Gina's POV:

Halfway through Lemonade Mouth, upon my request, I hear a knock on the door. This time my mom respects my wishes and doesn't open the door. Thank goodness.

"Gi, dinner will be ready in 15 minutes. Your Dad bought out the grill and we're having hamburgers and salad," I heard my mom say from outside the door.

"That's weird," I sat up from my bed and paused the movie.

"What's weird?" E.J said as he at up from his position.

"My dad never cooks, this is something new. He stopped cooking after I got diagnosed with diabetes. He made work his priority," I shrugged my shoulders and began to look for a outfit in my small closet next to my dresser.

"Do you have to change your outfit for dinner with your parents?" E.J watches me as I pull out an outfit since its warmer out today and we never have family dinner's.

"Yeah, it's a special occasion. You should probably put your hat on and mess up your hair my dad sees your billboard all the time when he goes to work. My mom on the other hand doesn't even have a clue how social media works. She's on the phone all the time that's why she doesn't recognize you," I stand up and head to my bathroom to change.

"How do I look?" I come out of the bathroom with my hair down and my pump sticking out of my skirt.

E.J just stands there in the middle of the room with his hat on and his hair messed up. He looks like a different guy.

(A/N: without the facial hair)

"Wow. You look gorgeous," I hear E.J finally say as he stops staring at me.

"Thanks, it takes time to look this presentable," I smile at him.

"So, no sunglasses?" I look over to see that he isn't wearing a disguise.

"Are we going to be inside?" E.J hesitates as he comes close to me.

"We don't really use our patio anymore. No reason to and it's hard to clean," I shrug as I open my bedroom door and lead him down to the kitchen where we were eating sandwiches earlier.

"Hey so your mom told me you had a friend over," My dad says as E.J and I walk down the stairs.

"So, uh are you two um you know," My dad hesitates and moves his hands around.

I start to blush but then instantly stop myself.

"Oh uh no we are um chemistry partners and he had a rough night last night with parents so I invited him over," I half smiled at my dad and looked at E.J.

"Oh! No, no. Sir that's ridiculous. We're just friends. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, I heard you were out on an errand. My name is Ethan," I listen and watch as E.J puts his hand out for my dad to shake.

Wow, he's continuing to be a gentleman.

"Just checking to make sure my daughter's being safe," I watch as my dad shakes E.J's hands and say in his deep voice.

"Ryan, let's get dinner and place it on the table and leave these two talk," My mom interrupts their conversation.

Thanks for the save mom. I'll have to thank her later. She's acting different ever since I told her E.J's my friend. I mean my only guy friends are Howie, Seb and Carlos. So maybe that's why?

"You have great parents. I wish my parents were like that," I hear E.J say as he stands in front of the stairs in front of the kitchen.

"That was not funny. Why did you do that with my dad?" I say and gently hit him on the shoulder.

"What? It's just dinner and I'm being a good friend and polite. Isn't that what the guy is supposed to do when he's invited to the girl's parents house for dinner? I've seen it in the movies," I listen to E.J whisper to me.

"Life isn't always like the movies. You're lucky my dad hasn't figured out who you are yet," I gently nudge his shoulder and head to the dining room.

Once we're sitting down at the dining room table, I place a napkin on my lap and E.J glance at me then does the same. I roll my eyes at him but he just smiles at me. God, he's so unpredictable. One second, he's singing along to Camp Rock 2 then next second he's copying me.

"Young man, no hats at the table, could you please take it off," I hear my mom say as we all get ready to eat.

I gasp at her statement since she's never been this formal before but maybe its because she thinks this is me introducing a guy for the first time who isn't my co-worker or gay.

"So, Ethan I've never seen you around and Gina's never talked about a chemistry partner before? You do look awfully familiar. What's his name C.J Caswell. I see his face on that big billboard on Southern Ave. as I go to work," I hear my dad say as starts to serve us all hamburgers from the grill.

"Uh yeah, I get that a lot. I look a lot like him. The girls in school still Iike him more than me," I hear E.J laugh lightly next to me as he puts his hat on the side of the chair unveiling his messy hair.

He must use a lot of hair spray or gel to make it stand up like in all those pictures. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of his but I've seen posters in Carlos and Seb's lockers before and his hair is always the same and so sticky uppy.

"Oh and thanks so much for having me for dinner. My mom usually gets take out and my dad works a lot," I hear E.J say as I sit there silently and help serve some salad to E.J since he is our guest.

This is really awkward but I'm not going to intervene just yet. I mean E.J hasn't done anything wrong tonight right?

I watch as E.J takes a bite of the salad and smiles at me while I press some buttons on my pump under the table to give some insulin before I eat the burger my dad made.

