"Wake up!" I hear my blinds fly open, the sunbeams into the room, my eyes aren't open, but I can still see the intense bright light even with them closed. Ugh, why is my father in here? I don't want to talk to him; I just want to be alone. I'm really not in the mood to deal with him today; I know he is burning with questions, wondering if his perfect daughter slept with the not so perfect boy. I did say I slept with him, but of course not in that way. Knowing my father, he most likely thought it was in that way.

Parents swear that sex is the only thing on teenagers' minds.

I mean, yeah, sex is on most teens' minds, but it isn't on mine. To some kids, sex isn't even that important.

I can feel him standing at the front of my bed; I blow my breath and then open my eyes. He is wearing jeans and a blue collared shirt; I can't believe it. He's in casual clothes. On Saturdays, he doesn't have to dress up to go to work; he usually does, but I guess he decided not to today. He doesn't have business meetings on Saturdays; he mostly just goes to the dealership and does paperwork in his office. No one will see him, that explains why he's dressed like this.

He pulls the cover off of me, the cold air hits my body, and I shiver. "Dad!" I whine, "Arent, you going to be late for work?" I ask, he needs to go.

"I'm not going to work," he says.

My lips part to say something, but nothing comes out; I think about what he just said I'm not going to work. My dad has never taken off of work; I mean, he's stayed home and done work from here, but he has never not done any work at all. I sit, grab my cover, and wrap it around me. "Are you going to the club or something?" That's the only valid reason I could think he has for not going into work; the club is his next favorite place to be other than the office, oh and the gym, he loves going to the gym.

"Nope," he has a sly smirk on his face. I tilt my head to the side. " I took off so you and I could spend the whole day together," he chirps. Again, I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I don't know what to say; he took off for me?

"Why?"

He sits beside me on the bed. "I thought it would be fun if we spent the day together, just me and you." He twists his wedding ring, he's thinking about mom, I know he is.

"I don't really feel like it." I push my hair behind my ear. I know he's only doing this because of what I said yesterday about Caleb being the only one who cares about me and how he is never here. His wanting to hang out with me isn't genuine.

He stands up from the bed. "Come on, Jayda, I already took off, and I have a whole day planned for us." I see the excitement in his eyes, a small little flame behind his iris. "Wait," he puts his hand out, "I got something for you." He turns around and walks out the door. What does he have for me? The last time he had a surprise for me was when I got my SAT scores back. God, I hope he doesn't walk in her handing me a Yale shirt. I rest my head in the palm of my head. He walks back in the room with a small gift bag, its all black with a yellow flower in the middle. He hands the bag to me; I examine it. "Look inside." he urges.

I open it and look inside. There's a white card; I look up at my father wry, and then slowly pull out the card. I don't know why my heart is pounding as if when I open it, I'm going to die or something, but it is.

My whole body is shaking and not in a good way; my subconscious laughs.

I take the car out and sit the bag to the side. The card is also black; on the outside, there is a tall man and a little girl outlined in white holding hands, father and daughter, I assume. I open the card and read the white writing.

No man in this world

will ever love or admire you

the way I do -Dad

There's a lump in my throat and something prickles in my heart, a different prickle from the one I usually feel with Caleb. This is the feeling you get when you are around your father when you know that you are really his little girl. Moments like this are when daughters know no matter how many awful things you say to him or how many times you yell and slam doors; you'll always be his little girl. Even if you did something horrible, something that you think is unforgivable, they will forgive you. I need to tell him about the dealership; I have to.

"Do you like it?" He asks me; I haven't said anything out loud since opening it, he probably thinks I hate it, but I don't.

"I love it," I say; a huge smile grows on his face, a smile I haven't seen in a long time. "Dad, I have to--"

"Can it wait?" He asks, cutting me off.

"Uh... Uhm."

"It's just we're running kind of late for brunch, I made us a reservation at the club," he says.

"Brunch?" I didn't even realize it was noon.

"Yesss." He says with a wide smile, "Now, wash up, get dressed; I'll see you downstairs." he turns around and walks out of my room.

Guess I will have to wait, but I will tell him soon.

