Sure enough, the thundering voice was from Nancy's dad. Nancy was petrified and hurriedly got off the bike, removed her suitcase and said to Zack, "Zack, thanks for the ride, have a safe trip home."
But Zack wasn't in a hurry to leave. He got off the bike and walked towards Nancy's dad and greeted him respectfully, "Sir, my name is Zack Allen and I'm Nancy's classmate. Nice to meet you."
Mr Xavier walked over to Zack with a smile, "So you're Zack Allen! It's great to finally meet you in person!"
Nancy was overwhelmed and afraid that dad would embarrass her. In an attempt to create a diversion, she threw down her suitcase and shouted at dad, "Dad! My suitcase is broken! Hurry up and help me with it. Mom is waiting for us at home!"
Mr Xavier completely ignored her. Still grabbing Zack's hand, he calmly looked at Nancy, "Oh please, if you can carry a 100-pounds sack of grain, you can certainly manage with this tiny suitcase."
Nancy was floored by her dad's words. What kind of father is he? How can he be so mean to her? Dearest dad was now captivated by Zack's chiseled looks.
"Zack, thanks for sending my Nancy home. It's late now, come on, come home with me for dinner."
What? Dad's inviting Zack home for dinner? Over my dead body! I have a huge poster of Zack pinned on my bedroom door! Zack must not go home for dinner!
"Dad! What are you doing? Zack is very busy. I'll treat him dinner one day to thank him. Leave this to me, now help me with this suitcase!"
Nancy rushed to Zack and separated Zack from the clutches of dad, she smiled in embarrassment.
Zack was amused to see Nancy panicking, trying hard to contain his laughter and maintain his composure. He politely turned down Mr Xavier's offer for dinner. "Sir, I was just passing through and decided to give Nancy a ride home. There wasn't any trouble at all."
Nancy quickly interjected, "Yeah, yes! He was just passing through. Thanks for giving me a ride. You are too kind!"
"Okay, I'll accept Nancy's invitation for dinner." Zack seized the opportunity.
"Of course! Dinner's on me!" Nancy unwittingly said. Suddenly she realized what was happening. He took it for real?
In the midst of the father-daughter banter, Zack whizzed away in his cool motorbike.
Nancy's expression went blank and released dad's hands, picked up her suitcase and headed home.
Dad bugged Nancy, "Hey sweety, out with it, how far along are you with this hunk?"
Nancy glared at dad and snapped back, "Old man, you just ruined me!"
Dad continued, "Come on! He looks like a good catch!"
"All that happened was he saw me waiting for the bus at the bus stop next to College. He said that the bus was re-routed and offered to send me home. That's all! He was just being kind."
Nancy said while dragging the suitcase towards home. With dad in tow, he said, "Re-routed? Can't be. I just saw it this morning."
At this moment, a bus from college A drove by and stopped at a bus stop nearby.