"You can call me Bette." Bette shook her hand.

Chris stood next to his wife and shook Bette’s hand also. "Thank you so much for taking the time off to help our daughter."

 "No problem, she’s easy to teach."

"So Bette," Victoria said, taking the girls’ bowls and putting them in the sink. Chris had already left the room to go change upstairs. "Are you and Tina friends at school?"

"Yeah, but we don’t have that many classes together," Bette fibbed. Tina darted her eyes back and forth from her mom to Bette. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to Bette. Her mom would always interview people. Bette smiled and mouthed back ‘it’s ok’, hiding it by covering one side of her face with her hand.

"Oh that’s too bad. Your father told me you have straight A’s. He must be so proud of you."

"He is."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Bette gulped. Tina’s eyes grew into saucers. If Bette truthfully responded, she was going to be kicked out. Her parents had something against homosexuals. It was one of the many reasons she hated her parents so much.

"No," Bette replied.

"Why not? You are a very attractice girl. Smart too? Guys don’t go for those girls anymore."

"She’d uh rather focus on her schoolwork," Tina butted in.

"Yeah, what Tina said."

 "I am so sorry for my mom," Tina said when her and Bette entered the room. "It’s best that you don’t tell her the truth about your sexual orientation. She might try to find a way to expel you from the school."

Bette faked a smile. "Tina it’s fine. I understood how religious your family is. We’ll keep my love life on the down low." She picked up her belongings.

 "She just drives me crazy sometimes. She thinks that if I hang around gay people I might convert or something." Tina was pacing back and forth.

Bette stood right in front of Tina, trying to stop her from tearing the carpet apart. "You have a boyfriend, what’s there to worry about?"

Tina looked up at Bette. She wanted to tell her why she hated her mom so much, she really did. "I don’t even like Henry anymore. She approves any guy I go out with as long as it’s a guy. And my dad does nothing about it."