The Thing About Flip Flops

Chapter Twenty Two: It's A Proposal, Can I Get A "Whoop Whoop!?"

"Where in the hell were you last night, Audrey?" My dad yells the second I step through my front door after school.

"I-"

"I was worried sick. Last I checked you were with Chris downstairs, watching a movie. Then you were just gone?"

He stops yelling to take a breath.

"Where the hell were you? Why didn't you pick up your phone? I called you so many times. I was up all night looking for you, and so was Jeremy. We got Chris' number from the school directory and he wouldn't pick up, either. None of your friends knew where you were." He looks incredibly tired, and I feel more guilty than I've ever felt in my life.

"We even called Genevieve, who's supposed to be having her own life at university. How do you think she likes being called up in the middle of a class to catch a plane down and look for her irresponsible little sister?"

I try to speak but he cuts me off. "No, Audrey. I don't want any excuses. Tell me the truth. Everything. Now."

My eyes fill with tears. He's completely right. I should've just said something. "I'm-I'm so so so sorry." My voice breaks. I notice Jeremy appear in the doorway, looking extremely relieved to see me. He looks as tired as Dad. I feel twice as guilty.

"Chris and I broke up," I tell them.

"And?" My dad demands. "Where were you?" Jeremy tries to cut in, looking pityingly at me, but I plow on.

"I went to my friend Jack's house. You don't know him, but he's nice. He's really nice, and nothing happened, okay? He was just comforting me and he let me stay. His- his mom knows I was there, you can talk to her if you want."

"And she never even thought to call and tell me? I find that hard to believe."

"She- didn't know I was there until morning. It was late, I didn't want to wake her. It's not her fault, or Jack's. It's completely my fault. I'm so, so sorry."

My dad runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "You're grounded for the next two weeks. Be glad it isn't more. And I want Jack's mother's phone number so I can speak to her." I feel even shittier now, because I don't want Hana and Jack to be wrapped up in this because of me.

But all I say is, "Okay."

I begin to leave, and Jeremy says, "Audrey, we're both just glad you're safe." I nod without turning, feeling horrible, and climb the stairs to my bedroom.

***

Despite my expectations, the following two weeks are not the worst of my life. Despite daily detention and being grounded, and despite that I don't get to see much of any of my friends outside of class, there's also the addition of Genevieve.

At some point, she must have had a talk with Dad about everything, because she seems on board with the proposal now. Dad tells us that it's going to be soon and he wants us to be there.

Because of this, she's acting like she's forgotten our argument over the phone, and is being super sweet. After coming into town to look for me, she decided to stay. When I ask her why she is allowed to skip class like this, she just winks and tells me that she pulled a few strings. This answer doesn't satisfy me at all, though.

Jenna is still avoiding all of us at school, and it's been extended to Henry as well. I find this unfair, since he isn't even a part of anything. I'm starting to wonder if she isn't just taking time to cool off, but is genuinely not going to come back to us. The ideas of our friendship group without Jenna kills me. I hope everything can go back to normal soon, but something tells me that won't happen until I step in, or Nat does. The issue is, Jenna isn't even willing to talk to us.

I get Hana's number through Jack at school, who first tells me that it sucks that I'm grounded because now he can only tease me at school. Again, I tell him I need his mom's number, and he says, "She's married, you know. And, no offense, but I don't think she likes girls."

I whack his arm, annoyed, as he laughs. "It's for my dad."

"I'm not setting your dad up with my mom, she's still married. Also, isn't he gay?"

I roll my eyes back so far that my eyes hurt. "He's bi but that's not the point. You're an idiot, just give me her number."

The phone call with Hana is painful to listen to, but I do anyway because I don't want to miss what my dad says.

"Hello? This is Daniel Parker. My daughter apparently stayed at your son's house a few nights ago? I couldn't call, I didn't have your number."

A pause, then: "Yes, she told me you didn't know until the morning." Another pause. "I wanted to thank you for keeping her safe. I also want to apologize to you, Mrs. Golden. My daughter was irresponsible and I'm sorry if you and your family were caught up in what she did."

I feel embarrassed and ashamed that he's saying all of this to Hana, who I thought I had made a good impression on. Hopefully, she doesn't hate me. I leave so I can't hear the end of the conversation.

***

On Sunday, the day before my grounding is supposed to end, my dad comes up to me and whispers, "Proposal is a go."

My eyes light up excitedly. "This is really happening!"

The good thing about my dad is that when he gets over his initial worry and anger, he usually goes back to normal relatively soon. In his eyes, grounding me and calling Hana is enough of a punishment. Acting angry afterwards is worthless, because I've already gotten in trouble.

"I know," he says, looking as excited as a kid in a candy store. "Take a video, okay?"

I nod eagerly and follow him into the kitchen, where Genevieve and Jeremy are sitting over two large menus, trying to figure out what to order from the Chinese restaurant. I trail behind, holding my phone camera up, and when Vivi sees the camera, she jumps up.

"Could I have your attention, everyone?" My dad says, even though he already has everyone's attention. I go stand next to Genevieve, out of the way, and whisper, "Oh my god!"

Vivi shushes me and turns to watch my dad, who's facing Jeremy.

"I'm fifty-one years old, and in that time I've never met anyone who has made me happier than you. And of course my lovely daughters." He winks over at me and Vivi, then turns back to Jeremy.

"I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone, and I want to make if official. Which is why I would like to ask you, Jeremy," my dad says, and pauses. I see Jeremy's hands fly up to his face to cover his mouth in shock.

"Will you marry me?"