I Shouldn’t Love Him (Book 2) – Chapter 50
LAKE
Just because my father wasn’t necessarily a great man doesn’t mean he wasn’t scary. The chief operating officer of a pharmaceutical company, he was second in command at work and had the final say on everything involving the Kaplan family here at home.
It worked well for my mother and me. Mom knew how to manage her tempers, sometimes with a simple word or gesture. She said he had a sense of humor that most people didn’t have. And I just did what he said. It was my father. He knew better than me.
er helping Mom clear the dinner table, I walked past her desk on my way to my room.
me stop.
aid. “More than that. She did her homework all summer.
rstand the value of hard work,” he s
A night at the Fun Zone hardly interfer
ad mentioned that she was taking me to the fair this wee
a heavy silence, my dad said,
she
eard the pain in her voice.
ed. Probably an unsupervised party at the house of one of your degenerate friends. The The answer is no.
was telling the truth after all.
be a better student, so why can’t she s ‘fun too?’ asked Tiffany. “
Balboa and come home.” »
father, I would have been beaten for it. »
e.
I rarely stood up to my father. I didn’t even know how he would take it if I did.
id a hand on you. In fact, we let you do what you want. All I ask is that you leave your sister alone. She’s on her way to getting everything she wants, and I’m going to kick you out of this house before I let you drag it down. »
even notice. »
t you wouldn’t.” you need money and a job to
, but I liked knowing she was in the next room. I knew no matter what, if I really needed her, she would be there. I jumped back as Tiffany walked out of the office and upstairs. After a few seconds, his door slammed. I didn’t really know what to do: comfort her or keep my dist
out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on
ything is fine?”
said.
he glanced towards the stairs.
space,” she said, turning
in here.”
ither of those things.
few weeks we were absolutely not to go near the office. He had bought the IBM which he said was worth more than me.
er, he let me accompany him to choose one. He’d spent two days setting it up, and that night he let me watch as he moved
e room.
ceptable that we have to wait at all.”
lasses.”
“Yes.”
ded. With his exhale, he relaxed into his leather chair.
daughter. What wou
I frowned.
you mean?”
as dramatic as my sister, but I didn’t think I could be more like my father. If I was a bit of both, where did that put me?
just longer than the othe
that’s a big deal.”
I liked it.”
“You liked?”
se him.
hole list.”
versation with Manning earlier about r
read in college. Just get through it, Lake.
issing me.
idn’t need to ask why it had to be filled with school work; I already knew. USC wasn’t looking for the type of student who completed part or most of their reading list. They wanted those who went above and beyond. Who had a second list. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to do it, I loved reading. But maybe Manning and Tiffany were right. Would it be so bad if I did something that wasn’t mandated by my f
to the fair,” I said.
which made me laugh. “I already said no.”
end of the summer?”
ng fun? Your sister. You want to become like her, no job, no money, live with us after high school? She had the chance to read the same books and get the same education as you, but she chose to have fun instead.
his expectations – wasn’t it possible that she would do the same? Before I could decide whether to defend her or not, he sighed .
straight home afterwards.
I smiled.
ish the book by then, I prom
ight out of her office to knock on Tiffany’s do
he said.
w.”
gh Tiffany could eviscerate me, to tell her the good news.
a pillow on her face.
t do you w
once broke her keyboard receiver because Dad blew up the phone bill. I couldn’t tell if she was crying. Usually when she did it, it was loud
s go out Saturday night.”
.
d to do something nice, and now I’m the
doing something, too.
ped it on the bed next to her.
t?”
.”
weren’t up to Dad’s impossible standards. You should ju
e?”I rubbed my nos
ng. I thought I saw a hint of a smile.
.
?
a Evangelista?” She doesn’t wake up for less than ten thousand dollars a day.
like the models in her coveted magazines.
like, five-eight,” I said.
e Kate Moss.”
me.
ght.”
ot return to th
shorter than me.
u could model for Nordstrom, like in their c
” His eyes lit up.
ree stuff.”
stuff,” I pointed out, although I wasn’t sure. “Are you?”
so it’s practically free.”
oing to try?” Maybe you go there an
not embarrassing myself in front of him again, then I would take that risk. “Do you know who Pink Floyd is?”
“Yeah,” she said.
them.
miling. “Maybe later. Where did you hear about them?”
you know?”
w. “Are they new?”
then it’s really not cool.
nly graduated from high school a year ago.
ar ago.
ffed, staring at the ceiling.
u OK?” I asked.
”
aid.”
. Yeah. He can be such an a*****e
u.
start applying to schools.
didn’t think of it like that. I was lucky to have someone who cared as much as I did, if not more,
Have y
emed soft, scattered across the duvet. I ran my fingers over
are many more options than “SC”.
ays been my first choice.”
nt, and you’re not just doing it for Dad.”
I had visited campus once a year since I was ten. “He is.”
g to the fair with us.”
rs stilled in his hair. “What?” “He’s so serious. I was hoping he would ask me out, but when he didn’t, I told him about Saturday and he never went to the
or swallow. I just looked at her with a dry mouth.
hoping to call.”
ers. “I spoke to him this afternoon. I don’t know how I feel about him.
had anything to do with Manning, lest she say yes. How woul
You’re in luck.
as well as my mother. Either way, hearing him call Manning magnificent was heartw
s from Los Angeles,” Tiffany said. “It l
outside of LA”
rience than a guy.
mean?”
now what to say. Last year, I passed an AP English test that most of my classmates failed. I could recite Pi to the fifteenth digit. I had made the principal’s honor roll for the past two years. But on this subject, I knew almost nothing. I have yet to hang out with girls who had s*x. They weren’t in my classes. They didn’t belong to the clubs I did.
never hide my blush. “I started this stuff when I was your age.”
ws what he’s doing,” she added wistfully.
did to me.
my leg under me, pricking my sock. “
“Yeah.
’t understand his sudden and strange smile. “So maybe you should think about, uh, not dating him.” “Why?”
d mad.” .”
at he would piss off Dad? A blind person could see that, Lake.
thing in my easy little world had changed. Tiffany was talking to me about s*x. I had met Manning, who fascinated me beyond belief. And the three of us went to the fair.
that even though I had met Manning first, for some reason Tiffany thought he belonged to her.