I thought about inviting Lily for dinner that night, but it was going to be awkward enough as it was. The last thing I needed was for my father to hate me more than he already did. And anyway, my plan was to just have dinner and come home. I wasn’t planning on making a long night of it. I was really only doing it for my mother.
When I arrived home, I was surprised to find my mother opening the door for me this time. She smiled when she saw me.
“Oh, darling! Your hair! You look so pretty,” she said. I knew she had always hated my red hair. She hadn’t ever really told me, but I had seen it in the look on her face.
I smiled. “Thanks, Mom. The red was fun for a while, but I wanted to go back to being myself again.”
“Your father is going to be very pleased.”
I groaned. “Don’t remind me. I should’ve stayed red then.”
She chuckled but didn’t say anything. When I walked in, I saw that my father was sitting where he usually sat when someone walked in. On the sofa, his back up, and a magazine sitting on his lap. I saw the surprise on his face when he saw me.
“Your hair. Much better,” he said.
I smiled tersely. “Thank you.”
Dinner was just as tense as I thought it was going to be. My mother had made a lasagna for the family, and I knew that she’d only done it to try and please me. My father, on the other hand, kept going on about why he couldn’t understand why she would cook if she doesn’t have to.
“What’s the point of a chef if we don’t use him?” he said.
“Maybe Mom actually likes cooking,” I said.
“Nonsense. Nobody likes cooking. You do it because you have to. And we have a perfectly good chef here, so I just don’t see the point.”
“Well, I for one am very happy that Mom cooked. This is my favorite dish, and I appreciate the effort she put in for me. Who needs a chef when you’ve got someone like Mom around?”
The two of us went on like this for the entire meal, each of us snapping away at each other while my mother tried desperately to placate us. I felt sorry for her, but I couldn’t help myself, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the house. But when I saw the desperation on my mother’s face, I decided to try and be a little nicer.
“So,” I said. “Did you have a good day, Dad?”
He looked up, surprised and could see that he was trying to figure out if I was being sarcastic or not. “Yes, it was good,” he said finally. “How about you? How is school?”
“It’s good. I’ve been getting very good grades, and I’ve been putting a lot of effort into my studying. I really enjoy it there. It’s taken me a while, but I think I’m finally settling in.”
“Good. You’re a very talented girl. I knew you would do well,” he said.
I could see that my mother was pleased that the two of us were finally getting along. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. But, of course, the good vibes were not to last. My father had to go and ruin it all.
“So, spring break coming up,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was actually thinking of staying behind, catching up on some reading.”
“Well, you can do that here my darling. No need to stay there. It’s quiet over the holidays. I’d much rather you come home. And the cafeteria is closed isn’t it? What will you do about food?”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Well, I don’t know . . .”
“Come home,” Mom said and smiled at me. I nodded. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would’ve been. My father and I could be civil to one another if we wanted to.
“Actually,” he said. “I was talking to Derek’s father, and I thought it would be good if we all spent some time together. They’re a great bunch of people, and we haven’t seen them in a very long time.”
I dropped my fork and stared open-mouthed at my father. I probably shouldn’t be surprised at the words, but I was.
“You want us to spend spring break with Derek’s family? And will Derek be there too?”
“Well, of course, he will, Candice.”
I shook my head slowly. “But we are not going out anymore. You know that. We broke up.”
“I know. I know. But that does not mean that you can’t still spend time together. And anyway, we’re good friends with his family. That doesn’t have to stop.”
“Dad, Derek hasn’t exactly been very nice during this breakup. He hasn’t been nice to me at all. Why on earth would you still want me to be friends with him?”
“Oh come on, darling. Don’t make this into a big deal. They’re family friends. It will be fun.”
“You are more than welcome to spend time with them. But I will not be a part of it.” I stood up and looked at my mother. “Mom, thank you so much for a wonderful meal. I really appreciate it. I’ll see you again in a few weeks when spring break starts. But I really need to leave right now.”
“Don’t be absurd,” my father said. “Sit down, Candice.”
“Bye Mom,” I said, avoiding my father altogether. Then I stormed out the house and immediately went to Lily’s dorm.
“Uh oh,” she said as she opened the door. “That doesn’t look like the face of someone who had a good time at her family meal.”
“Mind if I spend the evening here?” I said. “I could use a distraction.”
“Junk food and magazines?” she offered and pointed to her bed where a myriad of chocolate and magazines were scattered over the bedspread.
I laughed. “That sounds perfect.”
For the next two weeks, I threw myself into school work and spent as much time as I could with Lily before she left for Japan. I avoided Dominic as much as I could. Thankfully, he had dropped Professor Jackson’s class, so I didn’t have to worry about seeing him there. Apparently, it had to do with football practice, but I was sure that he was just avoiding me. I couldn’t believe that my father had ruined my chances of being with him all over again. It was like I was repeating my childhood. But as much as I managed to avoid Dominic, I couldn’t do the same with Derek. He was everywhere. He kept popping out of nowhere, hassling me and asking me out. And the more I turned him down, the angrier he seemed to get with me. I couldn’t believe that I had actually gone out with him for so long. He wasn’t a good person, especially when he couldn’t get what he wanted. When the two weeks of school where over, I almost felt glad. I was going to miss Lily, but at least I wasn’t going to have to constantly worry about bumping into Dominic or Derek. I went back to my parent’s house for a while. When I’d said no to spending time with Derek’s family, my parents had decided not to go either. I knew my father had only wanted us to go in order to get me back with Derek. I had no intention of letting that happen. My plan was to just stay in my room as much as I could until the two weeks were up.