“Yes!”
“I’m really sorry, Dad. I am. Maybe I need to change my plan.”
“Maybe you need to stop using that thing like a lifeline. Go do your painting or something. Read a book, Brooke. Go to the park. Disconnect for Christ’s sake.”
“You’re right, Dad. Absolutely. I hear you one hundred percent.”
“Oh, stop humoring me. That’s more infuriating than this bill.” Dad rubbed his forehead. “Now tell me who this guy is.”
“Gross. You really want to know?” I asked.
“If you’re spending the evening with him and he’s driving you, you bet I do,” Dad replied.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, but I have to tell you really fast because he’ll be here any minute.”
Dad nodded.
“He’s some dude at school who knows Ryan likes me and is trying to get me to like him, so he asked me out on a date, and I agreed just to get it over with. I figured after tonight he won’t be too interested in me anymore.”
“What, you plan on throwing the date?” Dad asked.
“Sort of,” I replied. That was another lie. I had no plans to throw this date. I was going to be my charming, sweet, good girl self. I was going to make Cal burn with jealousy after tonight.
“Does Ryan know you’re going on a date with this guy?” Dad asked.
“No, and I don’t want him to ever find out. I’m just doing it so this guy will get off my back. Do you understand?”
“You think this is a good idea? I can just tell whoever this is that you’re not interested. I can say it while I’m holding my gun,” Dad offered.
“No! No, Dad. I can handle it. Just please don’t tell Ryan about any of this.”
“I think this kind of deception got you in trouble in the past, Brooke.”
Bullet to the heart, and Dad wasn’t even holding his gun.
“I’m not judging. I’m just saying that you seem to carry around a lot of guilt. I mean, is this the only way to show this guy you’re not interested in him? Does he not understand that ‘no’ means ‘no’?”
How could I possibly explain to my dad that I was actually doing this for Beth? That I was doing it to repent for my sins, to clear the guilt? I realized the date seemed convoluted to Dad, but I could never in a million years tell him the real reason. If I did, Cal would be dead in a puddle of blood on our front porch.
“Trust me, Dad. You know how people learn differently? Some are visual learners? Some are auditory learners? Some are hands-on?”
Dad nodded, the side of his mouth turning up in a grin.
“Well, this Cal dude is definitely not an auditory learner. That’s why ‘no’ doesn’t work. He’s a hands-on kind of guy. So I’m going to let him take me bowling, and then he’ll see why I’m the last person in the world he wants to date.”
Dad’s face sported a full smile now. I think I made him proud in that moment.
“You’re not going to let him put his hands on you, are you?”
“Gross, Dad.”
“Well, you’re telling me he’s a hands-on kind of guy. He puts them on you and he’s dead.”
“Dad, relax. I didn’t mean ‘hands-on’ that way,” I said.
He grunted and tossed the cell phone bill on the kitchen table. Just then the doorbell rang, and I kissed him goodbye.
“Can’t I meet him?” Dad asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m taking my cell phone. And I’ll call you before I come home.”
“You have a curfew, you know,” Dad said.
“I do? This is new.”
The doorbell rang again.
“Yeah, you do. Now what’s the standard curfew for a girl your age?” Dad asked.
“Are you for real? You know, I didn’t think for a second you’d actually make me hand over my phone,” I said, walking to the front door.
“Give me an hour, Brooke!” Dad called, still standing in the kitchen.
“One!” I called back.
“Nope! Try again!”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” I mumbled, reaching for the door handle. “I didn’t come home from that party with Gretchen until one!”
“Yeah, and that’s the last time for that!”
I rolled my eyes. “Midnight!”
“Still not happy!”
“Dad, oh my God!” I yelled, opening the door. “Eleven!”
“Better! I love you! Be safe!”
“I love you, too!” I called, pushing Cal out of the way.
“Shouldn’t I meet your dad or whatever,” he asked, following me down the walkway.
“Another time,” I said.
Oh. My. God.
I wasn’t told about the double date, and neither was Gretchen evidently. We stared at one another shocked, and then excused ourselves to the bathroom.
“What are you doing here with Parker?” I hissed.
“What are you doing here with that guy?” she shot back. “What happened to Ryan?”