The sad expression on Linda’s face did not fit how she should feel. Right now she should feel special, like a princess. Nancy and her friends were Linda’s ladies-in-waiting in getting her ready for her big night. That scarlett princess straight sweep train tulle dresses with appliques lace sequined corset should have made her feel regal. The job Linda and her friends, Gemma and Christina, did on Linda’s hair and for her makeup should added to the sense of regality. Her hair was as perfect as a starlett on the red carpet and her make up excellently highlighted and accented her features, the eye shadow match her dress and it also drew out her green eyes.

Instead, all she felt was shame. The sparkles from the sequined corset were drawing too much attention to her. The pampering from everyone felt like it was undeserved. She knew she should not be treated this special. Wearing the dress just felt wrong. It was a great fit, yet she felt like the corset was suffocating her.

The expression did fit how Linda felt. She wanted to hide and be left alone. She was all dressed up and wanted nowhere to go. She also felt uneasy, like there was a bad omen on the horizon. Even with seeing her dad and sister smiling and flaunting over her she could not shake that feeling. Linda believed that they had to be fools, they were celebrating when they should be getting ready for whatever ill event was coming.

Linda knew part of this was Ron’s reaction to her going to the prom. It would be better to say his non-reaction. She was right about him being mad, but wrong about he was going to be yelling and making a pointless protest. She knew his apathy was a bad sign about repairing their broken relationship. Her sister and dad tried to put a positive spin on it by saying that he just knew he lost the fight, but Linda was wiser. There was no defeat in Ron’s voice, thre was defiance, disdain and disaaproval towards those three.

Linda’s audience took her sour look as nerves. This was her big night, she was coming of age. They tried to ease her uneasy feeling but everything they said and did was in vain. Then her Nancy figured out that her sister just needs to naturally get over feeling nervous. So back up from dotting on Linda and ther friends and dad followed her cue.

**************************

There was too much rushing around getting Linda ready for her big day for Kyle to worry about Ron. He needed to put his time and effort into what was important getting his daughter ready for her prom and his son was not. Kyle was under the impression that Ron was broken by him getting his way. That his son knew that resistance was futile.

Him thinking that his son was resigned to Linda going to the prom or him thinking that Ron’s feeling were not important. The worse part was why he felt his son was insignificant because of how he felt about Ron at the moment. Kyle did not like his son at the moment. He did not like that his son wanted Linda punished for her role over last weekend. He did not like that his son was standing up to him. How dare Ron not know his role in the family and Kyle’s life?

Ron being seen as irrelevant was exactly why Kyle did not notice the nonverbal signs being broadcast from his son. Ron shaking his head in disapproval when he saw the preparation for Linda’s ill gotten big day was not noticed by Kyle. It was apparent to Linda as a lighthouse. It also had the added effect of bringing to light in Linda’s mind on all the hazards of keeping the course they were going. Today was not clear sailing but navigating rough waters in a strom at night without a lighthouse. She just wanted that light to be put out so she could go back to thinking this is going to be as easy as a 3-hour boat tour.

Linda did get what she wished when Ron came downstairs. It was not everything she wished for that lighthouse did shin brightly for a moment with Ron hitting her with a stare of disapproval and his head slighly shaking back and for in befuddledment and disapproval. That did not matter for as he was going out of the door “My ride is here, I am going over to on my date with Chole.”

*********************

Jim hated to see how happy Chole was when his wife opened to door and she walked in with Ron. Some of the reason was that he knew he was losing his Kiddo, his daughrer was going to be a woman soon. If that was the only reason he would have been happy overall. It was not.

The biggest reason is that he believe that she was going to be hurt bad by Ron. The hated knowing that he was the only one in his family that saw the heartbreak coming. This budding relationship to him was a major crash and he knew he had to do what anyone would do and stop if from happening.

He knew he could not declare that Chole could not date Ron, that would do no good. Him and his wife would fight and Chole could and would just date Ron behind his back. It would not be behind both of her parents facts for Sabrina supports her child and likes Ron. She thinks they make a cute couple.

Wanting to make sure that the first date would be the last date between those two Jim was going to get Ron alone to make sure that that boy understands that he is going to tell Chole that he was not feeling anything different between them and that they should just stay friends.

Getting Ron alone was easy. Loving and caring for Chole was not the only thing those two had in common. They were both huge fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kyle had some collectables and just added a game worn jersey of Syd the Kid Crosby to his shrine to his team.

Ron was more than happy to go down to the finished basement with Kyle to see the shrine. The invite had to be a way of showing his date’s father approval. Walking down the stairs to the basement Ron was feeling so good about his day that he did not notice that the conversation was one side with him saying everything.

When they got down there Jim made the true big reveal. “Ron this is going to be quick. I know you are a nice boy. I also know that you like to wear dresses. Do not worry I will not tell anyone.

I want you after the date to tell Chole you are not feeling anything different between you two and it is best if you are just friends. I rather have her hurt a little now and then a lot later when she finds out your secret.”

For a moment Ron was going to ask Mr Pruitt why he still believed that after his dad called and clear it up. Then Ron was laughing from the clarity that came to him. His dad never told the truth. Ron was going to give the man who was just trying to protect his daughter one last chance to believe the truth. “Mr Pruitt, I hate wearing dresses. I was forced because my sister lied to my parents. I would never do anything to hurt your daughter. You have to believe me”

The sincerity of the words confused Jim. They sounded true. He knew the part of Ron never hurting his daughter was true. The rest of what Ron said rang just as true as those words. Yet, he could not and would not believe them. He could not believe them for if they were then it meant his best friend lied about his own son and would not because there was no way he was even going to chance that Ron was lying because it would lead to major heartache for her daughter.

Wanting to protect his daughter was a huge mistake. He had to let her make her own mistakes. Trying to make sure that she stays protected was Jim trying to just have Chole be his kiddo for a little bit longer. He did not want to lose that.

“Ron, I do not care that you like to wear dresses. That is fine. I do care about making sure my kiddo does not get hurt, so you will tell her what I said ok. It is fine you two will still be friends and in a way become closer because both of you will now know that there will be nothing more to your relationship.”

Ron just said “I understand.”

Jim was happy getting what he wanted. He also was happy that Ron was a good kid and did not put up much of a fight. In a way he was depending on Ron being a good kid for he knows that if his wife or daughter found he sabotage the date they would be pissed at him. His son would be disappointed in him, but being more pragmatic would understand.

Little did the man who thought he got his way and won was in for a huge loss. Here is the thing it is not that Ron was not going to put up a fight he just did not start. When Mr Pruitt was giving the reason, Ron came up with how he was going to win. It was simple, he was going to tell Chole the truth about what happened in the basement.

As those two were walking up the stairs to rejoin everyone else it was Jim’s turn to be in a one-sided conversation. It was easy for him not to notice Ron engaging for he was so relieved about not having to deal with his daughter’s major heartbreak later and he was talking about how he got that game jersey.

Ron's real answer to Jim’s proposal of lying about the date started as soon as those two were in the living room with Chole and Sabrina. Chole welcomed those two back with a had a huge smile on her face, She was in such a great mood. The biggest reason for that smile was Ron was in her vision. She fancied him and just seeing someone a person fancied brings a smile to their face, it that was not enough to make her happy then there was her dad inviting Ron down to the basement to see the newest part of his collection. The teenage girl knew that was more than just showing a jersey. Her dad could have done that anytime. It was her dad’s way of showing he approved the boy she fancied.

Sabrina was happy also. Her daughter is growing up. Chole saying yes to Ron showed that she was looking for the right things in a relationship. Her daughterwanted to be in a relationship with someone she can grow with and have a connection with instead of looking for excitement and thrills. Sabrina did not think Ron was boring and she knew he was a handsome young man, but being fun and cute were just added bonuses.

Those smiles and all the feel good quickly left when Ron said “Chole my dad lie to your dad about me liking to wear dresses and he believes my dad. Your dad told me to say that I did not feel anything special between us after our date and we should just be friends.

I am sorry the date is off. I cannot date you if your dad disapproves so much of the idea that he did that. It will cause friction between you two and he will always be trying to undermine us as a couple. I will do anything to protect you. I do not want to see you hurt, but your dad has too much power over your life.”

Ron powerful words stunned Jim. He was shocked that the boy stood up to him like that. He never thought he would tell the truth about that conversation. Ron said he would never hurt Chole yet he did this by showing her dad’s real colors. If Jim only knew that Ron did not hurt Chole, the hurt was from his actions and Ron was just the messenger of the awful truth.

