Summer's Never Looked The Same

I open my eyes to the sound of someone saying my name in a panicked tone. I look up to see Steve-O with a confused expression on his face.

"A cop is here. He says your school sent him." He whispers. My upper body shoots up and I look up at him.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I jump out of bed, start walking toward the door, then I back up, turning back to Steve-O. "What the hell happened?"

"He said your school hasn't seen you since the first day of school. They were worried your dad was keeping you hostage or something." He answers. "They want you downstairs."

I continue to mutter curse words as I run to my closet as Steve walks out and I throw on different clothes, then leave the room with Steve, who waited outside of my door, right on my tail. Before I go down the stairs, I turn into the bathroom and try to open the window, but Steve-O pulls me back and faces me towards the stairs.

"You have to go." He whispers, lightly shoving me onto the first step. He makes sure I make it down the stairs and into the hallway where the cop and my dad are waiting.

"Are you Ava Knoxville?" He asks me once he sees me.

"Yes." I respond quietly, slowly nodding and crossing my arms against my chest. He takes me to the kitchen, leaving Dad in the hallway with Steve.

"I've been notified by Pasadena High School that you haven't been to school since September 7th." He tells me. "Have you been kept against your will at home by your father, Mr. Knoxville?"

"No... I, um... I've been skipping." I confess, looking him in the eyes so he knows I'm not lying to protect my dad. "I've been deleting the messages from the school so my dad wouldn't know. I lost one of my friends this year and I know that's no excuse, but that's one of the reasons why I haven't been going."

He nods and writes something down. I feel like I'm being interviewed for witnessing a murder.

"So your father has no idea you've been missing school?"

"Right. He didn't know until now."

"Sorry to get you in trouble, but--"

"Life comes with consequences." I whisper, wondering if that's what the cop was going to say before I interrupted.

"Yeah... Well, good to know you're okay. Sorry for the trouble, Ms. Knoxville." He walks out, says goodbye to my dad and lets him know he's not in trouble, then leaves the house. As soon as he pulls out of the driveway and disappears down the road, my dad wheels around to me with the most angry expression I've ever seen in my life. I stand there awkwardly.

"Um..." I mumble, scratching the side of my head. "I can explain."

Dad doesn't do anything for a moment. He swallows hard and sucks in his lips, obviously trying to control his anger. His face turns red in the process.

"You're damn right you can explain." He finally says. His tone wavers, as if he is trying to control it but it is overpowering him.

Without further words, he walks into the living room. This was my cue to follow him. Steve stares at me as I try to gather my composure, but Dad's angry face and angry voice are haunting me to the point of staying frozen in my spot. I manage to make my feet move forward into the living room with the intentions to sit on the couch, but I decide to stand... just in case I need to run for my chaotic fucking life.

"Okay, um..." I have no idea how to start. If only I could start with, " I skipped because I miss Ryan, hate school, and want to drop out."

Instead, I take in a deep breath, run the words I want to say through my head, then look at Dad. I come out with the straight-forward truth.

"I got into a fight with one of my friends at lunch during the first day of school. She said something that angered me and bothered me, so I skipped the rest of the day. The next couple days were kind of the same, but I never planned them out like that. They just happened. I continued skipping and deleting the voicemails from the school so you wouldn't find out."

The entire time I'm saying this, I'm not looking at him. I'm staring at the floor to my left, but I know he's looking at me with the most stern, angry expression he can manage to let me know that he's incredibly disappointed and hurt by my actions.

"I can't... go back, Dad." I end it with that. I would explain why, but the reasons don't feel good enough to mention. I force myself to look at him and study his expression. He's now looking at the floor, as if already thinking of my punishment, missing out on what I just said entirely. I look behind me to see if Steve's still here but I don't see him. My dad's voice makes my head snap back around to look at him.

"I can't think of what to say, Ava, other than I wish you had told me what was going on instead of skipping so much school. We'll talk later and I'll think about what you just said, but until then, you're grounded. You can't leave the house today. But there'll be more than just that." He says, looking at me once at the end of his sentence. It's not a threat and it doesn't scare me either way. I feel like saying no. That I'll do what I want. But I don't say anything. I just nod, clenching my jaw in what I recognize as anger. I deserve whatever I get, but for some reason, I'm pissed off about it.

I go to my room and once I see my window, I have the sudden urge to climb out of it and run. I lay down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. I've really fucked up.