But Why Not

Chapter Eight

I scrambled into the car as my dad turned around. He got into the squad car slamming the door. We sat there in silence until I dared to speak. "I'm sorry..." I squeaked.

My dad's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Just tell me one thing, Erin. Why? Why would you risk your safety, your spot on the team, your good name, to try something stupid ?! Tell me."

"Because I wanted to. I wanted to try something new. I made a mistake. I'm a teenager, it's what we do. We make mistakes, we learn from them, we move on." I answered as I slumped back in my seat and rested my head against the door.

"Where is this 'I don't care' attitude coming from? It's that Daniels boy's influence. That's what it is. You stay away from him. He's going to ruin you."

I pushed off the door and whirled to face my dad, "No. Don't blame this on Ryder. I chose to do it. Ryder tried to protect me. He told me not to but I chose to do it. He told his friend not let me near it but I told him no, that I wanted to try it. It's my fault, Dad. Not Ryder's. I'm sorry. But you absolutely cannot blame Ryder."

"I can. Because the Erin I know, the Erin I raised, would never have even thought of smoking weed. It wouldn't have even been a thought in her mind. This is not the daughter I raised. You need to find her. And you need to find her fast. I'm not putting up with this rebellious teenager crap. Get it together. I won't have you risking your future or your life for something stupid. Do not throw away everything you've worked for."

I was just fed up. I decided, before I said anything stupid or anything I would regret, to bolt. I pushed open the door and ran off into the night.

I ran to the one place I knew no one would judge me or be mad at me.

"I need to stay for the night." I said breathless as soon as Zach pulled the door open. Even though the last time we saw each other we fought, I knew he'd let me stay.

He held the door open. "Yeah, of course. What happened?" he asked shutting the door behind me.

"I had a fight with my dad."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me into kitchen. "Hey mom, set the table for one more."

Zach's mom looked up from the stove and grinned when she realized it was me. "Erin, hi sweetheart." she greeted enveloping me in a hug. "How have you been? What happened to your head."

"Everything's been great, Mama. I just fell and bumped my head. I have ten stitches."

"Erin and I are gonna run up to my room. Call us when dinner's ready." Zach cut off his mom before she could fret over me.

I followed Zach up to his room and flopped onto his bed.

"Erin, I've gotta ask you," Zach started as I snuggled into his pillow, "why do you smell like weed?"

"That's a long story." I mumbled.

"Is it as long as the story of what happened to your head?"

"Do I have to answer that?" I asked peeking at him.

He sat down on the bed beside me. "Yeah, you do."

I sat up. "Don't say anything until I finish. I went and played soccer and the beach with Ryder and his friends. One of them had a bag of weed, I decided to try it. Ryder tried to stop me but I did it anyway. I may have gotten a bit too high and Ryder decided to take me to his house so my dad wouldn't get mad at me. He left me alone in his room and I tripped and hit my head on the corner of his desk. Please don't be mad at me or yell at me. I've gotten enough of that tonight. I made a mistake."

Zach stared at me for moment then pulled me into a hug. "We all make mistakes. Learn from it. That's all I have to say."

Okay guys. Finally a new chapter. I'm so sorry for the lack of updates.

I have a question for y'all. Would y'all mind if I threw a huge turn of events into the storyline? Like this was never a plan for the story but I want to do this, I can't tell you what it is because it will completely give it away. But it's something no one would see coming but it will totally change the original plan for this book. Are you guys down for a large surprise that will change the course of the story?

Avery