The smelling salt of Chole and Sabrina’s response to hearing the truth made Jim know that loss big time. That there was nothing he could say or do to get out of having to deal with the ramifications of his actions.

Chole got up from the love seat that she was going to share with Ron screaming “I can’t believe you did that dad.” Then she ran up the stairs to her room. She wanted to be away from her dad. Seeing the pain made Jim know he was the one who broke his daughter’s heart.

Sabrina’s eye were shooting lazer more powerful than one from the death star right at Jim and his heart exploded. He never saw his wife so mad before and also knew that his wife was never more justified than she ever was more. “You, how dare you. Everyone else but Kyle was telling you the truth yet you believed him over us. You believed him over your family. Then if that is not enough you try to bully Ron into not dating our daughter. I thought you were better than that. I am disappointed in you.

Ron I am going up to talk to Chole the date is not off. I will protect your relationship with my daughter. She deserves to have someone like you. You will look out for her and do the right thing.”

Ron excused himself to call his mom. He said he wanted to tell her what happened. That was true, but he in his eye there was not going to be a date. Chole was too upset, and her dad now would never let him date her. One lesson he learn from the fallout of the punishment he had last week was that most adults hated it when kids stood their ground and Ron showed Jim he will not back down.

*****************

Dawn and her sister Tammy were sitting down for a late lunch after enjoying a nice relaxing heated stone massage. By the end those stones being lifted off of Dawn’s back felt like the weight of anxiety of waiting for her son to call was gone also. Surely by now her son would have call if Kyle was up to something. Linda would have been getting ready for the prom. She did feel a little bad about not having faith in her husband, but she knew that she had to be cautious in this situation. Her husband was go against the price Linda was paying and he likes to get his way.

Before the waiter was able to take their order her phone rang as soon as she saw it was her son it felt like that those were heated stones with ones which weighed 10 times as much and were placed in a blast furnace. She knew exactly what this call was about.

She so wanted to rush home and stop her husband from succeeding in pulling off his scheme. Even with feeling the urgency of getting moving to thwart her husband she was calm. She knew that one issue that Ron had was no one listen to him. Her taking over the conversation will show her son that she has not learn anything from last weekend. So Dawn wanted to make sure that Ron lead the converastion.

Dawn was happy that Ron did not give her the chance to take over the conversation.

“Mom, dad lied to Mr Pruitt. Mt Pruitt thinks that I like to wear dresses. He tried to force me to not date his daughter and lie about why. I told Chole the truth about what her dad did.

Also Linda is going to the prom. Dad thinks this is going to blow over for you will be so relax from your weekend.”

With caring in her voice Dawn asked her son “Why didn’t you call me about the prom. I asked you to do so?”

Ron did not get defensive about his mom’s question. He knew she was not blaming him for what was happening and he answered her. “Mom, I did not care. I really do not care what Linda gets to do. She does not care about me so I do not care about her. I just want her to leave me alone. I told her that before I left to to be with Chole.

Also I did not really have a good time to call you until now. Dad said shit will my fan if I call you about this.

I know you would still find out about the prom and that dad will pay.”

Dawn reply to her son was “Ron, I am sorry. I did not listen to you again. I should have stay home.”

“Mom, you did listen to me. You had to have faith in your husband, but you said that he will pay if he did anything.”

“Ron, we will talk more later. I need to get going because I am coming home. Do you need anything else from me.”

“Come pick me up Mom. I just want to go home.”

*****************

Jim was fuming about the situation. Ron had no right to tell Chole the truth. She was too young to understand that making sure the relationship between her and Ron needed to not go beyond being friends. His daughter wound not understand her and Ron were in the relationship for two different reasons, her were emotional and his was so he could fit in.

He was going to talk to Ron right now. That kid was going to be out of his house by the time his wife and daughter came back downstairs. When they were done talking Ron was also going to out of his daughter’s life also. His daughter was acting hysterical right now. When the emotional winds of her not getting what she thought she was getting calmed down Jim would be able to show his Kiddo the truth.

He walked into the dining room, where Ron excused himself to make the phone call, as the boy told his mom to pick him up.

Jim was happy that Ron wanted to go. That was one less problem he had to deal with and in a raised voice he said “ I will take you home. You are not welcome in this house. You were going to use my daughter to cover up being a freak..”

Dawn heard what Jim said and how he talked to Ron. She was not going to let Jim talk to her son in that manner. She told her son she was on her way to get him and then asked Ron to put Jim on the phone.

Jim took the phone from Ron and In a way more respectful and toned down voice Jim said “Dawn you do not need to worry about getting Ron, I am more than happy to drive him home.”

“Listen here Jim I heard how you talked to my son, what you called my son, and I also know you still believe the lie Kyle told you about Ron.

You never talk to my son like that again, you show him respect. Do you understand?”

There was silence from Jim. He knew he was wrong for raising his voice at Ron and what he said. He also knew his trespasswas against the minor was minor and did not deserve the response he was given. He did not want to get into another fight so he just chose not to engage.

Dawn said “I will ask again do you understand.”

How dawn was talking down to him raised his hackles. “Dawn I now I was wrong, but your son should have never asked out my Kiddo. He does not like girls in that way.”

“I said listen here and you did not. I told you Kyle lied to you. I know he lied to you because you still believe that Ron likes to wear dresses.

Here is what happened, Nancy was borrowing Linda clothes without telling her. She took the turquoise dress that Linda wanted to wear to the award banquet with her to DC last weekend. Linda blamed Ron, lied to back up her story and we believed her. We thought we were being supportive of Ron. We were wrong.”

“Come on Nancy why would Kyle lie?”

“You still do not believe me? He lied for he did not want to look stupid infront of you. When he was told he had to tell you the truth he said “Hell no”. If you still do not believe everyone else then after we get off the phone Ron can show you Nancy in that dress down at DC on Facebook.

“Now I will be there to be up my son in about an hour. Do not take him home. I want to be with him when he goes back home. My husband is up to one of his schemes. My husband wil be pissed and take it out on Ron without me around”

This was a big oh shit moment for Jim. This had to be the truth. There was no way she had that kind of cover story ready. He knew how wrong he was. He believed Kyle over his wife, children and Ron. The stubborn protective man then stood his ground when Dawn told he his was wrong.

“I am sorry Dawn. See you soon.”

Knowing that the apology was from regret and not remorse Dawn did not acknowledge it. She just said “Goodbye Jim.”

Meekly the man who was wrong and knows it gave Ron back his phone. “I am sorry Ron.”

Ron told his mom see you soon and he loves her. Then after the call ended started to walk out of the dining room. A shellshocked Jim asked “Where are you going?”

“I will wait for my mom outside. I am not going to stay where I am not welcomed and I am not welcomed here. Am I right?”

Jim choose not to engage once again. This time for he knew whatever he said would just lead to worsening the issue. Ron was not open to hearing him out and Jim could not blame him. What he pulled was a dirty trick on Ron. He thought that he was right in doing the wrong thing. So now he has to wait for his daughter and wife to come downstairs so he could start his mea culpa.

*****************

Overall Sam was excited as his was driving his parents to Linda’s. He felt like an adult being the one behind the wheel. It is satisfying that his parents let him be the one behind the wheel. Being the one driving them felt like a nice unexpected rite of passage. This parents were treating him like a person and not their child. Even with his mom sitting in the passenger seat and his dad behind her he felt independent.

Another reason the boy who was trying hard to become a man was excited was Sam knew that tonight was going to a great one, one that both of them will look back on fondly. Yeah they had a little fight yesterday, but he understood why. She told him to quit joking about her brother having a crush on him.

The reason he was knew he was wrong was that he did listen to her when she told him to think about why what he was doing was funny. Yeah it is not cool to make fun of someone for having feelings for someone else. He was mad at Ron and that clouded his judgment, but if his Lindz was not he should not be either. He was going to get with Linda’s program and treat Ron with respect and be extra nice to him.

When Sam and his parents were welcomed into Linda’s home his feeling of excitement about the night rose. Linda looked amazing and that just fortified his believe about tonight being great. Sam was so happy because Linda looked as special as he found her to be. She deserved it and his desire right now was to make sure that he helped her feel as special as he found her.

After the quick pleasantries of everyone greeting each other the guests gave the two prom goers a moment of privacy.

Same was trying to show Linda his maturity when he brought up Ron “Lindz, where is your brother? I thought he would not miss a chance to see you in that dress and me all dressed up.”

