Free Thirst by Ilia Bera Page B

sweetie.”
     
    “Yeah I am! Even though I know I’m wrong, I can’t change. I’m afraid of looking weak.
     
    “Okay—Well, let’s get to the bottom of this. In order for Brittany to do well in your class, what needs to change?”
     
    “She needs to respect me.”
     
    “So tell her that.”
     
    Wade threw his head back and his body went limp in defeat. “I need her to respect me without me caring about her respecting me.”
     
    “After twenty-five years together, I still don’t understand you.” Laura smiled.
     
    “If Brittany fails my class—or any other class ever—then I am a failure, and I don’t deserve to teach.”
     
    “Is this a mid-life crisis?”
     
    “No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s me waking up—me being born again.”
     
    “I already have a newborn. I don’t need another one.”
     
    “I’ve got it,” Wade said.
     
    Laura walked over to the staircase. “Michael! Come downstairs for dinner!” she called out.
     
    “I’ll be right down!” Michael called back.
     
    “I’m going to cancel the next assignment. Instead, they’ll all write a paper about their idol—what makes their idol a good person, and how they could embody those qualities.”
     
    “That sounds lovely, dear. Come get some dinner.”
     
    Michael ran down the stairs. “Hey dad,” he said.
     
    “Hey. You’re all sweaty,” Wade observed.
     
    “There’s a Utica Comets tryout in Prince George in two weeks. They’re picking four guys to bring down to their training camp. I’m going to make the trip down.”
     
    “Really?” Wade asked.
     
    “Yeah. They announced it this morning. It’s totally private—Invite only.”
     
    “Michael got an invite from the coach himself,” Laura said with pride.
     
    “I’ll come,” Wade said.
     
    Laura and Michael both turned and looked at Wade with surprise.
     
    “Really?” Michael said.
     
    “Yeah—I want to be there,” Wade said.
     
    Michael laughed. “They probably won’t let you tryout,” he joked.
     
    “I want to be there. Is that so strange? What’s so strange about that?” Wade asked.
     
    “Yeah—It’s cool. It’s just—remember last time?” Michael said sheepishly.
     
    “What last time?” Wade asked. “What happened the last time?”
     
    “When I was fourteen, trying out for The Moose—you kept leaning over the boards and telling me the coach was an idiot. Then you yelled at the ref, and you kept telling me to shoot five-hole, because that was the goalie’s weak spot—even though the coach kept telling me to shoot the corners?”
     
    “But you made the team,” Laura said. “Thanks to your father’s advice.”
     
    “I know I did—but…”
     
    “I just want to watch—see all those new skills you’ve got,” Wade said.
     
    “Really?” Michael said, still not sure what to believe. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
     
    “Really.”
     
    “Cool. Yeah—I’d love for you to come.”
     
    “Ready to eat?” Laura asked.
     
    “Where’s Cassie?” Wade asked looking around the room for his daughter.
     
    “She’s at another sleepover. I guess she’s finishing up some big assignment for school with her friends and they wanted to make a fun weekend out of it.”
     
    “She’s sixteen. She’s too old to be having sleepovers,” Wade said.
     
    “Every girl has sleepovers, Wade. I have friends my age who still have sleepovers.”
     
    “Those aren’t sleepovers, Laura. Those are lesbians,” Wade said.
     
    “For the last time, Jenna and Darlene are not lesbians!” Laura laughed.
     
    “Who is Cassie sleeping over with?” Michael asked.
     
    “Her friend Vanessa,” Laura said.
     
    “Vanessa? The girl with the blonde hair and the lip ring?” Michael asked.
     
    “Why?” Wade asked, noticing his son’s sudden worried apprehension.
     
    “Oh—I don’t know. I just don’t know about that girl,” Michael said.
     
    “She seems nice enough. Her parents are so