“It’s okay, dad, really. I know you were busy with the promotion and everything; it was a lot to handle. I’m sure I would have just added to the stress.”
“That’s not an excuse, Della. You’re my daughter, and now you’ve gone and grown up on me and I couldn’t be prouder. You’ve really come a long way.”
We spent the rest of the early morning fishing and catching up. As I suspected, Grams packed muffins, fresh fruit, and extra thermoses’ of coffee for us. We pulled to the dock just as the sun was centering over the lake and dad helped me out of the boat.
“There is one more thing. I know your mother and I agreed that it would be best to take away your car and credit cards, but I have a bargain for you. What do you say to handling half the payments on a new car? It’s not as fancy as the one Gerald got for you, but it’ll get you from point A to point B.” He tossed a set of keys at me, and my mouth gaped open.
“No way, really?” I let out a squeal and stood on my tiptoes to wrap him in a tight hug. “I think I can handle that. Thanks, dad.”
Getting a car, no matter if it was the junkiest thing on four wheels, seemed like I was getting a little chunk of my freedom back. I was proud of myself for having come so far in such little time and knowing that dad was too, made it all the better.
Chapter 13
The semester seemed to be going by in a blur. Between visiting with my dad, working, and school, time was whizzing by. I think I had made it through a lot and now I was just enjoying life. The highs and the lows.
“What is with you today?” Callie snapped her fingers, pulling me out of my daze and I dropped the apple that I had been holding for the past ten minutes.
“Sorry, late night,” I replied, avoiding Zoey’s eyes that were looking at me suspiciously. This time it wasn’t my past that haunted my dreams; instead it was two boys running through my head. Nash had been steering clear of me lately, but dropping hints here and there that he and Mariah were going to be over soon.
I really wasn’t sure how I felt about that or him. I don’t know if I should feel guilty if he broke up with her, and I didn’t want to jump into a relationship with him. I had tried to explain to everyone that Justin and I weren’t seeing other people, but we weren’t really official, and all that got me was some very strange looks.
Justin had described what was going on between us perfectly. We were having fun. I loved going to work; he always made it interesting. We had gone on a few more dates, always something different, and we took turns picking. Nothing was ever really serious with Justin.
“Oh yeah, I was out partying all night, Zoey, I’ll make sure to call you next time.” I rolled my eyes at her pursed lips and picked up my fork to stab a piece of lettuce.
“Speaking of parties, there’s one this weekend,” Callie said in a sing song voice. “We totally have to go together. Drew invited me.” Her eyes went all gooey at mentioning her boyfriend, basically the love of her life.
If soul mates existed, those two were definitely each others. It was almost sickening, but it was cute, and I was happy for her. “It’s at his frat house, which I know isn’t really your scene, Zoey, but I figured a party would be fun. What do you two think?”
Without looking at each other, Zoey and I simultaneously answered with a quick no, and Callie let out a groan. “Oh come on, we’re in college. Why don’t you two actually act like it? We’re supposed to be going to parties every night, coming to class hung over, and talking about the epic time we had.”
I snorted and dropped my fork. “Oh, I’m sure we could have an epic time, Callie. I just don’t want to get into any trouble and those kinds of parties almost always equal trouble. I’m sure Zoey would be more than happy to go with you though.”
Zoey glared at me and gave Callie a sharp shake of her head. “No way, I’m not going to a party at Drew’s. You’ll ditch me as soon as we get there, and I’ll have to be beating all the gross, pervy guys off with a stick.”
“Please, pretty please with cherries on top. You wouldn’t want me to go alone, would you?” She was clearly ignoring the very important fact that Zoey had pointed out. She would be there with Drew, but I guess I saw her point. Callie stuck her bottom lip out into a pout and looked between the both of us.
Zoey snorted and muttered something about Callie being delusional, and I elbowed her in the side. “Fine, how ‘bout this: We’ll all get ready at home and go over there together. Zoey and I will stay for a little while and then leave you with Drew when we’re ready to go. But just a little bit.”
“That sounds perfect,” Callie squealed while clapping her hands together. “O-M-G, I can’t wait!”