Complicated

Chapter 9: So... Homecoming?

Chapter 9

"What are you doing today?" My dad asked as I got into the kitchen.

I stopped dead.

Was I going to get in trouble?

"Uh, my friend is picking me up and I'm going over to his house, why?" I asked nervously.

"Just wondering. I'm uh, I have to be in Castello this afternoon, so I'm leaving in about twenty." My dad told me.

"Oh. When will you be home?" I asked curiously.

"I think I'm going to stay there this week actually, you'll be okay walking to school?" My dad asked. "I'll come back on Friday and we can fly back together."

"Oh, okay." I nodded. "Yea that's okay I'll be okay on my own."

"Well it looks like your friend is here." My dad pointed to the window.

"Yea, okay well I'll see you on Friday then." I frowned, walking towards the door.

"Be safe, love you." My dad smiled.

"Yea love you too." I nodded, pushing my hair back from my face as I walked towards the door.

"Oh wait honey!" My dad called just as I stepped outside.

I turned back around, raising my eyebrows.

"I uh, I just wanted to say sorry about um, I know this is tough for you and it's tough for me too so just give me some slack when it comes to working out your schedule." My dad sighed. "I'm sorry about last night."

I just nodded. "It's new territory for both of us, don't worry about it." I nodded, glancing outside at Oliver's truck. "But I've got to go, um, I'll call you later?"

"No need. But for future reference, I'll check with you before making appointments. I keep forgetting that you're not a little girl anymore."

"Alright, bye dad." I smiled, actually leaving the house now.

"Hey." Oliver smiled as I got into his truck.

"Hello." I said happily, giving him a grin.

"So I was thinking we could just go to the mall or something? I've got to get a birthday present for my mom." Oliver said, glancing at me. "If that's okay with you."

"Yea, yea sure." I nodded with a grin. "No problem."

"Great." Oliver smiled as he backed out of my driveway. "So was your dad mad about you yelling at him last night?"

"No actually. He apologized this morning, which shocked me." I laughed, glancing out of the window. "He'll be out of town this week so I won't have to deal with him."

Oliver frowned. "He goes out of town a lot, doesn't he?" Oliver asked softly.

"Yea. I mean I don't mind, it's better when he's not home honestly. I can do whatever I want and I don't have to cook dinner for two." I shrugged, smiling at Oliver.

"That would suck to be living alone." Oliver frowned. "I'd hate it."

"I mean I've basically been living alone since I was a kid. I was never really that dependent on my parents anyways, and once my mom died, well my dad was really only focused on his job." I shrugged. "Wait that sounds bad... He's not like a weird workaholic dad, he's just really dedicated to his job and he doesn't really work from California, but that's where I live."

"Is this going to be like with Jessica where you evasively answer all of my questions without a clear answer?" Oliver raised his eyebrows with a laugh.