The Wrong Guy

Chapter 23 I Will Always Have Faith In You

                I felt like a kid again. It felt like all those times that I wanted a father as a child was finally coming back to me again. I finally accepted and welcomed dad. We just talked the whole time, catching up with all that we have missed. There were still some awkwardness and sense of pride in me, but dad’s passion blew it all away. We sat on the living room while we both had an apple to eat.

                “So, how’s school?” he asked while he peeled off the apple with a knife.

                “Well,” I got a little nervous because it reminded me of Alex. “It’s great.”

                “Got any boyfriends?”

                “No.” I wished I had Alex as one.

                “Really?” he tried to compliment me, and it worked. “A beautiful girl like you has no boyfriend?”

                “Well, I had an ex, but I’m just not into it.” I said with intermittent, like I sounded a little nervous.

                Dad noticed and asked right away, “Really?”

                I figured I couldn’t lie… well, not couldn’t, just shouldn’t. That was my dad, and I thought I should tell him even if he was my father only about 45 minutes before, and I did after a moment of thought, “Well, the hard part is I like a guy, and he’s barely like my ex. I don’t think I’ll like how he sees this pan out.”

                “What’s the problem? Of course, breaking up means you’ll want someone else.”

                “But my ex’s like a best friend to me. We’ve been friends for a really long time, and he’s really nice.” I said. “I don’t want him getting hurt.”

                “Whoever he is, you should probably tell him. You can try. Maybe, he’ll understand.”

                “He already knows, dad. He was just pretending that he didn’t care. He gave me advice that I know he doesn’t want to give me.”

                “He has feelings for you.” Dad guessed.

                “Yeah, but I didn’t love him back. It’s like I used him.”

                “You didn’t, honey.” Dad placed the knife and apple on the table as he slid his hand and brushed my head. “And even if you did, you didn’t mean to.”

                “I did, and I didn’t mean to.” I said. “I wish I hadn’t made him so in love with me. I feel so bad.”

                “Liyah, I’ve felt the exact way.” he slid his hand to my shoulder.

                I was struck with what he said.

                 Could this be the thing that happened with him and mom? I didn’t know it felt that hard.

                I looked back at dad, and he was looking sorry. “Like with mom?”

                “I’m sorry, Liyah.” He paused. “But yes. Your mom was important to me, too. I never wanted to see her get hurt. Maybe I seemed like I hated her when I left you, but I didn’t. I was just too full of pride back then. You two were really valuable to me. I didn’t know if I could ever fix this again until now.”