Chapter 11 So what have you been up to?
“Hi Dad, hi Derek, sorry I’m late!” I whisper-shout as I approach their booth in the back corner of Alberto’s, the best pizza place in all of Washington DC. Well, of course, I have a way to prove that a restaurant is the best in the city, but that involves eating way too much pizza for my liking, so I just claim it’s the best. With the red booth cushions with little rips here and there along the covers, the diner-like tables, the white walls covered in records and signed pictures of famous musicians, and an old jukebox right next to the black counter, Alberto’s is one of my favorite places to hang out. And the manager, Nick, lets me swing by whenever on the premise that I file their taxes for them (he pays me under the table).
I slide into the left side of the booth and smirk when I see my dad and Derek already seated together on the other side. It seems before Lex dropped me off, the two of them were watching funny videos on Derek’s phone, because they both have wide smiles on their faces and my dad is leaning over Derek’s shoulder to stare at the older man’s phone.
My hand gestures to dad’s socks and sandals. “Dad, I see you’ve chosen today to publicly embarrass yourself.”
He beams at me, but guilt sparks in his eyes when he sees my face. “Very funny Finnie, how are you feeling?”
I shrug, sitting criss cross in the booth so I’m almost taller than Derek. Before I know what I’m doing, I’ve grabbed the crayons and kid coloring packet my dad always gets for me, and start absent-mindedly coloring it. “Good, I know it was an accident, you don’t have to feel guilty.
He doesn’t ask how I know, and just smiles wider as I do the same.
“Nice makeup, kid.” Derek grins as he gestures to my face, and I go to brush my fingers over my cheek.
I feel foundation and the memory comes back to me of Lex doing my makeup in the parking lot at an inhuman speed after I had admitted to not wanting my dad to see the dark purple bruise above and below my eye. For whatever reason she had my exact shade of foundation and ended up giving me smokey eyes, black lipstick, and little black hearts on both of my cheeks.
I beam at him. “Thanks, Lex helped me with it.”
“Lex,” my dad says carefully as our food is brought to the table. I smirk to myself when I see he ordered my favorite pizza, olive and cheese, and immediately scarf down a piece. “Is that…?”
“Darren’s sister, yeah.” I swallow the glob of cheese, bread, and olives in my mouth and wipe off the tomato sauce from my lips before placing the napkin on my plate. I ignore my dad’s pointed look to eat more food, and he sighs.
“And do you…?” My dad’s acting very awkward. “Like her?”
“Ugh, dad!” I cringe.
He raises his hands in surrender. “I just want to know!”
“No, you want to meddle.”
“I don’t meddle.”
“Yeah ya do, kid,” Derek butts in, and I jab a finger towards him.
“See? Even your boyfriend agrees with me!” I exclaim a bit too loudly.
“Finley!” The two whisper-shout at the same time, their faces bright red, and I snort before disguising it as a cough at their embarrassed faces.
Of course I know Derek and my dad like each other, I’m the smartest person on Earth. Plus an idiot could see the way they talk about each other, like two love-sick teenagers, it’s a bit embarrassing.
“Okay, okay,” Derek speaks up, glancing at my dad before the two turn towards me. “So what have you been up to the past 24 hours?
I smirk as my head starts to spin with hundreds of possible close-to-the-truth stories and launch into the first one.
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