Ocean's Storm

Chapter Thirteen

Despite my better judgement, I told Spencer to drop me off at my Dad's place. There was no point in instructing him to drop me off at uncle Micah's place- since that would be the first place my dad would think of looking. Besides, people that run from their inevitable consequence has already proved themselves to be guilty. Even if the person in question were innocent, they would be trying their hardest to get their name cleared from any personal trouble book. Except, I am not entirely that innocent- unless vandalism became legalized within the last two and a half hours.

As the daily routine used to go when I would get in trouble with Kaylee around, the devil is waiting for me with the front door wide open and her best scowl on her face. Honestly, she's trying a bit too hard on her scowl. She sort of reminds me of a monkey trying hard not to smile.

"You think stealing someone's card and vandalizing their property is a joke, Francesca?" Her wannabe scowl is becoming even funnier by the second.

"More like the fact that you think I stole your card is a joke to me. But, the look currently on your face is even more of a joke," walking past her further into the house, I inwardly laugh at her face without meeting her eyes.

I hear her let out an aggravated huff and slam the door shut. To my surprise, Bria isn't here with her mother. Living in the same house for over a decade, I hardly ever saw Bria without her mother being nearby- even during school hours, Kaylee would take it upon herself to find an excuse for showing up to the school. I only know because Bridget would take to her blog about how this one girl in her friend group wouldn't survive college without her mother.

"Where the hell have you been, Francesca?!" Dad comes storming into the room from his office with an enraged look on his face. If this were a cartoon, the top of his head would have shot upwards with steam coming from his ears. In reality, I'm a bit concerned about his blood pressure and the increasing chance of him having some sort of heart problem.

I know, a bit late to actually be concerned about his blood pressure. On a normal day, my dad wouldn't get this angry with me. Instead, he would lecture me about my antics leading me down a troubling path in life and ground me for a few weeks. Well, all right, it was more so Kaylee who dished out the punishments. But, my dad did make sure to have a say in whether or not he thought the punishment was appropriate for whatever trouble I had found myself in.

"On a date," I reply with calm casualty. "Where have you been, Kyle?"

"Trying to keep your ass out of trouble." The fact that he's swearing much more than usual tells me that I really am in some deep shit. Looks like we're treading lightly in the rough, rough, invisible sea.

"Where is my credit card, Francesca?" not seeming to care that my dad is in the same room, Kaylee snarls from behind me.

I turn to face her and shrug my shoulders. "No clue. You should ask your angel when you see her later."

"I know you have my credit card, you little brat!" She raises her voice at me and balls her fists up at her side.

I glance down at her hands briefly and then look back up at her. "I take it your therapy sessions with Dr. Farro aren't going all that great."

"Storm, just hand Kaylee her card back," Dad gives me the stern-business face only a super serious lawyer can pull off.

"I swear on my life that I had nothing to do with the disappearance of Kaylee's precious credit card," holding my hands up in mock surrender, I state. "And, swearing on my life is a pretty serious thing to do."