Page 47 of Feel the Rhythm

Chapter 15

Iopenedthefrontdoor to my house, the familiar sound of Star Trek floating my way. “Hey, Ives,” my dad said from the couch. “You’re back earlier than I expected.”

I flopped down next to him. “Rough night.”

He looked me over for a moment. “Amy’s parents were pretty bad?”

I almost forgot about them. “They were exactly as I remembered them.”

My dad smirked. “But something else happened?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it yet.” I pointed the remote at the TV. “Let’s watch Star Trek.”

My dad wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I love you, Ivy. You’ve grown into such a wonderful young woman. I’m proud of you.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “You’re a great dad. I love you, too.”

He kissed the top of my head, then turned on the show. After one episode, the front door banged open.

“How long have you been seeing Scott?” Amy’s voice demanded.

My dad huffed a quiet laugh. “Scott, huh?” he asked. “That explains things.”

I looked up at the ceiling for help. Nothing there. “Biscuits, Amy! A little warning would have been nice,” I called back to her.

“Don’t you steal my catchphrase,” she said, walking into the living room with a finger pointed at me. “You can’t distract me this time.” She finally noticed my dad on the couch with me and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Hey, Brent,” she said, dragging out the words slowly as she thought of how to cover her mistake.

“Hey, Amy. So, it was Scott, huh?” My dad nudged my shoulder. “No wonder you were being so secretive.”

I groaned, covering my sadness with humor. “You two are the worst.”

Dad patted my shoulder. “I’ll let you girls talk.” He started lifting himself into his wheelchair, but I stood up first.

“You stay here. We’ll go talk in my room,” I said. I pulled Amy’s hand, dragging her towards my room.

“Good night, Brent,” she called through the hallway. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered to me.

I opened the door and pulled her into my room, closing the door behind us. I leaned my back against the closed door. “What do you want to know?” I asked.

“When? How? Why?” Amy put her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, that narrows it down.”

“Come on, Ivy. Scott was against me and Lucas before we even kissed. How could you see him behind my back?”

I walked over to my bed and flopped down on my back, my hands covering my eyes. “I know that’s how it sounds. But it wasn’t like that.”

Amy sat next to me on the bed. “So, what were you doing?”

“Just hanging out.”

“Did you kiss?”

“A little.”

“Blech, I did not need to hear that.”

“You asked!” I pulled my hands off my eyes and rolled over on my side to face her. “We were friends. He was there for me after the accident, when you were busy with Lucas. We would hang out, get coffee, or go to the pool. And then he asked me to date, so we secretly did for a little while.”