Linda took the question as Sam not listening to her. “I told you to drop it. To quit saying that my brother has a crush on you.”

Sam did listen to her last night and again today. “I am sorry. I really wanted to know where Ron was. I fell bad on how I have been treating him and want to start to make it up to him.”

“Good then stop thinking that Ron, my brother has a crush on you. He doesn’t. I have no idea why you think that. He is going out on his first date with Chole.”

Linda’s loving boyfriend took his time responding. Listening means thinking about what you heard. He knew that Linda was right, that Ron does not have a crush on him. How much Sam was a dick to Ron this week that crush was long gone. “Honey, I was wrong but I am going to make it up to your brother for how I was treating him. That was not right or cool.”

Sam’s response made Linda feel even guiltier. Her boyfriend was trying to make amends for doing wrong, yet she was not. She tried lying to herself that she did nothing wrong but it was hard. There was no supporters for those lies to show how feeble they were. Instead of dwelling on what was wrong in her life Linda looked at Sam to try to get her mind on what was right. That her boyfriend was becoming a good man and she was lucky to have him. Plus Sam was going to be nice to her brother meant one less issue in her life. That will have to help clean up the fallout of her going to the prom.

“Good, he might be mad at me but I love my brother. He is having a hard time and I helped make it.”

Yes even when trying make the lies believable without the outside support of her dad and sister the truth was coming to Linda.

“It will be fine. You remember when we were his age we would be so pissed at someone one day and then best friends the next. He will come around quicker than you think.”

Hearing those words of encouragement from her boyfriend did make Linda feel better. If Ron does come around and quit being mad at Linda it would be quicker than she thought. This was for the simple fact that Linda had a feeling that her brother was never going to come around and not be mad at her. It might take time but she had all the time in the world because was young.

“You are right babe, now let’s go join everyone else.”

****************

Ron was outside waiting for his mom. He was content on just sitting there being alone. He had nothing to deal with at the moment. There was no worrying about any other part of his dad scheme being revealed to him. There was no defending who he was to others, just the sun shining on him a nice cool breeze. If he did not know better the boy who was at peace would have thought that some higher power like God, Fate, or Lady Luck made the breeze to cool him off so he would not start to feel too warm.

Then to make Ron start to feel that fortune was also shining upon him a serendipitous moment happened, Devlin was walking up the street returning from a morning of fishing in the Mon River before he chauffeured his sister on her big date with. He was not going to waste a nice day sitting at home when he could just be sitting by the river in nature. Catching a fish was secondary to Delvin when he went fishing. He used the rod as a way to just be left along by others. Being alone was nice but Ron liked Devlin and also Devlin believed the truth about last weekend. Ron would not have to waste time and energy on defending himself.

Devlin did not like see Ron sitting on their front steps. Ron’s posture also did not get Devlin’s seal of approval. A teenage boy who was going on his first date with a girl he really likes should not be sitting alone looking worn out. Ron should be inside, full of energy and excited. Devlin knew right away that his dad messed up the date and why. He just did not know the how.

Devlin was mad. He tired to hold his anger to his dad’s actions and not his dad, but that was hard. Mr Coville had to lie about Ron wearing a dress to save face and instead of believing everyone else his dad choose to believe his friend. Devlin knew that Mr Coville was a schemer which was more concern about his image then reality. Picking to believe someone who likes to say “fake it until you make it” over your family is not wise. Then messing up the social life of his daughter because of it was yet another bad choice.

The returning fisherman greeted Ron and just sat down next to him. Ron should not be alone right now. His sister’s date needed support and Devlin

“What are you doing Devlin.”

“Just sitting down and enjoying the view. It is a nice spring day and I am not ready to go in yet, so why not sit with a friend and enjoy the view?”

It was a nice view. Across the street from then was a wooded area behind a playground with a basketball cort. On one half of the court there was some teenagers playing three on three and the other half had a mom teaching her son how to shoot the ball. There was young kids being push by their parents on push swing and older children using their own momentum to go as high as they can on pump swings. The sounds of people having fun was in harmony with the birds chirping in nature.

Ron had to admit that it was a nice spring day and seeing the life happening right across from them was a nice view. He also did not mind the company. Chole’s older brother was cool. Not in the most popular kid on campus. His way of coolness was just the confidence and self-assurance he had. Devlin knew himself and was true to himself. Devlin’s confidence and self-assurance radiated from him and help Ron start to feel more at ease so his answer was “cool.”

An half of hour passed as those two just sat there. Not a word was said. The silence was comfortable. Then the silence was broken by the front door opening. It was Sabrina coming out to finish cleaning up the mess that her husband made. She had Chole feeling better about the day and believing that her date with Ron was still on. She did not have to explain to her husband that he was wrong about Ron being a crossdresser, he already found out, but she had to explain to him that she was pissed about how he tried to use coercion on making Ron not date their daughter.

The scene of her son sitting with Ron made her feel better about the situation. She was coming out expecting to see a sad boy sitting alone but was greeted by people just relaxing. She come over to thetwo friend just enjoying each other company and wanted to get rid of her son. She needed to talk to Ron alone. Devlin will find out what happened soon enough but to her right now was not the time or the place. “Hey Dev, why don’t you go in the house I need to talk with Ron.”

Ron said “He can stay Mrs Pruitt, whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of him.”

Even with Mrs Pruitt being pissed at her husband about trying to end Chole and Ron’s relationship before it even started, Ron did not trust her. How his dad and sister have been acting like what happened to Ron was not a big deal, he fully believed that Mrs Pruitt would do the same.

“Ron, I think it is best to me to just say this to you.”

“Oh, like your husband earlier.”

Right then Sabrina knew Ron did not trust her. That she did not want the moment to be private for Ron’s sake but for her sake.

Devlin wanted to reassure his mom that he knew what the topic of conversation was so there was no need for him to leave. “Mom it is fine. I know that dad try to fuck up the date between Ron and Chole. That for some reason he believed Mr Coville story about Ron liking to wear a dress and he was stupid and being overprotective.

I also know that you are out here trying to clean up the mess dad made.”

Sabrina said “Ron do not worry about my husband. He knows better than to try anything else to mess up yours and Chole’s relationship. I will keep him in line. So come on inside and I will drive you and Chole on your date..”

“I am not welcomed in your home, plus my mom is almost here to get me. I need to go home with her.”

“You are welcomed in my home, you always will be and you do not need to go home with her.”

“Ok I want to. I want to see how she handles my sisters and their father going behind her back to have Linda go to the prom. It will be nice to see them get what they deserve.

I will come back afterwards but only if your husband is not here. I do not want to have to deal with him today. He showed me how he really felt about me by what he did.”

“Ron my husband is sorry and you will have to deal with him. Just come back and see him today, he will make it right. You will see that he is sorry..

Dawn was done pulling up next to the Pruit’s front lawn and getting out of her car right then. She heard what Sabrina had to say.

“Sabrina, if Ron does not want to deal with Jim do not try to force him. If you think what your husband did was not that bad and it can be clear up quickly then there is something seriously wrong with you.”

“He went a little overboard trying to protect Chole. I am pissed at him, but Ron needs to listen to hear him out.”

“Your husband called my son a freak and told my son he is not welcomed in your home. If that is going a little overboard in your book then I do not have time for you.

Come on Ron let’s get going.”

Sabrina did not know what to say. Her not knowing what she was defending made her look as bad as her husband. Devlin knew that his mom would never defend name calling and kicking a guess out of their home for telling the truth so he spoke up in her defense.

“Mrs Coville, wait. My mom only thought that my dad try to put an end on Ron and Chole dating. That is bad and she knows that. She is just trying to clean up the mess he made.

You know my mom good enough that she does not put up with namecalling and kicking people out of her own home for no reason.”

Sabrina having a champion in her son help her find the words she wanted to say. “Ron I did not know Jim kicked you out of my house. I did not know he stooped down to namecalling. Like I said you are always welcomed here.”

“I told you.”

“I sorry, I thought you meant you did not feel welcomed in the my home. I did not know he called you a freak. That was wrong. If you come back Jim will not be here and you will not have to deal with him until you are ready to.

Dev, please go to the Shop’N Save with Chole and pick up some bread and milk.”

Dev said “Will do Mom.” He knew that they did not need bread and milk at that moment and the real reason was so his mom could have some private time with his dad. They were going to have a conversation which needed to be kept private.

