Transformed || l.h.

Chapter Nine

After Georgia emerges from the shower smelling floral and soapy all at the same time, she walks into her closet to pick out her outfit. And then she hears the knock at the door. “Come in but don’t come in the closet!” she calls, shifting through the racks of clothes to decide what she’ll wear today.

“Hey Geeps,” her dad says, but his voice is muffled by the closed door of the closet.

“Hey daddy,” she responds while pulling a baseball Pierce the Veil shirt. “What’s up?”

She hears him cough from outside while she’s wriggling up a pair of jeans over her legs. “Well,” he begins, and his voice is heavy. Did he find out about James? James specifically told her not to tell their father about his plans to move next fall, so her heart stops beating for a moment until Jonathon continues. “I know that it’s Friday and you don’t really want to have to have any responsibilities,” he laughs nervously here and Georgia is sure that he’s got a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing furiously to try and diffuse the nerves that are there. Sure enough, when Georgia walks out to put on her Vans, Jonathon’s fingers are kneading at his neck as he looks down at his knees.

Georgia laughs at his nervous behavior, “Just spit it out, dad.”

Jonathon bites his lip and sighs before looking at his daughter. “I need you to work the booth for the first shift at the concert tonight.”

Biting back a sigh, Georgia nods. “All right, dad.” Suddenly she comes up with an idea. “Since I’m working the booth, can Penelope, Aliza, and I get in for free?” Jonathon shrugs, “I guess so. Who is Aliza?” Georgia smiles and laces up her shoes before standing in front of her dad. “She’s a girl who works in the coffee shop with me,” she answers, “and we’ve become pretty good friends lately and she’s kind of seeing the drummer in that one band.”

With a smile, Jonathon nods. “Well, anything for teen romance,” he teases, pinching his daughter’s stomach before standing up and hugging her. “I need you to be there at six because you have to work the six thirty to seven thirty shift,” Jonathon explains, hugging her around the shoulders. “Thank you so much, Geeps, you’re the best daughter I’ve ever had.”

A pang pulls at Georgia’s heart as the photograph of her mother in the hospital with a small pink blanket in her arms just days before that little pink blanket was empty pops up in her mind. Instead of making things dank and depressing, Georgia laughs sarcastically, “Yeah, dad, I’m the only daughter you’ve got.” He makes a fake wincing noise and closes his eyes before kissing her on the forehead. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that,” he speaks teasingly before walking out of the room. “Have a great day at school, sweetheart!” he calls from the bottom of the stairs.

All Georgia can muster is a weak “Yeah, okay,” before she grabs her backpack and pushes herself to go out the front door and drive to school.

~*~

When she parks, she’s upset to find that she’s pulled in right next to a black Jeep containing a blonde haired, blue eyed soccer player. Georgia grabs her bag out of the passenger’s side and hopes that if she books it to the door that Luke won’t see her. With a deep breath, she pushes herself out of the seat and hurries to shut and lock her door whilst slinging her bag over her shoulder. Just as she steps onto the concrete, she hears her name called.

“Shit,” she mumbles, her shoulders sagging and her head hanging slightly.

Luke catches up with her and puts his fingers on her arm to bring her around to look at him. “What?” Georgia asks harshly, her eyes narrowed. Luke’s brow furrows in confusion and then he lifts one, and Georgia would think it were cute if she didn’t want to rip his eyes from their sockets.