Camryn Quinn is finally getting what she wants...sort of. Moving into a dorm and away from her not so supportive father is a good first step, but like everything with him, it comes with strings. She must attend the college of his choosing for at lea...
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Nothing lasts forever.
Pain is temporary.
We'd all be better off if you just lived at home this year.
I've heard it all from my dad. That last one specifically, has been on repeat since the day I started receiving my college acceptances. The shock on his face at the fact that I managed to be accepted into any college wasn't something he could mask, and his disapproval of my choice hasn't waned either.
"And you're sure this is fine with you?" My dad's naturally hoarse voice calls through the passenger window. He couldn't even bother to get out of the car like it's a routine carpool on any given weekday.
The question is a formality for him. Like he's reading the words from a script. It's a scene we've practiced far too many times before. He's a man playing the concerned father, torn between his two roles. There is a tinge of guilt in his voice, but the emotion isn't reflected on his face.
I casually shrug my shoulders and give my line, "Of course. How else are a group of oversized sweaty men supposed to know when to hit each other?"
My dad pauses and looks at me like he's about to explain football training camp to me again but thinks better of it. "And you're sure that this is what you want? A lot of kids commute." He says it like he took a poll at every local high school graduation. "We could go to the dealership next weekend."
It wasn't a matter of what the comment would be, but when it would come. Forget that all of my things are packed and loaded into the Brown's Mercedes that's pulling in behind our car or the fact that we're literally in front of the dorm I'm moving into today.
Every conversation we've had lately begins and ends with my dad's subtle way of trying to push me towards making the decision he deems best. I'm in a hallway full of potential doors, but his words will always attempt to lead me to the one he thinks I should open.
"I can't drive so a car would be a waste of space and fifty thousand dollars," I shrug. My father's hand grips the wheel briefly and then relaxes as an exacerbated look fills his features.
"You can, you just choose not to. It would just make it easier. You can be here and—" he begins, as my brother says from the passenger seat, "Tesla's drive themselves."
"Oh look! People who actually care about what I want!" I point to the car now parked behind my dad's Lexus, and my best friend Gabi who just popped out to join me on the sidewalk.
"Hi Mr. Quinn," she says with a wave towards the open window. "Daddy driving the big boy to camp this morning, Cal?"
Gabi is as little a fan of my twin brother Callan as I am. He keeps his eyes fixed on his phone screen. I don't even know why we picked him up on our way here. He moved into his off campus apartment weeks ago to be closer to the training facility. If I had to guess, my dad forced him to be here this morning, and Cal can never tell him no.
