Chapter 3 – Just Harmless Teenage Fun
Sunday
Jacob stepped around Porter and ran after Uncle Matt. “Coach! Stop!”
Crap. I ran after the both of them. “Uncle Matt! Jacob and I can handle this!”
But Uncle Matt was already tearing into the living room, searching for my dad. “Where is he?”
“Sleeping,” I said. “Can we please just lower our voices?” I was already grounded, and this seemed like it was going to make everything worse. If that was even possible.
Uncle Matt ran up the stairs to my parents’ bedroom. He banged on their door. “You’re seriously banning my kid from dating your daughter, you asshole?”
Double crap.
“Coach, come on,” Jacob said from the bottom of the stairs. “I told you not to come. This is just a huge misunderstanding...”
“Let me handle this,” Uncle Matt said.
“You can’t be in here,” Porter said and grabbed Jacob’s arm.
“Get your hands off my son,” Uncle Matt said and ran back downstairs.
We were seconds away from another fist fight breaking out.
“Everyone stop!” I yelled.
I thought I’d actually made everyone freeze. But then I realized my dad was walking down the stairs. And it was probably his appearance that had stopped whatever was about to happen.
My mom hurried down the stairs after him. “James,” she warned.
My dad had been angry last night. And it didn’t look like he was any calmer this morning. He looked terrible. There was a bandage on the side of his face and one of his eyes was swollen shut.
All I wanted to do was hug him.
“So I’m the asshole?” my dad said to Uncle Matt. “Because you’re the one that raised someone that uses that kind of language to describe my daughter.”
Okay, I didn’t want to hug him anymore.
Uncle Matt sighed, like my dad was exhausting. “If Jacob says he didn’t call Scarlett that, then he didn’t call Scarlett that. End of story. You owe Jacob an apology.”
“Porter,” my dad said calmly and turned to him. “If you can please remove these two from my home.”
“Uncle James,” Jacob said. “I didn’t call Scarlett a slut, I swear.”
Porter grabbed his arm again.
“What the hell did I just tell you?” Uncle Matt said. “Get your hands off my son.” He shoved Porter back.
Oh God.
My dad pulled Uncle Matt’s arm off of Porter and then Uncle Matt shoved my dad backwards.
“You want another black eye?” Uncle Matt said.
My dad smiled and cracked his neck to the side. “Bring it.”
My mom stepped between them. “Enough, okay?! What has gotten into all of you? Just...enough! Can we please just talk this out and stop acting like neanderthals?”
“Or you could let me beat the shit out of your husband,” Uncle Matt said with a smile.
“Everyone sit down.” My mom pointed to the couches in the living room.
I was actually a little surprised that my dad and Uncle Matt listened to her. They both started walking into the living room. And so did Porter. I glanced at Jacob.
“I am so so sorry,” he whispered. “I had to fill Coach in on what happened because Uncle James called him last night and told him his side. I think Coach is more pissed off than we are.”
Yeah, well we didn’t know exactly what my dad had said to him on the phone last night. Presumably nothing nice. This whole thing was ridiculous. “Let’s get this over with,” I said and slid my hand into his.
“You look adorable by the way.”
I looked down at my flannel pajamas and laughed. “Thank you.” I couldn’t even believe he’d thought to compliment me when my dad was saying awful things to him. “I’m so sorry about my dad.”
“It’s fine.”
It wasn’t.
Jacob squeezed my hand and we walked into the living room together.
My dad’s eyebrows lowered as he stared at us holding hands. “Pumpkin, I saved you a seat.” He patted the seat right next to him. Where there was only room for me.
I wasn’t letting go of Jacob’s hand. “Dad, Jacob didn’t...”
“I’ve already made my decision,” my dad said. “No one is allowed to disrespect my daughter. And honestly I expected more from a supposed friend.” He waved his hand toward Uncle Matt.
“You’re acting like I don’t love Scarlett too,” Uncle Matt said. “She’s my niece.”
