Life Of The Party × CH

4

The next morning, being Saturday, I walked down the stairs of my childhood home expecting to find my dad in the kitchen, making breakfast as he always did.

My mother was usually busy, working at a law firm, so she didn't exactly have the time for breakfast when they were still together.

Instead of walking into the smell of eggs and bacon or pancakes, I found my dad in the kitchen scarfing down a bowl of cereal in a rush before putting on his police badge.

"I'm sorry honey, I was called in to work today," he said, "something about the mayor needing to see me."

"We'll just spend tomorrow together then," I shrug, trying to ignore the fact that I haven't gotten any chance to actually talk to my dad since I got here, besides the drive from the airport.

"I promise I'll make it up to you," he says, "but for now, here's the spare house key and some money," he puts a fifty dollar bill on the counter along with a key, "go hang out with some friends, I'll see you later." He kisses my forehead, grabs his phone, and walks out of the front door.

Moments later, I hear the garage door open and close.

Might as well make the best of today. After all, I start my internship on Monday, I won't have a lot of spare time after that.

I pick up my phone from the counter and dial Lola's number.

"You're alive?!" she picks up the phone. "That's good. For a second I thought I'd have to stare at hot life guards all summer by myself."

I laugh. "There's no chance I'm letting you do that alone."

"Good," she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice, "So what's up? You're finally back in town."

"Yeah," I say, "I was calling to ask if you and Stella wanted to hang out today."

"Girl yes," she says, "It's not like I've been eagerly waiting by the phone all morning, but I might have been."

"Glad you're excited," I smile.

"I'll text Stella right now," she says, "but she's probably still sleeping, so maybe we should go over to hers and wake her up?" Lola suggests.

"Like the good old times," I say, "I'm in!"

"Awesome!" she says excitedly, "I'll meet you at the water fountain in thirty minutes."

"Perfect."

I hang up and turn to walk upstairs so to get ready.

After picking out a summery enough outfit - shorts and a t-shirt tucked into them, as well as platform flip flops - I pick up the money and spare key off the counter, put them in my purse along with my phone, lock the front door and walk to the garage downstairs.

I open the garage door and uncover dad's old motorbike. I hope it turns on.

I try turning it on a few times.

The bike isn't big. When compared to a chopper or a power cruiser, it's relatively small in size. It's a scooter with a sidebar installed.

When dad used to ride the bike, I would ride in the back, behind him, right up until he bought the sidecar. Since then on, that's been my favorite seat.

I'd learned to drive it when I was fourteen, but due to moving away, I never got my license here. Nonetheless, I got a license later on, and have been looking forward to riding my dad's old bike for years.

I took the two black helmets my dad had and secured one on myself. The other, I made sure was safely placed and secured in the sidecar so that I could bring to Lola.