The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [64]
“No, I’m not in jail.” I couldn’t keep the annoyance out of my voice. Jail? Really? I’d been in trouble exactly twice in my high school career, and because I called at ten p.m. the first thing that came into his mind was that I must have been picked up by the cops?
“Why are you calling?”
“Who did you think was calling?” I narrowed my eyes as if I could see through the cell phone into my dad’s eyes.
“I’m not having this conversation with you now.”
My heart stopped. My dad was dating someone. “You have a girlfriend?” Logically I knew there was always the chance that my dad would see someone at some point. It wasn’t that I expected him to be alone forever with a shrine to my mom above the gas fireplace in the living room, but he’d never said anything. This felt sneaky and wrong.
My dad sighed. “This isn’t something I planned to talk about on the phone.”
I held off from pointing out that since he was always out of town and we never saw each other, the phone was pretty much our only option. Maybe he’d been planning to save this discussion for graduation, or maybe he’d never planned to tell me at all. There’d been a lot of that going on in my life lately.
“I’ve been seeing someone. Her name is Linda.” His voice sounded nervous. “She works with me. I think you’ll like her. She’s smart and funny. She’s an engineer. I thought maybe you could meet her this summer up at Grandma’s.”
“Huh.” I kicked at the floor with my foot. “How do you know you’ll still be dating her in the summer?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be happy about this. Seeing Linda doesn’t change how I feel about your mom.”
“How does Linda feel about you being gone all summer?”
There was silence on the phone. “Linda will be in London with me. The project over there is hers.”
My throat narrowed. “Linda’s project is in London.” I felt my breath come low and shallow. “That’s why you changed our summer plans. You wanted to go with your girlfriend on vacation.” My voice stretched out the word “girlfriend,” making it sound slimy.
“It isn’t that straightforward.”
“All I wanted for graduation was to spend the summer with you. You told me we could, and you let me plan a party for all my friends.”
“I know canceling your party was a disappointment, but this workshop in England is very important. I would hope you could understand that, especially given your age. You’re not a child.”
“Well, I’m glad you noticed I’m growing up. And for the record, it wasn’t some little party; it was a chance for me to spend one last time with my friends before we all go our separate ways. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but these people have been my family for the past four years. You know, family, what you used to be a part of.”
“This isn’t like you. You’ve become belligerent and angry. It’s not becoming. I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”
“Then, ask me! It’s not a big secret. I was calling to tell you. I don’t even know who I am anymore. I’m not sure what I want. I feel like you don’t want me in your life. Tristan and I broke up. Kelsie, who’s supposed to be my best friend, is dating Tristan on the sly. Joel likes me, which is totally awkward, because we’re supposed to be friends. Then there’s this other guy, who sort of drives me nuts, but then I kinda like him at the same time.” I took a deep breath, but before I could go on, my dad cut me off.
“This is a hard time, with graduation coming and all. I’ll call Dean Winston tomorrow and arrange for you to talk to someone. They must have a counselor there given what they charge.”
“I don’t want to talk to Ms. Sullivan. I want to talk to you.”
“Girl problems aren’t my thing. If your mom were here, she’d know the right thing to say.”
“There isn’t a right thing, Dad.”
“Now, look, I’m going to call the school tomorrow, and we can talk again later, when you’re not so upset. Or you could give your grandma a call. She’d love a long chat with you.”
“I don’t want to talk later, I want to talk now, and I want to talk to you.” I hated