Believe Me ✔️

[7] Uncle Frank

An awful headache pounds against my skull. I want it to go away. I shield the light from my face as I sit up. The room spins until it settles into the nurses office. Why am I here? I forgot how uncomfortable this couch is. I blink until my eyes adjust.

The school nurse is standing in front of me. "Sweetie, lay back down. Your fever's spiked up to a hundred and one. Rest until your ride gets here." She leaves without another word.

"Addy! Are you okay?" Tyler's in here, too.

"Why am I in the nurses office?" I mumble into my hand before rubbing the pain out of my temple. The back of my head hurts. I reach back and feel a bump. "What the hell happened?"

"Don't you remember? You were at your locker and you passed out. Lucky Paul was there to help you."

My eyes widen as I remember seeing Paul. His stupid grin haunts me and I shake the memory away. I hide my hands in my pockets and lean back against the couch. What time is it? I don't have my phone. It's in my bag. Where's my bag? The panic settles in when I see my bag on the floor. "I wanna go home."

Tyler rolls his eyes. "That's what I've been telling the stupid nurse. She won't let you leave without parent's permission. No one can get ahold of Dad, so they contacted the next emergency contact."

Oh no. "Uncle Frank?" I groan, struggling to hold back an eye roll.

"Yeah, but he's on duty right now so I don't know when he'll get here."

There's a familiar voice outside the room. "Hey. Detective Alway here. I'm here to pick up my niece, Addy. Where is she?"

"Uncle Frank's here," Tyler and I whisper in unison.

The door slams open. Uncle Frank runs in and stops when he sees me. He sighs in relief and smiles. "Addy! You're awake. The school called and told me what happened. I got over here as soon as I could. Are you alright?"

"I guess, Uncle Frank. I'm fine. I just want to go home."

"That's what I'm here for. Give me a minute to talk to the nurse." Uncle Frank closes the door behind him. Walls are paper thin, anyway.

I stand up and reach for my bag. The dizziness comes back and I fall forward. Tyler jumps up and catches me in time and helps me back on the couch. "Man, this flu is kicking your ass, Ads. Maybe you should have waited another day."

"I don't ever want to come back."

Tyler laughs and sits down beside me. "Like anyone wants to go to school."

I check my phone. Almost one-thirty. I've been in here for over an hour. No missed calls or texts from Vanessa, Logan, or anyone. Everyone thinks I did this for attention, probably. "Umm, where's Vanessa and Logan?"

"Probably back in class. The nurse wouldn't let them stay. Just me until they could reach dad or, you know, someone who knows how to answer the damn phone."

I recognize the look on his face. "You're mad," I point out, staring carefully at him.

Tyler looks over and nods. "I'm fucking pissed, Addy. What is something serious happened? What if you had to go to the hospital? Dad can't even answer a damn phone call!"

I can't argue with him there.

Uncle Frank walks back in. "Alright. Get your stuff, Addy. I'm taking you home."

"Logan can take me home."

"Let's go, Addy." Uncle Frank stands his ground. He won't budge.

I sigh in defeat and stand up and grab my bag from Tyler. "Fine. But only because I'm too tired to argue."

My brother follows us out. "Football practice starts in an hour. I'll see you at home, Ads. Get some rest, okay? Drink lots of water and sleep."

"Yes, Mom," I tease, waving as Tyler heads in the opposite direction down the hallway. Uncle Frank and I walk side-by-side to his black SUV. The perfect car for a perfect detective. At least that's what he likes to think. "I didn't know you were still listed as our emergency contact."

Uncle Frank sighs. "Addy, just because your father and I had a misunderstanding doesn't mean I stopped caring. You're my niece. I love you. Even if you find a hard time believing that. Besides, I'm sure he appreciates not having to go to those mind-draining parent-teacher meetings and bailing you out of your problems."

"Sounds like a burden to bear."

He clicks a button on his key and unlocks the car. As he heads around to the driver's side, he stops and points the key at me. "Don't start today, Addy. Okay? This new case I'm on has got me stressed and frankly, I don't need your attitude."

"Like I said before, Logan could have given me a ride home."

His nose scrunches in disgust at the mention of my boyfriend's name. He doesn't like Logan. "No. No. Your stupid boyfriend's not taking you anywhere. You're going straight home and you're going to sleep. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now get in the car, Addy."

I climb in and put my seatbelt on. My head feels like it's going to explode. Uncle Frank leaves the maze of the senior parking lot and starts driving back to the house. A few minutes of awkward silence passes before I finally get the courage to ask, "Dad didn't answer the phone, huh?"

Uncle Frank shakes his head. "I already left him a pretty detailed voicemail, Addy. Don't worry about your father."

"Like how he doesn't worry about us?" I snap without a second thought.

"I don't want to speak poorly of your father, but—"

I face him with a smile. "No, go ahead. I'm all ears. Tyler and I do it all the time. He's not around to hear, so what's stopping us?"

He frowns. Before whatever caused their big fight, Uncle Frank was always so protective of his brother. He never let anyone say or do something bad, not even his stupid niece. Now look at him. I still don't know what they fought about. No one will tell me. "Ads, your father is a very dedicated man and one of the hardest workers I know. Yes, it's easy to see his priorities are discordant and whatnot, but everything you have, all those expensive things, are because of him. Your nice car. Your nice clothes. Your nice house. You could be a little grateful."

The smile fades and I turn to stare at the window. "I barely drive my car now. None of my clothes fit the way they used to. I hate being inside that house. I don't want dumb expensive things. All I want is a dad who asks about homework and my grades and my boyfriend and my friends and wants to watch a movie with me once in a while. Someone who's actually around."

Uncle Frank glances over just as I sneak a tear away. "Yeah, I know kid. I know." He pauses and asks, "Why don't you like being in that house?"

"It's haunted."

He laughs. "I don't doubt it."

I turn and face him again. My frown matches his. A thought just occurred to me. Uncle Frank's a detective. He'd help me make a report against Paul. Ugh. Even thinking his name makes me sick. I never want to see him again. I want him to pay for what he did to me. "Uncle Frank, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. Always, Addy. What's up?"

"I need Detective Alway for this."

Uncle Frank gives me a weird look. His worried eyes don't comfort me at all. He doesn't protest. At the light he makes a U-turn and heads to the police station.