The Art Of Seduction ✓

|24| Flunk

Please don't hate me for the last chapter, it pained me so much to write it. 

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  "I get mad. I get sad. I have all those emotions. But I just like to keep them to myself."
Demi Lovato

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WINTER WAS HERE. The weather felt like ice but there was no snow. Just unbearable cold. It felt impossible to leave the warm atmosphere in the house. I glanced at my phone, ignoring the slight sting that came when I looked at it. 

I'd never had this.

This lack of response. Normally we solved it in a matter of days this time it seemed to have stretched on, it didn't help that I've been skipping school. 

But it wasn't like I wanted her to answer. I skipped school for a week, cheer practice included feeling dead inside. Kaden came over for the first three days but I didn't let him in. Even dad came in. "Hey Amber love," He said peering at me on his last day here. I smiled at him.

Mum hadn't told him. 

She hadn't even bothered to visit me. To figure out why I'd been skipping school, no doubt she'd been contacted.

"Are you alright?" He asked. 

"I will be."

He smiled, stepping inside my room. "You look heartbroken," He sat on the edge of my bed. 

I didn't respond, curling deeper in my bed. My dad sat up, the sounds of my  curtains rustling followed. Then he opened my closet, throwing something that was most likely clothes on my bed. "Come on, love, we're going for a walk."

"In this weather?" I sounded incredulous. 

"Not as ideal as we'd like, but that shouldn't stop anyone from going for a walk."

Which was how I found myself outside my house, walking to the park nearby, a place I hadn't been to since I was nine. I put my hands in my pockets, head down, hoping no one from school saw me. My dad had randomly chosen what I'd wear, all warm clothing including Kaden's jacket. Which I should probably return.

"Boy trouble?"

"No not really," I said, kicking an imaginary pebble on the ground. I didn't want to glance at him, because every time I did I felt worse. 

"Then what's wrong love?" 

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, then I glanced up to look at him, "How did you meet mum?"

Dad smiled, just a little. My heart ached, he looked every bit in love. "We were in our last year of school. I was head of the football team and your mum was in cheerleading and student council. She was nothing short of talented. I'm glad it passed on to you and Allison. She was always fond of cheer."

When had having things in common with my mum made me sick? I felt nauseous.

"We were always good friends, your mum wasn't all that fond of dating back then, I was always her to-go person for dances. We were Prom Queen and King. The one day, we were dancing and talking and I kissed her."

"It was about time, honestly. All our friends, weren't surprised. We made long-distance work, with your mum going off to some distant college and me, staying right here. When she came back, I proposed to her."

"Did you date other girls?" I asked kicking a pebble.

"Yes, I did. But it never lasted long, we'd end things before football season, I'm positive they knew that I would chose your mum over them."