[BoyxBoy] ✓ I Fell In Love With An Emo Boy

61. RESPECT

He was in the front yard, with a straw hat and gloves on.. gardening.

"Dad?" I said confused.

"Josh!" He said surprised. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Uh.." I shrugged. "Just.. I don't know."

"Well, come in." My dad laid his gloves aside and opened the small gate. "Do you want a drink? I started a tea collection."

"What? You?"

"Yeah. Did you know you can pair teas and food together similarly to wine? It's very interesting."

I followed my dad into the house. The walls were bright green.

"What the fuck?" I muttered.

In the kitchen there was a glass closet with an assortment of teas and books about tea.

"What is this?"

"Well, they say to get a hobby. Uh.. in AA. I got two." My dad chuckled embarrassed. He took off his hat.

"Sit!" He gestured to the table.

I sat down. There were flowers in a vase. 

"Flowers?"

My dad shrugged. "It's lively."

I nodded slowly.

I looked around. Behind me there was a huge black and white picture of me and my dad in a massive frame on the wall. It's from when I was a kid. It was practically a poster.

"What kind of tea would you like?" Dad asked.

"Um.. any. Any is fine."

"You seem nervous.. Valerian it is. It's good for anxiety." My dad chattered.

"Okay?" I shrugged.

"I'm really glad you're here, Josh. It's so good to see you."

I smirked. He sounded so happy.

He placed two cups and a plate filled with cookies on the table. Then he sat next to me.

I wasn't really sure what to say now. I just kind of wandered over here..

"How are you?" Dad asked.

I was good considering everything that had happened. But I also felt guilty and conflicted.

"I won't judge you." My dad said.

"It's just.. A lot has been going on.."

"You mean about Timothy? I heard what happened. It's awful."

"Yeah, exactly and.. stuff." I sighed.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. We can talk about other stuff. How's football?"

"It's okay. Especially now that those low lives are off the team. But it does mean we have less players. People that were on the bench are full on playing now and then there's the state championship game coming up.. I can't even focus on it." I shook my head.

My dad eyed me for a while. Then he started to smirk.

"There's a girl, isn't there? And she's really got you by the looks of it."

Not a girl. But I can't say that.

"What if I was keeping her a secret because my friends didn't like her?" I said.

"Well.. I understand what that's like. Everyone wants to fit in, there's nothing wrong with that.. It's just.. when you start hiding others you hurt them and yourself.. You can forget who you are.." My dad glanced at me. Then he shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't be speaking on this."