On Purpose

~9~

We stood outside my dad's front door. Isabelle looked rather nervous which led me to be nervous.
"I feel like I'm dating you." When she said that, we looked at each other. I look away and say, "Well, you're my first friend, sort of. So it's kinda the same thing.
She nods and then her eyes land back on mine. "Is there anything I should know?" I smirk and say, "I used to have a crush on my stepmother before her and my dad started dating." I didn't bother to look at her reaction. And I'm glad, 'cause she didn't say anything so I'm sure there was a facial expression that said it all.
I opened the door and said, "Dad! I'm robbing you!" I didn't hear him shout back to me as I kick my shoes off. Isabelle did the same, untying her white converse and putting them next to my beat-up Vans.
"Trespasser." He said when he came strolling down the stairs. He wore a red hat backwards and a red flannel with all the buttons buttoned up. His jeans were baggy and black.
"My bad-dad, this is-"
"So she's your reason on ditching us. You should've saw who won. The Raiders did, ask Christy, you know I wouldn't lie to you."
I look at Isabelle who looked more nervous than ever.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Me and her went to the movies-oh, with Jessie too." Just saying her name, letting it roll off my tongue, made guilt slap me right in the face. I wanna be friends with Jessie, but that's not healthy for neither one of us.
I need guy friends more than anything. I wouldn't be surprised if I started calling every guy hot and asking my dad to agree with me while I fan myself.
"So you're the dad?" Isabelle asked.
"You're the new girlfriend?" I watch as her eyes light up, but it fades away.
"Yeah, just..." I watch her eyes land on mine, I guess because she felt them on her, so I look away, "minus the girl part." She finishes.
My dad starts nodding then stops. I could tell he wanted to continue talking about us being friends, but he drops it.
"How did this come about?" His voice sounded tired, and so did hers. It was like they didn't like each other at all.
"I-" "He hit me in the face with the door to Starbucks, on purpose." I look at her, mainly because what I was gonna say was a lie. I told my dad I was on a sugar free diet, if he finds out I went to Starbucks, he'd kill me for sure.
He looks at me, and then laughs.
I look down at Isabelle, who's trying to hold her laugh too.
"It was an accident." I say.
"No it wasn't. He even tried to buy me a cup of coffee."
"That goes to show I was sorry." I smiled.
"But you didn't say it." She said to me.
"I didn't need to, the coffee offering said it all for me, and like I said before, my mouth was full." I watch my dad smile at us as we bickered.
"If your mouth was full at the time, how did you offer me coffee?" I look at my dad for back up, but he crossed his arms and said, "She got you there, Bud." I gave them a playful eye roll and then look at my dad.
"Where's Christy?"
He looked down at his watch and then up at me.
"Oh, I'm taking her out tonight," I look at Isabelle the same time she looked at me.
"Don't worry, we got time. Come, sit." He motions for Isabelle to take a seat in the kitchen, which she does. I watch how cautious she is when she walks, like she's not supposed to be here.
Without fully thinking it over, I put her in another headlock, and whispered in her ear.
"Don't sit, he'll eat you alive, Miss. Purpose."
I hear her giggle, which she's never done before. I don't know if she's only being nice like this, because my dad is here, or she liked the small joke.
"Miss. Purpose?" She looks up at me, we were close. Real close. It just took a small breeze on us and we'd been lips to lips.
I let go of her and run my fingers through my hair.
"You criticize me all the time, saying everything I do is on purpose, it's only fair that I name you that."
She sits down in one of the chair at the table and looks at me.
"Well, everything everyone does has a purpose. If you never hit me with a door, we wouldn't be friends." That sounds like something Jenifer would say. But I hate to admit she was right. I took myself back to the moment where I was rolling in my chair in my office.
What if my boss wouldn't have came in and talked to me? Would I have gotten to Starbucks early? What about Nicki? If she wouldn't have talked to me, I would've left the store early.
So maybe I did hit her with the door on purpose, she wouldn't be here right now, laughing with my dad, if I didn't. I wouldn't have watched The Jester, I wouldn't have went to a park and got on swings, and enjoyed myself.
As I look at Isabelle get along with my dad better than I did, I knew I couldn't let her slip. Not like how I did with Jessie. I can't ruin her too.
"You good over there, Dip-Noodle?" I look at her and nod slowly, trying to collect my thoughts and her words at the same time. "Yeah, I'm fine. What are we talking about?"
No later than twelve minutes, we're all laughing and talking. Isabelle tells us about her first time riding a skateboard, she fell off and scraped her knee. Then my dad changes the subject and says, "I like you." Isabelle nods. "Ditto."
I lean back and smile. Not only is my new found best friend getting along with my dad, but I have a warm heart, a feeling I haven't felt in years.
"I better get going, if you two leave, turn my lights off." I nod and hug my dad and nearly fell over when I watch my dad hug Isabelle. It wasn't a friendly hug, it was a hug you give someone you haven't met in years. His arms wrap around her neck as he pulls her in. Her arms wrap around his torso and squeeze, as if they're saying a long goodbye.
I blinked a few times at the sight. No way this was real. My dad doesn't even hug me like that and I'm his son. It's always a two second hug, no squeeze, no warm smile. Nothing, na-da, zip, pow.
When my dad walked out, Isabelle squealed and jumped in my arms. I held her close to me and took in her scent; popcorn and vanilla, a smell I didn't know could go well together, but with Isabelle, anything was possible.

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"So, you grew up here?" She asked, when I handed her a bottle of water and held my beer in my hand as I took a seat next to her on the back porch.
"Yeah, same place my mom walked out of." I watch her bite the lid of the bottle and keep it there.
"Why she leave?" She asked, her voice soft and sweet.
"Her heart belonged to someone else, I guess." I look down at my full bottle of beer and don't think about drinking any. I wasn't in the mood, plus, I'll have to pee later. I had two refills of soda during the movie.
"That's no excuse. No mother should leave their child."
"Agreed." I said, and watch the sun fully set, leaving us in nothing but thoughts and wonders.
"So where's your dad?" I asked her, trying to turn the conversation around to her like I did yesterday on our first friendship date.
"I don't know, my mom slept around a lot, I don't even think she knows who my dad is." I look at her, and she looks away, "Don't look at me like that." She has a glare on her face, but it's not directed at me.
"Stop doing that." I breathe, seeing my breath in the cold.
"Doing what?" She asked.
"That, trying to be tough. I'm not gonna judge you Isabelle..." I hesitated, but grabbed her hand. "I'm here for you, and I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to." Her eyes lock on mine. Even though it was dark, I could still see those chocolate brown eyes. And as I stare into them, I remember telling myself when I was a kid, that I have never seen anything more beautiful than the stars, but that was a lie, 'cause just the sight of her, made me feel things I was scared of feeling. I keep telling myself, I need to be a friend for her, we both need it. Even though she's telling me snippets about herself and her life, I still have this urgency to be a friend for her, she needs it more than I do.
She blinks, and intertwines our fingers. "I don't want you to leave me, ever."