She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

10

It had taken around 10 minutes to finally make it back to my yard. I dropped my bag on the back porch and made my way over to the street. I picked up Tera's bike and rolled it towards the woods and placed it just enough behind the tree line where nobody would find it. I went into Dad's shed and grabbed a black tarp to put over it.

After getting back to the porch, I picked up my bag and reached under the mat for the key and opened the door. I put the key back under the mat and headed into the dark kitchen. I took my shoes off and flipped the light switch on that was beside the door.

I walked over to the refrigerator and saw what Mom had cooked. She had some spaghetti and garlic bread wrapped on a plate with plastic over it. Thanks Mom, but I think I'm good for now.

I got a cup of orange juice and made my way through the living room where Dad was sitting in his recliner watching a basketball game. I knew he noticed me come in. He never usually said anything or acknowledged me, so I continued towards the stairs.

"You're early." He said. I stopped in my tracks and turned to him. He wasn't looking back.

"Had to come home early. My ride had to be somewhere." I responded.

"Oh." He turned with a smile on his face. "It wouldn't happen to be that new girl you were riding with was it?"

I felt myself blush. Damnit. He didn't know all the details. He's gonna find out I was at Terry's. "Who told you that?" I asked.

"Your brother was pretty pissed about getting rejected because of you." He motioned his hand for me to come. "Sit down. I wanna talk to you about something."

Uh oh. This probably isn't good. But what choice do I have? He's my dad. I have to obey him. I made my way towards the living room and took an uneasy seat on the couch. "Yeah Dad?"

He leaned forward and rested his head under his hands for support. "If I'm being honest, I thought that was the funniest thing." He started laughing. "Your brother was sitting here 'He's such a little wimp' 'How could she date a scrawny punk like him?'" Dad's impression of Zane was cringe-worthy.

Dad straightened up, but kept a smile on his face. "I laughed. I laughed because I was proud."

My breathing seemed to slow, and my mind seemed to stop. "I'm sorry, what?" Was all I was able to ask.

"I was proud. Proud of you. Proud that you finally found a girl." He lost the smile and his eyes got serious. "Your brother, I spoiled him rotten. He's all about sports and girls, just like I was." Dad use to tell us stories of him when he was a teenager. How he use to be a football jock and left school with a lot of girls all the time. "But he lacks the things you have."

I shook my head and stuttered. "H-He has everything he needs to get by. What is it I have that he doesn't?"

Dad sighed. "He lacks the knowledge you have. He lacks being humble like you. He lacks the respect like you." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "Son, I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you're nothing to him." He smiled. "You are intelligent, you are respectful, you are humble. You're very accepting when it comes to your friends. Whether they're gay or have different beliefs than you." He grimaced. "Or if they're drunks." Dad didn't like Terry too much.

I smiled nervously. "Yeah. He's got a problem." I looked down. "Why are you telling me this?"

He sighed once again. "Because, there are things that I'm proud of about Zane, but there are the same amount of things I'm proud of you of. And I wanted to reassure you that you're still my son." He smiled. "Go get a shower. You look dirty as hell."