“What’s that supposed to mean?” I grunt.
“Are you trying to be someone you’re not so he won’t get bored and move along?” he questions. “I know those boys, Tora. The real ones, not the bullshit, good boys your mother thinks they are. I’ve bailed them out of more trouble than you will ever know and let me tell you, Nathaniel Ryder is not good enough for my daughter. I don’t care that his father is an upstanding member of the community. He’s not to step foot in this house again.”
I scoff at his comments about Caden Ryder while mom steps in again. “You’re out of line, Tobias.”
“Am I?” he questions. “This is my home too and I certainly get a say in who steps foot inside it,” he says before focusing back on me. “You want to amount to something? Then quit messing around and lose the boyfriend. You’ll never be a lawyer if you keep going this way. Your grades are hardly getting by, you’re starting brawls, you’re drinking and partying far too much. Should I go on?”
The sting of his comments hits me hard and fast and I call on every ounce of my strength to not let him see just how badly he’s hurting me. That is until he slams the knife right in and twists it. “No child of mine is going to embarrass me.”
“That’s enough,” mom demands. “You do not get to waltz in here after months being away and blatantly attack our daughter like that. She is doing the best she can with the circumstances.”
“You see,” dad scolds. “This is why she’s slipping. You’re allowing it to happen. You should have nipped it in the butt at the first sign of Nathaniel hanging around.”
“I might not be very pleased with Nathaniel right now,” mom defends. “But he is a good boy. He’s been good for her.”
Dad scoffs but I cut him off. “Leave Nate alone.”
“I will do no such thing,” dad demands. “Now, call off this ridiculous relationship and start pulling yourself together.” With that, he scowls across the room at mom and disappears, probably to the study where he’ll no doubt, boot up his computer and get back to work as though he didn’t just tear me apart.
I fall down into the chair and turn to face mom with tears in my eyes. “He can’t make me,” I beg her. “Tell him no. I love Nate.”
“No one is breaking up with anyone,” she tells me. “I’m not particularly happy with Nate at the moment, but it’s not a secret that he loves with you everything he’s got. I’d never make you walk away from something like that.”
The tears begin to fall and mom comes forward to wrap me in her arms. “It’s ok, sweetie. This will pass. You’ll see. Everything will work out for the best. It always does.”
“He was mean,” I sob into my mother’s shirt, cringing as the sob rips up through my sore throat.
“He was particularly harsh, wasn’t he?”
“Harsh?” I scoff. “He was brutal.”
“Come on,” she encourages. “Don’t let it affect you. He’s angry and he’s taking it out on you. Give him the night and he’ll come around.”
“Yeah,” I sigh before looking at her. “He’s right though, isn’t he? My grades are slipping.”
“Yes, honey. He was right, but he didn’t need to word it like that. You’ve been getting in a lot of trouble at school and your grades aren’t what they used to be, but you’ve been going through a lot. You lost your Nanna and then your dad went away in the same week. It’s a lot for a young mind to deal with.”
I think it over for a while. I thought I was doing ok, but maybe I’m not. “You don’t think it has anything to do with Nate, do you?”
She presses her lips together. “Don’t get me wrong,” she starts. “I’m sure he has a small part to do with that, but that’s normal with your first boyfriend. You’ve fallen in love for the first time and it’s only natural for your mind to be consumed by him. But that’s all. Your father was wrong to blame Nate. This change has come from the other aspects of your life, if anything, Nate is the one holding you together.”
I give her a small smile. “That’s what I thought.”
“Why don’t you head upstairs and have a nice bath? It will help make you feel better,” she says. “I’ll get you some of my bath oils and make you some chamomile tea with a drop of honey for your throat.”
The second her words are out, I know I desperately want it. “Ok,” I say, pushing up from the table.
I head up the stairs as mom gets busy in the kitchen making my tea. I walk into the bathroom and decide to go all out. I turn on the tap and search through the cupboard for mom’s oils before putting a few drops in. The heavenly smell of vanilla fills the bathroom and I add a few bubbles to the water before putting out a few candles and lighting them up.