Facing Love

Chapter 9

It took me awhile to reach my door. I really didn't want to recap this disastrous date again. I sat on my steps trying to stall time from bumping into my dad. I didn't want him thinking it was me being dropped off, but when I heard nothing coming from my house, I assumed he was asleep. As I stood up to enter, the door creaked open.

"You don't have to talk about it now, just come in." My dad held the door open for me and as I tried to hide my face, he pulled me close to his arms.

"Thank you." It was all that could come out. I got out of the embrace and walked up to my room. I cried most of my makeup off and I was too tired to change out of my clothes so I tumbled into my bed and surprisingly, easily drifted asleep.

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The next morning, I woke up to the smell of bacon. I checked my phone and noticed I received a text from Derek. My eyes quickly scanned up to the time and it was 10am, though it felt more like 7. I'm sorry, the message wrote. I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I didn't want last night to happen the way it did, and I hope you can forgive me.

I wasn't one to keep grudges against anyone, no matter what they did. I, personally, thought holding grudges was a waste of time. Why stress yourself now when in the future, it won't matter. My text to Derek was basically that, and telling him that what happened, happened. All was well.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hurt. That's a whole different thing to me that Derek didn't need to know about. I placed my phone back on my night stand and threw my blankets over my face before my dad came barging in with a plate of stacked food.

"Good morning baby girl. I took the liberty to make breakfast this morning." I flashed him a what do you want face while slowly picking up a piece of bacon to test for poison. "Oh ha ha. I could cook, you just never give me the chance to. Besides I was starving by 9 and knew you weren't getting up anytime soon."

"Its surprisingly delicious. Thank you." I was praying he wouldn't ask about Derek. I know everything is fine about the situation but then I would have to tell him about Andy. "But it doesn't compare to my breakfast." We both quietly laughed as our attention shifted to my phone. Derek's name flashed on my screen, and I could see my dad's muscles ease up. He was nervous. My dad had never been in this situation because I've always avoided it. He didn't know what to say and from the hundreds of chick flicks we saw, I figure he was scared that I'd break down in his arms and get depressed. He clearly doesn't know me well enough. "Everything's okay, dad. Don't worry."

"That's good." I wanted this awkward conversation to end so I brought up the first thing I had in mind.

"We have to go see this amazing movie I saw last night!"

"Aliens?"

"I guess they were aliens, depends on how you see them."

"Is it an action movie?"

"What do you think.." He seemed surprised that I suggested going to the movies, but any time for us to spend time together, he'd take it.

"Alright, get dressed. I'll buy the tickets." Even though we were going to the place where everything went wrong, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch that movie again. I didn't even bother dressing up, so I picked up my sweats and found the first sweater I saw. My hair went up in a bun, and as I passed by my mirror, I realized that my face was all sorts of fucked up. Of course my dad wouldn't tell me. He would've let me leave the house looking like a washed up raccoon. With my luck, I couldn't find my makeup wipes and now I had my dad rushing me. He must of hid them, of course. I ran to his room and checked under his bed. Luckily, he went easy on me. There was one time when he hid my makeup bag in the tool box in the garage. It took me half an hour of yelling and running around the house looking for it, ending up being late to first period.

"Jamie, hurry up! I'm leaving!" I could hear his laugh coming from downstairs. I grabbed my bag and rushed down the stairs.

As I closed the door behind me, my dad starts backing up the car without me. I ran towards the car and open the door before he could pull out of the driveway faster. "You're so annoying, oh my God."

We finally pull out and I realized I had forgotten my phone. Usually, I wouldn't worry about it, but this time I was. I was worried that Derek would text me and think I was ignoring him. I freaked myself out with that thought and turned on the radio to clear my mind.

We reached the movies and flashbacks of last night surfaced. I felt a sudden ache in my stomach which hopefully was because of the bacon. My dad bought the huge tub of popcorn and we entered the theater.

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The movie was just as good the second time around. Both my dad and I couldn't keep our eyes off the screen. We left the movies and decided on McDonalds even though we had just ate breakfast. We had planned to go food shopping but he got a call from working saying that they needed him asap. I couldn't help but beg him to stay home. I really didn't want to be alone in that house today. "James, you know I can't. We need the money, and God forbid I actually do get sick and can't miss that day because I wanted a box of twinkies today!"

"Alright! Alright! Drop me off home." He won the argument. I had thought of calling Derek, to see if we were actually okay. I also wanted to see him. Maybe I could stop by his house? Don't do it Jamie.

My dad pulling out of the McDonald's parking lot brought me back from my thoughts. Luckily for my dad, he was a construction worker so no one cared if his clothes looked like they haven't been washed in weeks. As soon as I got out of the car, my dad was out of sight. I felt bad for him. He works so hard to take care of us both, despite the year he spent at the rehabilitation center. My dad spent most of my childhood drinking his life away. It was the worst time of my life, and I know how hard it must have been to voluntarily give himself to treatment.

The rest of the day went by quickly. I got a head start with my assignments and finished in time to make dinner. I've been craving baked ziti so I got to it. The whole day flew by and I remembered that I haven't checked my phone. The last message Derek sent was the one thanking me for last night. Other than that, my phone was just as useless.

It was close to six pm and my dad still wasn't home. I thought about calling him but I knew it was never a good idea to call while he's working. Just as I began to worry, he walked into the kitchen with a bag of take out.

"Are you kidding me!"

"You made baked ziti?! Oh my God, I love you." Just like that, he dropped the bag of food and dug into my homemade meal.

"I swear by the time I'm 20, I'm not going to be able to walk." My dad can be a really messy eater. That's probably why he's never had a date. Which sucks because behind the beard and white tank top, he's a really good guy.

Getting ready for bed, I was anxious about school. I can't express how much I hate awkwardness and all I could think about was how Derek would act towards me. Dumbass chose me as his partner for the entire year. See, it wouldn't be so bad if we weren't partners but when I have to depend on him for half my grade, I guess I have to put on a happy face.