April 27th

Chapter 9

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Nine

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"Where were you?" Patrick's voice interrupted her thoughts as she finally made it back to the rest, who seemed to have had a much better time than her. Malia and Nathan were both wrapped in towels, still wet from their swim at the lake. She rolled her eyes at the both of them and faced Patrick.

"Picking berries," she replied, shaking the basket half full of tiny fruit. "I'll go give these to Amanda," she said quickly.

"Wait."

She turned around. "Yeah, dad?"

"Did you put all this together? I saw the tapes on trees and the lake we went to."

She looked up, not replying in the moment, just in case criticism was his intention. He did always look ready to dish out judgement, especially at her expense. It seemed he took her silence as an inability to speak.

"Javier, you did a great job."

That was when she realised they'd gotten company. Javier stepped to her side and nodded. "Thank you, sir but it was all April."

Their eyes met, but only for a second before he excused himself and went to the others, leaving her with Patrick.

"Nice one, April. You really outdid yourself." He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He was impressed.

April smiled back. Though the smile wasn't as real as she wanted it to be, she did feel a tad bit fulfilled now that she'd gotten an actual compliment from him. "Thanks, dad."

"It's a good thing to be prepared and to rise up to the task. It's what I've been trying to teach Nathan."

Her eyebrows moved up in pleasant surprise. Who's the golden child now?

"You could make a great innovator, if you're ever in business. Your ideas and leadership will really benefit whoever you work for."

She gulped. It was no secret that she hated this topic, and since she was in the mood for speaking her mind, she shrugged. "Too bad I'm not going into business, right?"

"Not if you don't get into college, that is."

She nodded, catching sight of Hannah and Paige from the corner of her eye. If only they could be just a little closer to help her out. A light breeze blew, sending a strand of her hair into her eye. She pushed it back and shrugged. "Yeah, I mean too bad I'm not going to college."

"I hope you're just joking again. You're not funny in the slightest."

She fought back to resist glaring at him. She wasn't joking and he had to stop treating her like this. "I'm not trying to be funny."

"You're also not trying to become a failure, I'm sure."

"Does it really matter?" She asked, trying her best to prevent yelling. He had only made a comment, but even something as small as that was enough to fire her anger. "I mean it's not like you've actually labelled me heir or have high hopes for me."

"April!" Hannah's warning was clear. Shut up.

April bit the inside of her lip, waiting for his response. She knew she was pushing it by hinting at Patrick's favoritism towards Nathan, but maybe it was just the tool she needed to push her opinion forward.