Miss Perfect and The Bad Boy

fourteen - interrogations

"What were you thinking?"

"He's been here for weeks?"

"Did he do anything to you?"

Those were the questions my parents were asking at dinner. Almost 15 minutes of questions that I would rather not answer, not that I had much of a chance even if I wanted to since they kept talking over me. I had explained everything to them. Well, sort of. I said his dad was crazy and Alex couldn't stay with him. They didn't care. Obviously.

And those were the questions they asked. Not if
he was okay, or if he needed help.

"No, he didn't do anything to me. I'm okay, but he isn't," I repeated for the fourth time.

"Nicole, no. He is not coming back here ever again," my dad said sternly.

"Dad, it's not safe for him at his house!" I protested.

My mom cut in. "Then we can call the cops. It's not our business."

"Do you think we hadn't tried calling CPS a million times when we were kids?" I snapped. "They didn't do anything and it just ended up even worse for Alex."

"You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," my dad said, taking a bite of his steak. "It's only a matter of time before he turns out like that."

I had to clench my hands around my fork and knife to stop myself from throwing my whole plate against the wall. "You don't know him at all. You're not allowed to make these assumptions."

Mom looked between me and Dad, exasperated. "Nicole, we said no."

"That isn't fair! Maybe if you took the time to actually get to know him-"

I stopped when my dad slammed his hand on the table. "Enough!" he yelled. "I don't ever want to see him again and I don't ever want you to see him again."

"You can't do that!" I cried. "I'm not a child. I know what's good for me and what isn't. If I thought he was dangerous, I wouldn't be spending time with him!"

"You are a child," Dad barked. "You're seventeen.
You don't know what's good for you and this- this boy is taking advantage of you."

"And you think you know what's good for me?" I laughed bitterly. "You don't even know me. You're never home."

Dad's jaw ticked. "Nicole, do you think I was never a teenager? I knew people like him and I know how their brains work. He's taking advantage of you."

"I've know Alex my whole life!" I said. "I know him better than you do- hell, I know him better than I know you- and he would never hurt me." Everything I was saying was true, and it pained me, because I knew I hurt him.

"Enough." My mom spoke again with a tight voice. She didn't yell, though. She never yells. "Nicole, listen to your father."

"You're being completely unreasonable!" I shot back.

"I said what I said and I'm not going to change my mind. If I find out you were even talking to him, there will be repercussions," Dad said. With that, he got up and left the dinner table. I was left with my mom's disapproving stares.

♡

The next two days, up until the last day of school before winter break, I realized how serious my parents were. I randomly got moved back to my old seat with Kelani in science, the principal called me in to tell me that I needed to stay away from 'bad influences', and all the teachers seemed to be paying very close attention to me in the halls. Turns out my parents really did have a lot of connections here.