Page 119 of Anyone But Her

If my parents ever saw my texts with the name 'Katy' assigned to Luke's number they'd think I'm secretly dating a girl. They'd probably be more okay with that than me dating Luke. I don't get why they're so against us being together. Who cares that he's Cal's friend? It shouldn't matter.

"What are your plans for today?" my dad asks me as we're all eating breakfast.

"The usual. Gym in the morning, then meet with my coach. Birdie's coming over this afternoon. We're hanging out by the pool."

"You just said you wouldn't go out there in the heat," Cal says.

"Yeah, but Birdie really wants to so I told her we could."

"Birdie doesn't even swim," Cal says.

"She wants to learn. She's going on spring break next year to meet guys."

"Learning to swim and meeting boys..." my dad says. "How are those two things correlated?"

I laugh. "They go together in Birdie's mind. I don't know if she'll actually swim today but she might get in the water."

"I could teach her," Cal says as he stuffs a slice of bacon in his mouth.

"Yeah, right. You teaching Birdie how to swim? One of you would end up drowning the other."

"Cal's an excellent swimmer," my mom says. "He could teach Birdie."

"Mom, they hate each other. It'd never work."

"She picks up on stuff fast," Cal says. "It wouldn't take that long."

"You'd seriously give her swimming lessons?"

"I'd be doing it for you. I don't want you to lose your best friend because she drowns while trying to flirt with some guy. She's seriously going on spring break to meet guys?"

"That's what she said, but you know Birdie. She says she's going to do something but then she doesn't."

Luke walks in. "Hey."

"Luke." My dad stands up. "I was thinking last night about your situation. I think we should get you a lawyer, just in case."

"I already have a lawyer."

"We need a different type of lawyer. One who deals with this type of situation."

"Meaning what?"

"Situations where family disagreements are involved. We don't know what your father is planning. He might be planning to sue you."

"For what?"

"Money."

"He can't sue me for money. I don't owe him anything."

"Lawsuits don't always make logical sense. Many times they're based on emotion. Anger. Trying to get back at someone. If your father is angry and jealous about your success, it's possible he'll use the legal system to help deal with those feelings."

"That's messed up," Cal says."

"We can talk about it later," my dad says to Luke. "I'll make some calls. We'll get some meetings set up."

"Thanks, Lou. I really appreciate it."

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