After finally begging her father to allow her to attend public school, Varena Claire didn't think he was talking about their rival school. Varena's father is the principal of Fallon High and the fact that the rival school, Cresent High, was succeedi...
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Lacuna: A blank space, Missing part.
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"Baby please, go ask him now," Hale begged me while pouting his bottom lip. "I'm scared!" I whined over the video call with my boyfriend of one whole year.
Hale Lewis has been my boyfriend since our fathers became friends. His father was one of the Fallon's high best teachers and mine was the principal. When my father accidentally saw a message from Hale on my phone a couple of weeks after we met, he was furious and insisted that I stopped talking to him. Sometimes I feel like I'm Rapunzel or something since I'm never allowed to go out by myself and I've been homeschooled all my life. He even made me promise that I would stop talking to him which I completely broke since now he was secretly my boyfriend of one year.
Being homeschooled all my life hasn't been easy. I lacked socialization and friends. Even normal teenage experiences like parties and football games, even going to the mall or funfairs. Hale has been saying more often that he wishes to see me more often than usual and therefore that leads to him begging me to ask my father to let me go to public school. "Um, sure, I'll see you later alright?" I spoke into the phone and hovered my finger over the red hang-up button. "Bye babe," Hale smiled cheekily before both of us ended the call. I bolted down the stairs and into the kitchen where I knew my mother would be.
"Hey mom, now that dad isn't here can we talk about this school thing?" I asked although he was in his office it was too far away for him to even hear anything. "I'm in on you with this, Varena, I don't want you home alone so often anymore and you need to be normal," my mother sighed while washing up the remainder of the dishes. I couldn't help but smile because my mother is my father's weakness. Their love is something that I've never seen more and it can make others jealous because of how madly and deeply in love with each other they are. I hope to get that someday. "Great," I say and pressed my lips to her cheeks before running off in the direction of my father's office.
Here goes nothing.
I took a deep breath and remained calm as I allowed myself into his fancy office. "Hey dad," I plastered the best smile on my face as I briskly walked into his office. "I just don't get it," my father sighed as he leaned back on his chair. He looked so worried and it didn't seem healthy. I did notice throughout the past week he seemed more stressed. "Get what?" I asked as I flopped down on the chair opposite his with his desk separating us. "Cresent high, they are getting all the scholarships and winning all the competitions and I'm trying really hard, what are they doing so different?" He asked himself. Crescent high and my father's school (Fallon High) have been going head to head at everything they could since I know myself. They've always been that way. And it even goes back to when my father went to high school because back then he hated the man. So it's safe to say they are natural rivals.
They win everything from cheerleading competitions, to spelling bees, football games, basketball games, swimming competitions, mathematics competitions, and others that I've forgotten. Sure we probably came close but they always win and it has begun to affect my father more than usual.
"Speaking of school, I was wondering if you considered allowing me to start my junior year at school," I dared to look up at him to see his reaction. But he was blank, just staring at me. "Tell me why you want to go to public school so badly," he calmly said and I took a deep breath before answering the prepared question.
"I'm getting fat and I need curricular activities, I want to know what it feels like to go to public school and my eyes are going to damage soon If I keep staring at my computer all day. Not to mention I'm at home alone all day while you and mom are out. I have no protection here but at school I have you and the entire student body, some children hate that they attend school with their parents and here I am begging you! Please, dad? I'm sixteen!" I whined, feeling hopeless. Sure my boyfriend goes to the school but that's just another advantage. I'm truly fed up with home school.
My father blankly stared at me for minutes but I knew the screws in his head were working pretty quickly. It felt as if I was drowning while waiting on him to finally say something.
