The Nerd And The Princess

Chapter Five

It’s finally Sunday. My dad’s supposed to come home today. Since Jaden and Ava haven't seen him in a while (or in Jaden’s case, only one other time), they’re coming over later. I stand up and slip on my faded denim shorts, a pink cami, and one of Katrina's (that she designed) shirts. It’s a cutoff like most of my other shirts (I like cutoffs. Deal with it.). It is white and has 'Believe' in black written on it in loopy cursive.  I throw that on, walk into my bathroom, put on mascara and put my hair up in a high ponytail. I walk out of my room and bump into Mom. I look at her and she is crying.

"Mom? What happened?" I ask, holding her shoulders steadily.

"I-It's Dad," she says. “My dad, not yours. Daddy’s fine.”

"What happened to Grandpa?" I ask. She holds back a sob in her throat - I can tell from how she’s breathing.

"He’s... he’s... gone." Mom and I hate saying “dead”. I don’t know why. We just do.

"Oh, gosh, Mom," I say. I lead her to the couch where she collapses in my arms. Taylor soon follows her and I let them comfort each other. I’m not much of a crier, so... yeah.. There's a knock and talking of the lovely familiar voices of my best friend and crush. I open the door.

"Kaylie, I’m sorry about your grandpa," Ava says walking in and hugging me, and then my mom and Taylor. Ava’s dad is a doctor, so she hears a lot of things. My grandpa was one of his patients. Ava had my mom as her mother figure growing up, because Ava's mom died when she was six. We met on the first day of third grade when we were eight.

"Hi!" I wrap my arms around Jaden tightly. I never want to let go.

"Hey." His arms wrap around me tightly. After a moment, we both let go and go inside. My mom has finally calmed down and stopped crying. I hear my dad drive in a moment later. I run out the front door and almost tackle my dad to the ground when he gets out of his car.

"Never leave me with Mom and Taylor that long again," I say quietly. He laughs. I let go of him and help him bring his suitcases in. We walk into the house and Mom and Taylor tackle him as I did. I walk past them and sit on the couch. Dad asks why they look upset and Mom quietly explains about her father. He holds her tightly in his arms -

"So, Kaylie," Dad says. Oh shit. I know that tone. And it’s not about butterflies and unicorns having a party.

"Yeah?” I gulp. If he says anything about dating...

"How come you are Jaden aren't dating yet? With how much you talked about him on the phone..." He says quietly. Ava looks at me with her eyes wide. Why can’t my dad say these things in private...

I look at Jaden. All of his face and neck are a brilliant pink. I’m probably an even deeper pink. I quickly go to my room and shut the door. Is this the end of my friendship with Jaden? Why couldn’t my dad say something later?... My phone rings and Talking To the Moonby Bruno Mars(A/N: Song on side.) plays. I look at the contact. It's Hannah. Okay, this is weird. She never calls me...

"Hello?" I say after I put the phone up to my phone. I hear someone crying.

"Kaylie? I did something bad," She says. Why would she call me? I’m the bitch that she makes fun of and ruins and breaks and kills every day. Slowly, but surely, she has broken me over the last four years and didn’t give a crap and treated me as a doormat. Why would she call me for help?

"Hannah, what did you do?" I ask. I grab my car keys and slip on my flip-flops.

"Please come over to my place, but park on the corner and climb in my window." She tries to stay calm, but her voice is wavering horribly.