Down The Highway

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Jade Frocklori!" I heard my dad screaming my full name as it startled me. I looked at him with my eyes widely opened as he had both his hands located beside his waist. "Where have you been the last night?" He yelled seriously. I gulped and took a step forward. No, he shouldn't know that I've been drunk or that I slept in someone else's house. I started to have goosebumps after I felt the wind blowing me away.

I gave him an awkward smile. As awkward as his question. "Umm, well.. um-" I had nothing in my mind to use as an alibi. I was running out of ideas. Turns out I am not that good enough in reasoning. "I know that you've been to a party. No need to hide it. Just get dressed up, and make sure you don't smell like alcohol. Your mom should know nothing about this. We're both dead if she does. I'll take you to school today so hurry up." He said calmly.

My mind was blown. He was pretty street smart. I thought I did well in hiding that secret but turns out he was better at figuring it out. He left my room as I felt him running down the stairs. I smiled in relief. At least I have a dad who understands. "Hurry up now, Jade" I heard him again yelling from afar. I put my uniform on and fixed my hair a bit. I checked my bag if everything I needed was already there.

Every single thing was in it already. My books, my binders, my notebooks, sticky notes, and pens. I carried my bag through my shoulders as I walked down the stairs. "Dad, I'm ready!" I spoke but no one was in the house. Suddenly, I heard a loud and noisy car beep from the outside so I ran and closed the door. I found my dad sitting on the driver's seat in the car with the window down.

I opened the door and sat beside him as I closed it immediately. I sighed, "seatbelt" he mentioned as I fastened like what he told me to. It has been a long time since he last drove me to school. When I was a kid, he would wake up as early as he can so he can take me to school while mom will cook my food. But since I turned eighteen, they stopped doing those special things to me.

They treated me like a princess before but let me stand on my own feet since I became a legal-age-girl. "It has been a long time since you last did this" I stated. He glanced at me while smirking each second while driving. "Sorry, Jade" he sincerely told, "I have been busy for the past few years" he added disappointedly while keeping his head in the driveway.

The school was not that far from our house so we arrived shortly. He stopped the car in front of the school but I didn't get down. "Thanks, dad. I appreciate it" I truly did. I missed taking rides with him so much. I remember back then, we would buy ice cream after school to energize me up a little.

"Tell me, did you kiss a guy, drunk a lot, or cussed?" When I was a kid, he would ask me who I like or who I have a crush on at school and now, he's doing it again.

"Dad!" I rolled my eyes.

"What? I was just wondering. Because if someone kissed you then I would punch that guy or if someone pushed you to drink too much I would push them to drink toilet water" overprotective but I like it. Kind of cool.

"No one kissed me, no one pushed me to drink too much, and I didn't cuss," I said back.

"You sure? Then why did you smell of alcohol a little earlier? You didn't cuss even just a single word last night? C'mon, when I was your age I drink tons of alcohol bottles and cuss a lot" unlike father, unlike daughter. He's the normal type of teenager and I am not.

"That's you, and this is me. I guess this is from mom. We're both casually different from a lot of people. I ain't lying dad, I drank but those were only four or five shots. And I didn't cuss like what I said before" he smirked at me but I was clueless about what was funny about what I said.

He nodded while still laughing. "Okay, okay fine" I fixed my bag held on my shoulders. "Enjoy school" I smiled back and kissed his cheek. The last time I did that was like three or four years already. "Thanks, dad. See you later" I opened the door as I got out.

I froze when I heard him slightly screaming, "just text me and I would pick you up!" I looked back and waved using my right hand. "I will!" I screamed too.

Until then, I saw Jannet, Myrna, and Maureen walking altogether. Even if they were turned away from me, I still recognized them by their bags at their backs. "I ran to them, trying to not make them feel that I was getting closer to them.

When I finally reached them, I gently and sarcastically hit their heads to take revenge for leaving me alone at the party just with Shawn and some group of strangers. "Ouch" they all expressed together at the same time. "That's what you get for leaving me at the party" they frowned at me as we walked through the hallway of our school.

"I didn't leave you. Or did I?" Maureen confusedly asked herself.

"I was drunk" Myrna defended herself.

"I think Nolan asked me to do something but I forgot what it is when I got distracted by the people around me. I think I kissed someone." Jannet's eyes widened when she said that she thought she kissed someone. Thought. She sounded unsure of it.

"Oh, really? I saw you and Nolan holding each other's hands last night" I smirked as I started to tease her. She looked around and put her index finger on her mouth and made a sign for me to shut up. "Shut your mouth. He's a few steps away from us" she struggled.