"Hey!" Craig greets me as I get out of my car. My dad honks and rolls down his window.
"Lyndee?" He calls. I turn around.
"What?" I ask.
"Come here," He says, eyeing Craig with dislike. I walk back to his car. "Who's he?" He asks, nodded his head toward Craig.
"Oh, no one dad." I say.
"No one? He doesn't look like no one, and he obviously knows who you are."
"Dad, forget it." I say, feeling uncomfortable. In the side mirror I can see Craig still standing there, watching. My dad grabs my wrist, which was on the door.
"Who is he?" He asks again, smiling, twisting my arm.
"Dad! Ow! Stop it!" I say, trying to free myself from his grasp. Craig's eyes narrow. "He's Craig, dad, no one special. Please, let me go!"
My dad looks at him again, then lets me go, red marks on my wrist from his hand. He speeds off without saying good-bye.
"Who was that?" Craig asks, looking at the spot my dad drove off to.
"My dad," I tell him bitterly, holding my wrist, covered by my sweater.
"What'd he do to you?" Craig asks, now looking at me.
"Nothing," I say quickly. Craig grabs my hand and lifts my sleeve, raising her eyebrows.
"He did that, didn't he?" He asks.
"No, Craig, please," I say, trying not to cry.
"You can tell me," He says sweetly. "My dad hurt me too." He releases me arm and it falls limply to my side.
"He did?" I ask, hearing the bell rings from inside the school.
"Yeah," Craig says, starting to walk up the stairs; I follow him.
"What'd you do about it?" I ask, as he opens the door for me.
"Well, my dad died. But before that I ran away."
"Oh," I say. "Sorry."
"It's ok. I was happy when it happened, I thought I hated him."
"I do hate my dad," I say quietly.
"No," Craig says, I raise my eyebrows. "I thought I hated my dad, but I didn't. I only hated the things he did."
"What about your mom?" I ask.
"She left my dad a while back. She died as well."
"Oh, Craig, I'm so sorry." I say. The second bell rings.
"Hey, if you ever need to talk, you know that I'm here right?" He asks, starting to walk down the hall to his first class.
"Yeah, thanks Craig," I say, feeling slightly better.
My only friend in this new school had a father just like mine, which made me like him even more.
I day seemed to last forever, but at last it was three o'clock. Craig was already outside when I met him.
"Hey," He asked, "want to come with us to the dot?"
"Sure," I said smiling. Spinner sighed. Paige muttered something to him under her breath.
Craig smiled at me.
From the Dot, Craig invited me back to his house, where I met Joey, his step dad, and Angela, his stepsister. I don't know what it is about Craig, but I knew he would be different from anyone else I ever met.