Daddies' Girls

By Rachel

Copyright 2012

Chapter 4

Calleigh

The ride home from Reese's house was agonizing.  Neither of my parents was talking to me or each other. My mom was rubbing her swollen belly. My dad was focused on the road. All it did was give me time to worry about things.

Reese hated me. I didn't blame her. She thought I ratted her out. Sure, I knew she had a thing for Jake, but I wouldn't tell anyone. I was concerned about her attraction to him. Now our friendship was pretty much over. It sucked because I would still have to see her at every family get together. There would be no more Ree and Leigh.  We had been that ever since I was seven and we became best friends.

My parents were a different story. This was the first time I saw disappointment in either of their eyes. Even with the belly button ring, my mom never gave me this look. I was always the golden child of the family. Mom and Dad had no reason to ground me because I always did the right thing. I was a good student in school. I managed to make the honor roll and take advance classes this year.  I hung out with the right crowd when I started high school this year. Everything had changed tonight.

"Calleigh, we're home. Go upstairs and get ready for bed. We'll talk after we get your brothers to bed." My mom says and gets out of the car.

"Everything will be okay, Calleigh. You did nothing wrong. Reese is a wild child. It was bound to happen." My dad said, trying to make me feel better. Unfortunately he wasn't.

"Daddy, she's my best friend. Please stop. I can't take you talking bad about her." I said softly. This was the first time I stood up to my dad.

I opened the door and ran straight for my bedroom. I listened to my mom and got ready for bed. Once my pajamas were on, I jumped into bed. Waiting for them was torture. All I wanted to do was fall asleep and hope this was a dream.

"I'll make a wish for you. And hope it will come true. That life would just be kind." I sang softly to myself. "To such a gentle mind, if you lose your way. Think back on yesterday. Remember me this way."

"You have a beautiful voice, sweetheart." My dad said as he entered the room with my mom. She nudged him to remind him that this wasn't about my voice.

"Thanks daddy." My face was beat red. "It was the first song Reese and I sang together." I smiled remembering how we watched this old Casper movie we found in my dad's movie collection.

"Would you like to tell us what happened tonight?"  My mom sat down on my bed.

My dad pulled my desk chair over and straddled it. I didn't like all this attention on me. I couldn't lie to my parents, but I wasn't sure I wanted to talk about the truth.

"Reese asked me and Shayla to go get some water during our break. I really didn't think anything of it." I chose my words carefully.

"Sweetheart, that means you had nothing to do with it." He smiled at me. "I knew AJ was just being an angry asshole. Thinking his daughter is so sweet and innocent."

"Nick, stop it." My mom gave him a pointed glare. Crap, I didn't want to start a fight between them. She looked over at me. "And you didn't know anything was going on between them?"

Shit, my mom was on to something. I knew I wouldn't be able to hide what I knew for long. My biggest concern was my mom running her mouth off to Aunt Aspen. Nothing was a secret between the Grey sisters.  Reese was my best friend; I couldn't betray her trust.

"That's all I know." The pattern on my bed was very interesting to me at the moment.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that."  Mom lifted my chin up so she could see my baby blues.

"Jade, I don't think our daughter would lie. She's always been honest with us." Dad moved over to the bed next to me. "Calleigh's always been the good one. Reese on the other hand has been a firecracker since day one."

It killed me that my dad thought so badly of Ree. Sure she was a little wild and free spirited. There was nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, I wish I was more like her. It got tiring be cautious and doing everything right.

"Pixie is there anything else you want to tell us." Dad asked tenderly.  "You won't be in trouble. We just want to help Reese."

My dad had me with his last comment. Reese was my best friend. I didn't want her getting into any more trouble, but what if something was to happen to her. I would feel responsible. I cared about her. I knew I had to tell my parents.

"Reese and Jake have been an item for a while." I focused my eyes on the floor. "She really cares about him. Jake seems to really...umm...love her."

"All guys are in love with you as long as you sleep with them." My dad snorted.

"I don't think they had sex yet." I whispered. I didn't like talking about sex with my parents. It was embarrassing.

"What makes you say that, Calleigh?" Mom questioned.

"Ree has talked about it a lot lately. I told her to slow down. If Jake loves her like he says he does, he'll wait."

"Pixie, have any guys pressured you about sex?" My dad started panicking.

I knew this was going to happen if I mentioned the word sex. "No, daddy. You don't have to worry.  I don't have time for boys. School and the band keep me busy. I'm not popular with the boys like Ree is."

"What do you mean?" My mom situated herself to get comfortable.

"Well, Reese has always been a flirt when it came to guys. Every time we hung out with our friends, she always was with a different boy. I think she kissed half of the boys at school. When Jake came along things changed." I was feeling sick to my stomach. It was horrible betraying my best friend's trust.

"What changed?"

"She fell for him at the beach party before school started. They disappeared for a couple of hours. After that she stopped flirting with all the other guys. It was always about Jake. She would skip lunch to spend time with him." I sighed, feeling defeated.

My parents looked me knowing that Reese was in over her head. They were going to tell her parents.

"Then all those boys tried to flirt with me, but I ignored them because I'm not allowed to date for two more years." I took a breath. "I told her to take things slow, but she barely listened to me." The tears started falling and my dad rushed to my side.

"Calleigh, it's not your fault. You tried. You can't make someone do something they don't want to." My dad was trying to comfort me, but it wasn't working.

"So you knew that Reese and Jake were an item." Mom interjected. "So you knew what was going to happen if they were left alone."

"Yes, mom. I knew she wanted alone time with him. Ree had the whole thing planned. She decided to hold practice on a weekday, which we never do. She just...just wanted extra time with him." I cried harder. "I went along with it because I just wanted to sing. I didn't mean to lie to AJ or Aspen. I was afraid I'd be in trouble. I'm sorry I lied to you both. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay, Pix." My dad was always my biggest fan even when I did wrong.

"Sweetheart, I appreciate you telling us the truth. That means a lot, but you still lied to your aunt and uncle and us. That's not the way you were raised."

"Jade..."

"Don't Jade me, Nick. She lied to us. I won't tolerate that from her."  My mom was getting pissed. It only made me feel guiltier. I didn't want to stress her out. It wasn't good for the baby.

"I'm not in trouble am I? You said if I told you the truth I wouldn't be in trouble." I asked nervously. I was worried that I would be grounded for life or something.

"I keep my promises, Pixie."

"You aren't in trouble, but right now I don't completely trust you. We had to pull the truth out of you. We shouldn't have to do that. You should have just been forthcoming in beginning." My mom lectured. "I don't appreciate you lying to your aunt and uncle. For that you will be punished."

"But mom!" I whined. "Dad said I wasn't in any trouble. That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Calleigh. You're dad asked you to tell the truth, and you did. That doesn't make up for lying to adults. It's late and you need to get to bed. You have school in the morning. Your Dad and I will discuss your punishment and let you know after school tomorrow." My mom got off the bed and gave me a quick kiss good night.

"Fine." I slid under the covers as my parents left the room. For the first time, I was majorly pissed at Reese. Her stupid plan got me in trouble. From now on, I was going to stand up to her. I wasn't going to be walked on. Look out world, Calleigh the bitch had arrived.

~ Remember Me This Way - Jordan Hill