Sometimes he’d come over and drag me to a bar just so he could get trashed. His grades were slipping too. We argued about everything, from his drink...ng to my clinging to his side when I should have ‘left him alone’. I—I tried to do what I could but he closed me out. That’s why graduation means so much to me. I was no longer excited about getting out of high school. I didn’t care about any of it, though I kept up with my studies. I just…I wanted life to go back to how it used to be. Studying. You know I’d never say no, but ask him first.”“Thanks Mr. Hayward. Brad told me you were easy to talk to and could make him see both sides of an argument, like you have done for me.”“My pleasure to help out, Jake.”Karen noticed Wendy’s eyes, transfixed looking out the dining room window, “What are you smiling at?”“I’m smiling at Dan and Jake talking. It makes me feel good to see them getting along.”“Dan has always been super with his kids. He has always been very easy for them to talk to him. This must be the messiest room on the planet that belonged to a 19 year-old boy, she thought. There were clothes everywhere, which she began to toss into a large basket. She was about half way through the clothes and ran out of room in the basket. She went to her room to get her basket to finish up her son's room with as little trouble as possible. She heard the front door open and the sound of Jason, her son, and his best friend William coming down the hall. She stayed out of sight, since she. Jenny enjoyed her date with Chris.I pretended to be ignorant about the topic next Monday, the first of October, during the drive home from the dojo."So when are you going to ask Jenny out?" I already did." Great! So when are you going out?" We went out last Friday." Great!" I said again. "Did you have a good time?" Yes." Do you like her?" Yes." It sounds like you like her even more than you did before."I glanced over. He had a sly smile."Did you kiss her?" I asked."Yes." She's very pretty," I.