The Girl in Cleats

⚽️Chapter 8⚽️

I sat on my bed with a bowl of popcorn and my laptop. This show is really addicting.

"Knock-Knock." My dad says with a chuckle.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" I say, pausing my show.

He rubs the back of his neck. "I was, uh, wondering if you wanted to get some icecream?" He smiles at me.

"Dad, you don't even have to ask. I'm practically out the door!" I say, shutting my laptop and jumping off my bed.

He laughs and walks out of my room so I can get ready.

A few minutes later a horn sounds outside. My dad is getting impatient.

"I thought you said you were practically out the door!" He shouts at me. I look out the window and scream back, "I'm coming!"
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We sit outside the ice cream shop and watch cars go by.

"Kiera, there's something I need to tell you."

I shift my gaze from the cars to his face. This was how he acted when he told me my parents were getting a divorce. I gulp and nod my head, letting him continue.

"Did you try to call me while you were at the hospital?"

"I thought you wanted to tell me something not ask me a-"

"Kiera, don't play games with me." He says cutting me off. Gosh what's his problem? I was just trying to get him to smile. He always laughs at my jokes.

"Ummmm...I think so?" I say, trying to sound confused.

"What happened when you called me?" He asks, his eyes looking like they could burn a hole right through my forehead.

"I-I don't remember." I say lying. I know there was a lady that answered and I don't want to just straight up say that I did.

"Kiera, the truth." He says, gripping his cone. A drop of his superman icecream slides down and I watch it, not meeting his eyes.

I sigh, not wanting to keep something from my dad. "A lady answered and I hung up." I mumble softly.

He runs a hand through his hair and says, "Julia."

"What?" I say. Even though I already heard him.

You know, here's a tip boys, when a woman says 'What?' She knows what you've said. She's just giving you a chance to change your answer.

"Julia is my girlfriend. I met her a few months ago and-"

This time it's my turn to cut him off. "Excuse me? Why did you not tell me this?" I say raising my voice. People look at us with confusion.

I involuntarily push an invisible strand of hair behind my ear and cough. "Excuse me, but I need to be by myself for a little bit. And you should sit here and think about what you've done."

I take off down the street, tears streaming from my eyes. My vision blurs. I keep running.

How could he do this to me? Sure I would be better off if he had just told me in the first place. But he's still replacing my mom and that feels wrong somehow. Gosh he's bad at knowing how to break things to girls. Maybe that's why they div- "OOF!" I say loudly.

"Whoa watch where you're going, Princess."

I look up, my eyes still moist. Cameron.

"Hey, are you ok?" Cameron asks, obviously worried. It's cute. Wait, what? And where the heck did he come from?

"Yea, I'm fine." I say sniffling.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Suddenly I'm off my feet and being carried somewhere that I don't even know.

"Put me down jerk!" I say in a desperate attempt to sound in charge. But it comes out like, "P-Put me d-d-down you b-big jerk."

Wow Kiera, smooth.

Then I'm on a bench, with a small pond in front of us.

I didn't know there was a pond here. . .

"Tell me what's wrong." Cameron says, looking into my eyes.

"You'll think it's dumb."

"I swear I won't."

"Pinky swear?" I say, holding out my pinkie.

"Pinky swear." He says, wrapping his pinkie around mine.

I sigh and tell him my dilemma. Finishing with, "He also had kept this from me for about a month."

Cameron looks out at the water and the wind tussles his hair. Probably thinking I'm a creep and wondering if he can run fast enough.

"I don't know what you're going through because that hasn't happened to me. But I assure you, I'll be here every step of the way. Don't lose faith in your dad. He's a dude and dudes make mistakes. A lot." He says looking down at me with a teasing smile on his face. So maybe he doesn't want to run away.

After a few moments of the most comfortable awkward silence (listen, you'd understand if you were there) he softly says, "What do you say about heading back to your house?"

How about no.

Instead I say, "Sure." And smile at him.

He helps me up off the bench, holding my hand as if it's glass. And that's how we walk back to my house, hand in hand.

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There's a romantic one for you people who love that kind of stuff. (Aka me)

Ily!

-KD Montague❤️