TANGLED PLANS

64

Max

I toy with the food on my fork as I bravely look up at my dad. Both of us are eating dinner together, which we don't do often. I just happened to catch him eating, so I joined him. My dad was looking over a piece of paper as he chewed on his food.

"So, dad," I say out loud, which causes my dad to glance up at me. I give him a light smile and say, "You remember the girl I brought over for dinner a couple of times?"

My dad squints as he tries to think about the time when I had Daisy just over half a year ago. He then nods once it comes to him and says, "The one with the dark hair and shy smile?"

I give him a nod at the accuracy of his description. "So I want you to meet her again."

My dad puts his fork up and points it at me. "Any particular reason?"

I sit up in my spot and say, "Well, last time you met her, you weren't very nice to her." I still remember the smile on her face drop when my dad rejected her handshake. I had hoped that me holding that hand instead would make it up for her, but it seemed unlikely. I mean, Daisy had wanted to shake hands with someone, but they had rejected it. There was always a side effect to being kind; most people weren't kind back.

My dad cringes, but then gives a cock of his head. "But am I meeting her for a specific reason?"

"Does there need to be?" I retorted to my dad before wincing at the natural anger I had inherited over the year. I get a sip of water and then swallow it before trying again. "Sorry, yes, Daisy is my girlfriend now."

"Girlfriend?" my dad says, and for a second I'm about to build my case of defense for him, but then stop. My dad smiles and says, "I knew you had liked her back then."

"We were friends then," I tell him with a little shake of my head.

"But that doesn't mean you didn't like her," my dad says with a little sly smile. He catches my eye and says, "I saw the way you looked at her, or how you didn't. You were too nervous."

"I was not nervous; I don't get nervous around girls," I say to my dad in defense, but he only shakes his head at me. "I don't," I say a little louder, trying to make my point clear. I had not been nervous to look at Daisy; I hadn't looked at her because, well, my dad had a small point. I was too nervous to look at her just in case my feelings that I was trying to keep away regarding her would come back.

At this time, Diasy was liking another guy, and Brayden had told me that I couldn't be interested in his sister. I knew that he was being overprotective about her, but there was a reason behind it. Half of the boys in our grade knew of Daisy and were not nice when speaking about her. Either they had called her ugly or they had made some comment about them wanting to "deflower" her. That was...well, Brayden had taken care of that guy.

As for me, I've never said anything negative about Daisy, simply because there wasn't anything negative to say about her. She was simply a very sweet girl, not to mention pretty. I knew where Brayden's overprotectiveness came from, but I did wish that he had trusted me around to know that I was serious about his sister.

My dad gives me the biggest smile and points a finger at me. "There it is. I knew it."

I cleared my throat to stop the flush that was entering my face from having been caught liking a girl. "So, are you okay with Daisy coming over for dinner this weekend?"

My dad nods. "Yes, bring her."

"And you promise to not be well, mean to her?" I asked because I had to make sure he wouldn't do anything that would make Daisy feel the same way she did when accepting my offer. My dad nods once again and says, "I'll be nice."