Page 55 of The Beta Test

The first thing I notice is my dad’s large shoes lined up in the entryway—so strange to see after so long. The scent of fresh pizza hits me.

“Avery!”

Hunter comes barrelling across the wood floor and skids to a stop in front of me.

“Dad’s home! Come on!”

He grabs my hand and drags me towards the dining room, where my mom is placing paper plates and napkins at each chair. She’s still in her scrubs and it could be my imagination, but her eyes seem tighter with stress than usual. Her gaze lifts at the sound of Hunter babbling to me about how big kangaroos are.

She immediately straightens and pops a hand on one hip. “Avery James, you left Hunter home alone? We walked in and he was in front of the tv. Where were you?”

Right. I’d forgotten that detail among all the other things going on. The plan had involved Jake and me getting back before my parents, but that obviously didn’t happen. Hunter drops my hand and rushes off calling for Dad, who must be somewhere nearby.

“I was only at the Patels. Jake and I were⁠—”

“With Jake?” she interrupts, her brows furrowing with confusion.

“Yeah. We were only gone a few minutes! He was helping me with⁠—”

Before I can finish, my dad bursts into the room and envelops me in the biggest bear hug of all time. His tall frame wraps around me, and I breathe in his scent—a mix of the cologne he’s worn for years and whatever else it is that makes him distinctly ‘dad.’ It feels familiar and foreign all at once, like maybe something essential has changed him during his time in the southern hemisphere. Or maybe I’m imagining stuff again. I close my eyes and try to enjoy the moment, throwing my arms around him and squeezing. No matter what, he’s still my dad.

“Dad.” My voice trembles and I feel tears spring to my eyes. It isn’t until this second that I realize just how much I've missed him.

At the sound of my voice his arms tighten their hold on me even more. “Oh, I missed you, Avey girl.”

The deep sound of his voice rumbles through me, and I feel the tightness in my chest loosen. Dad is finally home!

He pulls me back by the shoulders to examine me, looking me up and down. His trademark lopsided smile fills me with a joy I didn’t expect. “Did you grow? You look older.”

My face reflects his infectious smile, even though my heart drops at his words. I am older because he’s been gone for months! I may not have actually grown taller, but my life has turned upside down and rearranged itself over the past few months. The Avery James of four months ago feels like a completely different person than the one I am now.

Choosing to ignore his question because it would take way too long to explain everything, I launch one of my own. And it’s the most important one.

“Are you staying this time?”

Hunter jumps in. “Of course he’s staying! Why wouldn’t he? He does live here.”

I glance at Hunter to acknowledge what he said, but it’s not that simple. It never is anymore. Hesitation lines my dad’s face, like he’s not sure what to say. My heart plummets even more, like an elevator with the cords cut. Even though I’m not sure what his hesitation means, it definitely means things won’t go back to normal.

“Who’s hungry? Let’s eat!” Mom cuts through the tension and pulls out a chair. The rest of us follow her lead.

Dad grabs a slice of pizza and puts it on a plate, then passes it to Hunter. “So how’s school, Avery? Are you excited about swim season starting soon? It’s your last year! I can’t believe it.”

I beam at him and enjoy the sight of his familiar face. His hazel eyes twinkle at me the same way they always have, but his honey-colored hair is grayer at his temples. All traces of the weird look from a minute ago are washed away.

Although I’ve texted and had a few calls with him while he’s been gone, I haven’t filled him in on any of my latest drama, or even my struggles in calculus. The truth is that he’s gotten a totally rose-colored version of my life that I’ve carefully curated by cherry-picking the information I shared. He’s gotten the highlights—exaggerated versions of them: tales of perfect behavior from Hunter and me, the fun we had on Halloween, and how successful swim class has been.

Wow. The realization hits like a bolt of lightning—Braden has done the same to me!

Am I as bad as Braden? At least I didn’t outright lie to my dad. I may have slightly embellished how much of my vision board I had actually accomplished, and I may have skipped over the fact that I need tutoring for calculus. Obviously, I wouldn’t have had time to tell him about the co-captain situation, as that was only decided this morning.

“Avery? Your dad asked you a question.”

My eyes snap up to my mom’s face; everyone is staring at me expectantly. Oops!

“Sorry, just thinking about this weekend! Um,” I take a bite of pizza to give me a moment to decide what to share. “It’s good. I am officially captain of the swim team! The coach asked me this morning.”

“Don’t you mean co-captain?” My mom asks.