Stuck On You novel Chapter 2

At home, Lela was the first to pounce on me. "You're late," she said. I rolled my eyes and headed to the kitchen.

"We ran into traffic," I lied. Lela didn't believe me. Lela was my 11 year old sister. She had short, dark, curly hair and brown eyes. She looked more like our mom than I did. In fact, I didn't look like my mom or my dad. My mom was mixed with black and white while my dad was white and Spanish. I had slightly wavy light brown hair, fairish skin, and crystal blue eyes. No one in my family had blue eyes. My mom's were green and my dad's were brown.

"Why didn't Caleb come in to say hi," she whined. Lela was a brat, but Caleb just so happened to be her favorite person.

"Do you know when mom and dad are getting back?" I asked.

"They called earlier. They said that they were 30 minutes out," she answered. I jogged up the stairs to my room and plopped down on my bed just as my phone started ringing. I smiled after I saw the caller idea.

"Hey Viola," I smiled. Viola was my best friend. She was a perky blonde who I'd been friends with since kindergarten as well.

"Are you going to Caleb's party this weekend?" she asked. I sighed and rolled over on to my back as a frown plastered itself on my face.

"I'm going to try, but you know my parents," I said, rolling my eyes. We talked on the phone a few more minutes before I heard the main door open. "Text me," I said before hanging up the phone. I sat up and walked downstairs.

"Hayden, when did you get home?" my dad, Luca, asked when I made it all the way downstairs. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. Here we go again. We had this routine almost every weekend. If I didn't know any better, I would think that my dad hates me. It was almost like he resented me.

"Why are you asking like you don't already know the answer? I was with Caleb," I snapped back.

"Hayden, not this again, please," my mom asked in a tired voice as she plopped down on the couch.

"What is wrong with you?" I yelled. "I'm 17! I'm supposed to be graduating in a year and you won't even let me spend the night at Caleb's house. You know Caleb; the one we've all known since I was in diapers! Why are you guys so strict when it comes to me. Anything Lela wants, Lela gets, but you won't even let me get a driver's license. I'm 17 years old, it's like a rite of passage, yet you guys barely let me even ride in a car. Why is that?" I ranted loudly. My parents shared the look that they always shared when I asked about it.

"Dad, you don't even like me. You resent me," I said quietly as tears stung my eyes. I was sick and tired of them. I'd never said that out loud before, but I'd had a lifetime of pushing on their part. Mom looked at him in a way I'd never seen before. It was almost like she knew I was right. She averted her eyes as her eyes watered as well. I felt a pit in my stomach. I didn't mean to make my mom cry, I was just angry. She swiped under her eye before she got up and went to her room. Dad pursed his lips angrily at me before he sighed and followed Mom.