Because of You by Maria E. Monteiro

don’t you just go home?”
    “I wish I could, ‘cause every minute I have to spend with him makes me hate him even more.”
    Austin holds me tighter making my heart feel safe again. I look up just in time to see my father and Trisha walk out of the store. She looks upset as my father tries to comfort her. She is such a phony bitch. I hate her.
    He snaps his head towards me. His eyes widen when he notices who is standing next to me. He opens the car door for Trisha and then begins to cross the street again. I pull away from Austin before he can reach us.
    “So I see you and my daughters are friends again,” my father says with a wry look in his eyes. My father knows exactly how Austin broke my heart when we were kids. I remember he told me I was better off knowing what a jerk he was before it was too late. Years later he turned around and used his dad to handle his divorce.
    “Yes we are,” Austin says, putting his arm around my shoulders. I quickly battle with either pushing his arm off me or letting him keep it there. I decide not to move. “I called her and noticed she was upset. So, I came to see if I could do something to cheer her up.”
    “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Do you think you can do me a favor?” My dad says still with some doubt in his eyes.
    Austin nods his head.
    “Can you take my daughter out for a while before she has to go to work. She’s had a hard day. I think she could really use a friend.” I’m speechless. That’s the last thing I thought my father was going to say.
    “Not a problem.”
    My father turns to me and says with warmth in his eyes this time, “Sometimes I do things without thinking and I apologize for that. I love you and nothing will ever change that.” He opens his arms and I rush into them. For this small moment I’m his little girl and I still believe he can do no wrong. “Go have a good time.” I hug him tighter. I wish I could hold on to this feeling forever.
    He crosses the street, gets into his car, and drives off.
    It really sucks that my parents are no longer together. I wish I could rewind time and try to fix whatever was wrong with them, or at least stop Trisha from meeting him.
    “I hate seeing you cry,” Austin says, wiping my tears off my face.
    “I hate crying. These last couple of months I feel like all I’ve done is cry. I can’t take it anymore.”
    “Well I’m here now, and I’m gonna make sure you do a lot more smiling than crying.” He takes a hold of my hand.
    “Thanks. But I’m sure you have better things to do than take care of me.”
    “Not really. Well, actually I have to go help Derek with the party, but I can do that later. I just wanna spend time with you.”
    I know he’s just trying to be nice. “It’s cool. You can drop me off at Logan’s house.”
    “Are you sure? I did promise your dad I’d make sure you have a good time.”
    “It’s really okay. I’m just thankful you came to rescue me,” I say getting into his car.
    “You promise we’ll hang out tonight?”
    I nod. There’s nothing more I want than to be by his side tonight. There’s no part of me that wants to fight this bond we’re building anymore.
    “Good. I’ll make sure you forget all about your horrible day.”
    I nod again, trying not to make my smile so wide. It’s weird how in two weeks Austin has gone from being my enemy to my personal hero.
    I enter Logan’s house and am shocked to see Jesse sitting there. Jesse quickly tells me how he had a fight with his mom and headed down here to see his dad. I don’t care how bad the fights with my mother get I would never choose my dad over her.
    I guess for Jesse it’s different, he doesn’t only have his father in Cisco Beach, he also has Logan. It must have been twice as hard for him than me. He didn’t only leave his dad he also left his friends when he moved. I don’t think I could make it if I didn’t have my friends around, and now Austin.
    I decide not to tell Logan and Jesse anything