As Ron was getting into his mom’s car he agreed to come back and accepted Mrs Pruitt’s apology. He knew her good enough that she did not know the entire story. He wanted to to have this date with Chole. He wanted something nice to go his way for once. The last 10 days made he feel like life was just trying to run up a hill and he needed to get to the top of it to see the nice view. His mom took off to take her sun to the summit of that hill and he can start to see the great view.

**********************

Dawn with knowing what she was going to see when she pulled up to her house Dawn could not believe her eyes. Seeing her husband taking pictures of Linda and Sam with Nancy and Sam’s parents watching made her feel as big of a fool as her felt her husband and daughter thought she was. How could her husband go against his word? How could Linda think that it was fine to go to the prom. How could Nancy be so happy about this? How could they all be so in the moment that they did not even pay attention and hear her car?

As she was parking the car she turned to Ron “Do you want first crack at them or can I have it.”

Ron was more than happy to let his mom go first. She needed it and he did not. He was done with those people and did not want to waste his breath on them. “You go first mom. I really do not have anything to say to those people“

Getting out of the car and slamming the door was the sound that made the prom goers and their audience realize what was happening. Linda reaction was oh shit and a rush of shame overcame her. Nancy was not worried it was too late for her mom to stop what was happening and Kyle started to think quickly on his feet. Gemma and Christina chuckled a little when they saw Ron.

Kyle came up with a plan and started to talk. He knew he had to set the narrative. If he led the conversation it will go where he wanted it to. “Honey this is not what it looks like. Linda is not going to the prom. I just thought it would be a waste not to get some pictures of her in that dress with how good she looks in it. “

Dawn was not having it. She busted that lie like a bulldozer. “Yeah, right. Even if that was true I said nothing special for Linda this weekend and this looks special to me. I trusted you to keep your word and you did not.

We are going to have a huge talk and you will not like what I am going to say.”

Linda did not want to go to the prom now. She felt so guilty going behind her mom’s back. Finally accepting her punishment she said “Mom, I am not going to the prom. I messed up and should have just said no to this.”

Dawn took what her daughter was saying as yet another lie. That she was trying to give credence to her dad tall tell “Linda, you really think I believe you are not going to the prom. You must think I am a fool. You do, if you didn’t then you would have never went along with your dad’s plan.

I do not care if you go to the prom or not now. You doing this shows me that you do not respect me or care about what I think. It also shows that you do not care about how your actions affect others. You know how upset and hurt Ron was and your lie cause it. So do what you want.”

Nancy was not going to let her mom make her sister feel bad about enjoying a rite of passage. “Mom quit trying to make Linda feel guilty. She has not done anything wrong. You did. You made this happen. She should be going to the prom and you know it. No she is going to the prom. Dad is just righting a wrong.

If Ron was not such a bitch she would be. It was a misunderstanding. Ron never was raiding her closest but he should have been for how much his panties are in a twist about her thinking so.”

“Shut up Nancy. You respect your brother. You talk about being respected yet you do not do so to others. You need to know that respect is given until it a person shows they do not deserve it. You have show you do not deserve it.

Your brother did nothing wrong and you are fine with how he was treated because you do not think he was hurt. You think you are an adult because you are in college. You know nothing of the real world. You do not know how it is when no one believes you. You do not know how it is when someone lies about you on purpose to get their way and everyone believes them. You do not know how it feels when someone you love did you wrong and they do not care.

You are right Nancy your father and I did it, but if Nancy did not lie it would not have happened. I said caused it not that she was responsible for it.

Here is what you are going to do Nancy. You are going to drive Ron back over to Chole’s. Take Linda wherever if she is not going to the prom. You two do not say a word while Ron is in the car.

After you drop him off I do not care but do not come back home until I call you. Hell, use a fake ID and go to a bar if you like. I really do not care.

I am disappointed and hurt by you. I thought you were on your way of becoming a great person, but you are not, so go I do not want to have to look at you anymore right now.”

Nancy asked why she could not just go to her room. She did not like being temporary kicked out of her house. She will not be around her parents so they can have their privacy.

“I will spell it out for you. Your father and I are not going to have a talk. We are going to have a huge fight. “

Linda’s mom dressing down of Nancy made her feel even more ashamed of being dressed up. She went to Ron. She had to start making their relationship better. As the estranged sister was walking towards her brother was shaking his head.

“I was wrong in not believing you. I was wrong lying to get mom and dad to believe me. I was wrong for threatening to cut your hair last weekend. I was wrong for posting about last weekend on Facebook. I was wrong in being mad at you for getting in trouble. I was wrong not accepting my punishment.

I did not think about you at all. I did not treat you like my brother.

I am sorry and will make this up to you.”

Ron’s reply was “Were you wrong in telling Sam that I was Ronda after the weekend and had a crush on him?”

These new accusations gave Linda a pikachu face. She was in total shock “I never said that. I have no idea why he thought that. I told him to drop the calling you Rhonda. I would never say you had a crush on him. Even if that is true for I know that is private. You have to believe me”

Sam just wanted to get going to the prom. To him Linda going and not going was going to have the same results so she should go. He was not going to let this family fight get in his way of their big night. He was not mad at Linda for he knew how her dad can play people to get them to see his way. He was also a victim of Kyle’s charm. “Ron it is true, Linda did not tell me you had a crush on me. It was your dad. I believed him for why would he lie about his own son in that why. I was being a prick to you because I thought you got Linda in trouble for no reason. That was wrong dude. I hope you can understand.”

Those words did register to Ron but he took his attention away from Sam to his dad. Hearing the truth also made it so Ron wanted to waste his breath on his dad.“I should have known it was you Kyle. You lied to Chole’s dad about me, so why would you not do also to Sam. I should have known you got them back together.”

After that outburst Ron was still pissed but did not want to waste his time and effort on his dad or sisters anymore, so he started to calm down. It was not worth engaging with them and he knew it. He was mindful of the situation and how they were.

Trying to get some control of the situation back Kyle yiped back “I am your father, do not call me Kyle.”

Dawn put up a huge stop sign to Kyle “You are concern about Ron calling you Kyle. After last weekend and all the stunts you pull afterwards you are lucky that he is even talking to you. You are such a self center prick. You do not care about others, you only care about getting what you want.

Now get in the house so we can get the fight over.

***********************

Jim Pruitt hated the gnawing feeling in his stomach. That was a sign he knew that the distance between him and his daughter was going to take a while to disappear and they will be close. This gut feeling came from knowing that he made a bad decision which led to his Kiddo someone he loves being hurt. Hurting someone you love to be mad at you makes the pain of doing the wrong thing worse. The pain get compounded when they said you were wrong before acting out on the decision. Then if pain was not enough it got worse for the caring dad thought he was doing the right thing and looking out for his daughter.

The emotionally injured man could not stay away from what he thought would be the cure anymore and went to talk to his daughter. Once she hears him the healing of the rift between them will start to heal and that will also make Jim’s hurt sould to start on the road of recovery.

The walk from the living room to the patio was so much longer to Jim. Not only did it seem like it was as long as hike in the forrest but it was as weary on him also. When he finally slid up the patio door his final destination got further from him. As soon as Chole saw him she turned away. This only was adding a couple of extra steps but each step was becoming more brutal to him.

Once he was face-to-face with Chole sincerely asked “Can we talk Kiddo?”

Chole’s answer of no was so quick and cold it felt like an auto-response.

Jim knew his daughter was right to be mad at him. He almost ruin her first date with Ron, a boy she really likes and already loves as a friend, but he still wanted to talk with her to start making things right. “Why not?”

“Because you do not listen to me. I told you I am not your Kiddo and not to call me that anymore, yet you did. I told you that Ron did not like to wear dresses and you did not believe me.”

“I believe you now. I need to clear this up with you then when Ron gets here him also. I messed up big time.”

“You need to leave. You said you would.

There is nothing to clear up. You believe Kyle over your daughter and his son, even when his son has proof.”

Chole stop for a second, she so wanted to swear but bit her tongue. Swearing would have added nothing to reason why she did not want to talk with her father. It would only escalate the situation and even with her being mad at Jim she wanted to show him respect. Emotions are running higher and they to be brought down, “Dad you even believe Mr Coville over his wife at first. She had argue with you to convince you.

Ron is coming over and right now it is not a good idea for him to see you.”

“I did not ruin your date with Ron, you are having it. I know what I believed is wrong now and that is why I need to do this. I do not want this to linger”

The coals in the grill Sabrina was preparing was not the only thing heating up on the patio. The cold shoulder she was giving her husband disappeared. She was going to give her husband the chance of doing the right thing but with him showing he was getting emotional by defending his actions he knew was wrong she join the conversation.

