"Lola!" A voice exclaimed, approaching and taking Lola and Miles by surprise as they pulled into the Hollingsworth driveway. "Lola! Lola! Lola! Why didn't you call me? You never came home! I was worried sick." Lola's father continued. Miles and Lola hadn't even gotten out of the car yet. His voice was panicked. More panicked than Lola had ever heard, except maybe the night her mother left.
Lola looked at her phone and noticed the time. She had lost track after bowling, the hospital, grabbing dinner, and the long drive that she and Miles had taken after the fact. The two had decided that since the night had been so dramatic and traumatic, they would drive around and just talk everything through. And it had felt so, so good.
Miles cut off his car's engine and got out, walking around the car to open the door for Lola and help her out.
"What happened?" Lola's father said when he noticed Lola's foot all bandaged up. "Why didn't you call me? I know you were mad when you left the Cantina, but I was worried sick when you didn't come home."
It had been hours since Lola thought about the whole situation with her dad. Even when they were driving around, she hadn't even thought to bring up the fact that her dad had been dating someone behind her back and hiding it from her. When she first found out, she thought it was something that she was never going to be able to eradicate from the forefront of her mind. Her dad was the most important person in her life, and the betrayal cut deep. But after a few hours with Miles, she had gotten it off her mind. Until now.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think about it." Lola said honestly. "It's been such a crazy day and I just forgot." She grabbed the crutches that Miles had fetched from the back of the car and set them under her armpits. "I'm okay, I promise. I just dropped a stupid bowling ball on my foot."
Lola's father pulled her into a tight hug, one that made her almost lose grip of the crutches that rested under her armpits. "Alright, alright, I'm fine. I'll be fine." Lola assured her father, trying to push him away to the best of her ability. Things felt so weird with her dad now. She couldn't look at him the same after he lied to her the way he did. She looked over to Miles, whose face was contorted into a weird scowl. Clearly, he wasn't exactly happy either. Probably because he knew how much the betrayal was breaking Lola.
"Let's go. It's late." Lola's father pulled his cell phone out of his pockets and showed Lola and Miles the time. It was only a few minutes from 3 in the morning. "We'll talk about all of this tomorrow." His tone was a bit strict, which Lola didn't really think was fair. He had no right to be mad at Lola when he was a liar.
"I'm an adult. I'll stay here. You can go home." Lola said defiantly. She rarely defied her dad, which was evident when his face twisted into a shocked expression after she spoke out. "I mean, if that's okay?" Lola looked to Miles, realizing she had just invited herself to sleep at the Hollingsworth house without even consulting a single Hollingsworth.
Miles nodded, his eyes still glued to Lola's dad. He was not happy. Clearly.
"Lollipop… I know you know about me and…" His voice trailed off, seemingly too embarrassed to admit his wrongdoings.
"You mean the huge part of your life you've been hiding from me for… how long again? I feel like I don't even know you." Lola shot back.
"That's not fair." Her father said. "I'm allowed to keep parts of my life private. Plus…" He started, but stopped.
"Plus what?" Lola replied.
"I didn't want you to think I'm replacing your mom."
The thought had crossed Lola's mind admittedly, and as much as she wanted to pretend her mom walking out didn't scar her, it did. But that wasn't the main reason she was so upset. She was upset because her father, the person she lived with and talked to about almost everything, had hidden a relationship and an engagement from her. And she had to find out because his fiancé, a woman Lola barely knew, blabbed the news.
"I think you should go." Lola said, holding her arm out for Miles to come closer, then clutching his arm when he got within reach. "It's late."
Her father looked heartbroken. She wanted to feel bad, she wanted to feel like hugging him and taking back her harsh tone, but if she was honest, she didn't. He had broken her faith in him. She knew eventually she'd probably forgive him and get over this, but right now… She didn't want to see her dad's face. Every time she looked at the familiar, worn face that she had grown up with, she thought about the way her heart had sunk to the floor when Belinda blabbed that they were engaged. En-freaking-gaged. If her dad was just dating a woman or having a fling, Lola could probably get over it. But he had been with this woman long enough and loved her enough to propose. This was no fling. He was ready to get married. Ready to give Lola a stepmom… Yet he was still hiding this huge part of his life from Lola. She wanted to look into her dad's eyes and scream "WHY?!" but she knew that anger wouldn't solve anything. So once she calmed down, she'd figure things out.
"I'm sorry." Her father said, sounding resigned. He tried to make eye contact with Lola, but her eyes were glued to the ground now. She couldn't look at him. "Good to see you, Miles." Her father said, and Miles responded with a simple "Have a good night." More mature than Lola could've been.
Lola's dad got into his car and drove away, leaving Miles and Lola standing in the well-lit driveway in front of the Hollingsworth house.
"I don't wanna talk about it." Lola said, before Miles could speak about what just happened.
"I know." Miles said, crouching down in an instant and placing one hand in the ditch of Lola's knee and one on the small of her back. The crutches dropped to the ground as Miles picked Lola up and cradled her in his arms. "I assume you don't want to walk?"
"You assumed right." Lola let a smile creep onto her face. There was still anger and confusion and sadness bubbling in her chest, but as Miles carried her into the Hollingsworth mansion, she realized that her future was so much bigger and so much better than the Cantina, or her dad, or even her mom. And as long as she had Miles holding her up, both literally and figuratively, she felt like she could get through anything.