father Nate was in deep thought. "I'm sensing something about you." he stated as he tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. "I just can't put my finger on it though. Do I know you from somewhere?"
Mandy couldn't figure out where he could possibly know her from. She did attend a party at the farm a few years ago, but she only said one word to Nate at that party. "Maybe you've mistaken me for someone else?"
Nate was satisfied with that response. "Fair enough. They say everyone has their twin somewhere on this earth."
The four of them ate their lunch and sat around the table talking after lunch. The four were having the best time. Laughing and joking with each other.
Alex then got serious. "Mom, dad there is something I need to say. Mandy and I are dating."
All the laughter stopped. Mandy's jaw hit the table. She couldn't believe her girlfriend just dropped the news like that! No lead-in. She just came out. Mandy nervously looked into both of Alex's parent's eyes. How were they going to react? She wondered.
Alex's parents were frozen for a moment. Processing this news. Finally, Nate smiled and looked at Mandy. "That's what it is!" he laughed. "I knew there was something about you! My best friend is gay, and he's the coolest!" He got up and motioned for Alex and Mandy to stand up. The two of them got up, and he gave them both a big hug.
Rose got up and gave them each a hug as well. "I'm so proud of you both." she told them.
Mandy was filled with relief for the moment, but the fear of coming out to her parents was still in her mind.
"Let's throw a coming out party!" Nate abruptly shouted.
"Dad, no, please. Don't go overboard." Alex pleaded. Her parents were always known to go overboard when it came to parties. They invited almost everyone in town! In fact, Alex's graduation party is where Alex and Mandy met each other for the first time a few years ago.
Rose ran to grab her phone and began scrolling through her contacts. "I'll send out a group text inviting people! Is this Saturday good?"
The two young ladies looked at each other in shock. "Yes. That'll be fine..." Mandy said softly.
Mandy returned home, and her mother had four dresses laid out on the couch. There was a red dress with a wide black waistline, a plain black dress, a blue sequence dress, and a floral dress.
"What's going on mom?" she asked her mom as she walked into the room.
"I got a text inviting your father and me to a party this Saturday." her mom answered. Barb was in deep thought. Picking up, and setting down the dresses one by one and holding them up against herself.
"A party?" Mandy's anxiety just intensified. "What party?" She had a gut feeling that her mother was referring to the party that was going to be at Alex's farm that Saturday.
But considering what her father did during Alex's graduation party, she was hoping that her parents were removed from the guest list.
During Alex's graduation party, Lee sneaked into the barn, wrote homophobic slurs on the walls and dumped the punch bowl over Nate's head.
Barb picked up the blue dress from the couch and held it against the front of her body. "How's this dress?" she asked Mandy.
"Nice, but what party?"
"One of my co-workers is throwing a party for her daughter."
Mandy still assumed her mother was talking about the party Alex's parents were planning for them. She looked around and noticed the black dress. "The blue dress is nice, but I think the black dress is more appropriate."
Barb looked at the black dress and picked it up. She put it right back down. "I like the blue one better. I feel black is more for a funeral. I'm not suffering any loss."
Mandy put her head down. "Yet." she said softly.
Barb walked over to her daughter. "What is wrong?" she asked her daughter. "You can tell me."
"Did your co-worker tell you what the party is for?"
"She said the party is for her daughter and her partner."
"Just promise dad won't cause a scene at this party."
Mandy walked out of the room as Lee came in. "What is all of this? Are you cleaning out the closet finally?" He asked.
Barb pulled out her phone and showed Lee the text. "We got invited to a party on Saturday at my co-worker's farm!" she said excitedly. "It'll be good to have some fun in our lives again."
Lee read the text. "Oh, it's at the big farm on Spring Hill Road?"
"Yes."
Lee got a disgusted look on his face. "Do we have to go? I hear that her husband Nate has a gay friend, and I don't want to be exposed to him."
Barb raised an eyebrow to her husband. "We're going, and if that guy is there please keep your mouth shut!" She pleaded with Lee. "I don't need you causing a scene, like you did the last time and almost causing me lose my job!"
"Why would you lose your job if I cause a scene?" Lee inquired.
"My boss will most likely be there!" Barb snapped back.
Meanwhile, Mandy sat up in her room trying to figure out what to do. She was positive that her parents had gotten invited to the party that Alex's parents were throwing for them to celebrate them coming out.
She feared her father's reaction when he'll definitely find out about her sexuality. She had to try to do something to prevent her parents from attending that party.
She went back downstairs and sat down in the living room with her parents who were watching TV. "Tell me more about this party you got invited to." She asked her mother. "Where is this party anyway?"
"You know that big farm on Spring Hill Road?" Barb asked her daughter.
"Yes, I've seen it many times." Mandy said nervously. "Didn't we go to a party there once?"
Lee and Barb looked at their daughter suspiciously. Why was their daughter so nervous when she found out where the party was going to be held?
"I don't think you two should go." Mandy stated. "I hear that they have many more cattle than they did a few years ago. Rumors around town state that one cow, in particular, is very timid! I would hate to find out mom got chased down that cow while wearing such a fancy dress." Mandy said that knowing her mother had a minor fear of cows after one got loose from a farm next to her childhood home, and chased her once.
"She's right!" Barb said as she jumped up, and began picking up the dresses. "We shouldn't go. I'll call Rose and tell her we're busy on Saturday. I'll tell her something came up!"
Mandy smiled, but that smile soon turned upside down when her father spoke up.
"Oh, we are definitely going now!" Lee laughed. "I would love to see that!"
Mandy tried to think fast. How could she talk her parents out of going to this party? "Dad, there is going to be a lot of people there. There is no guarantee there won't be any gay people there."
