(16): Daddy Issues

"Daddy?" I answer the call, pleasantly surprised. It's not often the man communicates with me. He's too busy with his other family.

"Sweetie" The deep familiar voice answers. That's definitely him. I thought maybe it was my step-brother. He sometimes uses my dad's phone to call me "How have you been?"

"Fine?" It come out as more of a question.

"Good. I just called to ask if you received the money" He says.

Off course you did.

My dad thinks that sending me a lot of money will make up for all the time he doesn't spend with me. If my mom found out that he sends me so much, she would kill him. My dad helped me open another bank account which my mom doesn't know about.

He's a very wealthy Real Estate Agent who got remarried a few years ago after his divorce with my mom. Him and his wife have a 9 year old son- Christian. He's cute and so lovely, but I haven't seen him in such a long time.

"Oh, sorry, I haven't looked at my notifications yet but I probably did" I reply, still slightly shocked that he actually called "Thanks"

"How's senior year going?" He asks.

Seriously?

I roll my eyes even though I know he can't see me "Dad, I'm in college. And it's going well, I guess"

"Oh, right, I forgot. But I'm glad it's going well, princess" He mutters awkwardly. Liar "Listen, Chris misses you a lot. He's wondering when he can see you again"

I coo inwardly. The boy really likes me and I don't know why because I'm pretty sure his mom doesn't. She tries to hide it but I can see right through her. Everything just feels so forced and awkward between us. I don't like visiting their home much because of her even thought it's very nice there.

"Uhm, when can I come?" I ask "Did you speak to mom about it?"

I don't even know why I bother asking that question.

He stays quite for a while "I don't have to ask Lacey. I'm your dad, you can come whenever you want to."

Typical.

"Uhm okay, I'll look when I'm not busy then I'll call you back when I know" I reply looking at the ground "Say hi to him for me"

"Okay princess. Bye"

"Bye daddy" I mutter and then hang up the phone before kicking a lone stone that was laying on the pavement. I don't think he realizing how much it pains me that he doesn't even treat me like I'm important to him. It's been years now but it still hurts.

My mom and I never, as in never speak about him. But I guess that she realizes that any girl needs their dad because some holidays she sends me to my 'grandma's' (My dad's mother. They maintained a very good relationship even after everything) even thought she knows that my dad will end up picking me up from there and spending the holiday with his family.

My mom just pretends to not know. When I come back from the holidays, I don't even mention it but I know that she knows. She's never told me what exactly went down between them, and I think I was too young to remember. I just remember the fights but not what they were about.

"Okay I'm back" Kyle announces, slightly panting. I didn't even hear him jog his way back to where I was. He quickly went to go fetch something that he forgot in the house.

We're walking to campus from the apartment because he said his car went for repairs. I'm still paranoid about walking alone so he wasn't too hard on me when I asked to walk with him.

I don't say anything and we carry on the walk in silence, my thoughts consuming me to the point that I don't even want to speak.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet" He notes after a while "Not that I'm complaining though"

He noticed.

I look at him sheepishly and see that he has a curious look on his face "Sorry, it's just uhm- my dad called"

"Oh?" He asks very confused.

"He doesn't call very often" I explain. "Or, you know, acknowledge my existence either so it was kind of weird. He thought I was still in high school"

Again: I don't know why I'm telling him this.

He doesn't say anything for a while, looking interested for the first time ever "You have daddy issues?"

"Yeah, I guess" I can't help but giggle because the word 'daddy' sounds so weird coming from his mouth.

"Mhm" He hums. For once he actually looks like he cares and doesn't have that expressionless look he always does "One would never guess"

"How so?" I ask curiously.

He shrugs "I don't know. You're always happy and all cheery, by the way, it's kind of nauseating. Anyways one would think you have this picture perfect family. I, for one, did."

"Yeah not even close" I snort shaking my head "My mom never speaks about my dad, she just acts like everything is okay. My dad forgets about my existence and sends me money to make himself feel better. My step-mother hates me. The only thing even close to perfect out of this is Christian, my step-brother"

Woah. Did I really just tell him all of that?

Before he can speak (if he was going to), I interrupt him "Shit, I'm sorry for just dropping everything on you like that. I mean, you probably don't even care. That was so embarrassing"

He looks amused "You sure ramble a lot, don't you, Chelsea-Anne?"