“Not by blood,” my dad said.
Uncle Matt shook his head. “Are you serious right now? I helped raise her.”
“Excuse me?”
“Before I had my own family, and even after, I’ve treated your kids the same way I treat my own. And you know it. Scarlett was the first kid in our lives. Of course I want the best for her. And that’s Jacob.”
“Really? How would you feel if...” My dad threw up his hands trying to think of an example. “If Liam called one of your daughters a slut? Get the fuck out of my house.” My dad stood up like that was the end of the conversation.
“I’d tell Chloe or Alora they could do a hell of a lot better than Liam because no one wants to date someone with a crazy father.”
My dad laughed. “Your daughters would be so lucky to end up with Liam.”
Why the hell were we talking about Liam right now? He wasn’t even here.
“Uncle James, I didn’t call Scarlett a slut,” Jacob said. “I’d never do that...”
“I don’t believe you,” my dad said.
“I’d never call someone I love a slut.”
“What?” my dad said.
“I’m in love with your daughter, sir.”
My whole body felt tingly all over. I smiled up at Jacob.
“You’re too young to be in love,” my dad said.
“James.” My mother gave him a hard stare.
“They are too young,” he added. “They’re just kids.”
My mom put her hand on his thigh. “I wasn’t that much older than Scarlett when I met you.”
My dad sighed and turned back to us. He still looked very unpleased about us holding hands. “Jacob, you have one minute to tell me why Mr. Halifax said you called my daughter a slut.”
“This is all just a huge misunderstand,” Jacob said.
“Sophie wanted to dance with Mr. Halifax. And she thought he’d be more willing if Scarlett did it first. So Sophie made up this whole thing about Scarlett and I breaking up.
And I guess she thought it would be more believable if Mr. Halifax thought I’d said something hateful.
You’d have to ask Soph. But she’s the one that likes Mr. Halifax. Not Scarlett.”
At least I hadn’t ratted Sophie out. And at least he’d kept the whole unmasking the kiss thief thing out of it.
“Sophie likes Mr. Halifax?” my dad asked.
“Yes,” Jacob said.
My dad looked at me. “Is that true?”
“Yeah, she literally never stops talking about him,” I said. “I was just doing her a favor.”
My dad exhaled slowly. “I need to talk to my brother.”
“Can’t you just ask Sophie?” I asked. I didn’t want her to get grounded instead of me.
“If Sophie is trying to hook up with her teacher, my brother needs to know.” He pulled out his phone and called Uncle Rob.
“Put it on speaker,” my mom said.
My dad nodded and hit a button.
“She’s going to be in so much trouble,” I whispered.
“But...is she?” Jacob asked. “Uncle Rob never gets upset with Soph.”
That was true. And Soph technically had mentioned this to her dad before. I was pretty sure he’d thought she was joking though.
“Yo,” Uncle Rob said when he answered the phone. “I heard you beat up a teacher. Sounds like a fun night.”
“It was not a fun night,” my dad said.
“Really? It sounded a lot like our homecoming my sophomore year. The best one, in my book.”
“Rob, did Sophie tell you why I got in a fist fight with a teacher?”
“She sure did. Scarlett was doing Sophie a solid by dancing with the guy. And Sophie said you believed some silly lie about Jacob and Scarlett breaking up.” He laughed. “Did you really think Jacob would call Scarlett a slut?” He laughed again.
“Told you,” Uncle Matt said.
Porter seemed to visibly relax. He was probably happy he didn’t have to escort Jacob and Uncle Matt out anymore. Because that was a two against one I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of.
“Yo, Matt!” Uncle Rob said. “What’s up? Why are you over there so early?”
Uncle Matt stood up to get closer to the phone. “Because James called me last night saying Jacob wasn’t allowed to see Scarlett anymore.”
Uncle Rob laughed. “Epic. Seriously, so much like our homecoming. You guys fighting. Am I on speaker phone? Who else is there?”
