Seasons Change

22.

Chapter 22.

When I stepped through the door of my father's house, I felt like I had stepped into a strange alternate reality. My dad and Avery were sitting on the couch, laughing and chatting like they were old friends. That in itself was strange enough, because I had never seen Avery act so agreeable with anyone. What was stranger, though, was the way the smile fell from my father's face when he spotted me. From the way he glared at me, I knew that Avery had said something to get me in trouble. The problem was, I had no idea what she said, and that bothered me. A lot.

"Lillian. Marie. Faye," my father said, his tone harsh. I gulped, knowing I was in big trouble, because Dad had used my full name. "Get in here now. We need to talk."

Hesitantly, I slunk into the living room and perched awkwardly on the couch.

"Hi, Daddy," I said, giving him a small, hopeful smile. There was a slim possibility that he was just messing with me, right? That this was just a bad joke?

"Don't 'Hi Daddy' me," he snapped.

Yup, he was definitely angry, and I had no idea why. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing much," Avery said, smiling sweetly at me. "I was just telling Mr. Simons about how you and Luke were shacked up in our dorm room all week. And how you were late getting home because you told me you needed a little extra one on one time with Luke."

She winked suggestively at me, implying that Luke and I had been hooking up in our dorm room, when she knew perfectly well that we hadn't been. Actually, there were so many things wrong with her statement that I didn't even begin to know how to defend myself. And it was seriously weird to hear her refer to my father as Mr. Simon. Everyone outside of the family just called him Coach.

"I am so disappointed in you, Lillian," Dad said, and I actually felt a little guilty, which was crazy, because I hadn't even done anything wrong. How did parents do that? They used that heavy tone of voice, and all of a sudden, you felt like a criminal on trial.

"But Dad, I swear I didn't do anything wrong," I protested. "We didn't even do anything. I mean, yeah, Luke slept in our dorm room, but he slept on the floor. Avery was in the room with us the whole time. It's not like we were hooking up. Luke and I aren't even dating."

Avery coughed. "That's even worse," she said, shaking her head at me.

"I don't believe you," Dad said, crossing his arms and glaring at me intensely, as though he were trying to get me to break down and admit to wrongdoing.

"But it's the truth! Besides, why does it even matter? I'm an adult, and if I want to have guys over, I'm allowed to."

Dad's face was turning a strange combination of red and purple, which might have been funny if I wasn't in so much trouble. He looked like he was about ready to explode. "You are hardly an adult," he spat finally. "I'm still paying all of your expenses, and you are still living under my roof whenever you're not in school. Therefore, I expect you to follow all of my rules. And that means absolutely no co-ed sleepovers."

I wanted to roll my eyes at his overprotective outburst, but I knew that would only land me in more trouble. My dad was being completely ridiculous. He had no way of enforcing any sort of rules for me while I was at school, and deep down, I was certain he knew that. It was probably why he was so upset now.

"Nothing happened," I reiterated. "Dad, you can trust me to make good decisions. I promise."

"If it was so innocent, why didn't Luke stay with Dylan when he visited?" Dad asked. "That would have been much more appropriate."