"Sorry" I repeat sheepishly.

"So, Christian?" He asks curiously, a brow raised. He looks cute like that. All scarred and whatnot.

I nod smiling "Yeah he's my step-brother. My father's son from his new wife. He's 8 and he likes me. I'm not really sure why"

"I'm also not really sure why" He jokes and I shove him playfully, feigning offense but he doesn't even bulge. Stupid gym. "So why exactly does his mom not like you?"

I shrug "I'm probably a reminder to her that my dad had a life before her or something"

"Oh" He trails off saying nothing else.

We carry on the rest of the five minutes in a comfortable silence. I can't believe that he voluntarily had a conversation with me for such a long time. I mean, I would've liked for it to go on until we actually reached campus but I can't bring myself to complain.

I'm definitely growing on him.

***

"Oh thank goodness he's gone" Kat mutters after entering the Writing class and being greeted by the senior Mr Price.

"Yeah..." I nod agreeing as we make our way to our seats.

The senior Mr Price greets the class and we all greet back "I hope my son hasn't been so good that you guys aren't happy to have me back" He jokes and the class laughs. Some are obviously faking it to make the old man feel better.

I can't help but wonder just how many students his son has had a thing with... Clearly it was a habit of his.

"Right so, I want you guys to write a piece today about your 'safe place'" He explains, putting his glasses on "It can literally be a place or it can be something else like a person or a mind-state, for example. Just make it interesting"

"Sir, what do you mean by safe place?" A girl asks. I don't know the names of everyone in my class; there are too many.

"A place where you feel safe. A place that you feel like you can freely be yourself without fear" He explains intelligently. The man is passionate about what he does.

"What are you going to write about?" I ask Kat when sir has finished explaining and given us time "Please don't say Nathan"

She rolls her eyes laughing "Off course not. I don't yet. He said we have until tomorrow"

"Hey, are you okay? You know, after everything?" I ask her. We haven't spoken since Betty's party.

She shrugs "Yeah. As long as I never see Betty or Mick again, I think I will be"

"I think we both know that's impossible"

"Yeah I guess that was wishful thinking" She mutters "Don't worry, I'm okay though. Anyways I found a place"

"You did"

She nods "Yep. It's close to Nathan's. He said he'd help me move"

"You'll probably still spend most of your time at his though" I roll my eyes laughing.

She also laughs "I know. That's why the both of us are okay with my so-called 'move'. Most of my clothes anyways didn't fit in his cardboard so I guess having my own is the biggest advantage"

"God knows you need all the closet space you can get"

She has so many clothes.

Her eyes brighten "Speaking of... we should go shopping. You, Winnie, Dee and I"

"Oh no, that would be awkward" I immediately object, not being able to control my mouth. Lately that's been happening a lot.

She looks confused "Why?"

Should I tell her?

I sigh "Kat, you can't tell anyone this"

"What? You're scaring me" She replies dazedly.

"So, at Betty's party, Kyle and I found Dee cheating on Winnie and we haven't told her. Kyle said he wanted Dee to tell her herself"

"Oh my gosh" Kat gapes shell-shocked, her eyes wide "I cant believe this. I thought they were in a really good place. I actually spoke to them this morning"

"So that means Dee still hasn't told her" I connect the dots "I don't think Kyle will like that at all"

Kat is still shocked "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Kyle and I saw it. We even confronted her" I tell Kat "She looked so guilty and felt so bad. Poor girl"

"Winnie will be so blind-sided by this. Oh my word" Kat trails off sympathetically "Does Nick know?"

I shake my head "We especially can't tell him"

Kat and I spend the rest of class discussing just how bad and sad the whole situation is.

***

I'm making my way to Monet's to go buy the chocolate-chip muffin I've been craving the whole day when someone grabs my hand from behind me and turns me around.

"Noah?" I ask very confused.

He scratches the back of his head awkwardly "Yeah, uhm, can we speak?"

"Are you gonna be a douche this time?"

He sighs "Yeah, I guess I deserve that"

"What's up?" I finally ask.