My dad ignored everything Uncle Rob just said. “Rob, did Sophie tell you exactly why Scarlett was dancing with Mr. Halifax?”
“Who?”
“West Halifax. The teacher I got in a fight with.”
“Oh. Right. Like I said, Scar was doing her a solid. You know how Soph is. Always joking around. But honestly, I think she might have a little unrequited crush on the guy. Don’t tell her I told you that.”
I was glad Sophie had such a good relationship with her dad. But the fact that Uncle Rob just thought it was some little crush wasn’t exactly accurate. Sophie was obsessed with Mr. Halifax.
“Just harmless teenage fun,” Uncle Rob said.
Yeah, he definitely didn’t have the exact right picture of what was happening right now. And I’d hardly call it harmless. I stared at my dad’s swollen face.
Uncle Matt cleared his throat. “Now will you apologize to Jacob?”
My dad looked over at Jacob. “Why are you still wearing your tux? Where were you last night?”
“An after party,” Jacob said.
“All night?”
Jacob nodded.
My dad didn’t look pleased about that either. “You were at a party without my daughter? All night long? Were you with some other girl?”
“I swear to God,” Uncle Matt said.
“No, sir,” Jacob said. “It was just with a few friends. And I basically just talked to Scarlett the whole time. On the phone,” he quickly added.
Jacob was a much better liar than I was.
Uncle Matt cleared his throat again and stared at my dad. “We went to plenty of parties when we were their age. Stop procrastinating and apologize to my son.”
My dad sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry, Jacob.”
If I did an apology like that, I’d get in trouble because of how insincere it sounded.
“But you can see why I was upset,” he added. “And I expect you to defend my daughter as fiercely as I do.”
“Yes, sir,” Jacob said.
Uncle Rob laughed on the phone. “Bro. That was the lamest apology ever. You didn’t even sound like you meant it and then you threw in a but.”
Right?
My dad hung up on him. “So the two of you are in love?” It sounded like my dad was in pain when he said it. And I didn’t think it had anything to do with the fight he’d gotten into last night.
Even though my mom had defended us earlier, she didn’t look super happy about the news either.
Uncle Matt on the other hand looked thrilled. He was so much more supportive than my parents.
I smiled. “Yes,” I said.
Jacob nodded. He dropped my hand and then wrapped his arm around me, his hand settling on my hip.
“Too low, Jacob,” my dad said.
Jacob shifted his hand up way higher to accommodate my dad’s request. But now he was practically touching my boob.
“Too high,” my dad said firmly.
“Sorry.” Jacob slid his hand back down to my waist.
“Good, good.”
I stared at my dad. He’d made Jacob touching me into a weird Goldilocks moment. And nothing felt “just right” about any of it now.
“And just because you love each other doesn’t mean anything has changed. Scarlett is still waiting until marriage.”
Seriously...why did he keep saying that?
“Yes, sir,” Jacob said.
I knew that Jacob was agreeing to my dad’s face. But I wasn’t sure how far we would have gone last night if Axel hadn’t interrupted us... Oh God. Axel was watching all of this on the security cameras. He was probably laughing his head off.
“You know,” Uncle Matt said. “I was engaged to Brooklyn in high school.”
My dad glared at him. “No one is getting engaged. None of that. My daughter will not be engaged in high school. What is wrong with you?”
Uncle Matt laughed and held up his hands like what he’d just said was totally innocent.
He wasn’t seriously implying that Jacob and I should just go get hitched, was he? Jacob was my first boyfriend. Well, second if you asked Axel. I wasn’t ready to be engaged or married yet. I agreed with my dad there. It would be literally insane to be engaged in high school.
Jacob leaned down and kissed the side of my forehead.
He agreed that getting engaged would be insane, right? But Uncle Matt and Aunt Brooklyn had been engaged in high school. And Aunt Brooklyn had been with her first husband while she was still in high school too. Maybe that’s what Jacob wanted.
I was starting to feel sweaty in my flannel pajamas.