After that, Dad was waiting for me when I got home.
"Where have you been?" asked Dad.
I went by him not talking to him.
"I just needed to know," said Dad.
"I have nothing say to you," I said as I continued upstairs to my room and locked my door.
"How come she didn't answer?" asked Dad.
"She's not speaking to you at this time," said Sharon.
Later, at dinner, Meredith came to Dad and said, "I hope you're happy, Dad, you're the one who's making Mary Anne very unhappy in school. No one could believe the way you're treating her."
"I don't need to hear it," said Dad.
"Oh, yes, you do. Do you want Mary Anne to start dislike school?" asked Meredith. "She doesn't deserve this."
"Yeah, she did nothing to you," added Carlos.
"Because of you, her grades might go down," continued Meredith. "That would be your fault, not hers."
Glad she didn't tell him my grades are already down in case he grounds me. Later, I wasn't sure if I should try to talk to Dad or wait until I find the right words. So, I decided to go talk to Sharon.
"Sharon," I said.
"What's up?" asked Sharon.
"I need your help. I don't what to tell Dad. I know I can try to tell him on my own, but I'm scared to do so. I want the relationship back the way it was before. I don't want to be unhappy in school anymore. I don't want my grades to go down anymore either," I said.
"I don't blame you, sweetie," said my stepmom.
"I don't know what to do," I said. "I'm scared things might go worse if I tell him something."
"I promise you that they won't," said Sharon.
"Dr. Owens said I can practice the words and tell him tomorrow, but I'm having a hard time to find the right ones," I said. "I don't want Dad to know I'm seeing Dr. Owens just yet."
"It's up to you if you want to tell your dad after you stop seeing the therapist," said Sharon.
"That's what I'm thinking of doing," I said.
The next day, at school, I tried to be cheerful and focus in school, but it's not working at all. My grades continued to do down and I kept snapping at my friends and walking away from them without their help. That's how miserable I was.
"What is her problem? She's snapping at us," said Kristy.
"She's just miserable," said Marci. "She felt bad for that. It's not her fault. Meredith and Carlos had a talk to their dad, but he doesn't care what Mary Anne is feeling."
"Seriously?" asked Kristy as Marci nodded.
"Mary Anne is a drama queen," said Stacey as she joined the girls.
"Stop talking about Mary Anne," said Marci in her firm voice to stand up for me.
"Says who?" asked Stacey.
"Me," replied Marci. "If that was any of you, she would understand why you snap at anyone."
"That's a lame excuse," said Dawn.
"Dawn, that's enough now. Do you want Mary Anne to keep feeling miserable?" asked Marci. "I'll go find her."
She got up to go find me. I was in the library crying when Marci came in noticing me and joined me.
"Are you okay now?" asked Marci.
"I feel so bad snapping at my friends," I said.
"Don't worry about it. You had a tough day. Everyone gets bad days," said Marci.
At least she cares about my feelings besides Patti, Kathi, Kaylee, Meredith, and Carlos. I wish Kayla was alive so she can help me out, too.
"Why can't they understand I'm too embarrassed to talk about my problems with my own father?" I asked wiping my tears.
"I know," said Marci.
After school, I went to Dr. Owens' office and talked to him about my tough day at school including the snapping parts. I actually told him the words I'm thinking of telling Dad.
"That could work," said Dr. Owens.
"I hope so," I said. "I felt so bad today about what I did."
"Your feelings are normal," said Dr. Owens. "Especially since your problems about your dad."
"The thing was that I was feeling embarrassed to talk about it," I said. "They just can't see it. I know they might want to help me, but I'm just too shy to speak to them about it."
"You can always tell them when you're alone with them," said Dr. Owens.
"Maybe," I said.
After that, at home, I was in my room sobbing. I wasn't exactly ready to tell anything to Dad in case something happens. But I know I need to do so because if he doesn't change before Friday, I'm spending the weekend with Grandma Verna during the hurricane. That night, at dinner, I was very quiet. Thankfully, Dad wasn't home for dinner. I was safe about that.
"I'm debating to tell Dad I'd like to talk to him alone," I said.
"Okay. If you need help, let me know," said Sharon.
"Alright," I said.
An hour later, Dad came home from work. I was in my room feeling nervous to talk to Dad alone. I just hope can do it. My hands are shaking. I could feel butterflies in my stomach.
I wasn't ready to do it. Later, I decided to use the guts to go to Dad.
"Dad, can we please talk privately?" I asked.
"Well, what about?" asked Dad.
I sat down and said, "What did I do to you to deserve to be treated like a little girl all over again? What happen to the old dad I used to know and the one who I used to be close? You changed and I don't like it. You know I never say whatever unless someone gets me mad and you usually know that. I never get bad grades unless I get depressed in school and you always know when I feel that way."
"I don't need to hear about it," said Dad.
"Just forget what I said to you. You don't care how I feel," I said. "I just want my old dad back the way he was before so we can be close again. I miss that."
"Enough now," said Dad.
"Whatever," I mumbled under my breath without him hearing that to get punished. "I'm done trying talking to you."
I got up to my room. In my room, I was on my bed when Sharon came in.
"How did it go?" asked Sharon.
"He didn't want to hear it," I said.
"Why?" asked Sharon.
"I don't know," I said. "I said I'm done trying talking to him."
"I don't get why he doesn't care on how you feel," said Sharon.
"Me either," I said.
The next day, at school, I was at lunch on my own because none of my friends wanted me to join them just because what I did to them yesterday. The only ones who sat with me were Kathi, Kaylee, Marci, Patti, Meredith, and Carlos.
"You girls are too harsh on Mary Anne and that's not fair to her," said Marci.
"Why should we let her join the way she acted yesterday?" asked Kristy.
"She wanted to apologize about it. That's what she was trying to do. Can't you girls forgive her?" asked Marci. "She just felt bad about it. I did tell her everyone has bad days. Don't you know that by now she had a tough day? She's seeing Dr. Owens because Dr. Reece is on vacation. She's telling me she felt comfortable talking to a therapist. She tried talking to her dad last night by telling her how she felt, but he didn't care about the feelings and didn't want to hear about it, so she gave up. She's going to mention it to Dr. Owens. You all should understand about her feelings like Meredith and Carlos are doing. They are protecting their sister from getting hurt."
Luckily, that made my friends understand and forgave me even Dawn. After school, I went to Dr. Owens and told him about last night.
"And, Dad does not care about how I felt," I said while I was crying. "I just wanted him back the way he was."
"I know you do. Why don't you bring him tomorrow so I can help you talk things out with him?" asked Dr. Owens.
"Would that work?" I asked.
"We can try it," said Dr. Owens. "How about this? I'll call him and talk to him to help you out."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked.
That would make nervous about what could happen if Dad knew I was seeing a therapist.
"Yes," replied Dr. Owens with a smile.
"Well, I guess," I said.