AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I leave my room and go downstairs to the kitchen. The final round of the competition is in two days and I need to come up with dishes that will prove to the judges that I deserve the scholarship.
The house is empty because everyone is off doing their own thing. Lily’s hanging out with Xavier and Spencer at Xavier’s house. Dad’s at work and Mom is having her book club at Willow’s house. Evie is probably downstairs.
In the kitchen, I grab whatever ingredients I can find and try to prepare a dish. But I can’t concentrate. Instead of thinking about the competition, I think about Chloe. And because I’m so distracted, I accidentally knock a bowl full of the food I just prepared to the floor and it splatters everywhere.
“Darn it!” I kick the bowl across the kitchen. Why isn’t anything working out?
“Whoa, what’s going on in here?” Dad enters the kitchen. He takes one look at the mess I made and fetches a mop and broom to clean it up.
“Sorry,” I mumble as I help him clean. “I don’t know what happened.”
He watches me for a little while. “Your mom and I have noticed that something has been bothering you the last few days. Is everything okay?”
“No,” I blurt before I can stop myself. “I mean, yeah. Everything is fine. Just preparing for the finals.” I give him a brave smile.
He continues watching me. “Liam, I know when something is troubling you and this has nothing to do with the competition.”
I release a heavy breath and slump forward. “You’re right. I’m trying to focus on the cooking, but I keep thinking about…”
He lifts a brow. “About what?”
I lower my gaze to the floor. My parents don’t know what happened between Chloe and me. It’s kind of embarrassing to tell my dad that I was pretending to be her secret admirer.
“Nothing. I’m okay.” I push another brave smile on my face.
Dad nods slowly, then puts away the broom and mop. “That’s all right,” he says in a soft tone. “You don’t have to tell me. But keeping it bottled inside will only make things worse.” He sits down at the table and gestures for me to join him.
“I’m not keeping anything bottled up.”
He studies me closely. “You look like you haven’t been getting much sleep. Mom and I are here for you. We love you and want to help you.”
I swallow the lump in my throat as I sit down next to him. He’s right. Dad is the perfect dad to me. Loving, caring, making sure my sisters and I have everything we need. And Mom is the perfect mom, too.
I hang my head. “I did something really stupid and I’m worried I might have messed up something very special. Something that meant the world to me.”
His eyebrows furrow. “Are you talking about the scholarship? Have you given up?”
Shaking my head, I release another heavy breath. “No, not the competition.”
He just stares at me like he has no idea what I’m referring to. Then it’s like a light bulb flicks on in his head. “This is about a girl.”
Averting my gaze to the table, I nod. I have never come to my dad for dating advice. Have never been interested in anyone except for Chloe. So this is new territory for both of us.
Dad bends close to me. “Is there a girl at school you’re interested in?”
I nod.
“Have you asked her out?”
I shake my head. “I messed everything up, Dad.”
He places his hand on my arm. “Why don’t you tell me everything from the beginning?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “I did something so stupid.”
“I doubt that’s true.”
Opening my eyes, I look at him. “Yes I did, and I’m worried she’ll never speak to me again. I mean, she said she needs time, but I know I messed it all up.”