“Kyle you did mess up the date. They were supposed to go to the movies and if you did not tell Ron that he better say he did not feel it after the date it would have happened. Then you told Ron he is not welcomed in this house and called him a freak. They did not want to have any drama but you made a lot of it.

You are not going to be able to clean up the mess you made by believing Kyle today. You will only make things worse.Ron and Chole are not ready to listen to you and see things in a good light. You not keeping your word and staying will just push Chole away from you and make make Ron’s opinion of you even stronger.”

“Honey, I was only looking out for Chole. I did not want her to get hurt. I thought that Ron liked to wear dresses. I thought he had a crush on his sister’s boyfriend. I was not going to let him use our daughter to hide who he is.

I am done with Kyle he caused this.”

Jum not taking responsibility for his actions was too much for Sabrina “No you caused this. Like our daughter said you believe him over her, Ron and also his wife. You even picked trusting him over me and your son. You choose to do that.”

“If he did not lie, this would not have happened.”

“No, it was your decisions, your choices which made this happened. You called Ron a freak, you kicked him out of our home. Until you own what you did you will never be that close with Chole again.”

Jim knew that his wife was including herself in who he would not be close that but left it out. Sabrina was not being passive-aggresive by not mentioning herself. She knew that part was private and needed to stay that way for now. If the rift between them grew then her children should know, but now it is none of Chole’s concern.

“OK, yeah I fucked up. I fucked up big time. I just want to make this right.

I will be leaving now. Call me when Ron goes home and then I will come back.

Chole I hope you know how sorry I am. I was wrong. I should have believed you, you know Ron. I should have believed Ron. His dad’s story did not fit who Ron showed us he is. I will have more faith in you. I hope this is a start of you forgiving me for messing up big time as you dad.”

Jim’s sincere words were able to knock on the locked door. She was not going to let her dad back in to where he was right then. She needed to make sure his actions back up his words. She did want to acknowledge that he made a good start and she hugged him when she said “See you later Daddio.”

Jim response of “Looking forward to it Chole” was a sign his actions were going to back up his words. Not calling his daughter his favortie pet name meant he knew she was growing up. That he saw his daughter for who she was an adolescent. He knew he had to let her make more of her own decisions and that she was going to make mistakes but he will be there for her.

****************

Kyle had his special smirk on his face. His wife messed up by calling him a prick and that will now give him the oppotunity to control the situation. He saw a clear path up to the hill he was willing to die upon.

Kyle was going to follow the advise that Jack Dempsey, an American boxer and actor, popularized of”a good offense is a great defense.” Instead of the fight being about his actions he is going to make it about her name calling. He is going to start in hard to put her on the defensive. “ You are abusive. Never do that again. You have no right to do that. “

The accusations were vague for not only was did the master rhetorician want his wife backpeddal on by being on the defesne, he also wanted her to be confused. If she did not know exactly what he was accusing her of right away she could not defend herself.

The verbal trap did not slow Dawn down. How could it she was still in bulldozer mode and was going to run over any obstacles her husband in her. Dawn did not even acknowledge what her husband said and started in airing her grievances “I trusted you when you gave me your word about nothing special for Linda. You lied.

Having me go to the spa was not so I could relax, it was so you could get your way. Yet another lie.

Now I find out you lied about your own son to get your way. That is low.”

Kyle tried to distract his wife by going back to his false accusation “Oh so we are not going to cover how you are an abuser now.”

That barricade to Dawn staying on point was as weak as if it was made out of balsa wood. “I do not know what you are talking about and I do not care, for you calling me an abuser is just another lie. That is what you do to get your way. You do not want to talk about what you did for you think it will get swept under the rug. It will not.

I told Ron you were going to pay you were going to regret it if if you try to pull something and you did.”

Kyle did not notice all the debris of his traps so he tried another one. “Oh so you are worried about keeping your word to your son instead of doing the right thing.”

“You do not understand. This is not about me keeping my word to Ron. Even if I never say that to him my mind was made up you were going to regret and pay if you tried to pull one of your schemes.

These past two weeks and how you acted made me realise who you are. You are not a good person. You are charming nice man to people when you need to so they like you, but you are not a good person.

How you treated your son is a disgrace. Telling Jim he likes to be Rhonda and then telling Sam our son has a crush on him. You did not care how your lies would affect him, you only cared about getting your way. You lied about your own son.

How you handled this situation is appalling. I am sicken just thinking I used to defend you and how you treated others. It should not have been until you turn those same tricks on your own family that I saw the truth.

I do not want be with you, yet alone be around you.”

Kyle did not care about the avalanche which just hit him. He was going to defend doing what it took to get his way. “Oh come on you are overreacting, just like you you did with saying that Linda could not go to the prom. Think about what you are saying. You are being too emotional.”

“Oh Kyle I did think about it. I been thinking of it since you been going against any punishment for Linda. I had a nice long drive back from the spa to think about it. I though about you lying to me to get your way. I thought about how you treated your own son. I thought about how decent person, let alone good person would not have acted like you did. I thought about how I do not trust you anymore.

I was wrong about this being a fight it is not. I am done with you. We are going to get a divorce.”

“Come on we can work this out. We can go to counseling. I will work on treating people better. I will make this up to Ron. He was right I am a self center prick and I will change my ways. I promise you I will, you have my word.”

Hearing her husband desperate plead made her know she was doing the right thing. She did not care if those words were true or not. She assumed they were not so the trust was gone. With no trust there cannot be a healthy relationship and she did not want to waste the time and energy to rebuild the trust. Her seeing it as wasting instead of spending to confirmed her decision even more.

“Kyle it is over. I love who I thought you were, but I do not like who you are. What you just said was hallow to me. You might be telling the truth, but I do not care.”

Kyle did stay with his convictions and die upon that hill. Those words were fatal. The wight of the words were like falling rocks cascading down from the avalanche cause by by sweet and fast they hit the rocks which were above him.

Kyle knew two things were over right now his marriage and this conversation. He wanted to show his wife that she was wrong in not believing him. He is a great liar so he did believe himself. This does not mean what he said was a lie, it was just that he was so good at manipulating words that he could do it to himself. He started on what was hopefully a path of becoming a better person by starting to do the right thing.

“Dawn let me pack some things and I will be going. Until I get my own place I will be staying at my parents. Tell Linda and Nancy if they want or need anything from me to just come over or call me.”

Dawn interrupted “How about Ron?”

“Of course him also. I highly doubt that he would want anything to do with me for the time being. I was just trying to respect that and not come off as trying to be the good guy in the situation.

You do not believe me, but I know i messed up bigtime with this. I just want to make this better.

Oh please call me when when it is a good time for me to come over and get the rest of my stuff.

I do love you Dawn and I am sorry that I caused what we had to end.”

With tears slowly leaking out of his eyes Kyle went for one last hug from his wife. Dawn was pensive; she wanted to believe what her soon to be ex said, but knew better. She had to be cautious and make sure she did not believe anything that might start them on the road of reconciliation. She did choose to believe he was hurt that their marriage was over so she did open her arms and her heart.

Wanting to give her soon to be ex the chance to back his words was the reason why Dawn said this “Just move some of your stuff to the guest bedroom. Our kids need time with you and if you at your parents it will be hard.

This does not change the fact I want a divorce. I want you to be looking for a place right away. If I think you are scheming to get us back together I will tell you to go to your parents.

******************

Nancy was wise enough not to bring up the prom in the car with Ron. It would not change his mind, plus Linda is going anyway. Her trying to talk sense into her brother will just come off as gloating. She might be mad at Ron but with getting her way she wanted to give Ron the opportunity to easily come back into her good graces. She was not wise enough to figure out that Ron did not care about her being in her good graces and she was the one who needed to get back into her brother’s good graces

Also, Nancy was not wise enough to listen to her mom about not talking to Ron. She took it as an order and her mom had no right to give her orders about who to talk to. If she was as enlightened as she believed she was then she would have known her mom's words were not a command, but words of warning. That her mom would have had to have been so pedantic for the advice to come off as what it was. That any interaction with Ron would lead to him as off on her as bad John Wick on someone who wronged him.

Nancy just wanted to gripe and have someone listen to her, Her brother might be mad at her but he is her brother so he will listen to her get her feelings off of her chest. That is what family and people who care about each other do, be there when they are needed. She forgot that she was not there for Ron. She started to blow off the steam she had by saying “I can’t believe mom had the gall to tell me not to talk to you and wait to for her to say when I can come home. That is my home and no one can tell me when I cannot be there.”

