Silently Falling

Chapter Twenty (Edited 10/10/2020)

Beautifully done cover made by beautifullyyoung !

10/10/2020 - You will notice a lot of changes to this chapter hehe. Please get the in-line comments back up! I read through them every day and they always make me smile!

Silently Falling: Chapter Twenty

Later that day, I decide to step out of my room and go get something to eat. My plan? To avoid letting Dad see me. I'm still angry from before.

He and Toby are much the same. Neither are too keen on the idea of me inviting new boys into my life after what happened with Warren. When Dad met Kyle, my ex, I thought that relationship would end on the spot from how cold he acted towards Kyle. But since we only dated a short while, he rarely even saw my dad and it was never an issue.

Toby, of course, has warmed up to the idea of me befriending guys considering Tyler and Gray have become two of my closest friends, and he's clearly taken a liking to West. All he had to do was give him a chance. But Dad has no place to judge West. He has no place to tamper with whom I choose to be friends with.

Stealthily, I maneuver my way down the staircase and avoid all creaky steps. The second from the top, one halfway down, and the very last step all would blow my operation to get to the kitchen and back up without being spotted and forced to have a conversation with Dad.

I'm able to make it to the living room with no sightings of either Toby nor Dad, however I stop and quickly hide behind the wall from the living room to the kitchen when I hear both of their voices as they sit at the counter. I scowl as I cower in my hiding place, barely mustering my stomach's rumble. Dad's breakfast sandwich didn't do much to hold me over now that it's nearly five. I debate just walking in anyways and giving Dad the cold shoulder, but when I actually pay attention to their conversation, my curiosity outweighs my hunger and I stay hunkered down in my position to eavesdrop.

"So...I met your friend West earlier," Dad starts, his voice seeping with skepticism, "You never told me about him when we've talked."

"Yeah I did. I told you Tyler asked the new guy to sit with us."

"Well you seem to have avoided the part about Raine teaching him ASL."

Toby pauses and I lean further into the wall as though that'll make me able to somehow picture the scene better.

"I guess I left that part out," Toby says and I can imagine him shrugging nonchalantly.

"Toby."

Dad's voice comes out harder, sterner.

"That's not something you just leave out, especially considering what Raine has been through. I mean what do you know about this guy? Is he someone you can just let her hang around?"

My blood boils at Dad's questions and I find it hard to stay hidden instead of peeking out and telling him off. No one can choose who I get to hang around except for me, especially not my Dad who doesn't know the first thing about who West is.

"Look, it's not my place to tell Raine who she can and can't hang out with, Dad. I tried that and it didn't go over too well... As protective as I am over her, and as much as I want to keep her safe and never let another sleazebag near her, I can't act like her parent."