Free In My Father's Shadow by Jl Paul

mom dated my dad her last
year of school and he was in a band. They were constantly separated
yet they found a way to make it work. And as far as our friends go,
I think they’d stick by us no matter what, even if this thing
between us didn’t work, which I’m willing to bet my inheritance
that it will.”
    “Al,” he groaned sitting up and running his hands
through his hair. “You’re not listening to me.”
    “And you’re not listening to me,” she said as she
whirled around to face him, eyes ablaze. She paused and sucked in a
breath, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, wait. You’re letting me
down easy, aren’t you? You’re not attracted to me so you’re making
excuses.”
    “No,” he said as he sprang to his feet and crossed
the room. “I would never lie to you about something like this.
Ever.” He gripped her shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes.
“Al, I’m being totally honest with you, here. I care about you, you
know that. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
    “Maybe I’m hurt now,” she said, cringing at her
pitiful voice. She hated begging but she just couldn’t help
herself. All the confusing feelings and raging emotions were
finally coming to a head and she needed to get it all out.
    He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, sucking in a deep
breath. She knew he was trying to hang on to his patience – trying
to keep things together. “Al, I don’t want to hurt you and I’m
afraid that’s what will happen. Don’t you understand that? I’m
trying to protect you!”
    A couple tears finally escaped from her eyes and
rolled down her cheeks. She planted her palms on his chest and
shoved him away, anger pounding in her ears. “Well you’re doing a
pretty horrible job,” she said before slamming the bathroom door
and locking herself inside. A few minutes later, after she heard
the room door open and close, did the real tears surface as she
slid to the floor.

Chapter Seven
     
    The next week dragged by horribly. Cole’s mood had
not improved at all since Sunday and he couldn’t wait for the
weekend so he could go home and talk to his dad.
    He’d left the hotel room Saturday night after it
became apparent Ally wasn’t going to come out of the bathroom while
he was around. He’d walked around the hotel for over an hour,
hoping to give Ally enough time to cool down. By the time he’d
returned, she’d been tucked in her bed with the lights off,
sleeping. Or at least she’d been pretending to be asleep. He’d just
crawled into bed and listened to her soft cries, wanting nothing
more but to comfort her. But he hadn’t trusted himself to touch her
again so he’d pulled his own fake sleep act and stayed where he
was.
    She’d refused to speak to him at all the next morning
and had insisted on driving home with Jamie. And once they’d all
returned to school, she’d collected her things and disappeared in
her dorm. He hadn’t seen her since. RJ and Jamie had pestered him
about what had happened and all he had told them was that they’d
argued again and she’d cool off soon.
    “Cole,” Jennifer Mansfeld called out, stopping him
from reaching the music building. She smiled and grabbed his arm.
“You still haven’t told me if we were going to the Fall Festival
dance together.”
    He rolled his eyes and held in a breath. He
definitely wasn’t in the mood to deal with her – he already had a
headache forming behind his eyes. “I told you I probably wasn’t
going.”
    “Exactly. You said probably not definitely.” She did
a sort of flirty knee bend thing, beaming at him the entire time.
She was pretty, sure, with chestnut hair and hazel eyes, but she
paled in comparison to Ally.
    He shrugged and continued walking, hoping to shake
her off or force her to get the hint. She was undeterred, though,
and kept up with his fast pace.
    “I have already turned down two guys because I
thought for sure we’d go.” She looped her arm through the crook of
his and he knew she wasn’t