All I see ✔️

CHAPTER 22

Alexis

(A/N: a little bit steamy. You've been warned ;) )

"Yes Dad," I balance my phone between my cheek and my shoulder and tie my boots' laces.

"And do you have your laundry done?"

"Yes," I mutter for the millionth time.

"Do you need more money?" Dad's voice is laced with curiosity but I am not going to fall for it. the second I say I need some, he's going to shower me with his best versions of 'You are a spoiled brat' from the book 'How to make Alexis feel like trash 101'.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep yep."

"What about that grade?" I whip my head up at his question and my phone almost slips.

I can see my face visibly losing color in the mirror in front of me. Does he know about Aaron? Is he trying those 'I will let you tell the truth but I will give you a hint that I know about it' parenting techniques on me?

"What grade?" I ask calculatedly.

"The one where you got a D, are you studying?" he asks, irritated.

I sigh a breath of relief, "Yes, I am."

"I think you should ask someone to help you with that," he suggests and I almost fall off the chair again. Is this another bait? My dumb brain cannot understand his tactics.

"Liam is helping me."

Technically, it's not really a complete lie, since I accepted that someone is helping me. I just mixed up two people. No big deal.

But if he does know about Aaron, then I am going to tell him he's a friend. What happened with Aaron was a vision; the universe telling me to stop being a pansy and stand up for my friends. But hopefully, Dad never gets to know. I can't tell him Aaron's name, he's too smart not to put two and two together and figure it out. I will be done with Aaron's deal in a month and then everything will be unicorns and roses again.

Dad clicks his tongue and I wish he could see me rolling my eyes, "Never liked that boy, Liam."

"You don't even know my friends."

"Honey, that's not true." He says, defensively.

"Oh yeah?" I challenge, "Who's my roommate?"

The silence on the other end of the line tells me all I need to know, "It's cool, Dad. It's Ellie."

"Ellie yes! I was just about to say it."

Yeah right. He might have convinced Mom that he cared about her, and he probably did. But after she died, I was a long-forgotten part of his long-forgotten family. He was always jumbled up in his job and not in my life. On one hand, it's good I guess. I could do whatever the hell I wanted to do as long as it wasn't illegal.

He sighs, "I don't have time for this chit-chat," when do you ever have, I think, "Are you eating alright?"

I mutter a yes and he babbles on about the need for a healthy diet and nutrition. Imagine voluntarily choosing vegetables over burgers; that's a superpower I have yet to inherit, which is not fair. I am twenty, I should have unlocked my magical abilities to eat greens at sixteen. I have been scammed.

"I gotta go, I am meeting a friend," I fling my bag over my shoulder and lock the door behind me. Ellie isn't home and I'd rather not have some psycho come and steal our precious espresso machine and my shoes.

"Who?"

"You don't know him."

"Oh, it's a 'him'?" I can hear the smugness radiating from the phone.