1.3 - The Mayor's Son

Meredith and Grant had made plans to meet up on Meredith's day off. The two of them planned to meet at a karaoke bar. Meredith got a taxi ride there and found Grant standing outside. "Hey." Meredith said.

 "Hey." Grant glanced at what Meredith was wearing. "Could i ask you something?"
Meredith flinched. "Yes..."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but why do you always wear torn-up clothes?"
Meredith took in a sharp breath, and held her hands in front of her. "To be completely honest, my father died a couple months ago. before i moved here with my stepmom, we were pretty much broke. I sold most of my things when my father was still alive so we could try and make the payments work, but it just wasn't enough."
     "I see." Grant said. "What about your stepmother and stepsisters?"
For a moment, Meredith considered telling Grant everything about why they were broke, or why the rest of her family looked like they could be rich, while Meredith is the one who has to wear the ratty clothes. She could also tell him about how she's the only one who works, minimum wage, and how she wasn't able to go to college because of her father's loss of money. The only thing that held her back was the fact that, despite the fact that Grant rejected her, she really liked Grant, and she didn't want to drive him further away by telling him too much. "I was just unlucky, i guess."
     Grant put his hand on Meredith's shoulder. "Listen, i'm sorry about your dad. That has to be rough, all that change in such a short period of time. It'll get better, I promise."
     Meredith gave a deep sigh. "Thanks for being there for me. You didn't have to."
     Grant pulled Meredith into a hug. "Don't mention it. Thanks for being at the beach that day, otherwise i would have never met you."

      Meredith slowly pulled away, looked into Grant's eyes for a few seconds, and leaned over to kiss him.

 As they were locked in the kiss, Meredith's face grew hot. She began to worry about what Grant might say, considering he pushed her away before. She didn't want to give up his friendship because they kissed. She quickly pulled away, and nervously watched Grant's reaction as he stared at her, wide-eyed.

 Grant surprised her, though, as a smile grew on his face, and he pulled her back in for the kiss.

 Meredith slightly pulled away, only to smile, and kissed him again.
     Grant held her hand as he backed away.
"Why?" Meredith said, grinning ear to ear. "Why did you kiss me now? I thought you didn't like me."
Grant shook his head. "I never said i didn't like you. I pushed away back on the beach because i screwed up my last relationship pretty bad, and i didn't want to mess anything up with you. I'm sorry if i gave you the wrong idea."
Meredith smiled. "Should we go inside now?"
Grant nodded and kissed her one more time, while holding her hand.

     Meredith had a great first date with Grant. She ended up beating Grant at pool...

      They took romantic photos in the photo booth...

 Grant even convinced Meredith to sing with him on the karaoke machine.

 They left the karaoke bar, and went to go see a movie afterwards.

 They went over to the bistro next door after dinner, and Meredith ended up setting the table on fire after she ate the firecracker shrimp...Great job, Meredith. -_-

 Grant drove Meredith home around midnight. He walked her to her door and kissed her goodnight before departing.

     Meredith walked inside the house to find that everybody was asleep. She wasn't going to be yelled at by Courtney tonight.
     Meredith lied her sleeping bag next to the kitchen counter and crawled inside. For the first time in a while, she feels genuinely happy.
 
     She woke up in the morning to get a head start on breakfast. She started making pancakes, and singing the song that she was singing with Grant at the bar yesterday to herself. Courtney walked in from her bedroom and noticed that Meredith was in a cheerful mood. She scoffed and walked outside to go get the mail. She returned swiftly with an envelope in her hands. From Meredith's perspective, cursive was written in tiny print on the front of the envelope. "Girls, come in here."

 Meredith didn't pay her any attention and continued cooking. Joey and Kristy stomped in, yelling, "What is it, mother?"
"We've been invited to a formal dance tomorrow at the beach." Courtney explained.
The girls' eyes lit up. "A dance?" Kristy said.
"Yes, it seems as if the mayor's re-election has been announced just recently. They've invited the entire town to this dance tomorrow night."
     Meredith froze. Courtney left to go to the bathroom, and Kristy approached Meredith. "So, Joey told me about your boyfriend."
     Meredith knew Grant liked her, but she didn't want her stepsisters to know about it. "I don't have a boyfriend."
     "Yeah, you do. The one you've been sneaking off to see every night?"
     Meredith was getting angry now. "That's none of your business." Meredith snapped.
     "What makes you think you can talk to me like that? I'll make sure mother locks you in the attic for the rest of the week."

      "The best is going to be seeing him at the dance without her." Joey chimed. "He can be all ours..." Joey sneered.

 "I'm going as well." Meredith said.
Joey and Kristy exchanged looks, "What makes you think you can go?"
"Everyone is invited, and I'm...friends with the mayor's son."
Joey and Kristy both started laughing. "We'll, of course you COULD go, but..."
Joey interrupted her. "You haven't been working hard enough at the diner, so we don't have enough money to buy you a dress. After all, it IS a formal dance..."

Meredith glared at her two sisters. She's never been as mad at them as she is right now. The two of them trotted in their rooms, discussing dress plans or if they should go to the spa to get a manicure beforehand. Meredith, however, knew she would probably need some emergency cash in case she would be short on money, so she was able to sneak part of her earning in her own little savings under her bed. no one else cleans, so she knew no one knew about it. Meredith's plan was to spend her money on an affordable dress so she could go with Grant. She didn't care what her stepsisters or her stepmother said, she was going to go to that dance, whether they liked it or not.