Page 59 of Delilah In Discretion

I walked back to my room. Before I stepped in, my mother came out of her room and froze as she caught sight of me. We both stood staring at one another; then she opened her arms after a few moments and I quickly went into her embrace for comfort.

My father had a tendency to speak his mind at any time, not worried about the effect he had on anyone on the receiving end, and that was still the case today. His eyes were cold, and he had no sympathy laced in them at all, as his word was always final from his perspective.

Eventually, Mom moved us to my room and we sat on my bed together.

“He doesn’t even care. He’s so ruthless and doesn’t even want me to enjoy my break with my best friend,” I whispered.

She wiped my tears away softly with her thumbs. “I know, sweetheart. I’ll try to talk to him, but at times like this, he’s usually hard to get to,” she warned.

I sighed. Mom was the first person who knew everything about Dad, and when she said there was no getting through to him, I knew she was telling the truth.

“It’s always Calvin,” I muttered, and she nodded silently. Then, after a moment, we both had the same look in our eyes.

“You want me to talk to him?” I asked her, and she sighed.

“I don’t want you anywhere near the man, but I don’t know, sweetie. This could go both ways; it could make things better or make them worse. He listens to you, so maybe give it a shot, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“…I just want to enjoy my break with my best friend without constant tension.”

Mom squeezed my hand in reassurance. “Then you have my permission. Have a chat with him and see what you can get out of the conversation.”

I nodded, and she gave me an almost cheeky smile.

“You’ve been very emotional lately… Does this have anything to do with our Edward or Jacob?”

I pulled away and rolled my eyes as I pushed my hair out of my face.

“Oh my gosh, Mom,” I said, and she laughed as I stood up and walked away.

“I’m just asking, sweetheart. Hormones work in different ways—”

I looked over at her in disbelief, and she continued to laugh. My blush threatened to rise, but I looked away from her.

“Okay, thanks for the chat, Mom.”

She finished laughing and kissed me on the forehead. “I still haven’t forgotten that you promised to watch your siblings and cousins! We’re setting the date soon!” she said, leaving the room happily, and I shook my head.

Please, please don’t remind me.

Sitting in the library, I was in my usual corner, going over my Chemistry homework alone. I didn’t feel like eating right now, which was unfortunate because today we were having seafood, and I was always one for crab cakes.

A book dropped on the desk across from me, and I looked up to see the boy I was running after on the first day of school.

“Is, uh… this seat taken?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“It’s all yours,” I responded.

He moved his bag off of the table and sat down. He pushed his glasses up and wiped his hands on his pants multiple times.

“I’m Kyle, by the way,” he said, and I gave him my full attention.

“Delilah.”

He nodded his head. “I know who you are… and I’m sure you remember me from your first day.”

“Pretty hard to shake that image of you out of my mind,” I replied, and he bit his lip.

“Yeah. I-I’m sorry for how I’ve acted towards you up until now... You didn’t deserve it.”

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