American Girl: Can't I Just Be Chloe?

When I walked back into the house, it was to my own shock that I saw father there. He was normally working at this hour. So, why was he here now? I nodded. “Oh, hey, Dad! What are you doing here? I thought you were at work,” I said coming in the door and sitting down.

“I took the rest of the day off. And, what about you, Chloe? You’re one to talk. You’re normally over at the Jonas home with Frankie. Why aren’t you there now?” he asked eyeing me.

Knowing that my father would want to know what was going on, I shook my head. There was absolutely no way in hell that I was going to tell my father of the dilemma I had myself in. That was more of a mom thing. Of course, since my mother was in Washington, D.C., I couldn’t exactly ask her about it. My mother was too busy with her own life to worry about me and the problems that I was faced with. “I’m not really in the mood to talk to you about it. All you need to know is that Frankie and I have something that we must sort through. Only my friends and the like can help me with all this.”

Dad eyed me. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Something tells me you’re lying,” he said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you’re a teenager. Your best friend is a guy. So, may I assume that you developed feelings for your best friend since you aren’t over there right now?” my father asked.

My jaw dropped. “How’d you know?”

He shrugged. “When you became friends with Frankie, I suspected what was going to happen. Your mother never did though; however, I figured that if your friendship with the youngest Jonas lasted through your teenage years, that you were going to develop feelings for each other. You have and don’t want to tell him, right?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re going to have to tell him one day. There’s no way that you can keep this to yourself, you know. Eventually, Frankie is going to learn that you love him. No matter whether or not want to do so, he must know how you feel. Otherwise, you’ll lose Frankie. I should know. I nearly lost your mother by doing the exact same thing. It was years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday,” my father said. “I know this sounds cliché, but…”

By this point, I was out of the room. Listening to my father reminisce about the life that he and my mother had before I came along was boring. That was not something I really wanted to hear. And, anyway, no one’s life is ever really exactly like their parents. Every life is different. So, I really didn’t want to hear anything that my father had to say about all of this. I walked up to my room and sat on my bed. There had to be something I could do to stop thinking about all of this. Despite the fact that I was in love with Frankie, I just couldn’t tell him. My love for him had to be unrequited, no matter anyone said or did.