June introduced the meal. "I didn't have any idea what foods you might like," June said to Lisa, "and unfortunately Ty was no help there, so I made a few things our family likes. I hope you will too. There's a tossed green salad, rolls, and the main entre is baked pork chops with a barbecue glaze. I also made some spicy (but not too spicy) cole slaw, asparagus (which Dustin and Ty don't care for), and green beans. If you save room for dessert, we have strawberry shortcake with vanilla bean ice cream."
"That all sounds wonderful," Lisa said, and June and Mark breathed a sigh of relief.
"If you don't mind," June said, "We can just pass the rolls, salad, and vegetables around. But if you'll please hand me your plate, I'll serve the pork shops." Lisa handed he plate to June. "Would you like two," June asked.
"I'd like to start with just one, please," Lisa told her. "I have to watch my figure."
June passed Lisa's plate back, and wordlessly continued to serve the others. The various other items were passed around, and they started eating.
After a few bites, Lisa said, "This is delicious, June. Thank you!"
"You're very welcome," said June. "We don't have dinner guests often. I considered trying to make something more elaborate, but then I thought that you might just prefer to try our more normal fare."
"June is definitely trying to impress her," Ty thought to himself. While it was true that this was not an overly elaborate meal, Mom had definitely put a bit more effort into it than for a typical family dinner. "I must remember to thank her later."
"So, Lisa, how did you two meet", Mark asked, and Ty nearly choked on a bite of his pork chop.
All eyes were on Lisa, and she looked to Ty, who shrugged very slightly. They should have discussed this before. She, like Ty, was generally a truthful person, but in this case honesty did not seem like the best policy. From her conversation with Ty only a few minutes earlier, she knew his family was aware of his powers, but as it seemed like a bit of a sore spot, she thought it best not to give any explanation involving them. And especially not that Ty had used his powers to force her to love him. Even though Ty had already confessed that to her, removed the wish, and then replaced it at her request, she thought that should remain just between the two of them, along with the physical transformations and... best not to think about other secrets at the moment.
"We don't actually share any classes," Lisa said, thinking it best to still stick to the truth as much as possible, "but we've seen each other from time to time between classes and at school events."
"Technically true," Ty thought, "even if she'd never given me a second glance before the wish."
She continued, "After a while, it just seemed natural to talk to each other, and things progressed from there."
"Wow, that's quite a slant on it," Ty thought. "But not actually a lie."
"I found Ty to be smart, friendly, and charming," she said, "and we just hit it off."
"That's so nice," June said, "From what Ty has said, I can tell that he very much values your friendship."
"I know," replied Lisa, "and I value his as well. I am really happy that we met."
By this time, Ty was quite astounded at how adroitly Lisa handled the question, deflecting attention from the embarrassing aspects of their actual first meeting.