Ron was done with the situation before him and his mom arrived at Linda’s leaving for the prom. He really was at peace with knowing who his dad and sister really were. That was changing. They kept on pulling him back in. The new information that his dad was spreading lies about who he was to other people and now Nancy was just poking the bear.

Trying to stay out of the drama Nancy was making Ron said “Nancy just listen to what mom said and do not talk to me.”

If it was not bad enough that her mom tried to tell her what to do, now her kid brother was following her example. “Listen here Ron, mom does not tell me what to do and you sure as hell do not give me orders. Just listen and quit being a bitch. This is not about you.”

Till this moment Ron was asking if it was worth it, worth being back. He did not really have an answer. But now he does yeah, he is back. So right now he was going to show his sister that she can either give him what he wants, to be left alone by her, or her ego can die screaming along side her dad’s and sister’s.

Ron turned off the radio so there was no other noise to distract his sister from hearing the explosion of the turth bombs he was going to drop on her.“You really think that mom was telling you what to do. No, she was giving you advice, a warning, words of caution. She knows that I am pissed at you and if pushed I am going to unleash on you.

You really think that I care about how you feel. I do not. Why would I? You do not care about how I feel. If not caring about the punishment was not enough. You do not care about how dad and Linda lied about me . You do not care about how those lies affected me.

Now onto to how you treated mom. You lied to her, you helped dad deceive her. You don’t care about her. You are like dad only caring about getting what you want. You do not even understand that she needs time to talk to him totally alone for what they are going to say to each other needs to stay private.”

Nancy went from being mad to being on the defense. “I did not help dad. I did not know what he was doing.

There was little break as Nancy was scouring her mind in how to defend against the accusation about not caring about her mom“ Oh save your lies for yourself. You need to believe that so you can still think that you have the moral high ground you do not.

If you did not know about Linda going to the prom then how was Gemma and Christina there to help get Linda ready? Why did you try to gloat infront of me about Linda would be going to the prom last night? I said tried for I do not care what she does.

So here is the deal, you can either shut up and drive me to Chole’s or drop me off and I will walk the rest of the way. I do not want to hear your voice, I do not want to talk with you, I do not want to be around you. If I have not made it clear to you I do not want anything to do with you and I do not care if you want anything to do with me or not.

You showed me how insignificant I am to you this week and I am happy that you did. I can move on with my life without anything to do with someone like you.”

Even with most of what Ron said was he just repeating himself and his mom this time it was different. Before her love of her brother made it so she thought they were having a disagreement because of his immaturity had him be a drama queen. She actually heard the words. How Ron stated she did not care about him and he was done with her made her understand how much last weekend and this week affected Ron. That he was severely hurt by what happened and it all happened because of the lies Linda told and Nancy not taking the time to be courteous and telling her sister that she was taking that turquoise dress.

She wanted to start to make amends right now and said “I am sorry Ron I do care about you it is just …..

Before she could finish Ron interrupted her “Pull over right now. I said I do not want to hear your voice or talk with you. I do not want to hear your lies. You are not sorry. I know you told your friends about me being force to wear a dress, but you left out the forced part. There is no reason for me to hear you out because you do care about me at all.”

Nancy knew she either had to stop talking or the car. She picked the car. The driver knew that there was too much damage done to their relationship and she saw it too late for them just having a heart to heart right now to do anything. “I will shut up and just drive you to Chole’s”

The silence in the car was so calming to Ron. He might be physically next to his sister but he knew that emotionally they were far away. The lack of interaction between them made it so she was just an extra to fill in the background. She was such an NPC that Nancy did not have a name to him now.

That same silence was the loudness of nothing to Nancy and it was deafening. The car engine sounded like a jet, hitting the brakes was a screech that hurt her ears. She was happy when they arrived at Chole’s and Ron just got out of the car and closed the. Him not saying goodbye was expected but still hurt and kept the loudness of nothing there even after he left. This was so because the door closing was the loudest slamming of a door she ever heard.

**************************************

Linda’s night was nice, so in terms of being at a prom it was way below expectations. The food and conversations were bland. All the other promgoers were talking about was how much fun they were having. Linda did not feel the fun she felt that they were all just playing dress up. She might have been the most immature person at her table but she knew the rest of them were also just kids like her.

The after dinner dancing did not get any better. The music was too loud, it was hard to hear anyone talk. That would have been good other than she wanted ot talk to Sam about leaving and did not want to have to scream that. The choice of the music was just as bland as the conversations and dinner. Then on the dance floor Linda just could not get in rhythm. On the dancefloor she was a beat behind and her movement felt jerky.

Everyone else at her table other than Sam was to into having the time of their life to notice that Linda’s level of enjoyment was not up to theirs. Linda’s mood started to get lower as she noticed that Sam was also not enjoying himself as much as the others. He should be relishing the night like the others. She started to worry about if Sam was going to break up with her.

The sad princess was right to worry. Just Monday Sam broke up with her when he found out the truth about Ron’s weekend. How her dad’s lies got back together with not be strong enough to keep them together against the force which had to be pulling Sam away. Sam knew that they would have gotten back together. The was confident because he knew how teenagers could be so pissed at someone one day and then the next be their best friends. He would have calmed down and came to his senses and listen to Linda. She was too much of a good thing to him.

Sam was not having a good time because he was concerned about his girlfriend. He knew that she was not in a good place. LInda knew she messed up bigtime and was thinking about how she had to pay for what she has done. Linda’s babe put the blame on her dad for this. Her dad should have never schemed to get Linda her dream prom. He should not have lied to Sam.

Sam falling for that lie was the cement what was going to keep those two together. If he could be victim of one of Kyle’s schemes it had to be so much harder for his kids to not also be. This was not taking blame away from him or Linda, but he knew that they both were lead astray.

Linda could not take trying to force herself to have a goodtime anymore and when her and Sam was alone said “Babe, I am not feeling good at all. I am going to get going. You stay here and have a great time.”

She knew that there were some single ladies at the prom solo and wanted to give Sam the chance to have a night to remember with one of them. He deserved it.

Sam was not going to stay if his babe was leaving “Come on let’s say goodbye to our friends and I will take you home. I will say that I am not feeling good.”

“Babe you stay here and have a great time, you deserve it.”

Looking straight into Linda’s eyes Sam said “I want to be with you. I cannot have a good time here without you my love. Plus tonight was lame. They call our meal fine dinning, I will stick with going to Trottier to get a pizza.

How about we get a couple of slices from Trottier and just hangout before I drop you off. ”

“I would love that babe, now let’s tell out friends that we are going.”

************************

Being upset, concern and not sure of yourself leads people to distracted. Distracted people forget things. Nancy’s mental state was all three of them so she forgot her mom telling her not to come home until she was called. As soon as she walked in the front door she remembered that she should not be there. Nancy’s state of mind also made it so she forgot etiquette and she blurted out her thoughts instead of editing them for her audience. “Oh shit, mom I forgot what you told me. I will be leaving right now.”

Dawn was relaxing in the recliner. The chair had the right combination of firmness and softness to make her feel at peace. The silnce also help add to her blood pressure going down. She was sick of all the bickering, fighting, and just overall bad vibes the last ten days had. She wanted to start to work on reuniting her family member’s bonds and also making sure lessening the bad dynamic of the family splitting from being a nuclear one.

“Nancy it is fine. I was going to call you in a couple of minutes to come home. Me and your dad are done talking.”

Hearing those words made Nancy less upset and concern. She became more confident in she was in the right in what she did. If the fight was short then her mom had to see the errors of her way. Ron might have been wronged but he was taking it way to hard. Nancy coming to this conclusion was strengthen by her mom choice of words. She said talk not fight. “I am happy that you see that it was overkill about not wanting Linda to go to the prom. She was wrong but that punishment was too much. I just hope that Ron is able to come around soon. I know how hurt he is. Where’s dad. We need to start talking about how to make happy with how it is.”

Dawn got up from the recliner, she was not going to take Nancy downplaying what occurred sitting down. “Nancy, what your father, you and your sister did was wrong. It was not too much of a punishment.”

Dawn did not answer where her husband was. She did not want to be in the middle of bickering and fighting with her daughter when she told Nancy the news about the divorce.”

“Oh great you are so stubborn that Dad left to go get some fresh air. I should have known that you cuddled your baby boy. He needs to get over it so Linda’s can enjoy her senior year.”

