Shadow Souls

Chapter Twenty-One

"Good morning!" I say to my dad as I enter the kitchen.

"Hey kiddo, how do you feel?"

"Fine," I lie. It's not like anyone would be able to feel fine with visions of car accidents, and mysterious dream stalkers invading their minds every night. Oh yeah, and then there is the part where I spent a couple of hours crying over losing a boyfriend I never really had.

"You were asleep when I came home," he comments.

"Yeah, I took another dose of cold medicine, and it knocked me out."

"It seems to have done the trick though," he beams, taking in my much healthier appearance, and then almost immediately his smile falls. "So, I have some bad news," he continues.

"Uh oh. What's wrong?" It's then that I notice the small stack of boxes sitting on the dining room table all labeled 'Dad's stuff' in my handwriting, "And what are you looking for?"

"It looks like the company wants to send me to London," he says, solemnly. "I was trying to find my passport."

"That sounds exciting! I guess I'm failing to see the bad here."

"The bad part is that it's for two weeks."

I make my way to the boxes of junk and start searching for his passport. Honestly, it could be the only thing in the whole box, and he would still probably miss it. "Dad, it's fine. Really," I assure him.

"I was thinking I could probably call Grandma Iris to come and stay with you while I am gone."

"It's just a couple of weeks, not a couple of years. I'm eighteen years old and will be leaving for college to live on my own in a few short months," I remind him. I'm sure I will be fine."

I can feel him scrutinizing my response to see if I am really as fine with him leaving as I claim to be, but I try to be understanding. My dad used to travel while leaving me home by myself a lot, but ever since the accident he's been making sure to stay closer to home. I know he's afraid that if he were to leave and something was to go wrong, then he would have no way of getting to me. Rather it be another kind of major accident or even the possibly that I could end up falling apart if I don't have anybody around. Truthfully, I understand his fears and concerns, but I also know that he won't be able to watch over me like this forever. So, I try my best to reassure him that everything will be okay.

"Maybe I could ask Paige to spend the night this weekend and see if she wouldn't mind taking me to school," I suggest to him.

Maybe if he knows I will have someone else in the house with me, it will help dull some of his parental worries. Of course, I wouldn't actually be alone either way thanks to Tyler. He just doesn't know that.

"Well, I think that is a great idea," he beams. "I am really happy to see you making friends again, Alice."

He does seem to relax a little just like I hoped, but I also hate the pity that's in his eyes at every time the subject comes anywhere close to Tyler.

"But as for the rides to school, I was thinking about leaving you the truck," he tells me.

"Seriously?"

"You will need to be able to get around. Probably get food or get to school if Paige is unavailable," he explains.

I can honestly say I did not expect that one. How he went from I can't possibly be left home alone, to handing over his car keys is beyond me, but I'm certainly not complaining. "The heater is still busted," he continues, "but she should be okay, to get you around town for a few days."