《a little》不渡万山

6、第 6 章 you

　　you stepped into the corridor, looking around at the various classrooms until you eventually spotted the familiar door of the office. you walked towards it, hesitating just outside of it before taking a deep breath and opening it. you stepped inside, seeing your father seated behind the desk, a rather irritated expression on his face.
　　"there you are," he commented dryly, looking at you with slight irritation in his eyes.
　　"i'm sorry dad, can i talk to you real quick?" you whimpered softly, sitting down in the seat across from him.
　　"about what?" he snapped, furrowing his eyebrows and leaning forward slightly in his seat.
　　"i need to talk to you... seriously." you tried to explain. "i know what happened was bad. i know that it probably hurt you too. and i'm sorry that you feel that way, but it wasn' t my fault. it just wasn't meant to be. we're both human. we should have realized that something was wrong sooner. i shouldn't have let it slip past my lips so easily, and i'm really sorry for being such a disappointment to you. please forgive me."
　　your voice trembled slightly as you finished your speech, your eyes widening when you noticed your father staring at you blankly with wide eyes. you waited patiently for a response, but he remained quiet. after about a minute, he stood up, walking towards his desk and picking up your report from earlier. you watched him silently as he flipped through it quickly. you bit your lip, watching him carefully as you began to worry more and more about the topic of the assignment.
　　his hand stilled for a second as he glanced down at it, a sudden realization coming across his face. he turned back toward you quickly, holding your report close to his chest as his expression suddenly changed completely.
　　"oh! oh no," he whispered softly, staring intently at you. "this isn't happening," he whispered more loudly as panic started spreading throughout his features. you stared back at him in confusion, confused.
　　"what's going on? what's happening, dad?" you asked anxiously. "where's the rest of your work? where is mine?"
　　"they're both in my room," he responded quietly, clutching onto your report. "in my closet-" he paused suddenly, biting his lip.
　　"in your closet," he repeated.
　　you nodded slowly.
　　"do you remember that assignment i assigned in class?" he asked. "the one that i didn't give you to read over? did you do yours before you came to see me?"
　　"yeah," you admitted guiltily. "i did, but i figured that you'd already gotten it and given it back. and if you hadn't, i wouldn't have bothered bothering you."
　　"you... why did you do it?" he asked hesitantly, sounding more scared than angry.
　　"well, i had a lot on my mind," you explained. "and then i found out that you went away, and i thought you might be dead or something! besides, it was just a stupid assignment. i don't remember anything important in it."
　　"it was everything," your father replied coldly. "it was everything important! you did it on purpose, didn't you?" he demanded. "you know that assignments like that aren't supposed to be graded on the spot. you knew perfectly well what the hell you were doing, didn't you? it's dangerous, it could have endangered your whole grade! it could have affected all of our future careers and lives!"
　　you looked back at him uncomfortably.
　　"well, it doesn' t matter. it wasn' t a big deal," you stated, shaking your head lightly.
　　"then why did you do it?!" he yelled, finally losing his cool. "why did you write the wrong answer?"
　　"well, you see... i forgot," you shrugged. "my memory must have just kinda gone numb. i couldn' t recall any part of it... it wasn' t the smartest thing to do but... well, it just slipped my mind. i'm really sorry about that."
　　"so, you've lied this entire time?! and you didn' t mention it to me, or anyone else?! how could you do this? how could you do this to me?" he yelled, tears springing up into his eyes. "did you ever think of how it was gonna affect me?!"
　　you stared at him with sad eyes, trying your hardest to hold back tears of your own.
　　"i-" you began. "I know i'm sorry. you know i am. you know i don' t mean to make things difficult for you, right? you know that i care about you..."
　　"you don' t know jackshit about what i've been going through," he spat, clenching his teeth together tightly.
　　"i know, i know," you sighed quietly. "can we just go home now...? i don' t wanna be here anymore... i just... i want everything to go back to normal."
　　"fine," he growled. he grabbed your bag from the table next to him, handing it to you before storming off towards the elevator.
　　once the doors closed behind you and your father you ran to catch up with him, gripping onto his sleeve as you followed him down the hallway.
　　"don' t touch me!" he snarled as you grabbed onto his wrist. you jumped back, your eyes widened.
　　"please... you're hurting me... please calm down..." you stammered out softly. you placed a gentle hand onto your father's shoulder, attempting to calm him down.
　　"sorry," he mumbled quietly. He released your arm and began pulling you along, his gaze focused solely on the path in front of him.
　　"wait... where are we going?" you questioned quietly, grabbing onto his free arm again in an attempt to keep pace with him.
　　"out," he muttered. he pulled you towards the exit of the building, which seemed to have disappeared from sight when you first entered. you stared helplessly as he hurried you forward, making sure not to get lost in the dark hallway.
　　you kept silent the whole walk home, afraid that saying the wrong thing or asking the wrong question would ruin the peace and serenity between you two. you didn't say anything when your father finally reached his apartment building. you didn't say anything when he unlocked his door and led you upstairs, nor when he sat you down on his couch.
　　he sat down next to you awkwardly, not meeting your eye and avoiding looking anywhere near you. after a moment of silence, you glanced up at him slowly, seeing tears beginning to form in the corner of his eyes. you immediately tensed. your heart clenched painfully as you saw your father look so upset and guilty all of a sudden.