I turn on the ignition and reverse out of the visitor’s space, when my daughter finally decides to speak.
“What happened?”
“What’s that?”
“With the headmistress.”
“Me?” I glance at her from the corner of my eye, and she nods. “Trust me, it’s not my fault.”
“That’s not what it looked like.”
“It’s not appropriate for a girl your age.”
“You slept with her, didn’t you?”
“Do you really think I want to talk about it?”
“If you’ve thrown away the only chance for me to go to school…”
“Nowyou care? You didn’t seem to give a damn when you set fire to the science lab.”
“Chemistry. You wouldn’t get it,” she says, turning her face towards the window.
“Maybe you’re right, but that’s not my fault, either. You’re the one who won’t talk to me, who never tells me what happened; who won’t let me help you.”
“Would you?” She turns back to face me as I stop at a set of traffic lights. “Would youreallyhelp me, or would you turn your back this time, too?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve never been there for me.”
“Skylar…”
“She was on her own. Those last few months…” Her bottom lip begins to tremble, but she’s steadfast. “She had no one.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head, returning her gaze out the window and shutting me out, once again.
I press down on the accelerator with a heavy heart, and head out of the city and towards my parents’ house.
“I don’t want to be home-schooled,” she hisses, through gritted teeth.
“Is that an indirect way of telling me that you want me to help you get into that school?”
“Take it however you want.”
I scoff and turn down the track.
“If I help you get into that school, will you promise me that there’ll be no more trouble? You won’t set fire to anything, you won’t steal or break anything, you won’t get yourself into any more compromising situations?”
“That’s a long list, Kerry.”
“You think?” I park outside my parents’ house and switch off the engine. “You have no idea what strings I’ll have to pull to get you in.”
She turns to face me again. “You’ve really messed up, haven’t you?”
I lift my eyes and open the driver door. Skylar mirrors me and catches up with me at the front door.
