and friendships, but never anyone she introduced as someone special.
Naturally, her parents were curious.
Her mother spent the afternoon preparing dinner and imagining what the young man might be like. She expected someone polite, perhaps slightly nervous, and eager to make a good impression.
What she did not expect was the reaction her husband would have the moment the door opened.
When Emma arrived that evening, she was holding hands with a young man who looked very different from the boys most parents might imagine.
He was tall and thin.
His long black hair partially covered his face.
His arms were covered with tattoos.
His fingernails were painted black.
Dark eyeliner framed his eyes.
Despite his appearance, however, he looked polite and somewhat nervous.
Emma smiled proudly.
“Mom, Dad, this is—”
Before she could finish introducing him, her father stood up so abruptly that his chair scraped loudly across
