VALERIA'S PARENTS CAME back from a friend's house a couple hours after jennifer's news to her and her friends. by this point, everyone else had gone home and jennifer and valeria were in the kitchen eating dinner together when val heard the front door open. she knew immediately it was her parents and her entire body froze up. she didn't even tell them that she was coming back to boston for the summer.
jennifer got up from her seat to greet her parents. valeria sheepishly followed behind. "hey mom, dad." jennifer casually welcomed her parents back home by giving them each a kiss on the cheek.
they took off their shoes in the foyer and looked up to see their daughter — daughters. just like valeria a couple seconds ago, mr and mrs minh froze for a moment. "valeria. i didn't know you were here." her mother acknowledged.
"yeah, well, jen just had to tell me about her engagement in person, so here we are." she spoke. an awkward tension filled the air in the minh household. valeria didn't know if her family was aware of it, but she definitely was.
"great news, isn't it?" her dad grinned as he removed his jacket and hung it up on the coat hook on the wall. he grabbed his wife's coat and hung it up for her as well. valeria only nodded at his question.
then, her mother began to look at her. like, really look at her. she scrutinized every single bit of her appearance. she observed valeria's outfit, which consisted of gray sweatpants and a navy blue hoodie. and she also examined her full face of makeup. valeria stood still, afraid what her mother would say if she moved.
"valeria, honey, don't tell me you came up to boston wearing that outfit." she criticized.
she looked down at her clothes, "what's wrong with what i'm wearing?"
"you look like a boy." she answered. "it doesn't look flattering."
"mom, i was in a car for, like, four hours and then i stayed inside this house the entire day. i didn't really need to look flattering." she defended.
"then why are you wearing so much makeup?" her mother questioned her. "look, you put so much of that eyeliner on and lipstick. it's too much makeup and it doesn't look good. it's better to wear less makeup or just be natural."
valeria felt her blood boil. this was the first time she saw her parents in a year. it hasn't even been five minutes yet, but her mom is already commenting on something that she doesn't need to comment on. she glanced at her father who didn't say a word. now, she completely remembered why she was so hesitant to come to boston for the summer. sure, it was mostly her mother who criticized her, but her father did nothing to stop it. "well, i think my makeup looks good and i'm gonna continue doing it like this since it makes me happy, so."
