Waterboy

Chapter Two: Sabotage

"Hey, man! Guess what?"
Steven plops down in the bus seat next to me.
        "What'd you do this time?" I ask sarcastically.
        "Nothing. It's Friday. You know what that means."
        "And you know my answer. I'm not allowed."
        "Ugh," he puts his head down,"Fine."

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"Hey, dad!" I swoop forward to look into the living room.
My dad has really changed since that night when he realized he loved me. And now I love him, maybe even more than he loves me.
"Jake, come here. I have a story to tell you," he calls softly to me.
I take a seat on the couch to his left and he tells me of his work today.
Not only had he improved as a father, but also as a scientist. It almost makes it seem like he's cheating.
"But there's one thing I still haven't told you about my new and improved experiments. They're not mine," he speaks slowly and I watch his lips move as he says every word.
"What?" the word slips out from my mouth involuntarily.
"I stole it all," he explains,"from a hotshot scientist named Dr. Alexander Ivanov. He's Russian."
"What?! You can't just take something like that! What's wrong with you?" I'm beginning to freak out.
What I didn't know then was that my dad's sabotage of Dr. Ivanov would make my life miserable soon.

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After dad got me calmed down, we did the chores together and I taught him how to cook steak for dinner.
RIIIIIING!!!!
"Jake," Dad calls,"The phone's for you!"
"Coming, dad," I respond thinking it's some dumb advertisement marketing to 12-year-olds.
I pick up the phone.
"YO BRO!!" Steven screams and hurts my ear,"The party starts soon. Just ask!"
"But you know my dad won't let m-" I get cut off.
"You can go," my father smiles as he talks.
I hang up the phone and sprint to hug my dad,"I love you! Thanks so much!"

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        I hear loud dub step music from inside. The only thing phasing my mind is if I will know anybody here. That and my dad's evil scheme. I really don't know what to think. I've never been popular, but Steven definitely is.
        I step up and ring the doorbell. I just had to walk up the street from my house to get here, so there's no bike or car to weigh me down.
        Someone I've never seen before opens the door and invites me inside. I step in. I look around at the multitude of people chatting and dancing. My eyes meet with a girl's. Her eyes are a saturated bright blue and her hair is a crisp blonde.
        Something I've never felt before moves my legs and, before I know it, I'm right next to her. She says hi. I stare at her in silence. I don't think I've ever talked to a girl before.
My dry lips creak open and I wet them with my tongue. I go to say something, but I don't know what. I can't hear what I'm saying.
"Oh, that's nice!" The girl responds, "My name's Zoe."
"I- uh, I'm Jake!" I respond with a cheesy smile.
"I know that silly, you just said it," Zoe giggles.
We got to know each other for a while when she looked down at her smart watch and said,"Oh, sorry. My dad's here. My curfew is 10:30. It's 10:31. Here's my number."
She pulls a small slip of paper out from her back pocket and scribbles some numbers on it with a conveniently placed pen from the coffee table next to her. As she walked out, she must have seen me blushing because she did the same.
I was gone at 10:42. Without her there the entire place seemed bland. The music was slow, nobody's stories were interesting, and I didn't think about anyone but her the whole time.

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        I also couldn't sleep that night. I lay awake on top of my bedsheets thinking about the letter from last week. Thinking about my dad's sabotaging and his impending death. But most of all, thinking about Zoe. Her beautiful flowing hair and bright eyes reminded me of my mother. There was something special about this girl.