I look back at the card and read over the words again. This really is the perfect card after what I said to him yesterday about how Caleb cared about me more than him. When did he even have time to get this? I'm a light sleeper; I didn't hear anything, then again, I was exhausted yesterday; I don't know why; after I stormed out of my father's room, I came right upstairs and went to sleep. Well, after I called Caleb, I went to sleep, he didn't answer; I hope he isn't mad at me. I grab my phone from under my pillow to see if he called me back; he didn't; I have no missed calls.

I take a deep breath and stand up from my bed. I sit the card on my desk; usually, I throw everything into my drawers, but I won't throw this in there.

This isn't junk to me; it's a treasure, something I will always cherish.

...

I turn the metal shower knobs; the water turns off. I grab my fluffy white towel off the sink and wrap it around my wet body. I pull the scrunchy off my head and run my fingers through my damp hair tossing it all to the side.

"Jayda, hurry up!" My father yells from downstairs.

"Okay!" I yell back. Ugh, I hate being rushed, but today I can let it slide; at least I'm being rushed for something good.

A day with my father. A whole day with him, without any distractions, well without any distractions with his job. I know all I will be able to think about is Katie; I was going to go to the warehouse today to see if she was there. I kind of wish my dad would've planned this father-daughter day for some other time, a time when my life was not so stressful.

Then again, my life is always stressful, so our day together would've never happened.

This day would've never happened if I killed myself too; if I was gone, I wouldn't be standing here right now getting ready to spend a day with my father. My father wouldn't be downstairs waiting ecstatically for our departure. If I had taken my life, he would be downstairs drowning in a pool of tears.

It's crazy how the idea of me dying used to make me feel... nothing.

Now the idea of me dying, the idea of me leaving him, him, and my mother makes me sick to my stomach.

...

Okay, this will have to do. I button my black jeans and then walk over to my bed, slipping my feet into my sneakers. Before I go, I want to call Katie, it's a long shot, but she may pick up. I pull my phone from my back pocket and dial her number; it rings three times before it goes to voicemail.

She saw my call and sent it to voicemail; that's good, I guess. Or then again, maybe Travis saw my call and hung up. Just thinking about him being with her right now makes my heart beat out of my chest. I wonder what he said when she told him she was pregnant. Knowing Travis, I know he didn't take the news well. I can't see him being happy at the fact she's pregnant, he is far from the fathering type.

Travis Ford, a father, it's an oxymoron.

My phone vibrates in my hand; my breathing stops until I look down and see it's my mother. I sigh, exhaling the air that was trapped inside me.

"Hello."

"Hey, baby," she says. "I'm so sorry I didn't call yesterday; I was up all working on the case," she explains her reason for not calling. It doesn't make me upset; her work is important, more important than me, I get that.

"It's okay; Uhm, when does the trail start?" I ask only because I know that I won't hear from her for weeks when the trail starts.

"Monday,"

"Oh." A small cloud comes over me.

"So the competition, did you win?"

"Yeah."

She squeals with excitement over the phone. "I knew you would; I'm so sorry I couldn't be there; when I get back we are going to celebrate."

"When will you be getting back?" Sometimes her trails last for weeks, other times it lasts for months.

"Uhm," she hesitates. "I don't know; this case is a serious one; it could last for a while."

"Oh."

The phone goes silent; at the pit of my stomach, I can't help but feel maybe the case isn't the only reason she's going to be away for a while. "What are you doing?" she asks, breaking the silence.

"I uh, me and dad are going out to lunch," I tell her.

"You and your father?" she questions, shocked. "He didn't have to work?"

"He did, but he took off." Saying the words "He took off" doesn't even sound right coming out of my mouth; my father never takes off. Not only is he an alcoholic, but he's also a workaholic two. Two things that usually correspond with each other.

"Wow, your father took off." we both laugh. "Well, uh, I hope you too have fun, enjoy this day with him," she adds. A weird feeling comes over me, I don't know what it is or what to call it, but something doesn't seem right with what she just said.

"Okay," I respond without questioning it further.

"I love you, Jayda."

"I love you too"

(I love this chapter, Jayda's father does some crazy things but he loves her. Remember this chapter lol)