"95 percent!" My father says proudly. "You did better than I did my first time; I had to retake the test... twice," he adds. "Was it hard?"

"No, not really." I shrug my shoulders.

"And then you finished in like 10 minutes. How many questions was it?"

"Uhhh, 45." I look down at my learner's ID.

"Well, I'm happy you did well. Now comes the fun part." My father pulls into the lot of his dealership. I feel nervous being back here; I haven't been here since the renovations after the fire. It didn't take long for them to rebuild. My father said there wasn't a lot of damage because the fire department got here in a reasonable amount of time and was able to save the structure.

That night, it seemed like nothing happened the way it was supposed to. I was supposed to burn down the place and pay for my sins by killing myself. But that's not what happened.

I didn't die, and I didn't completely burn down the place my father loved more than me.

My father pulls into his designated parking spot right in front of the building. I open up the car door and get out. Chuck walks through the doors and meets us.

"Ah, the king and princess!" he says with his chin up and chests out. His brown hair is pushed back, he has a white shirt on, with a colorful tie, it has flowers and... shapes. It's hideous. I'm surprised my dad let him wear something like that. It doesn't look professional at all. The shirt he is wearing looks really small on him. He knows he is too big to be wearing a shirt that size.

"Hey, Chuck!" My father says, laughing.

"Hello, Sir. Oh, here are the keys." Chuck reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver key; my father takes it out of his hand. Chuck looks at me. "So how is the princess?" he asks.

"I'm good." I simply say.

He gives me a comforting smile. "Well, that's good. So, what car are you getting?" His eyes go wide with excitement.

I turn around and look at all the cars in the lot. I've never been good at choosing things.

...

I have to say; there's a nice feeling stirring in me. It has to be the car. I look around the brand new vehicle. I'm proud I made this choice. A 2020 Range Rover Evoque...New Edition. I was going to go with the 2020 Dodge Challenger, but I didn't like it as much as the rover.

I've always had a thing for big cars; I definitely get that from my father; he loves trucks; he has a 2020 Dodge Durango. My mother has a BMW series 7 sedan. She doesn't care for big cars, though she always drives my father's car. I think she likes driving it; she will never admit it, though.

I turn left down our street. I can't believe I'm driving; I can't believe I'm in a range rover. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen something so luxurious. I mean, I have to drive this to school. All eyes will certainly be on me when I pull up.

I didn't think about that.

Oh well, there's nothing I can do now—it's too late. Itll be nice driving this for a while; I wonder what my parents will do with the car once I'm gone.

I pull the car over in front of the house. I remove the key from the ignition slowly and step out. I softly close the door. I'm scared the cars going to break. I take two steps back and examine the beauty in front of me.

"You're lucky; you know that." My father says as he walks closer to me from getting out of his car.

"How so?"

"When I was 17, my first car wasn't a Range Rover." he put his arm around my neck.

"What were you driving?"

He laughs before responding. "A beat-up 1970 honda!" We both burst into laughter.

I think about the picture in his study, with him and Uncle Elijah, there was an ugly old car behind them. That has to be the car. "So wait, that picture in your office.."

"Yup."

We both continue laughing. My mother pulls up into the driveway; I thought she would've been back by now. She gets out of the car and walks over to us.

"Hey, baby!" My father greets her. She doesn't respond; she looks at him, then the car, then me, then back to him.

"Marcus."

"Yeah."

"Tell me you did not buy her a range rover!" my mother presses her lips together. Is she mad?'

"I did," he says, standing up a little straighter. "I mean, I told her to get the Lambo, but.."

"Marcus." My mother snaps, stopping him from making his joke.

My father removes his arm from my shoulder. "Jayda, go in the house," his voice is flat, with no emotion.

"What, why?"

"Just go, okay," he says.

"Okay," I say; I slowly walk past him and my mother.

"I don't want you buying anything for her." I hear my mother say to him as I walk away.

"She's my daughter." he snaps.

I'm too far now. I can't hear her response; I'm glad.

...

Dinner has been awkwardly silent. I'm glad that, for once, it isn't because of something I have done.

