I've Fallen for My Bodyguard. Awesome.

I didn’t talk to my father the next day. I was angry with him for overreacting like he did. It was incredibly stupid. Crystal kept insisting that he was just doing it because he loves me but I was done listening to that excuse. If he really loves me, he’d want me to be happy.

My father stuck true to his word, though. He made sure Nicolae and I stayed far from each other. At breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we were separated at the table. During the day at school, Crystal texted me regularly and I think my dad has spies or something because someone was always watching us. Dad drove us to school every day.

I was getting thoroughly annoyed but kept it to myself. What made it even worse was that Kat was still avoiding me. She wouldn’t even look me in the eye! I was about ready to throw my hands up and give up; especially after one night when I completely stopped talking to my father.

I was in my room doing homework when I heard yelling downstairs. I frowned and opened my door. Nicolae was listening, too, and held his finger up to his lips. I nodded in understanding and listened carefully.

“She’s upset, Robert!” Crystal was yelling.

“Well good!” my father yelled back and I shut my eyes tightly. He didn’t want me to be happy? “Better upset than knocked up!”

I gasped quietly, putting my hand over my mouth. Nicolae’s face was void of emotion.

“Robert!” Crystal gasped. “You know she would never do such a thing! Don’t you trust her?”

“Of course I do! It’s Nicolae I don’t trust!”

“If you distrust him so much, why not send him away?”

“What? And leave my daughter at the mercy of some perverted old man again? I don’t think so!”

“She’s a senior and 18! She should have some flexibility!”

“I don’t need parenting advice from you, Crystal! We both know how wonderful your child turned out to be!”

There was complete and total silence for a long time. I was stunned. I didn’t know that Crystal had a child. Then my father spoke up.

“Crystal, I-”

“Don’t even,” she snapped.

“Crystal- Crystal, what are you doing?” my father asked.

I heard keys jingling but Crystal didn’t respond. The door slammed below and Nicolae looked at me. Tears were streaming down my face and I retreated back into my room. My phone vibrated and I looked at it. I had a text from Crystal.

‘I know you were listening in.’

I bit my lower lip and texted back: ‘It was kind of hard not to.’

‘And Nicolae?’

‘Yes.’

‘… I don’t know what to do.’

More tears slid down my face. I felt pity for my friend. I wiped them away as I quickly replied: ‘Want to meet up and talk about it?’

‘Oh, Adrianna, that would be wonderful. When?’

‘How about now? I have nothing else better to do.’

‘Ok. Be there in five minutes.’

‘What should I tell Dad?’

‘The truth.’

I nodded to myself and wiped my tears away. It was the first day of February and I was freezing so I pulled on my hoodie. I jogged down the stairs, phone and wallet in hand, and saw my dad in the kitchen. His eyes were red as he glared at me.

“And where are you going?” he snapped. “Planning on leaving me, too?”

“I’m going out with Crystal,” I whispered, unable to deal with him being so angry with me.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “And why would you do that?”

“She needs someone to talk to,” I answered.

He put his beer down on the counter. “Fine,” he spat. “Go chat it up. You probably need to bad talk me where I can’t hear.”

“It’s not like that!” I defended myself. “It’s just girl talk!”

“What? Is she better than me all of a sudden!?”

“Of course not!” I stomped my foot, tears jumping to my eyes once more. “I can’t talk to you when you’re angry!”

He pressed his lips together. “Well, I’d rather have a traitor daughter than a pregnant daughter.”

“I hate you,” I whispered and he looked at me.

The kitchen was lit up briefly with headlights as someone pulled into our driveway. I glared at him once then left, slamming the door behind me. Crystal looked concerned as I got in but I shook my head. She drove to the park and I wiped my tears away vigorously. When we reached our destination, she led me to a park bench and we both sat there and cried for a long time. I held her and she held me.

“He- He just loves you,” Crystal whispered into my ear. “That’s why he said those things. He’s concerned.”

“What did he mean about your child?” I asked and she wiped away a tear.

“My son is in juvenile hall,” she answered and I grabbed her hand. Her blue eyes were puffy and her blond hair messed up. “The father, my ex-boyfriend, wanted nothing to do with him. That only made the problems with Cody worse. Cody is 15.”

“I’m sorry, Crystal,” I breathed. She smiled sadly at me and I sighed, my breath materializing in front of me. “So what now? Do we just forgive him and move on?”

“Yes,” she nodded. I scoffed. “I know. It’s going to be hard. I’ll have to talk to him. Not tonight, though,” she added quietly. “Later…”

“I’m cold,” I stated. “Take me home?”

“Of course,” she said quickly and we stood. “Sure you’ll be ok?”

I nodded. “I just won’t talk to him for a while.”

She put her arm around my shoulders as we walked back to her car.

My father wasn’t in the kitchen when I got home. When I walked by his room I heard voices from the TV. I tiptoed by and slipped into my room. It was 11:30 and I was exhausted from all the crying. I fell asleep immediately.

***

I woke up to a plate of pancakes and bacon by my bed. I glared at it and picked it up. I stomped down the stairs and put the plate in the sink, food and all. My father walked in, drying his hands on a towel. He smiled at me but I just pushed by him and went back up to my room. Nicolae was exiting the bathroom and smiled at me, too. Again, I didn’t return it.

I logged into my laptop again to do my homework and turned my radio on so I couldn’t hear either of them. I got two texts, both from my father and both asking me to come downstairs to talk to him. I didn’t reply to either of them. I was done with the drama and done with the crying. I was done with the name calling and the distrust. Hell, I was just done.