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^^^^^^
" IT'LL BE ME. "
alexa, PROLONGED EYE CONTACT by bo burnham
^^^^^^
"I've decided to temporarily assist you in your investigation." Dad declared to Sam and Richie outside of the door, who we'd followed to Mindy and Chad's house.
"Thank-" Sam started, and I held up a hand to her face as I walked past.
"Don't think about it." I didn't care that she was trying to be genuine, I didn't want to hear it.
"Tatum," Dad warned, and I turned and smiled at Sam. I didn't say anything, I just smiled at her.
"Guys!" Mindy smiled brightly upon opening the door, but only wrapped me in a hug.
I felt special now.
"How do you know so much about the Stab movies?" Richie asked Mindy as we all came into her house. Everybody else was here-Brielle, Laina, Wes, Liv, Chad, and Amber, all from right to left with where they sat on the couch. While Mindy explained to Richie about her late uncle, Randy Meeks, I speed-walked over to squeeze in between Laina and Wes. Laina gave me a side hug after shoving Wes away before he could do the same. Brielle basically climbed over her sister to give me a kiss on the cheek.
"What's your dad doing here? Is everything okay?" Wes asked, his voice more hushed than it usually is.
"Sam meets murder." I went with the bare minimum for my response, but on the plus side, Wes instantly seemed to understand the context of this entire situation.
"I agree." Laina whispered, and I laughed and shook my head.
"Oooh, suspects!" The world's dorkiest mother, Martha Meeks-Martin, came in with a tray of snacks. "My brother would be so proud," she declared upon setting the tray down on the coffee table.
"Hey Martha," Dad's voice was soft and sweet as the short and stout woman straightened herself back up.
"Dewey!" Miss Meeks' voice was full of excitement as she hugged Dad, and I smiled at this sweet moment. "Hi! You look..."
There was a lot of awkward nodding to make up for a lack of words, and I pressed my lips together, feeling bad that Martha couldn't find any words to describe my dad. He looked nice for his age, he looked nice and put together today. He's been doing very good-there had to be at least one nice thing that she could find to say about Dad.
