See Me

46

"Seren! Get your spoiled ass down here." Cassidy and I both heard the angry voice bellow up the stairs.

Cassidy had wandered into my room about an hour ago, my phone outstretched in her hand. It had rang for about fifteen minutes straight, with the same ominous UNKNOWN flashing across the screen with every ring. Cassidy had tried to talk to me. She made a valiant effort. She asked me about my likes, my dislikes, my favourite things to do, my favourite subjects in school. Eventually, after only receiving one word answers from me, she stopped. Cassidy laid her body beside mine on my bed after that, glancing up at my face in both curiosity and concern every so often.

At the sound of my Dad's voice, Cassidy jumped off the bed in alarm. No doubt due to the authoritative tone the seven words were dripping with.

I didn't blame her, I would have been alarmed too, in a different world. In a world that I'm sure many teenage girls live, where the biggest thing to fear was the promise of your parent's anger and disappointment.

I didn't live in that world, though. Thanks to Jax, I lived in a world where I was now scared of one thing and one thing only. Him.

I sighed as I heard my Dad stomping up the stairs. Each thump that was caused by his foot on the carpeted steps was followed with a passive aggressive sigh. Cassidy's expression was growing more and more alarmed by the second.

"Can you explain to me... oh. Who's this?" My Dad's voice changed from the stern one of a angry parent, to close to his light and playful voice he usually used, at the knowledge that I wasn't alone in my room.

Cassidy looked to me first, likely in hopes that I would spare her the awkwardness and introduce her to my Dad. I didn't though, so she turned back towards my father.

"Hi, sir. I'm Cassidy, Seren's friend." Cassidy's voice came off as timid, and I realized I had never heard her appear anything close to shy before.

"Oh." My Dad looked towards me in questioning. I know what he was thinking. It's been a long time since I've had a friend over that wasn't Olivia, Trinity, Noah, Cain, Zane, Benji, Tyler... or Jax. Usually all of them together.

"Well, it's always nice to meet one of my daughters friends, Cassidy, but if you'll excuse us, my daughter has some explaining to do." My Dad continued, smiling weakly at Cassidy.

"Right." Cassidy said as she moved towards my bedroom door. "I'll call you, Seren."

After Cassidy had left my room, and we heard the front door open and close again, signalling her departure from my house, my Dad let out yet another sigh and sat cautiously on my bed.

"The school called me." He sounded disappointed in me. I can't remember the last time he's sounded disappointed in me. My Dad always told me that I was the perfect daughter. Little did he know, I was the opposite.

"They told me you've barely been in attendance in your classes for the last week." Dad stated when I didn't answer.

I didn't answer because I didn't have anything to say. Maybe old Seren would have turned on her charm, and attempted to talk her way out of this. Not now though. The matter of going to school was simply insignificant to me, as was the knowledge that my Dad was disappointed in me. Maybe there were things that mattered right now, but I couldn't think of any. Not after what just happened. Not after Jax's words. His threats.

"Nothing to say?" His voice grew angrier as he continued speaking. "I thought I raised you better than this, Seren."

I wanted to say, you've barely raised me at all, but I didn't.

"Where have you been, if not at school?" He asked me.

"Here." Mostly, anyways.

My Dad's eyebrow shot up at my answer. "You've been staying home by yourself instead of going to school?"