look, "So is that what you want Liam? Do you want to live your mom's life for the rest of yours?" I ask plainly and his head snaps up.

"She's my mom. I can't just leave her. We've discussed this," he says like it's obvious. I scoot my chair in and reach for his hand.

"Liam,  she's lived her life. She's made her choices. You need the option to do the same. If you want to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay. You're still her son and you can still take care of her but you don't need to give up everything. She's stifling you. She's giving a new meaning to helicopter parent." I  know he's listening but he doesn't look at me. He doesn't want to get into this again.

"Okay,  I'll drop this. For now." He nods and finally reaches for my hand. I sigh and then add, "Can we talk about tomorrow and school?" His foot finally stops tapping against the tile.

"Yeah, I guess," he says as he finally looks at me. "I'm planning on going to school incognito if you know what I mean. I'm actually going to  try and follow Ian to  school."

"Does your mom know about Ian?" I ask but I'm not entirely sure why.

"Ellie,  I don't want my weird, messed-up relationship with my mom coming between us. I know it's in the back of your mind but let's figure  this  out first okay?" He asks and I know it's not my place to tell him how to deal with his mom.

"You're right. Okay. It's dropped. I'm sorry."

"So,  I'm going to follow Ian to school and hopefully catch him before he does anything stupid," he says as he leans back into his chair.

"What  about Marissa and Elijah?" I ask and he shrugs, "I don't know.  I'm  hoping they'll all meet up before anything goes down." I start twirling pieces of my hair and I know there are so many different scenarios that could go down tomorrow.

"Wait, if you could just go invisible, why didn't you follow Ian before? Why didn't you go sneak up on their  conversations?" I ask wondering why I hadn't thought about it before.

"I  tried following him once between passing periods but the thing is just because I'm invisible, doesn't mean I'm transparent and weightless," he explains. "People were bumping into me and it was impossible to avoid people in the crowded passing periods. I also tried   following him during lunch one of the days I was suspended and he went   by himself to McDonald's, ate, and drove right back to school." I'm now even more frustrated and we both know we have nothing to go off of.

"You should have followed him every day and every chance you could get when you were suspended," I say and it almost comes across like I'm blaming him for not knowing more when I did nothing but write a note.

"I had other things to do Ellie, I'm sorry following Ian wasn't my only priority."

"What other things did you have to do?" I ask irritated.

"Things,  just things!" He throws his hands up in the air and now I  feel like  I'm being lied to. "I'm not lying to you Ellie, you are just  making it  hard to talk to you about some things."

"You forced me to talk to you about what I do with my talents. Hell,  you even judged me for using  them like I do and now you won't talk to me  about what you do in your  free time?" I snap as I fold my hands on the table.

"I never judged you, Ellie. I was just making you aware of how it comes across.  Making you know that I know what you do, not if it was right or wrong," he says flatly.  I now am aware that whatever he was doing had to do with his mom.

"Yes,  I had to do a few things for my mom," he snaps and he looks at me like  I'm being ridiculous.

"What things? Just tell me!" I say completely exasperated.

"Fine! My mom needed money and a few other things, so  I've been busy helping her," he snaps back. We are now silent and a pit has made its way to my stomach.

"You stole for her?" I grit through my teeth and the "her" comes out like it's poisonous, "Why can't she just get a job? Like most adults." I  ask. I can tell I pushed him too far when he stands up and moves away from the table.

"Let's take you home."

He doesn't give me a chance to argue when I hear the front door slam shut.  I'm mad that tomorrow people are going to bring guns into school and we are fighting about his selfish mother. I grab my bag off the counter and make my way outside.

His car is already running and he has his Ray-Bans on so I can't see his eyes. I climb into his car and we are silent all the way to my house.  I try singing an entire song in my head so he can't hear what I really want to say.

When we pull up to my driveway, I don't immediately open the car door. I want him to say something but he sits frozen in his seat. I finally look over to him and say, "My car is still at  school, we never went back and got it."  He still doesn't say anything but he kills the engine. He stares straight ahead but relaxes in his chair.

"Have your mom drop you off tomorrow. Get there early."

He says it like he doesn't want a response, but I talk anyway.

"Will you stay with me tonight? I'm not going to be able to sleep so it would be nice to have you here. Just go park your car down at the end of the street," I somewhat ask, somewhat tell. I can't have this night end on a sour note. Not after I know what could happen tomorrow. The last thing I want is to fight with Liam before facing something as big as this.

He takes off his sunglasses and sticks them in the middle console. He finally looks at me and he looks sad. He must not want to end the night fighting with me either.

He finally says, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you tomorrow, Ellie. I promise. Hop out and let me go park my car." I sigh as I look away from him and then push the car door open.