After his fight with his dad, Freddie was sent to his room, but his mind was too preoccupied for him to stay angry very long. Instead of blasting his music to vent out his anger in a typical teenage way (which he normally did), Freddie paced around his room.
"I need to make a plan", he whispered to himself. "If I can't get my parents to love each other, maybe I can reunite dad with his former flame. Maybe she could at least clear up some things for me. She might even be able to bring back the spark in his eyes. I mean, what can it hurt to try?"
Now normally Freddie wouldn't get within ten feet of the whole match making business since he was still getting over his impression that girls were disgusting and weird. However, when it came to his family, and especially his dad, things were different.
His father had instilled in him a great sense of family loyalty, and though they butted heads on certain issues, the problem between them was not that they were too different to see eye-to-eye; it was that they were too similar, and they both didn't like to be reminded of that.
While he was contemplating what to do first in his plan, he heard his father calling him downstairs.
"Freddie, your mom's here to pick you up for the weekend, hurry up!"
"Ok, Dad, be right there!" he called back.
Freddie grabbed his lab top and rushed down the stairs.
"Ok, see you Monday, Dad. Love you."
"Wait, why do you need your laptop? Are you actually going to do your homework this weekend? I think I've died and gone to heaven" Louis said with a smirk.
"You're hilarious, Dad, but I can't talk now, gotta go!" Freddie said as he rushed out the door and into his mom's van.
"How's my favorite son today?" Briana asked with a smile
"Mom, I'm your only son, and I'm fine, but I may be a little busy this weekend."
"Oh really, doing what?"
"Well uh...I have this big project coming up in Social Studies, and I'm kind of behind on it."
"Wow. I'm glad to hear you are finally taking your classes seriously. Anything I can help with?"
"No, it's fine, mom, I know what I'm doing; it'll just take a while."
"Ok well, I'd like to spend some time with you too, mister. Pretty soon you'll be out of high school, and who knows how often I'll see you."
"I have plenty of time before that, but sure we can do something if you want. I just want to get started on my project soon" Freddie said, scratching the back of this neck.
Briana noticed Freddie had scratched his neck, and she knew he only did that when he was nervous or lying, so she asked
"Freddie, are you telling me the truth about this secret school project of yours?"
"Sure am, mom, why do you ask?"
"Well you scratched your neck, and you usually only do that when you're nervous or lying. So, which is it? Are you nervous or telling me a lie?"
"I am a little nervous about how the project will turn out, but I'm sure it'll be fine. No need to worry about it, mom."
"Alright, don't let me down, kiddo."
"I won't mom."
When they got to Briana's house, Freddie plugged in his lab top and got straight to work. The first thing he did was research everything he could find out about Eleanor Calder. Looking her up in Google was his strategy, and he found articles about her and his dad, references to her fashion blog, and links to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Running his hands through his dirty blond hair, Freddie stared at the screen in fascination. Though he had never met Eleanor, there was a strange sense of familiarity about her. It was almost as if her presence was missing in his life.