"I guess I wanted to apologize for my behavior on Saturday" He starts off "You were right, I shouldn't have drank that much"

"Why did you? That was so unlike you"

"Seeing you like that with another guy; talking and laughing because of him did something to me" He says softly that if we were still together I'd wrap my arms around him and kiss him better "I thought that if I was rude to you you'd know how I felt. God knows I can't when I'm sober so I had to get drunk"

"Noah" I sigh sadly.

"I know it's not an excuse but all I wanted to do was apologize so yeah" He says. "I'm sorry again"

I smile lightly "I accept your apology. And I'm sorry too; for making you feel like that. It really wasn't my intention though"

"I know it wasn't" He mutters genuinely "How have you been though"

I shrug "Fine, I guess. You?"

Oh, except I had a gun held against my head the other day and I have disgusting men calling me 'kitten' now. Ha-ha, no big deal. Oh yeah I'm keeping secrets from so many people too. Did I mention I miss you so much that it hurts?

That's what I mean by 'fine'.

"Yeah, same"

"So, you and Jared, huh?" I ask amused "I thought you guys didn't like each other. What changed?"

He chuckles "Turns out... the guy is really not that bad. I just think he seriously didn't like you so he took it out on me"

"I'm not surprised" I snort shaking my head "He's probably having a blast now that we're not together"

"You wouldn't believe it. He keeps on shoving different girls my way"

I frown at the thought "You haven't- you haven't... right?"

He seems to catch on because he immediately shakes his head "No, Chels, off course not. I would never"

"Okay good" I can't help the smile that breaks out "I haven't either. If you must know."

He smiles too "Good"

"So, uh, my dad called me today" I tell him because I want the conversation to keep going. I guess I really missed him.

He looks surprised "He did?"

Noah know about my apparent 'daddy issues' as Kyle calls them. Actually, he knows everything about me. Kind of.

"Yep. Thought I was still in high school but what's new?" The thought now only makes me laugh instead of upsetting me as it did earlier.

"Woah" Noah joins in on the laughing "The guy never fails to surprise me"

"He's one of a kind" I say sarcastically.

My phone then beeps with a message before Noah can answer.

Nico: Look behind you and come to the car.

I do just that and see Nico waving at me from an unfamiliar nice car. I'm guessing it's his. I see Kyle in the passengers seat just typing away on his phone. I guess he was too lazy to walk back and decided to ask Nico for a ride. At least he thought about me though.

I look back at Noah "So I have to go but it was nice talking to you."

"It was" He smiles tightly "Bye"

I wave as I make my way to the two boys.

"So this is your car?" I ask Nico when I enter in the backseat and he immediately starts to drive away.

It's a silver Mercedes Benz C Class but I'm not sure which one specifically. All I know that it's so nice and sexy. I really need a car.

"Yep. Her name is Minnie" He answers enthusiastically.

I laugh "Why Minnie?"

"Get this... the dealer who sold it to me's name was Mickey and then a few days after I got it I found a mouse inside. So I thought it was a sign"

At this point I'm laughing so hard that my stomach hurts.

"Nicholas, I swear you lie about everything. Even stupid things like this one" Kyle shakes his head unimpressed at his friend.

"Man, I swear" Nick replies exasperated.

"I'm with Kyle on this one" I laugh, ignoring the fact that I'm actually agreeing with Kyle on something "You're definitely lying, Nick"

He groans "I'm not"

"You are" Kyle deadpans.

"Whatever. Anyways, Chelsea, are you and your boyfriend back together now? I saw you guys talking" Nick asks looking at me from the front mirror.

I wish.

I shake my head "No. He was just apologizing for his behavior on Saturday"

"Saturday? How did I miss all the drama" He asks confused "There was that and the Dee thing too"

"You told him!?" Kyle booms loudly, snapping his head at me angrily.

Why is angry?

Ohhhh. He must think that I told him about the cheating thing.

"Kyle not that-"

I start off at the same time that Nick says "Told me what? All she said was that Dee wasn't feeling well"

Kyle seems to breathe after this, removing his death glare from me and facing the front again.

"Wasn't she supposed to tell me?" Nick asks accusingly "Unless Winnie is right and the two of you are hiding something"

I've never heard him sound so serious.

"We're not" I reply way too quickly that even I would be suspicious "Right, Kyle?"

Kyle doesn't reply.

"Whatever it is, you two should know that Winnie will find out. She always does" Nico warns. "You better tell her before that"

Uh oh.