Day and Night

Ch. 11 Curious

*I tripped, fell down through the sky

It's what it took for me to learn how to fly*

                                                           -Emblem3 *Curious*

Chapter 11

Shocked silence envelopes the room. Both Mads and I turn to Dace with looks of surprise, but his father regards him coolly, almost as if he expected an outburst like this.

“Is that any way to greet your father?” Uncle James says reproachfully. Dace’s expression darkens even more if that’s even possible.

“Seems like a great way to me,” Dace spits out, fists clenched by his sides.

“Dace! What’s going on with you?” Mads exclaims, seeming just as confused as I am.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Dace says and nods towards his father.

“Madison and Ivy, why don’t you go find Wesley and tell him we’re going out to dinner in a little bit,” my Uncle James tells Mads and me. I frown at him and then I glance hesitantly at Dace to see what he thinks. I’m kind of afraid to leave them alone in case Dace tries to kill him or something. He looks that angry.

“Come on, Ivy,” Mads says and tugs on my hand to lead me from the room. I glance back at Dace, who just gives me an emotionless expression that makes me want to cry. He was so happy only a second before! It was like he was finally opening up and being the Dace I remembered instead of reserved, moody one from the past few months. And now it looks like he is heading straight back to that place.

When Mads and I are outside I turn to her with a worried expression.

“What’s going on? Do you think something happened?” I ask her and she shrugs, forcing a smile on her face.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Dace has just been a little strange lately. They’ll talk and everything will be fine,” she says, but it seems more like she is trying to convince herself than me.

I can tell she doesn’t really want to talk about whatever is going on with them and so I’m left to my own thoughts. It was unnerving to see Dace look at his dad like that. He had always looked up to his father ever since he was a little kid. Whenever he came to visit during our summer vacations, Dace was always more excited than any of us. I’ve never seen him look at his dad with anything less than admiration, but the look on his face when he saw his father tonight wasn’t even close to admiration. It was hatred.

I glance at the house, curiosity burning inside me. Could whatever it is that has been making Dace so strange lately be because of his father? I want to say no because I love my uncle James and I don’t want to think he could do something bad enough to make Dace so angry, but it fits. Dace started acting strange a little while before we left to come on vacation, but the longer he has been away from home the better he has been. Maybe just being away from his father is why he has been happier.

I sigh and Mads gives me a knowing look.

“I bet they’re done talking by now. You should go back and figure out where we’re going to eat. I can find Wesley on my own,” she tells me and I know that really she just wants me to go back and check to see that everything is alright. I give her a grateful nod and jog back towards the house.

As soon as I walk back inside I know that they’re not finished talking yet. Dace is practically shouting and I edge closer so that I can hear what they are arguing about. I know it’s wrong, but I’m dying to know. They didn’t hear me come in, so I have the perfect opportunity. It would be stupid to waste it.