"So, how has school been?"

I nod my head and say, "Good." Giving him the answer every teenager gives adults when they ask them about school.

"Good?"

I turn my head to look at him. "Yes, good," I say a little more assuringly.

"Have you started on your senior project yet?" He asks.

"Uhhh, no," I forgot I have to meet Jessica tomorrow. Crap, that means I won't get to go to the warehouse till later. I keep checking my phone, expecting a call to come through, or a text, something. I'm getting really worried; something doesn't feel right.

"Jayda," my dad snaps.

"Huh?" Was he talking to me?

"I said, have you heard from your mother."

"Oh, Uhm, yes, she called just before we left." he doesn't say anything; he just keeps his eyes focus on the road. "Have you heard from her?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "No, no, I haven't," he says despairingly. I can see the sadness on his face, his cheeks drop, and his lips relax.

"It's okay; I'm sure she's just busy; she'll probably call you later," I say, trying to ease his sadness. "She misses you," I add, partially lying, she didn't say she missed him, but I know she does.

When he turns and looks at me, I see it; I see his hope-filled eyes holding on to the thought of my mother missing him.

I know something happened between them; I know it; I remember how my mother looked when she came to say goodbye to me before she left; she looked crushed, but why?

Why would she just up and leave like that? I mean, yeah, she said goodbye, but she was in a rush, she left a whole week early; it just doesn't make any sense.

My whole freaking life makes no sense; there's always a secret waiting to be uncovered. I never thought about it until now, but what if the end of the tunnel is the big revelation of my life. The light, is all the questions, all the mysteries of my life being answered.

I've been stuck in the dark, not moving forward, just going in circles really, when all along I should have been moving towards the light. I should have been questioning everything that's happened in my life because everything happens for a reason.

So it's simple

When I find the light, I find the reason for everything.

...

"Thank you," I hand the waiter my menu; my dad gives him his. I take a look around the famous Crossland Country Club. I have never been here before. I don't know why my mom and dad like to come here. There's nothing grand about it.

Actually, I do know why. Anybody who is anybody is a member here. Out front, before we walked in, I saw a silver plaque with all the member's names on it. My parents were on there, Ryder's parents, Jessicas, Monica's, Ashley's parents, well her mom, I didn't see a Mr.Forbes on there. There were some other familiar names on there too.

"So, how do you like it?" My father asks with a big smile.

"It's..." I tilt my head side to side. "Fancy."

He laughs. "Well, I hope so, I pay almost a hundred thousand dollars a year for a membership here."

My mouth drops open. "A hundred thousand dollars?" I repeat, that can't be what he said.

"Mhm," he says, verifying what he just said.

"All the starving people in the world." I scoff. "And people pay a hundred thousand dollars a year to golf, eat and spend thirty minutes in a steam room." I try not to let my words come off as bitter, but they do. It makes absolutely no sense as to why people would spend all that money on a country club membership. I get other people, but my parents, I mean, I know we have the money, but they're all for investments, this doesn't seem like an important place to put their money into. My parents most likely go half and half on the cost, but still, why would they waste their money to hang out with pruney people when they could put their money towards something beneficial.

"That's America." My father jokes, I don't laugh. My father stops looking at me and looks behind me at something or someone. "Josiah," my father says. Josiah? Oh no.

The familiar man walks up. "Marcus." Ryder's father holds out his hand; my father stands up and shakes it. The man looks at me, "Jayda, nice to see you again. Glad you are doing well," he says.

I smile. "Thank you, and nice to see you too." My eyes look to the side, making sure Ryder is nowhere in sight. I don't see him, but that doesn't mean he isn't here.

"Marcus, I'm really glad I caught you here," Josiah says with a smile; Ryder looks nothing like him; now that I'm really looking at his father I think, he looks more like Evelyn. Josiah has  blonde hair, Evelyn has raven black hair like Ryder. Josiah has brown eyes, Evelyn has green eyes like Ryder. The only thing similar to him and his father is his height; they are about the same height. "I have the papers for the penthouse in NYC in the car. I just need a few signatures from you to finalize the payment."

Penthouse? Payment? Did he get the penthouse? I look at my father, who's looking at me. He turns back to Josiah. "Uh, how about I stop pass Monday? I kind of promised Jayda, no business today." He explains.

"Oh sure, no problem, Monday is perfect," Josiah looks at me and then back at my father. "God I would do anything to get Ryder out the pool house and come here, never comes here with me. If he did, I wouldn't stop for business either."

"Thanks for understanding." My father says.

"No worries, so Monday, let's say five?"

My father nods his head, Josiah walks away, and my father takes a seat. "So, you're buying the penthouse?" I ask before he even has a chance to explain.

"Yes."

"I don't understand why we need a penthouse." Once again, they're wasting money; I remember them talking about it in New York, but I didn't think they would actually get it.

"I'm opening a dealership and opening the corporate office in NYC," he pauses. "Didn't I tell you?" I shrug my shoulders. I honestly don't remember him saying anything about it, he could've, but I don't remember. An effect from the seizures, of course, I remember the big things, but the little things are what I find missing sometimes. "Well, I'm opening the dealership in New York and opening the corporate office out there also. Opening up a whole other dealership and running the corporate office is going to be a lot of work, I'm going to have to be in New York a lot, so I thought it would be best if-"

"If what, we moved out there?" I hope he doesn't aspect mom and me to just pick up and move. First, it's the house in LA that I still have no details about and now this.

" No, no, of course not. I would be in New York you two will still be--"

"What?! Still here." I ask a little too loudly; people sitting at the other table's around us look over. I forgot where we are, the gossip house; I know they're probably listening in on our conversation.

