"Eleanor, I need you to stay away from me." He says as he holds tight onto my hand. I look up at him in confusion and hurt. No hint of anger is in his eyes.
"What, why?" I ask, voice breaking.
"I just need you to trust me okay? I don't want you to g...
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"You feeling nervous Eleanor?" My dad asks from the passenger seat of our shared silver Honda Pilot. His shift at the hospital started at 10am today, so he offered to give me a ride to school.
"Would you believe me if I said no?" I said, hands messing with my newly cut hair. I still wasn't used to the lack of weight on my shoulders and the quick styling job gave me way too much time to overthink everything this morning. I had tried on nearly everything in my closet before settling on my usual tank top/cardigan/black jeans look. But now I was starting to question that decision as well.
"Not at all," Dad laughed, "but I do know that everything is going to be fine like it always is."
My dad has been a constant source of encouragement and comfort in my life. I know he's tried his best over the years to make sure I never felt alone, despite the loss of my mother and his long shifts at the hospital. He was there for me when my friendship with Isaac first fell apart. He held me as I sobbed over the news of Mr. Lahey's death and the even more horrendous news of the abuse he put Isaac through. My dad is my rock, and has been for years. Though despite this, his assurances did little to settle my mood, and I just stayed silent.
"You know that Danny kid seems really nice," He starts again, "You never know maybe something could happen?"
"You do know Danny is gay right Dad?" I laugh
"Oh right, yeah of course. But hey, isn't he on the lacrosse team? Maybe he could set you up?"
I bring my hands up to cover my face and let out a big sigh. "My god dad, I don't want a boyfriend! Also, isn't it your job to try and keep boys away from me? Not encourage me to pursue a bunch of jocks?"
"Woah, I never said a bunch," He says, bringing his hands up in defence before quickly putting them back on the steering wheel, "I'm just saying maybe dating could be fun for you. And I want you to know that you can talk to me about it if you need to."
"Oh look, we are here," I say as we pull up to the school, "Thanks for the ride Dad!"
The car pulls to a stop and I quickly rush out the door. Before shutting it though, I peak my head back in and say, "I get what you are trying to do, and I do appreciate it. But I don't think I'm going to be talking to you about boys anytime soon, alright?"
"Alight, alright," He says, "I get it! Good luck at school El!"
As his car pulls away I start walking to the main building. On my way there I am stunned by two matching black motorcycles, and briefly wonder which hormone ridden teenage boys they belong to. I meet up with Danny as he is placing a set of textbooks in his locker.
"Hey," He says looking over at me, "Thank god they decided to start this week on a Wednesday right? I don't think I could handle an entire week of this."
"Agreed," I say and open my locker, "What is your first class again?"
"Precalc, you?"
"Uh let me check," I say reaching into my bag and pulling out my schedule, "I have English with a woman named Ms. Blake. Is she new?"
