Exposure

Chapter 18

Before I knew it, we are packing up for New York City. When mom said we were leaving, she meant as soon as possible. I practically begged her to let me say goodbye to dad. Ken kept glancing at me the entire morning until I left.

"Why didn't she talk to me about this first?" The fat cigar wiggles in his mouth as he speaks.

"She didn't tell me about this until a few day ago, dad." He places a mug full of my favorite hazelnut coffee in front of me.

"What about your therapy sessions?" I can't tell him I have been avoiding Ms. Blakely's calls. But I have, and I'm hoping he doesn't already know.

"I'll um, go more than once next week. To make up for the ones that I will miss." He scrunches his eyebrows and twirls the cigar between his fingers.

"I guess that will have to do. I heard about Peter by the way." My stomach flips, and I choke on my coffee.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry that happened to your friend. Hopefully his scum father goes to jail for some time." I slowly shake my head. I really don't feel like talking about it at the moment.

"He was more than a friend." I haven't told dad anything about what I've done, but I try to tell him as much as I can without getting myself into trouble.

"I know. He came to see me when you were at your mothers. He was expressing how much he cared about you. Friends care Ivy. But they don't express it the way he did." Hearing this doesn't make me feel any better. I don't know if I still would have broke things off with him if I knew this before. If I knew how much he cared about me.

"Things just didn't work out." The most cliché saying ever.

"Well, if you can't count on me...or Ken, you can certainly count on him." I need to get out of here.

"I'm gonna go dad. Mom said she wants us there by noon." He stands up and buries me in a hug, making sure not to catch my shirt with the cigar.

"I love you. Have fun over there." I don't want to let go. And when he loosens his grip on me, I tighten mine.

"I love you too dad. I'll call you every night."

"It's not you I'm worried about." I know he's talking about Danny.

"She will. I promise." When I'm in my car, dad waves to me from the porch, the cigar still hanging from his mouth. I would tell him that he should stop smoking, but he would just forget about it tomorrow.

The warm air feels amazing on my skin as soon as I hop out of the car. The breeze lightly hits my face. I love it when the weather is like this. Danny breaks the setting.

"Mom, did you bring my humidity hair spray?" I'm literally praying for that damn hairspray to be in the luggage somewhere. Otherwise, this trip will be hell.

"It's not your mothers job to bring your stuff," Ken says. His unexpected response shut her up. I can't tell if he's annoyed or not. He's wearing black sunglasses that look more expensive than Adrien's pills.

"Have you ever been to New York City?" I ask Ken, trying to make conversation.

"Yes. Many, many times."

"His family lives there," mom cuts in. "It's where he grew up." Ken stares at me. I try to keep a straight face and pretend I don't notice him. So partially, this trip is about me, but the other part is because of Ken. His family lives in New York. What are the odds of that? If mom is thinking of moving there, because of Ken and not me, I won't be visiting.

Unfortunately, the security check line is long. We had already put our baggage onto the conveyor belt and are now waiting in line. Groups of families, or single passengers sigh, argue, and stand awkwardly while waiting.