Unconditionally

Chapter Two

"You're up late," my dad says as I walk into the kitchen, rubbing my back. I don't respond; instead, I head straight to the coffee maker and start making myself a pot.

"You're gonna stunt your growth."

"I wish I would, Dad. I really do." I'm already pretty tall. Five feet, eight inches, "and growing", according to my doctor.

My dad sighs heavily, something he's taken to doing any time we're around each other. He takes a bite out of his muffin, which I know is one hundred percent organic, drowning it down with a gulp of freshly squeezed orange juice. My father is a complete health nut, and he's constantly on me to eat healthier, to exercise, to cut back on the junk food. Deep down I know I should probably listen to him, but I've spent sixteen years eating fast food and drinking coffee. I'm not about to stop now.

"What happened to your leg?" I'm so absorbed in the task of creating the perfect cup of coffee that at first I don't hear my father's question. It isn't until he repeats himself that I look up.

"My what? Oh! Oh, it's nothing. I just scraped it." It looks a lot worse than it actually is, thanks to my horrendous first aid skills. The cut is long, about three inches, but pretty shallow. It was bleeding a lot at first, but quickly stopped once I cleaned it up. However, I couldn't find any of the large band-aids, so I ended up using about three smaller ones. The end result made the cut look much bigger than it actually is.

My father frowns. "Maggie, that looks like a big cut! How did it happen?"

"I just told you. I scraped it."

"Right, but ho-"

"I have to go," I interrupt him before he has a chance to question me further. I don't really want to explain to him the events of last night - he's probably only lecture me on safety and being cautious of strangers. As if I hadn't heard the same speech thousands of times.

"Before you go, I just want to let you know that I'll be working late tonight again."

I frown. "But it's Sunday."

"I know, but we have a huge case down at the station,  and me and my partner need to work overtime. I'll leave you something for dinner, okay?" I just nod, and taking my cup of liquid magic, I start walking out of the kitchen. But I'm interrupted again.

"Maggie, we need to talk." I stop in my tracks, narrowly avoiding spilling the hot beverage on my arm. I turn to face my father, who is now staring at me with a serious look on his face.

"Gee, that's not scary at all. You really know how to talk to a girl." My Dad doesn't crack a smile. He just motions for me to sit down next to him at the table, which I do.

"Look," he starts off, "you're starting your senior year."

I nod, not sure where he's going with this. I started going to East Winharth High School at the start of junior year, which is when I arrived at the town. And now that I'm a senior, I'm looking forward to graduating and finally leaving this stupid town. I feel a twinge of sadness about the fact that I'll be leaving my father behind, until I remind myself that I'm not supposed to care.

"You've already been in this school for an entire year. You've had plenty of time to adjust. You need to start doing something productive with your time."

I narrow my eyes at him, already not liking where the conversation is going.

"I just think that...colleges really like to see students who are really proactive."

"Where are you going with this, Dad?"

"You need to join something this year. A club, a team, something! Either that, or you get a job."