Her mother hmmphed at the suggestion of another BBQ at the house, saying Eleanor needs to find a higher 'toned' set of people to associate with, and Justin rolled his eyes & laughed when she asked him to grill for her parents a second time, saying, "Okay, Princess, but once more & I might not be able to resist poisoning that bitch," but what else can Eleanor do? Her parents want to meet more of her friends, Xtina especially, since all of Eleanor's early letters home were about the only real close friend she had made in school. Xtina promised to come & bring Rainier, too. Her mother will like him, Eleanor thinks, he's smart & he's European....but there was something evil in Xtina's chortle this morning when she called to confirm, and Eleanor is just looking forward to this BBQ being over before it has actually begun.

Her mother sneaks up behind her while she's having a beer, scaring Eleanor as she's taken by surprise. "Really, child, I would have thought I raised you to have better taste than that...Mexican beer...Really, child...," she complains.

"Don't drink it if you don't like it," Eleanor responds, poking her mother in the shoulder, "It's not here for you." Eleanor's had two Coronas already and she's feeling a little cocky. "Perhaps your father & I should start requiring you to take regular drug tests again, child. We had hoped we could trust you now that you are older, but your behavior lately has been quite...troublesome," her mother says coldly. Eleanor sighs heavily: the bitch will not let her win, ever, "That's not necessary, Mother," she says quietly, compliantly, "I have your favorite gin here," she says, pointing her mother towards the bar, "I know how you feel about beer."

Despite her mother's glare, Eleanor has another beer. Helen helps herself to the expensive gin. Eleanor doesn't have to turn around, she knows the sound of Justin's steps, he's come out to start grilling.

Justin outdid himself, with all kinds of appetizers & even homemade gourmet ostrich & apple sausage, the kind of thing that usually impresses her mother. That is when one of her friends hires a caterer to do something like this: apparently having the money to pay people to do things you can't do is superior to being able to do it yourself.

Xtina shows up, wearing one of her Gotherella outfits, a sheer red corset style blouse that emphasizes her cleavage. Eleanor is quite sure she chose the outfit to shock her mother, it's exactly the kind of thing Xtina takes pleasure in doing. Xtina laughs evilly when Eleanor tells her her suspicion. "I dress like this all the time," she says, faking innocence.

Helen approaches to meet her daughter's 'best friend'.