To Love or To Scorn

Chapter 4

"Hey mom! I'm home!" I yelled as soon as I arrived home from school.

"I'm in here sweetie!" She replied from the kitchen.

I started walking towards her and saw that the plates are beautifully laid out on the table.

I looked at her bemusedly. "Um mom? What's going on?" I asked slowly.

"Well, it turns out your dad is coming home." She replied, looking a tad nervous.

"What?? Why is he returning now? Is he alright? Did something happen?" I bombarded her with questions.

My dad, Adam, was the lieutenant Colonel of the California National Guard. He left us 4 months ago and even if it was just for his job, my mom was utterly depressed because of his departure. Normally, I would be really happy to know that he was coming home to us but knowing that he wouldn't just leave his job to visit us unless he had something important to tell us, made me extremely anxious.

"You can ask him later when he arrives Em. I honestly don't know the answer." was her simple reply.

"So please go up upstairs and change into something decent. It's not everyday you see your dad for the first time after being apart for so long." she continued.

I pouted at her with puppy eyes. "Do I have to mommy? And did I mention you look beautiful today?"

"Haha, nice try sweetheart. But if you change into that denim jacket I bought you last week, I'll make brownies for you."
she compromised. (More like bribed, but I have to admit, her brownies are heavenly awesome)

"Deal!" I said excitedly before rushing upstairs.
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I looked at the mirror. I decided to wear the denim jacket my mom bought me (of course), and just wore some mascara and light pink lipgloss. Nothing too fancy. For my hair, I just brushed it and let it flow naturally.

20 minutes later, I went downstairs, hoping the food's done because I'm famished. Well, I got my wish.
On the dinner table, there's mounds and mounds of delicious food and I figured what my parents was about to tell me must be really important if my mom were to bribed me with this much food.

"Hello Emily." My dad said, startling me.

"Daddy!!! Are you okay? Did anything happened?" I rushed into his arms and pulled him into a bear hug before I bombed him with questions, catching him quite off-guard.

"Calm down sweetie. Come, let's go eat." He chuckles and started heading to the table.

This might be embarrassing but the moment I sat down, I started piling my plates with tons of food. (What? I'm really hungry).

"Slow down Em, the food's not going anywhere." my dad says, attempting to hide a smile.

I point my fork at him accusingly. "You may never know. Your appetite is as big as mine and I have an enormous appetite when it comes to mom's food."

"Right. And Emily, we have to talk to you about something." he said, nervously.

I stopped chewing and put down my utensils, looking at him. When my dad start using my full name, he probably wants to talk about a life-changing decision. Besides, he's never nervous.

"Well...your mom and I think th-" he was cut of by my mom elbowing him.

"I meant..I think that maybe we should move. And before you say anything to contradict me, let me explain. The reason I think it's best for us to move is because I've been offered a new job; not just as lieutenant Colonel, but instead as the Colonel itself. Th current Colonel wants to pass the job to me if only we move to Texas in 10 days." he said, all in one breath.

My jaws fell open. "How could you be so selfish dad? You knew how important student elections is to me, and let me remind you that it's in 8 bloody days! If I win this election, it's going to look great on my transcript. Besides, Texas is damn hot. Do you want to burn your skin off dad? So how could you even consider moving there??" I yelled loudly.

We then both looked at my mom. "Well...Emily, you have a point there.(HA!) But I also agree with your dad. Isn't it good if we all have a fresh start? From all this drama between you and Stacy?" she said nervously.

"Mom! If we leave, Stacy's gonna think I forfeit from the election because I'm afraid of her. On top of that, I have friends here who trust and respect me. Why would I want to move away from them?" I questioned.

Before she could reply, My dad beat her to it. "Fine but answer this question Emily. What's this deal between you and Stacy? Do you love her as your friend or not? You guys have been really good friends for a while until she embarrassed you at your party and now you guys are like arch-enemies." he said with a 'you know I'm right' look and purposely ignored my question.

I pondered this for a while. "To answer your question dad, I honestly don't know. I have to admit, I sometimes miss her, well not her attitude, but the person she was before she started being mean. And about whether I love her as my friend or not, I really don't know. Like of course I loved her because she was my best friend, but I also loathe her because of the person she becomes." I answered truthfully.

"Well Emily, either you love her or you scorn her, sweetie. You can't exactly feel both." My mom suddenly says, after moments of silence.

My dad was looking at me thoughtfully. "Alright, we'll compromise. Seeing as how important students election is to you and your friendships, I think it's best that I state this idea. If you win student elections and become president, I'll decline the job offer and we'll stay here."

"Thank you thank you dad!" I shouted gleefully.

He holds up a hand. "I'm not finished, Em. We'll stay only if you win the election. But if my any chance, someone else win, then I'll accept the job and we will move to Texas. Agree?" he continued.

I thought this over. At least there's still a chance of us staying here, so I agreed to his compromise.

"But you guys both know I'm gonna win anyway" I said, looking at them with great confidence and smiling smugly.

"We'll see." My parents says in unison, and we all bursted out laughing.
We continued talking over dinner and I have to admit, everything seems- no, feel so perfect right now, with just the three of us.
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Author's Note:
Hey guys! I really hope you guys enjoy my story so far and I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit long :p
I promise chapter 5 will either be on tonight or tomorrow so stay tune :)