Chapter 18: Chapter 18
"Someone need their homework?" Dominic holds the papers up as he waltzes into the store.
I try not to cringe, "Thank you, Dominic, I appreciate it."
"Feeling better? Jordan said you weren't feeling too well," He makes himself comfortable, leaning on the counter, smiling at me.
"Yeah, I'm ok," I focus on the register as he plops the papers in front of me.
"Good, I hope you're still up for Sunday. Emily is really excited. I am too."
I freeze, "You're excited?"
"Yeah, it'll be a great chance to hang out," He shrugs and pushes back against the counter.
I look at Mr. Marsh, he's listening in, clearly confused. Dominic stands around looking at everything on the shelves, making his way to the paints.
"Dominic, I thought I made it clear to you that I have no intention of mixing my social and professional lives. I need this job and I want to give it my full attention while I'm there."
He turns to stare at me, his eyebrows raised, "Oh you were serious about that?"
"Yes!" I look to Mr. Marsh who seems just as stunned as me, "Of course I was serious. I wouldn't have taken the job if I weren't serious!"
He shrugs his shoulders and turns back to the shelves, "Ok."
I'm speechless as he calmly leaves the store. Once he's in his car Mr. Marsh comes to stand behind me at the counter.
"That was certainly odd," He says slowly, "Why don't you go on break, I'll keep an eye on things out here."
With a nod I step away and out the back door. I pull out my phone quickly and call Jordan.
"What's up beautiful buttercup? You're not off for more than two hours, everything ok?"
"Yeah, I'm on break. Mr. Marsh was worried so he sent me out for a bit. What are you up to?"
"Worried? What was he worried about?" His voice speeds up.
"Dominic, he came in with my homework and was acting weird. Saying he didn't think I was serious when I said I wasn't bringing my personal life to my babysitting job and wouldn't use it to hang out. He was kind of creepy about it."
"Are you going to be ok on Sunday? Will he be there?"
I scratch the back of my head, thinking, "I... I don't really know. I thought he got the message and made plans but now..."
"Do you want me to come over there, hang out until you get off?"
I shake my head even though he can't see me, "No it's ok, I don't want to interrupt whatever you're doing anymore than I already have."
"I swear if I could kiss you to shut you up right now I would, you're not an interruption or burden or derailment or inconvenience or any other word you could come up with. I'm literally just driving around, I easily could have an excuse to be at the hardware store but I try not to come in unless I have to or you want me there."
"If you want to come by you can then. It's quiet and I'm mostly just going to be doing homework," I look at the time, "I should get back inside though."
"Alright, I'll be there in just a few. I'll help you with any math homework. You're going to do great on that test on Monday."
"If you say so... I'll see you soon."
"Yep! I love you."
"I love you too," I hang up and shove the phone in my pocket.
I knock on the door and wait for Mr. Marsh to come open it. He does with a smile.
"Jordan's stopping by, is that ok?" I ask as I pull out the math assignment from the stack Dominic provided, "He wants to help me with the math."
"Yeah, go right ahead Rhea, it's not like there are any customers to disturb," He lets out a wheezing chuckle.
"I'm pretty sure all the pick up orders are ready, I think one of them is due today. One of the construction companies in town ordered a bunch of stuff," I point out, "It'll be a big load."
He nods before heading into the back room. I sit at the counter and look over the assignment. It says that these are extra practice problems and can be turned in for extra credit. I'll take it.
Tapping my pencil I get to work reading the question. I'm interrupted moments later when Mr. Marsh comes back out. I point at him.
"Time me?" I beg, "I want to try and finish this in under an hour."
He chuckles and looks at his watch, "Starting in three... Two... One.... Go!"
I start reading, telling myself to slow down so I don't miss anything. I sit understand what I'm looking at and try not to get frustrated.
"Don't think about the test," I tell myself. With a deep breath, I focus on the question and try to remember how to do it.
One by one I finish the questions. Jordan comes in not long after I've started, but he doesn't speak as he sees me working. I feel their eyes on me as I work, it makes me shake with nerves.
I'm on the last question when my hand cramps, I put my pencil down and read over the graph again. I force myself to avoid looking at the clock. I count the squares on the graph two or three times before I write my answer. Putting the pencil down I look at Mr. Marsh.
"One hour, forty five minutes," He calls out, a smile plastered to his and Jordan's faces.
I groan and drop my head on the desk.
"Baby what are you doing?" Jordan asks as he moves to stand in front of me.
