Page 131 of You Said I Was Your Favorite

“Were you with that boy? Arch Lancaster?”

Here’s my chance. I told Arch I didn’t like lying to my dad and I meant it.

“Yes.” I lift my chin, trying to look strong, though I feel like I could crumble completely apart inside.

A ragged sigh leaves him and he leans back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling as if he’s asking for help from God. I don’t know what to say. Or how to act. I’d give anything to take a hot shower and wash my troubled feelings away, but I know he’s not going to let me go without an explanation or a lecture. Most likely both.

“You had sex with him, didn’t you?” It’s more a statement than a question.

“I—”

“Don’t bother denying it. Look at you.” The disgust in his voice is obvious.

I clamp my lips shut, fighting the humiliation that spreads all over my skin. The guilt. I’m eighteen and it’s normal to be a teenager who has sex with her boyfriend, which I’m pretty sure is what Arch is to me now. We haven’t made anything official yet, but I know in my heart, it’s true.

It is.

“You really believe you’re in love with him?” he asks, when I still haven’t said anything.

I stare at my father, ready to answer yes, despite knowing that will upset him even more when he interrupts me yet again.

“Be careful if you say yes, sweetheart. Because if you do, I’m going to do everything I can to convince you to stay away from him,” he spits out.

“Why?” I ask incredulously, hating how confused I feel. How can my father make this seem so wrong when being with Arch feels so incredibly right?

“He’s reckless. Foolish. Selfish. A taker, Daisy Mae. That’s all he’ll do—take and take and take until you’ve got nothing left to give and then he’ll move on to someone else and forget all about you. Look what he’s already done! He got you suspended. You don’t ever get in trouble, Daisy, and now you’re getting suspended and sneaking around behind my back. Lying to me. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

I flinch at his cruel words. His opinion of Arch—even of me—is so awful and I don’t know what Arch ever did to him to make him feel that way.

“You’re being unfair,” I tell him. “I’ve never had anyone in my life but you since Mom died, and now I finally find someone I care about—someone who cares about me, and you’re telling me I’m not allowed to go out with him? I’m eighteen years old! It’s okay if I have a boyfriend.”

“You can have boyfriends. You can choose any kid at Lancaster Prep, but you had to go and choose that one? The richest one? Frankly, Arch Lancaster is an asshole, sweetheart. He doesn’t have any feelings. None of the Lancasters do.”

“That’s not true,” I start to tell him, but he’s not listening to me.

“That boy doesn’t know what he has in you. You’re just like your mother. Special. Bright. Brighter than sunshine. You light up every room that you walk in, just like she did, and I knew it from the start. I cherished her from the very first time I met her. I knew she was special.”

I think of how terrible Arch was to me when we first met. He didn’t think I was special and he definitely didn’t cherish me. If I were ever to tell my father that, he would just use it as evidence against Arch.

“No one is special to him. Arch is the center of his own universe. And when he’s through with you, he’ll just discard you like trash and diminish your brightness, Daisy. Do you want that? Is that what you want for your life? Because you deserve so much more.” He slumps against the chair, as if he’s exhausted by his own speech.

“You don’t even know him and you’re already judging him. Can’t you just let me have something for myself for once?” With a childish huff, I march out of the living room and head for the kitchen, hating how ridiculous he’s being.

He’s treating me like a child. As if I can’t make my own decisions. He’s coddled me for far too long and I’m over it.

“You’re my daughter and if you’re living under my roof, you will do as I say!” he screams after me.

Ignoring his outburst, I flick on the kitchen light, desperate to get something to drink to ease my dry throat when I pause, staring at what’s sitting on the table next to the lit lamp. I didn’t even notice when I first walked into the room but now it’s all I can see.

A vase sitting in the middle of the table, filled with roses. From my rose bush. The orange ones my mom liked best.

I blink at the arrangement, shock coursing through my blood, leaving me cold. I stare at the vase, at the roses. They’re going to die now.

They’re going to die. In a vase instead of outside where they belong.

Like a zombie, I turn and slowly walk back into the living room, my heart in my throat, my head pounding. I stare at my father, unable to form words, my heart threatening to fly out of my mouth.

“Daisy, what in the world is wrong with—”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com