~My Teacher Hits Me~ (Book 1) [Rewritten]

Chapter 13: Not all Secrets Stay Buried

She moves into the living room and sits on the couch where she stays for the next hour and thirty minutes, staring blankly into space. When she finally takes note of the time again, she's late to start breakfast. Rylan stands and fires up the stove for the eggs, bacon, and sausages. Her dad comes down a few minutes later.

"What are you doing up so early on a weekend?" He asks, sincerely curious. "I've never known you to ever wake up before ten."

Rylan smiles at his surprise. "I guess I'm just getting into the habit of school hours."

"Mhm." Mr. Winchester makes the noise in a disbelieving tone. He slides by Rylan to make a pot of coffee and watches her the entire time he pours himself a cup.

"Breakfast will be done in a few minutes." Rylan says as she scrambles the eggs.

Mr. Winchester watches his daughter from behind, then says, "What happened to us, Rylan?"

Rylan tenses for a split second before gaining her composure again, but it doesn't slip past Mr. Winchester. He won't let her brush this off like she has so many times before. He wants to hear the truth.

"What do you mean?" She asks as she tries to keep her voice steady and emotionless.

"I mean," he pauses to move where he can study his daughter's face, "you used to tell me everything; the good and the bad. Now, it feels like I'm cut off from you. I never know what you're thinking and you never talk about school or your friends. We haven't sat down and talked for weeks." His tone turns almost pleading at the end.

Rylan licks her lips thoughtfully and lifts her eyes to look at her father. His blue eyes search her face.

She almost tells him the truth, but instead says, "There's not much to say."

Rylan returns to flipping the bacon. She tries to ignore her dad's prolonged staring.

Mr. Winchester shakes his head when he can't catch her eye. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Rylan demands in exasperation.

"That—that thing!" Mr. Winchester gestures randomly, raising his voice while trying to explain what he means. "That thing you do when you want me to leave you alone and stop asking questions!"

He knows her too well; Rylan can see it now. He isn't letting it go this time. She isn't sure how long she can hold him off if he continues to persist. Rylan doesn't want to have to lie, but she can't exactly tell him the truth either.

"Well, then maybe you should take the hint!" She cries.

"No!" Mr. Winchester shouts.

Rylan flinches and he lowers his voice.

"No. Stop pushing me away! It's obvious you want to talk to me, so what's holding you back?"

Rylan looks away from him, tears budding at the corner of her eyes. She blinks them away as much as she can and looks back at his face. She sighs, furious with her dad and with herself. She lets go of the flapjack flipper and lets the food sizzle and burn.

"What is so awful that you can't tell me?" Mr. Winchester demands.

Rylan bites her lip to keep the tears from spilling over and tries to hold on to her anger in place of her fear.

"Nothing." She grits out through her teeth.

"Is this about you skipping class?" He asks.

Rylan glances at him, surprised he knows. How can he know?

"Oh yeah. I know all about that. Your Spanish teacher called, expressing her concern that you'd been absent for four days. Four days, Rylan. Where did you go? What were you doing?" Mr. Winchester inquires.