[ WP ] Your mother has been dating someone for a while and it 's time to meet his family . However , you find that you already know one of them

As we pulled up into the driveway I got a weird sense of deja vu. I mean, it was a normal suburban house, bland color, decent size, scraggly but green lawn, but I had the weirdest feeling I'd been here before. 
 
 `` Okay.'' Mom shut the car off and looked over at me, flashing a brief, almost nervous smile. `` We ready?'' 
 
 `` Sure.'' I hopped out of the car, seeing the front door open. Mom had shown me pictures of Alec before ( and of course I'd done my own internet stalking ), so I recognized the receding blond hairline and the Dad Bod build. Had n't expected a Black Sabbath T-shirt, though. I'd gotten more of a mild-mannered white-collar vibe. He smiled brightly at my Mom, and she sped up to meet him at the front steps. I trailed along behind, feeling oddly like I was the chaperone, not the teenager. 
 
 `` Darlene, hi!'' He turned towards me and offered a handshake. He had a good grip. `` You must be Mikaela.'' 
 
 I was tempted to comment on his brilliant skills of deduction, but that might not go over so well and I had to spend at least a couple of hours here, so I just said `` Yup, that's me.'' 
 
 `` Come inside, it's a bit messy right now, I was expecting you a little later.'' 
 
 He stepped back to let us through the door, and I saw more people waiting inside—Alec ’ s family, Mom had talked about them a little. He had two teenage kids, and Mom really really wanted us to get along. I doubted we ’ d be instant friends but I was open to the idea, right up until I got a good look at the pair. 
 
 The younger ( or at least shorter ) kid was a girl, probably in her early teens, and looking mildly uncomfortable. But as I got a look at the brother I froze. He recognized me at the same time: I saw his eyes go wide. 
 
 The door thwacked me solidly in the back, and I jumped inside, snapping out of it. Act normal, don ’ t draw attention. 
 
 “ Whoops, I, uh, thought you were holding it, ” I stammered to Mom, hoping she ’ d mistake my reaction for nerves. I pasted on a smile that I hoped was convincing. “ The door. I wasn ’ t paying attention. ” 
 
 Luckily it seemed like she wanted to smooth things over instead of investigate, so she just laughed a little. “ Mikaela, this is Karrin, and Dan. ” 
 
 “ I know, we go to the same school, actually, ” Dan said. 
 
 “ Really? ” Mom looked delighted. “ You didn ’ t mention that! ” 
 
 “ Hey, there are a lot of Dans out there, ” I protested. How had I missed that? Granted, it was n't like Dan was friends with his Dad on Facebook or anything, but still! At least the adults seemed to be moving on. 
 
 “ I could really use some iced tea, ” Mom said. 
 
 “ Sounds good; what about you, Mikaela? ” Alec asked. I shrugged and dropped onto the couch, so off Alec went. After a moment Mom followed, leaving just us kids together. 
 
 Karrin looked at her brother, looked at me, and quietly slipped out of the room. I heard her footsteps thudding up the stairs. I took a deep breath, and looked at Dan again. 
 
 “ So, seems like neither of us was expecting this. ” 
 
 Dan shook his head. “ Nuh-uh. I didn ’ t even know your Mom was single. ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t really like talking about it. ” 
 
 “ Oh. ” Dan scratched the back of his neck. “ That makes sense. ” 
 
 I looked around the living room. No idea what Alec was talking about; this place looked pretty clean to me. Then again I was okay with clothes and food wrappers all over the floor, so maybe my standards were just really low. 
 
 “ I thought this place looked familiar when we drove up, ” I commented. “ Guess I didn ’ t recognize it because it ’ s daylight, and I came in through the front door instead of around the back. ” 
 
 “ Yeah, that makes sense. ” Dan cast a furtive glance towards the kitchen and came closer. “ Do you think they noticed? ” 
 
 “ Not my Mom, she doesn ’ t even know I smoke, ” I said in a low voice. “ What about you? ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t know, that ’ s why I ’ m asking. ” Dan sounded more agitated. “ You looked like you saw a ghost. ” 
 
 “ It wasn ’ t that dramatic, ” I muttered. “ Just play normal and nobody has to know, okay? ” 
 
 Dan fixed me with an intent look. “ Is that why you ’ ve been avoiding me at school? Playing normal? ” 
 
 I was just coming up with a response when Alec and Mom returned with drinks. I shut up, took the glass from Mom, and hoped that we could get through the evening without revealing to our parents that one time we ’ d smoked weed and fooled around in the basement of this very house.
