Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry I missed last week. Here's a recap of what's happening, in case you don't remember:
Michael just asked Chloe to his school's back to school dance. She said yes, (Obviously!) but was a tad bit frightened by the look on her dad's face when she got home. Yikes!
I walked through the door, wondering why my father would ever give me such an angry look. I mean, sure I was a bit rebellious, but overall I was a good girl. Things between us had always been a little tense, but usually when he was mad at me, he just looked annoyed. Now, you could practically see the steam coming off his red face. I wondered what I did to make him look so mad. Then I realized that he was waiting for me at the door, which meant he probably saw me say goodbye to Michael. If he'd only been watching or a few minutes, he'd only seen us hug, which he wouldn't care about. If he'd seen us kiss however, I'd be dead before I even entered the seventh grade.
I slipped my flip flops off without looking away from my dad. It was like a stare down, and I was determined not to let him win. Eventually, he spoke.
"Was that the Thompson kid?" my dad asked, "Ah, what's his name? It's uh . . . "
"Michael." I said, nervously staring up at my six foot tall dad.
My parents had gotten a divorce last July, so my two sisters and I switched back and forth between their houses, but we were usually at Dad's. While they were still married, Mom pretty much took care of us kids, since Dad was always working. She would have remembered Michael's name, considering he'd been my friend for four whole years. Dad could have remembered too, if he actually cared.
"Ah, yes. Michael Thompson. So, do you two hang out often?" My dad was going somewhere with this, but not where I had suspected. I was caught off guard.
"Uh, ya. We've kinda been friends since, like, third grade." It made me kind of sad that my own dad didn't even know who his daughter's friends were. "We hung out practically everyday this summer, too. Didn't you notice?"
"Hmm . . ." He rubbed his bald head. "Nope. I must not have been paying attention."
Of course he wasn't paying attention. Why would Steve Porter ever pay attention to anything besides work? He was always working. Sometimes he'd be at the office, other times he'd be working from home. Either way, you better not disturb him, unless you like dinner a la nutcase, served with a side of freak out, and possibly some berserky jerky. (Not my favorite meal!)
"You know Michael's older brother, Jake?" my dad asked, stepping a bit closer towards me.
"Yeah." I answered nervously. "What about him?"
"Well your older sister, Maggie, has been dating him for the past few weeks, but they just broke up." My dad leaned his head forward as if I was supposed to know what the heck he was talking about.
I raised my eyebrows and stared at him. "And?"
"And . . . They broke up because of something he did . . . He's bad news, Chloe. The whole family is. I don't want you around his brother anymore."
I felt like I'd just been slapped in the face with a fish and told that I was no longer allowed to breathe. My dad's decision was both shocking and impossible.
"But Dad! He's my best friend! You can't just tell me I can never see him again." I felt a pinch behind my eyes, but I fought back. I wasn't about to let myself cry again.
"I can, and I will."
"But Dad! I-"
He interrupted me.
"My decision is final." he said in a stern voice.
"But-" Holding back tears was getting harder and harder.
"I don't wanna hear it, Chloe!"
I was so mad at my dad. He didn't even know Michael or Jake or their family. (He couldn't even remember Michael's name!) Jake was so nice and would never hurt a soul, and Michael was too sweet for words to even give justice. Their family was generous and inviting. Why would my dad ever think they were bad? They were anything but that. I had no idea what his reasoning behind this decision was, but I was determined to find out.
"Fine." I looked down the Magic 8 Ball Michael had given to me, which was still in my hands, then up at my father. "But can I just ask one more question?"
"It depends what the question is." he replied.
I thought about how I might fit everything I was wondering about into just one question.
"What did Jake do that was so bad and made you not like the Thompson's?" I asked, praying that he would answer.
"I don't think I should tell you." he said.
"Why not?" I felt tears swelling up in my eyes.
I knew that even if my dad did answer me, whatever he told me would be a lie. I'd known Jake for as long as I'd known Michael, and in that time, I'd never even seen him do anything mean or bad. He was one of the nicest guys I knew. Well, besides Michael.
"It's a very mature matter, and I don't think Maggie would appreciate me telling you."
At the end of the day, I loved my dad. At this particular moment, though, I was finding it very hard not to hate him. How could he forbid me to ever see Michael again but not even tell me why? The only thing I knew was that it had something to do with Jake and Maggie . . .
Gasp! Maggie! That was it!
I ran up the stairs to Maggie's room and pushed the door open without even knocking.
"Hey!" Maggie screamed over her radio, which was blasting some bubble gum pop song. "Knock much?!"
I walked over to her radio and turned it off.
"What are you doing, you freak?!" Maggie yelled.
I looked her straight in the eye.
"What did you tell Dad?"