As soon as Kyle heard the front door open he quickly finished putting the clothes in the dresser drawer. He knew his daughter was home and once again wanted to do the right thing. The man who made this mess and not his soon to be ex-wife should have to deal with their daughter.

He hurried so he was walking down the steps when Nancy demeaned her brother once again. He responded to his daughter’s assertions “I did not leave to get fresh air. I am moving some of my things to the guest room.

Now you do not talk about your brother like that. He is right in being pissed at all of us. Your mom was right in her punishment of Linda. Linda broke our trust in her and also severely hurt her brother.”

Nancy thought Kyle was just appeasing her mom, that his admitting he was wrong was another part of her dad’s schemes. This was a sound conclusion for he just did this a few days ago. She actually had to make a conscious effort to not wink to show her dad she was in on his plan when she said. “I understand, how about me and you grab some chinese for all of us and we will come back to talk about how to handle the situation. Ron deserves to be treated better by us. We need to show him that we do care about how he feels.”

Kyle was an expert at reading between the lines. He knew his daughter want to be alone with him to get on the same page as him on how they were going to handle. “No Nancy. You can go get some chinese if you like.

You will not be talking with us on how to handle this. This is something me and your mom needs to deal with. You need to figure out how to make amends with your brother.”

We were wrong in going behind your mom’s and Ron’s back.”

She knew her dad was being a straight shooter right now. There was no plans, schemes or shenanigans going on. The feelings of being upset, concern and self doubt were becoming stronger. She did not like it so Nancy lashed her defense out as quik as a lion tamer did a whip. “Dad come on you said it yourself that Ron was being a bitch and overeacting.”

“I know and I was wrong in saying that. I should never of called my son that . I was acting like a child and showing my anger. I had no right be angry at him about how he felt about what happened to him.

I was wrong in scheming to get my way. Linda should not have went to the prom. She lied to get her way and to get Ron in trouble. She threaten him. She did not listen to us when we told her not to say anything about what we did to Ron to anyone. That is his stroy to tell and he can pick who to tell and why to tell them.

The sad thing is that she learn that behavior from me. I lied about Ron, told a flase story as his to others. I did not care about his feelings, I care more about getting my way. Linda follow my lead and I fucked up. ”

“She just wanted her clothes to quit disappearing and mom is just overreacting about it. She is kicking you out of your bedroom over this and you are not standing up for yourself and what is right.”

Dawn was not saying a word. It was being handle by Kyle. He was doing a great job. She would have not been as diplomatic as her husband was.

“You were the one who was taking her clothes, not Ron. You were the one who was making them disappear. So do not try to defend Linda by saying she lied about Ron because of she wanted what you were doing to stop. Him being blamed is wrong.

Ron was has been hurt by all of us and the only one who saw the errors of their way was your mom. She stood up for him and tried to make it right. Just think how this would have been handled without her. So do not say that your mom is overreacting.

Also your mom did not kick me our of the bedroom she offered me the guest room when I said I was moving in with my parents. We are getting a divorce. I was going to move out but your mom is kind enough to let me stay until I find my own place. I messed up and she warned me that I would pay if I let Linda go to the prom.”

“ I cannot believe you are so petty that you are divorcing dad over not getting your way.”

Internally Dawn left out a sigh. She did not want to have to defend herself. Externally Dawn was energetic and engaged with full force. “This is not over me not getting my way. Kyle broke the trust between us and it made me see the real him. He is a nice charming man but not a good man.”

“Oh mom….”

Kyle cut off his daughter before she could do any more damage“Nancy watch your words right now and you already did enough damage to your relationship with your mom and Ron. You do not want to add more regret to how you have been acting. How you are reacting now also shows me you also took the wrong lessons from me.

You mom is right in believing I am not a good man. A good man would not call his own son a bitch, he would not lie about his own son to save face, he would not play favorite with his kids and he would not lie and scheme behind is wife’s back to get his way. Trust me there is so much more I have done to make her see me in that light.”

“Like what?”

“Nancy it is personal but I will give one. You remember all friends Naomi and Adam. They quit being our friends because I would not stop joking about the age difference between them. I did not respect them like I did not respect your mom. I am losing the lady I love because I am too self cenetered.”

Dawn was showing that she was her dad’s daughter. That she really learn the lesson of being self-centered and getting her way was more important than how other felt. That people will look past her transgression because of how they felt about her. “I meant me what will I regret?”

Kyle knew not to say anything that he has already brought, that would just be treading the same ground in the same way. It would lead them right to where they were the last time they were on that trail, nowhere productive. “Calling your brother a bitch to his face, Telling Christina and Gemma about Ron dressing up last weekend. I bet that you did not even give them the full context of it.”

Dawn was going to try to use a lesson her dad taught her, plausible deniability. He did not have proof and she knew it. “I did not tell them. You never heard me say that to them.”

That flimsy lie flopped. He was the master and she was his student. Her cunning was nowhere near his, if it was she would not have tried one of the tricks he taught her. He knew he would have done the same and she should have known that. “I know you did because of how they chuckled when they saw Ron. I also know you did because I would have done the same. Look you are still freakin lying to try to get your way. You need to be doing the right things now instead of worrying about being right.”

“That was not that bad. Those two are not his friends and they are not going to tell anyone.”

“Yeah, it was. Just think about your relationship with Ron now. It is going to be worse when he finds out.

I am done talking about this. Your mom tried to talk sense into you and is she could not then I sure as hell cannot.”

Nancy did not want this talk to end. It is easy for her to believe a known lie when you are telling it to others but now she will be the only person in the audience. She did not want silence. The silence would be too loud and she would start to doubt herself again. She knew the wave of uncertainty would be bigger and stronger from having heard her dad’s words. He was right about her bad relationship with Ron becoming worse when he found out that she told her friends about him being in a dress. It did. “Ok, I know I cannot talk sense into either of you so I will be going.”

Kyle said “Dawn, I am going to finish moving my things.”

He did do a lot of repair to his relationship with Dawn. They were still going to get a divorce but he was starting to become who she thought he was.

Dawn sat back down happy just being able to relax. The past ten days have been hard on her and she needed to recoup some energy. It was nice just being and not working on how to fix all the mistakes and bad decisions they made and not worrying about what next was going to come which needed to be fixed.

**********************

Chole was looking out the window as she was waiting for Ron come back. She knew her mom told her that he was, but still she needed to see it for herself before accepting that the date was back on. What her dad did made it so she would not blame Ron for not wanting to get more involved with her family. Ron had to deal with his own dad scheming so why would he put himself in the situation were someone else would be scheming against him.

Chole started to make her way to the front door when she saw Mrs Coville’s grey Ford Escape driving up her road. She wanted to make sure her date felt welcomed and greet him with a huge hug. She made it out of the door as that Ford Escape pulled up to her front lawn. Ron laughed as he greeted by a surprise huge hug when he turned around from closing the door.

Chole said “I am sorry about my dad. He should have never done that. He cannot accept that I am growing up. He needs to. I want to be with you, be your girlfriend.”

Wanting to make Chole at ease. “It is fine Chole. I know and I want to be your boyfriend. I just did not want cause pain for you by having you and your dad fighting. I know that will not be the case.

After the hug they started to walk up to Chole’s home. Without thinking they held hands. It was going to be the natural default when those two were together. Having that physical connection to match their emotional connection just felt right. Ron opened the door for Chole and Sabrina welcomed Ron “Hey Ron, I am happy to see you. Didn’t your mom drop you off? I was hoping to talk with her.”

“No Mrs Pruitt, Nancy did. My mom will pick me up. She said she was going to stop in to say hi to you.”

“Good,

I am making steak with baked potato and corn on the cob on the grill for you two. Then after dinner you two can go to the den to find something on Netflix to watch. I know it is not the date you two wanted, but I hope that it is special enough.”

They both said yes at the same time. The Ron deferred to Chole and she said “Thanks mom. It sounds great. What makes a date is who you are with not what you are doing.”

Ron showed his agreement by saying “I could not have said it better. This date is going to be special.”

Those two were right about the date being spcial. Them spending time alone was more fulfilling and satisfying than the meal the grill mistress made. Them just snuggling on the love seat was more exciting than the action movie they choose to watch. The dialogue between them more intriguing than the big reveal at the climax of the movie. To paraphrase a line from a classic movie this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. The closing scene of this masterpiece of a date was after Ron's mom call for him to come up from the den he held Chole close and they shared their first kiss.