Though I shouldn't be glad, I don't like it when my parents fight, it's weird. Why is she so mad he bought me a car? My father said they were going to take me to take my test sometime this month, so I don't get why she is mad.

Maybe she's mad because it's a Range Rover? Nah, that doesn't make sense either, my mother likes fancy expensive things, and she likes me to have fancy expensive things. So that couldn't be it.

She's on her period. That's the best explanation.

I look at my father; he's on his phone. I look over at my mother; she's sipping her soup while also on her phone. "So!" I say loudly. They both jump a little. I let out a little laugh.

"Jayda!" My mother scorns me.

"I have a question," I say; my father puts his phone down. My mother puts hers down also.

I should've thought of a question before I said I had a question, being as though I don't have a real question.

I quickly blurt out, "Tomorrow, can I go out?"

They both look a little shocked. I've been out before, so I don't know why they're making that face. "Sure." my dad says.

"Uh, no." My mother says also. I look over to my father; he looks at me and then to my mother.

"Uhm." I don't know who to listen to, my mother or father.

"Your mother and I will talk about it." My father says.

"Cool," I say. "Well, uh, can I be excused?"

"Yeah, go ahead."My father nods his head.

I slide back from the table and head upstairs. I shut my room door behind me. Whew! I had to get out of there. I pull my hoodie off and remove my pants. I walk over and stuff them into my hamper.

I grab my towel and throw it on the bed after I remove my black bra and underwear. I throw it into the hamper also. I quickly grab the towel off my bed and wrap it around my body. I'm still not comfortable in my own skin; I can't even stand to look at myself in the mirror. No matter how many times I have been told I'm beautiful, I've never believed it; I will never believe it. I grab my phone and walk into the bathroom.

...

I hope they say I can't go out. I have nowhere to go. Maybe James and Violet are going out tomorrow. I remove my hand from the water and grab my phone to call Violet. The line rings, but she doesn't pick up. I remove the phone from my ear and hang up; I call James. After three rings, he answers.

"Hey, girl."

"Hey."

"What's up?" he asks.

"Are you and Violet going out tomorrow?" I ask.

He gasps. "Does Jayda King actually want to hang out?!"

What? I've been out b..

Without being asked? he cuts me off.

I laugh. "I know, I know, but I need to get out of the house." Only because I told my parents I was going out.

"Well, we are actually getting ready to go out tonight to a party." I can tell by his voice, he's excited.

"Where?"

"Um, Ravenswood," he says quickly.

"You're going to Ravenwood?"

"Yup, Logan invited us. He said to invite you to; I told him that there was no way in hell you were going to come."

"He wants me to come?" I rub the back of my neck.

"Yeah, he said something about you needing to talk to Caleb because he is like crazy now or something. I can't remember specifically what he said, though."

"Oh."

"Anyway, you in?" he asks.

"Uh, I can't go. I'm busy. Tonight."

He smacks his teeth. "Doing what?"

"Things!"

"Mhm, so do you seriously want to miss this chance to find out what the hell happened with Caleb? You can ask him."

I sigh. "I really don't care anymore. It was for the best." I say sternly.

"Okay." He sighs. "Well, we are going to the diner tomorrow, at 8. Meet us there."

"Okay."

"Okay, bye."

I remove the phone from my ear and hang up. It was for the best. I mean, there's no need for me to talk to him. I can't tell him that I want to be with him now because I don't. Well, I do, but we can't be together. I can't be with him.

Yes, he made me happy, and I liked how I felt around him. I would do anything to feel that way again, but it's not worth hurting him. I'm not a selfish person. It wouldn't be fair for me to start something with him knowing I will leave him soon. I won't do that to him.

But I will find out what happened between him and me. I need to know why he moved on, why he just cut me off. That's all I need from him; I told myself I would get closure from everyone before I go, and he's first on that list.

Closure is what I need.

I want answers, but I don't want to be at some party when I get them. So that's what Ill do tomorrow evening before I go to the diner.

Ill go see Caleb.

(What name yall like better Cayda or Jaleb?)