"Jayda." My dad snaps.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "But I just don't understand why you expect me and mom to just stay here in Crossland. I mean, when is this supposed to be happening? She's not even here right now; she could be gone for months. Do you expect me just to be home alone? For god knows how long." I can't do that again; I can't be alone with my thoughts ever; I have to keep busy when I'm busy; I'm distracted, oblivious to what's in me.

"No, no, of course not," he says. He takes a deep breath. "There's something I want to you about." And there goes our lovely father-daughter day down the drain, ending before it even started. "You said you weren't going to college, I." he hesitates. "I'm...I'm fine with that," he says as if it was painful for him to say. "But, you can't just not do anything."

I nod my head; my parents already defied the odds by accepting the fact I'm not going to college. I wouldn't ask them to allow me not to do anything with my life.

He continues. "With that being said." He pauses, I can see him questioning what he's about to say before he says it. "I want to offer you a job."

My mouth drops open, my body freezes, and I stare with wide eyes. A job? He wants to offer me a job. "At the dealership?"

He laughs. "Of course not there. The corporate office." I look down at my palms of my hand; if I had a rubber band on, I surely would be plucking it right now. I don't know what to say.

I still haven't given him an answer yet. "What would I be doing?"

"You would work alongside me in New York. You would help me get the dealership up and running, but you would mainly help out with the corporate office," he says. "I know how much you like math, so I thought you could handle the finance meetings, budgeting, and other stuff." He explains.

New York.

Run the corporate office.

Business meeting.

None of that sounds like me; I mean, I like math but not that much. And I don't think I would fit into a place like that. Not just because I don't have any business casual clothes, but because I'm inexperienced. I don't have a business degree, i'm not going to school to get one. I can't run a business. "I would do it by myself?" I ask. I wouldn't even know where to start, even if I did do it.

He shakes his head. "Of course not," he says. "I would show you the ropes for about six months; you're a fast learner; I'm sure you pick up quickly. If it takes you longer, that's fine; I will stick with you until you feel like you're ready."

I am a fast learner. I'm sure I could learn how to do everything quickly. But it isn't me. I know I would be miserable there. I have to say yes, though, they aren't tripping over the whole me not wanting to go to college thing, so I guess this is the least I could do. This is what my father wants me to do; he wants me to have a steady career, and business is that career. I bite my lip hard. My subconscious is telling me not to agree to it, not to do it. I push her voice out of my head.

"Sure, I'll do it."

...

Okay, the food wasn't that bad, but it still wasn't worth the price. I take a sip of my water. My dad wipes his lips with the fancy white towel. "So? Caleb."

I sigh and roll my eyes. I knew it was coming. "What about him?" I ask, knowing what he's leaning towards.

"Jayda." he narrows his eyes at me. "Did you-"

"I didn't sleep with him, well I did, but I didn't have sex with him if that what you're asking." As soon as I say the words, I can literally see a freaking weight being lifted off of him.

He sits up a little straighter in his seat and says. "Oh."

Oh? "That's it? That's all you're going to say? You don't want to know why we were sleeping together." I know he has questions, he has to. He shakes his head. "Well, if that's all you're going to ask, then I have something to ask."

"Okay."

"Why did you make him leave yesterday? I thought you liked him." When he first met Caleb, he seemed to be very fond of him; he liked him way more than my mother.

"Jayda, I'm your father, it's only right that I don't like any boy that comes your way." That explains why he doesn't like Ryder. I think. "Especially when they're coming from the direction of your room." I think back to what Caleb said yesterday about how he shouldn't be seen leaving from my room.

"He isn't like that," I explain, defending him. Even though technically, I should've said he isn't like that anymore.

"A boy will always be a boy," he says. I roll my eyes. "So, is he like your boyfriend now?"

I pick up my water, getting ready to take a sip. "Yes," I say before cold glass touches my lips.

"Do you love him?" he says blatantly. I immediately start choking on the cold water, people around us again begin to look, I cough and cough until I feel that small drip of water in my throat go down. "Is that yes?" My father asks after my near-death situation.

"No, I mean yes, I mean no." I scoff. I can't find the words to say. "How can I love him? We just started going out."

"So?" he shrugs his shoulders. "Love at first sight, my darling."

"Ugh, please don't tell me you believe in that?" I roll my eyes; I'll believe in the afterlife before love at first sight.

"Yes, yes, I do," he says with conviction.

"Well, sorry to tell you this, but it isn't real." I snort.

"It isn't real because what? Scientists say it's not. You won't believe it until it actually happens."

"So, what are you saying?" I growl.

"I'm saying; you don't love him."

I blow my breath. "Of course not. I just met him!" How could I love some I just met?

"Jayda, I'm not saying you don't like him, I'm sure you do. But you don't love him."

"I could, though."

"If you don't love him now, you'll never love him."

"That's not true.!" I could love Caleb. He's a sweet person. I like how I feel around him; if things go good for another month, our two I could love him. My father shakes his head, still in disagreement. "Just because I didn't fall in love with him instantly doesn't mean it can't happen." I snarl

"It won't happen." He says confidently.

"Right because it wasn't love at first sight." I mock.

He sighs, "I fell in love with your mother as soon as I saw her, the first time I saw her, my heart whispered, "That's the one." Did your heart whisper that when you first saw Caleb?"

"No, that's because it isn't real."

He shakes his head. "That's because he isn't the one."

(So in my psychology class we are learning about whether or not love at first sight it real... so yeah this chapter was inspired by that. I'm a no, but do you believe in it? Yall who ship Jaleb probably hate the father rn! Lol me too. Oh and guys this is the last slow chapter, these last 4 chapters are going to be a ride)