**********************

Epilogue - 10 years later

Ron was still enjoying the view from the top of the hill he kept on running up for those 10 days 10 years ago. He had a good job as a purchaser for Pualson Corp and still was with Chole. Ron has a great relationship with Chole’s mom and brother. He also has a good one which was still getting better with her dad. Shame of how he treated Ron and knowing if he succeed he would have stop his kiddo, Chole will always be his kiddo in his heart, from having a great man made Kyle keep his distance from Ron. He was not going to take the chance of messing things up again for Chole. He was making sure that his daughter was able to stumble and fall on her own. Kyle would be there to help her up, but he was not going to try to stop her from living her life, mistakes and all.

Ron was surrounded by people he saw as a family. Him and his mom are closer than ever and the many his family members were not of blood so he chose the people who wanted the best for him like he wanted the best for them. Getting an upgrade in family eased the pain from losing some of his original family at first and now that pain is a distance memory.

Kyle and Dawn got the divorce. Dawn was relieved that it was straight forward and her soon to be ex did not put up a real fight. There were objections on both sides but instead of either of them digging their feet in they both worked towards a compromise. They are close friends and do get along great with the other spouse.

It took some time for Kyle’s relationship with Linda to get back to normal. He had to show her that he changed for the better before his youngest daughter would totally warm up to him. Linda wanted to make sure that she never fell for one of her dad’s schemes again and when she relaized his days of scheming were over she trusted him again.

Kyle still have not been able to repair the damage he done to his relationship with his Ron. He missed his son high school and college garduation, does not see him on Ron’s birthday and only communicate if needed. All he has is hope that one day Ron will start to open up to being around him, until then he just has to live with what he has done.

Nancy was able to mend her relationship with her mom. It took time, effort and her maturing into the person her mom knew she could be, but it was done. She remained close with Linda, they both took responsibility for what they did. Her relationship grew stronger with her dad. Kyle did a lot of maturing along side with Nancy and that was a new bond for them.

Nancy’s relationship with her brother was civil and cold. Ron knew he had to be around her on the holidays but he only said hi and gave her holiday greetings. As soon as she started to try to make small talk, Ron always heard someone calling for him. Most of the time this was Chole. The loving couple had it plan so Ron did not make a scene just walking away from his sister.

Nancy regretted this and what made the sting of her brother being so distance was knowing about all the warnings she ignored to try to get her way. Even after the prom she held on to the belief that Ron was overreacting. She was not ready to apologize because Ron would not meet her half-way. She could not admit how wrong she was until it was too late.

At first there was an unspoken agreement that they both would just stay away from each other. Nancy was under the false assumption that Ron would miss his and start warming up to her. He never did. Her stubbornness about the situation was a barrier to Ron warming up to her. Another was her friends Gemma and Christina. Those two loved to say snarky remarks to Ron about wearing a dress. Once Nancy relaized that she was even more wrong than she wanted to admitted she also learn that her dad was right about regretting telling those two and it was a big deal that she did.

Now seeing the truth Nancy could not get herself to talk to her brother. Thel eldest of the Coville siblings was too scared that he would not listen to her. She went too long not listening to him so he just moved on from having a relationship with his oldest sister. She went to long worrying about being right instead of doing the right thing for her brother to care about what she said. Nancy did make a promise to herself that she will keep her heart open to Ron and if he was ever ready to amend their relationship she will greet him with arms wide open and she will always be there if he needs her.

After five years Linda and Ron’s relationship started to heal. It took so much time because of the emotional and phyiscal distance between them, That summer she was too ashamed to talk with him and in the fall she went away for college. Her and Sam broke up her freshman year. It was a mutual decesion. They are still close friends but being away from each other made it clear that to both of them they both were becoming different people. Neither of them became bad people, their personalities and outlook of life just were not complementing each other as much as they used to. To make it simple they were like Donnie and Marie, one was a little too country and the other was a little too rock ‘n roll for them to be in harmony.

The rift between Linda and Ron only started to heal at her college graduation party. Ron overheard a conversation Linda and her group of friends were having. They were talking about hopes, dreams and desires. The question was what was one thing you did which you wish you could take back. Linda would not answer it. That piqued Ron’s interest so he went for overhearing the conversation on his way to getting himself another Coke to eavesdropping.

Linda boyfriend Ed started to pressure her to hear what it was. He thought that if she would not say it then it had to be daming and also it had to be about him and her. Linda stood her ground and said “That it was not my story to tell. It was the person who was hurt by her story and she would not disrespect that person’s privacy. I hurt that person bad and I will not do it again for anything or anyone, even you.”

Ed picked to go with insecurities instead of having faith in his girlfriend “Linda, say what it is. I know it is about us. If it was not you would say it. So just say it so I can know it.”

Sam did not like Ed to begin with. He kept that to himself, he had no right to tell Linda that her boyfriend was a douchebag. That was for her to figure out until Ed becamce an abusive diuchebag and how he was talking down to Linda he going towards becoming that.

Before Sam could say anything Ron came from out of nowhere, none of them knew he was standing there listening. They were to wrapped up in the conversation to notice their audience Ron let his presence be known by saying “Ed, it is not about you. It is about me and her so just drop it.”

Ron’s words just added to Ed’s insecurities. “Like I am going to believe you. You are her brother. You will take her side. So Linda just tell me. Come with me and we will have a talk about this.”

Except for Sam, all of Linda’s highschool friends broke out into laughter. Ed unknowing told the best joke of the night. If he knew the truth he knew that Ron would not do anything for his sister. To tell the truth they were surprise that he even told Ed to drop it. Doing so was helping his sister and she was not worth the time and effort to Ron. Sam found that accusation funny but he was too wrapped up in keeping a watchful eye on Ed’s behavior. An insecure douchebag mixed with alcohol was a cocktail for trouble.

Ed’s insecurities grew even more “You all know. Linda we need to have a talk right now.”

When saying right now he went to reach out to Linda to grab her arm. Sam was not having that one bit and quickly grabbed Ed’s arm. “If she does not want to have a talk with you then she does not have to.”

Ed pulled his arm away before Sam could get a good grip on it. How Sam came to Linda’s defense made it all make sense in Ed’s paranoid mind. He came up with the fantasy that when Linda came home on the weekend it was to be with Sam, who was her friend with benefit. How could they just be friends, men and women cannot just be friends to Ed. Looking straight at Linda He made the accusation “I see it now. You regret breaking up with Sam. You come home to see him. You are trying to get back that mooncrater face asshole by fucking him.”

Ron, knowing Sam did not like Ed and Sam’s sensitivity about his pockmarks, said “I think it is best that you leave.”

“You do not tell me what to do.”

“I would not dream of telling you what to do. I am giving advice, a warning, words of caution.”

Looking and seeing how mad Sam was made Ed know that Ron was telling the truth. His girlfriend little brother who had nothing to do with him was trying to Ed out. Knowing that Sam was pissed just added to his bad insecurity filled conclusion. To the little boy who was trying play grown up the only way Sam could get that mad at what he said was if it was the truth “Fine, I am out of here. She is all yours Sam. I was just about done with her anyways.”

As Ed was leaving Linda’s eyes were tearing up. Sam being a good friend told her that her ex was not worth it. Linda said “This is not about him.”

Linda’s tears were not for Ed, if they were they would be tears of joy. Her tears was even with only barely having a relationship with Ron, if you can count him only saying hi to her when they were at family function as a relationship, her brother spoke up in defense of her. She did not know why, but him doing so was a sign that he still cared for her.

Linda asked Ron to come over to her. The rest of the group went back in the house to give those two privacy, this was not a conversation which anyone else needed to hear.

“Ron thank you, you did not have to do it.”

“I did, you showed me that you are my sister.”

“Ron please take my thanks. I am not asking for you to forgive me, to talk to me. I am just asking you to accept that I am grateful you did something nice for me. I hope one day you can forgive me. ”

“Sis, I know you are grateful and that means a lot to me. Not telling Ed showed me that have remorse and you are making amends. That means so much to me.

I have forgiven you a long time ago. I now see that you have grown as a person and I like the person you are.”

Hearing her brother call her sis gave Linda hope that she would get from Ron what she just told him she desired. Then each word from Ron’s mouth made her hope of forgiveness go closer to being reality from being a dream.

Yeah,Linda was a little drunk but that did not make the tears coming from her eyes any less sincere. She hugged her brother and said “I love you bro.”

Ron started to cry also. He was so happy that his sister he thought he lost forever was now part of his family. “I love you to sis.”