Meeting Johnny Kavanagh’s parents wasn’t supposed to be terrifying… but it absolutely was.

You’d spent all afternoon trying to convince yourself it would be fine. Still, as soon as you stepped into their house: beautiful, quiet, and far too elegant for someone like you, your stomach twisted. His parents looked exactly how you’d imagined them: polished, composed, the kind of people who never seemed to say the wrong thing. And you? You were seventeen, still trying to figure out your life.

College choices? Unclear. Grades? Hanging by a thread. Future? Somewhere between maybe and who knows.

You’d met plenty of teachers who’d looked at you like you weren’t trying hard enough. The last thing you wanted was to see that same disappointment in Johnny’s parents’ eyes.

But Johnny, sitting beside you on that perfectly arranged sofa, looked completely at ease. He leaned closer, his hand brushing yours under the table as he whispered, “Relax. They’re going to love you.”

When his dad asked what you wanted to do after school, you hesitated. You didn’t have a polished answer, just an honest one. “I’m still figuring it out,” you admitted.

There was a pause, but before anyone could say a word, Johnny spoke up, grinning. “She works hard. She’ll figure it out. She always does.”