"The salad dressing is really good Mrs. Porter," I listen to E.J talk as he faces my mother who is across the table.

Wow, he is on a roll today. Is this E.J Caswell or someone else?

"Well thank you Ethan, we don't get a chance to do this very often but we should do it more often now that  Gina's graduating soon," I listen to my mom say while I sit there and smile at her and eat my salad.

This is so weird. She's never like this and she's always on the phone.

"So, you two go to the same school?" I hear my dad say as he starts to serve the burgers onto our buns that are on our plates.

"Yeah we're in the same Art Class too. Gina's really good. On the other hand, I don't even know how I got into AP Art and Design," I hear E.J say as I kick his foot from under the table.

What the heck? Why is he calling me out like that?

"Are you into the same kind of art as Gina?" I listen to my mom say before I can but in.

"No, not at all. I don't even know what a pigment and a shade is. I'm nowhere near as talented as her. She could the next winner on Project Runway. Her designs are so good," I hear E.J laugh lightly as I take a bite of my burger.

"Project what way?" I hear my Dad say as I sit there quietly.

My face is probably red and full of blush. I can't tell. I'm just too embarrassed.

"Its a TV show where future designers try to impress some of the best designers in the industry. Gina would be the perfect contestant for it," I hear E.J say confident;y before he takes a bite of his burger.

"And the best thing about the show is that the designer's work always say something about their personality and what inspires them to design," I hear E.J finish saying after he finishes chewing his burger.

"And I think Gina can be just as great as those designers who judge on that show. I see how hard she works and I am inspired by her work," I listen to E.J say as he sits next to me smiling big at my parents.

I finally have the courage to intervene on the conversation.

"Thank you, Ethan. That means a lot to me," I start to tear up but hold back my tears as E.J cuts me off.

Damn. He's good at doing that thing where he cuts me off. This time he did it at the right time.

"Anyways I'm more into music, but I just take the visual arts class as a credit. Once again, I have no idea how I got into AP Art," I hear E.J laugh lightly as he continues to eat.

"Is that what you want to do be a musician? Don't they just sit around and write songs all day and do press interviews explaining what the songs mean?" I listen to my mom as she makes conversation with E.J.

"Maybe, I thought so at first. But I'm not so sure right now. I'm only 17. I still have my whole entire life to figure out who I wanna be," I watch as E.J smiles at my parents.

I take this as my chance to give him a big genuine smile and he smiles back at me. It's different then any of the other times he's smiled at me today. It feels like a real friendly smile.

"Hey remember when I had that band back in college?" I look over and hear my dad say to all of us.

Oh no not this again.

"Dad.... please don't tell this story," I say as I close my eyes in embarrassment.

"What I did? And Ethan I got to be honest with you it is a struggle. I mean there's a lot of competition out there. So if that's what you want to do, you better be sure about it because that's not something you can change once you start doing it," I listen to my dad say.

I'm shocked since this is the first time he's ever been this serious around me or around my friend.

Wait, did I just call E.J Caswell my friend?

I look over and see E.J nodding his head and eating his burger in silence.

"The same thing goes for Gina, she has to be sure she wants to go to FIT. We could be spending less money on a regular liberal arts college if she changes her mind before graduation," I hear my dad talk to me as if I'm not there.

I drop my salad fork on the floor.

"Ry, come on don't start this now," I listen to my mom say to my dad as I pick my fork up.

"I'm not starting anything. I'm just saying that if our daughter wants to go to a fashion and design school like how Ethan wants to go be a musician, it should be for the right reasons," I listen to my dad say as I fix the napkin on my lap.

I try my best not to glance at E.J but he's already reaching under the table and squeezing my hand.

"It shouldn't be about the interviews and TV shows and fame. It should be about the art and the music. I know that Gina is trying to pay her way into FIT but I don't think she realizes how expensive that is. Some job at a pizza place won't even get you a train ticket to New York from anywhere," I hear my dad say and tears are already forming in my eyes.

"Excuse me, I'm not feeling well I think my glucose reading is too high from the burger. I'm gonna go get ready for bed and shower," I say as I get  up from my chair even though i barely ate half of the burger.

I genuinely am not feeling well after hearing what my dad had to say about FIT and my job at Salt Lake Slices.

"I got a few of my CDs from college laying around in the garage. If you want to check them out?" I hear my dad say as I put my food in the trash and plate in the dishwasher.

I can't hear the rest of their conversation since I'm already heading up to my room to take a shower. I just need some me time to cry and think. What my dad thinks about my future won't matter once I turn 18. My morals and beliefs aren't the same as his.

A/N: I had to do this because the scene in Be Somebody was so fake