Page 1 of DILF

1

LILY

Shittiest. Day. Ever.

I failed my chemistry midterm. Failed! I’ve never failed anything in my life. Penn State offered me a full-ride, and what do I do? Fail my midterm, my first F, and my first meltdown, and, to make matters worse, I don’t even get to wallow in my first F and get blackout drunk for the first time—no, I have to drive home and pack up my room. My parents are now retired and have decided that they’d like to move down to Florida because my mom has severe asthma, so it makes sense that they would want to move, but choosing my first Spring Break to move also sucks.

Almost everyone else is heading somewhere warm and fun for their break while I’m headed home to pack up my room before (the) closing next week.

My childhood home, full of memories. These would be the last moments I’d spend there.

My phone rings, momentarily taking me out of my funk, and I press the button on my steering wheel. “Hey, sweet pea!” my best friend, Charlotte, chirps over the Bluetooth speakers in my car.

“Hey, Charlie. What’s up?”

“Nothing much, can’t wait to see you!” I hadn’t seen Charlotte for almost four months, the longest we’ve been apart since meeting in the first grade. She is (was) also my neighbor. Unlike me, she stayed home after high school, deciding to go to community college, home being a few miles out of Hershey, PA. We live in an idyllic little community, two-story brick homes, white picket fences, and beautiful green lawns. Nothing very eventful happens in our little town, though we do have some very nosy neighbors and annoying local gossips, but that’s what you get when everyone knows everyone in town.

“I should be home in about thirty minutes. How’re you doing? You okay?” Her parents had recently divorced, and it had been hard for her. Charlotte had a picture-perfect upbringing-- at least that’s the way it looked from the outside. Her mother came from money and never worked, instead choosing to spend all her time and money at the mall or socializing with other women at the country club. Her father, on the other hand, was always working. He was some sort of businessman, coming home late in the evenings and leaving early in the morning. Rarely did I see him in anything other than a suit and tie.

Ms. Edwards wasn’t the most pleasant of women. She was stuck-up, and I don’t think she ever really liked me or my parents much. Even though they seemed like a good, solid family, I knew from Charlotte that her mother and father didn’t get along all that well. Once in a while, Charlotte would climb out of her window, walk across her lawn to mine, and crawl through the window into my bedroom, where she’d sleep until her father would realize she was missing. Even though Mr. Edwards was a man of few words, he always seemed sad when he’d come get her.

“I’m good, Lil. Dad’s been keeping busy and Mom’s been doing a lot of traveling. Now that the dust has settled, we can see it really was for the best.”

“I’m so glad to hear— Ah shit!” I yelp as I feel the thump thump of a flat tire. “No, no, NO!”

“What is it? What happened?” Charlotte yells from the phone. Charlotte is the best and doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, but to say that Charlotte is dramatic is an understatement. The girl can make any situation seem dire.

“I think I have a flat tire. Hold on, let me pull over to the side. Call you back.” I disconnect before she can reply and pull over to the side of the road. After checking that it’s safe, I get out of my car and go around. And yes, my back passenger-side tire is completely flat.

Of course.

Life hates me today.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I yell to no one in particular and stomp my foot on the ground like a bratty toddler. My father taught me how to change a tire, but hell if I remember. I’m not a damsel-in-distress or anything. Normally, I’m a firm believer in women’s independence but right now, I wish I had a man —or hell, a competent woman —to change this damn tire. I get back in the car, and as I’m about to call my father for help, my phone rings. Charlotte again.

“Hey, Charlie, gotta call you back. I need to call my dad to come—”

“No. My dad and I will meet you. He was here when we were talking and overheard.”

“Charlie, I don’t want to be a bother.”

“No bother. It’ll get me away from watching football, which is all Daddy’s been doing all day. Plus, your dad’s been packing the U-Haul all week, he’s probably beat.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Yep. Stay put and text me exactly where you’re at.” I hang up and send her a quick text.

It’s a hot day out. Really hot, and I’m low on gas. I’m scared I’ll run out if I leave my car on with the AC as I wait for Charlie and her father. So I tie my shirt in a knot behind me and attempt to pick up my wild black hair over my head with the hair tie I always seem to have around my wrist. But of course, since the universe is out to get me today, it snaps as I’m twisting it around my hair. Ow! Annoyed, I make a half-ass attempt to tie the broken ends together and then I tie back my hair and sit down on the hood of my car with my Kindle to wait out the thirty minutes it’ll take them to get here. There’s no one out. I think two cars have passed, and it’s the middle of the day. It’s completely safe, therefore I don’t hesitate.

I hear them before I see them.

I close my Kindle and sit up. The familiar noise of a loud truck slows down, and I hop off the hood just as Charlotte’s dad passes my car, pulls up in front of me, and backs up until he’s parked in front of my car. Charlotte hops out first and runs to me. “Lilybear!”

“Charlie!” We hug, jumping up and down as if it had been years, not months, since we’d last seen each other.

“Lily.” A deep, somber voice reverberates. I let go of Charlie and look around her and—whoa!

It’s as if I’ve been hit with a two-by-four. When did Charlie’s dad get so fucking hot? My heart speeds up and my hands get clammy.

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