"I'll barely have an hour in class," I whine, "I can't do this."
"But you just did! You completed the worksheet, and that's what, 20 questions?"
I nod, "Something like that."
"The test has 21, you can do it! We'll work on getting it done a little faster this weekend, and even if you don't get a perfect score you have the extra credit right here that you just did. You are going to do great on Monday. You can do this, and you will!"
"Do you really think that?" I ask, looking up at him through my lashes, I see him nod. I look over to Mr. Marsh who also gives me a thumbs up.
"Let's see how you did on the worksheet," Jordan holds out his hand and takes the paper. I pull my finger while he reads it over.
"Take a breath kiddo," Mr. Marsh whispers behind me, "You did good."
I smile up at him while we wait for Jordan to tell us how I did.
"You got all but two of them right," He smiles wide at me. Mr. Marsh grips my shoulder and gives me a happy shake.
I'm at a loss for words as they chatter amongst themselves on how much they believe in me. I take the sheet back and stare at it. This paper is worth 20 extra points, and right now I've earned 18 of them on my own. I can do this!
Together, Jordan and I work to fix the two I got wrong. By the time we've finished, I'm clocking off and saying goodbye to Mr. Marsh for the day.
Jordan offers to pick up my truck and bring it to me in the morning, but I tell him not to worry about it. I'm not worrying about anything. I'm so proud of myself my cheeks hurt from smiling.
Jordan buys me cookies on the drive, and plays some of my favorite music. I catch stop watching him and just being in true awe of how amazing he is and how much he seems to care about me.
He takes us to the library where we work on the majority of our l homework load and do some extra practice for math class. It's almost seven when we leave.
He drops me off at the auto shop and waits until I get my truck back. Jordan payed the bill without telling me so I don't have to pay anything. Sweet of him to do even though he knows I would have handled it.
We say good night before sharing a final, blissful kiss and getting in our separate cars to go home.
"Call me when you get home?" He shouts from in his car, "I'll meet you at the library at noon tomorrow!"
"Ok, I'll see you then," I wave as he drives off in the direction of his house. I take off in the opposite direction to mine.
I pull out my mom's CD, glad to have it back. I bop and sing with the music, feeling light and confident. My truck sounds nicer too, not as much stuttering as I drive. Everything feels right.
I take the long way home. I know I'll regret it when I need to fill up my gas tank but right now I'm enjoying driving through the empty dessert. The dust clouds from my truck are somehow comforting. They're beautiful in the way the form, but fleeting as the sand and dust settles again.
I can feel myself getting tired, so I turn back onto the main road to find my street.
It's quiet as usual. Not a lot of houses are on my street, most of them have big yards and garages, taking up a lot of space. Most of the people in these houses keep to themselves, but they're kind when you run into them.
I pull into my driveway, waving to sweet Mrs. Newman as she takes out her trash. She waves back with a friendly smile.
Pulling my backpack up with me as I climb out of the car, I throw it over my shoulder as I march up to the house. My hope is to take a warm shower and get to bed, I want to be fresh for my date with Jordan. I'm planning to shave my legs and everything. Even if I wear jeans, I'll know how hot and smooth my legs are.
Stepping inside, it's quiet. Eerily quiet. I toss my bag on the table and look around. I smell something, it takes me a few seconds to place the smell.
Scotch.
Looking around, in the living room and in my dad's office, I see empty beer bottles and a couple empty bottles of vodka and scotch. I don't count, knowing the number of drinks only makes it worse.
I feel panic set in, my hands shake and I start sweating. I don't know where my dad is. I reach back out for my backpack as I pull out my phone. I dial Jordan's number as fast as I can.
It goes straight to voicemail, "Hey it's Jordan, leave a message," A long beep follows his recorded words.
"Jordan it's Rhea... He's drinking again, I don't know where he is or what to do! I'm scared, I don't--"
I hear rustling in a nearby room. Slowly, I try to back up to the door again, making as little noise as possible. I hang up the phone and reach for the doorknob.
I can't find the knob at first, but I'm too scared to turn my back to the rustling I hear. I glance behind me really quick and grab hold of the door. Fumbling for my keys I start crying.
"Rhea! Where the fuck have you been? Rhea!"
I jump and turn back around to the sound of the slurred yelling. My mind doesn't have time to process what's happening before my father stands in front of me, stumbling and angry.
I flinch as he gets close. I feel a sharp pain spread over my cheek before I fall to the floor, hitting my head on the way down. I black out.
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