I go home that day, scared out of my mind about what is going to happen next as I walk up to the door. I ring the doorbell and my mom's face stares back at me, seeming slightly ticked at me.
"How did you get detention, huh?!" She yells. "Detention? For you? Oh no, this can't be right." She says.
"Do you know what it's for?" I ask.
"Yes. How come you got into a fight with Sam? What has gotten into you?" She continues yelling. I walk into the house. "Huh?" She keeps questioning.
"Nothing! How is it my fault?" I ask, annoyed. My mom stays speechless at the thought of me talking back to her. "Really. How? You know, I was the victim there!" I talk back, rudely. "I was there fighting for my dignity, my reputation. You wouldn't get it at all. Because all you care about is me working my life away!" I screech, immediately stomping up the stairs, bolting into my room and slamming the door hard. This isn't even my fault! I can't believe she would just yell at me for detention. Does she even care about what I actually did? I think, almost disappointed with my mom. All I do is sit in my room that day, gently texting Cara or casually playing my video game at the highest volume.
After hours, I hear the garage doors fly open and my dad's car drive in. Nervousness pelts me in the face but not as much as I thought it would be. Afterward, my dad seemingly opens the doors to the house and then- I hear yelling. For an hour, for two hours. Yelling? Why would they be yelling, I think. If they were angry at me, they would yell for me to come down. What is this? Soon, it gets quiet. From all I can make out, there's some distinct talking on the phone and my parents take turns responding. Then, footsteps. Usually, I would throw my gaming console under my bed- or at least that's what I've been doing since recently, but I don't. My dad knocks on my door. I could tell it was him from the footsteps but, I don't open the door. He knocks again, I don't open it. He knocks once more and I begrudgingly open the door for him only to see him in a very calm demeanor. Surprised, I revert my angry face back to a calm frown to match him.
"So, when'd it happen?" He asks, softly. I glare at him. What could he have known?
"I got detention today." I say.
"No, I don't really care about that. Just- when did you leave Akako." He asks. My eyes widen not in fear but in confusion.
"How da' you know that?" I ask, tauntingly.
"Call from the school. It seems that they're pretty caught up on all your drama." He says, still not a smidge mad at me from the glimpse of it.
"Um- Maybe a month ago?" I say.
"Wow. Good job handling a secret from us that long." He says, assumingly sarcastic.
"Maybe because you guys are hard to trust." I say loudly, pouting.
"Maybe we are- and I'm so sorry. Trust me, stuff like this- this drama- it happens and it happened when I was your age. So, tell me. Tell me all about it, Aline." He says. A singular tear falls off my chin.
"So- well, the first day of school Cara asked me out. I didn't care for her; I didn't like her or anything. However, we went out because..." I pause. "I didn't want to hurt her." I take a breath and continue. "We went out and had fun, yeah- b-but still, I didn't like her. Well, not that much. Then, I started crushing on her and- and a while after, everyone found out I was cheating." I tear up more. "It crushed me, but I kept going and- and then, Cara asked me out. Again, even though I actually liked her this time, I didn't want a relationship." I pause again. "But I didn't want to hurt her and I ended up dating her." My dad softly pats me on the back.
"It's okay." He soothes.
"And then- and then, yesterday, everyone found out we were dating because of Sam. So, we tried to talk to Sam today and- Cara kicked him out of sheer anger." I finish.
"Chill out, man. You're doing great. Just know that I'm supportive of you. Maybe not your mom- but I'll keep her in check, don't worry." He chuckles. I try and chuckle back and I end up gagging on tears. He pats me on the back again. Will it go my way all of the time?- because I could get used to this!