F*ck Fate! (Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-Three: Thinking Towards the Future

Shawn

Surprisingly enough, I had a lot of fun on my date with Andy. I mean, it wasn't too much of a surprise. I did like him, after all. But being out there, with him - with a guy - wasn't an issue for me. I think that was the most surprising part of the whole night together.

I hated that it had to end when it did. I wished we could have spent the night together, but I understood why that couldn't happen tonight.

When I got home, Ivy and Dad were both sitting in the living room. Mom was nowhere in sight.

"Hey," I said, sitting down on the couch next to Dad. "Where's Mom?"

Ivy smiled widely. "Gone. What you told her worked, Shawn."

I stared at her, shocked. "What do you mean? She's really gone? She left?"

Dad answered. "Yes. She decided to return to her home. I'm sorry you weren't here to say goodbye to her."

I shook my head. "I didn't need to. Holy shit. I can't believe she listened when I basically told her to fuck off. That's amazing."

"Shawn..." Dad sighed. "She's still your mother. You shouldn't talk about her like that."

"And look at the damage she's caused all of us since she first left," I said, standing up. "I don't know how you could still love her so much after she hurt you the way she did." Then I left the room, not wanting to listen to him start defending her again, like he's done all week. She was an awful parent. He needed to see that.

I spent the rest of the night holed up in my room. Ivy tried to come talk to me at some point, but I shooed her away. It's not that I didn't want to talk, it's that I didn't exactly want to talk about Mom, and that's all either of them wanted to talk about tonight.

I wanted to call Andy, as strange as that urge was. Technically, we've only been dating for one day now, but he already knew all the shit that's been going on in my life. I wanted someone to vent to that wasn't part of it all.

Except I knew he had his essay to finish. When he told me he still had four pages to write, I basically ended the date right there. It had already been getting late at that point - close to nine o'clock. I don't know how he's going to be able to write four pages in less than three hours. Apparently he wasn't worried about it though.

That's exactly why I chose not to go to college. High school was bad enough, but dealing with the stress of having major assignments due at all times of the day, regardless of when the class was? I'd never be able to remember to turn anything in.

I guess I probably should have gone to a college, though. It might have actually set me on a direction for my life. Right now, my only plan was surviving another week. Probably not the best plan for my future, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

That got me thinking about Andy again. What did he even see in me? I wasn't as smart as he was - not by a long shot - and I wasn't going anywhere with my life. He had his life so put together. Why go for me?

I guess it didn't matter too much. Andy liked me for whatever reason. And I had to admit that I liked him too. I wanted this to work out between us, but I was afraid he was going to realize that I was going nowhere in life and leave me behind. He had everything - the college education, the rich, successful parents, his own freaking apartment. And what did I have? A shitty part-time job and a mother who doesn't care?

A text came through on my phone. It was all the way across my room, sitting on my dresser, so I didn't get up to check it. I hated texting so much. Anyone who really wanted to talk to me would know that and just call.

Eventually, I forced myself off my bed to grab my phone. It wasn't necessarily to check that text, more because my laptop got boring and I wanted to play a game on my phone. But I stopped when I realized it was Andy who had sent me that text, nearly an hour ago.

Hey, I don't exactly have time to call you tonight, but I wanted you to know. I just found out my parents are both going to be in town next weekend. They would love to meet you. I don't know the next time they'll both be around, so I'm hoping you'd have dinner with us. I can call you tomorrow with the details.

I guess Andy saw enough in me to introduce to his rich, successful parents after all. I didn't know how I felt about that. There were so many questions in my head now. Did that mean he had talked to his parents about me? Would they even like me? Would I like them? Should I have Dad meet Andy? Were we really going to last long enough to warrant meeting the parents?

I tossed my phone onto the bed next to me, leaving Andy's text unanswered. Sure, I'd talk to him tomorrow about it, but I wasn't about to respond tonight. I wouldn't even know what to say.