Chapter Seven

Keanu's hand connected with the collar on Leonard's shirt and he pulled it towards him, dragging Leonard off the bed. Leonard stumbled onto his feet, disbelief written all over his face. Glaring at his father, Leonard shoved his hand away and roughly adjusted his shirt.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Leonard said.

"If you're under my roof, you live by my rules. If you don't want to, then why don't you move out? Do you think you'll be able to support yourself on your own, at 16?" Keanu said.

"I swear, when I'm 18, I'll forget I ever had a father!"

"Leonard, don't say things you don't mean," Alice said.

Leonard turned towards her, his face red with anger. His mouth opened and Alice shrunk back as she braced herself for the abuse he was obviously about to send her way. But in the next second, he closed his mouth and paused in thought. "Whatever," he said, leaving his room and she heard the front door opening and slamming shut.

"I apologise for my son's behaviour," Keanu said to her.

"No, I was a willing participant too," she said. "I'm sorry, it appears I'm a bad influence on him."

"I've learnt enough about the two of you to understand now that the bad influence is him, not you," Keanu said. "Don't apologise for him."

"Still," she said, her eyes fixed on the ground in shame. "I thought I could make things between the two of you better, but nothing is working."

"Why would you place that burden on yourself? It's not something you can control."

"I don't know," she said. "I was just hoping that I could do it. It's so silly, now that I think about it."

Keanu sighed and looked to the door before he turned to her again. Silence hung in the air and she stared at him blankly as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, Leonard always stays over at a friend's when he's mad at me. He won't be returning anytime soon, so why don't I drive you back to Mike's?"

"Sure," she said. "But promise me one thing first."

"That depends on what you're asking me to promise you."

"Don't tell my father about what happened here."

Keanu thought for a while. "I'll see what I can do."

"Please?"

"Your father has a right to know that his daughter was close to having sex as a minor, Alice."

She sighed. "Fine, just promise me that you'll give me some time to let me talk to him about it, okay?"

"I promise."

"Let's go, then," Alice said and they made their way out of the home. On the drive back home, she kept quiet the entire ride and when they reached, Mike invited Keanu inside for some beer and chicken.

"Please tell me you got chicken from Fuller's, not that other crappy place again," Keanu said.

"No, you dipshit. It's from Fuller's," Mike said with a roll of his eyes. "Alice, want some?"

"Later," she said. "Let me go shower first."

"Alright," Mike said. "Keanu, let's continue Break Point."

"Hell yeah," Keanu said as Alice disappeared into her room.

As she showered, she replayed the events that happened earlier in her mind. Shame overcame her and she wondered if she had done something wrong. It felt right at the moment and she just let it happen, but her mother had always given her warnings about having sex before she was prepared. Turning the heat on high, her tears mingled with the hot water as the burn of the liquid slid down her naked body. She must've spent half an hour in the shower and when she finally emerged from the bathroom, her confusion had dulled.

She walked out of her room to the living area, and that was when she saw Keanu seated at the dining table, a set of papers in his hand. His brows were furrowed and she could tell he was reading in deep concentration. She approached him to see what he was so engrossed in reading, when she realised that he had picked up the essay she had recently completed writing.

"Why are you reading that?" Alice asked him.

Keanu's head snapped up to her and he hastily put the papers down. "Oh, sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to, it just happened."

"It's okay."

"Why do you have a paper your professor wrote, though? If you don't mind me asking."

Alice's brows lifted in puzzlement. "What do you mean, a paper my professor wrote?"

"This paper is exemplary," he said. "Your professor must've written it as an example."

"No, she didn't. I was the one who wrote it."

Keanu's eyes widened in surprise. "You wrote it?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"It's just that, I - " Keanu said, stammering. "I've never read a more insightful paper on this topic."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"It's amazing, and I would know."

"How?" she asked.

"I never told you but I actually work in education. I am the Dean of a university. I've read countless papers on this topic over the years, and I've never come across a paper that discussed such unique and undiscovered areas of thought."

"You're going overboard," Alice said, her cheeks colouring.

"No," he said. "I'm honestly not. I don't lie when it comes to academics. You have talent, Alice. You should know that."

"Thank you."

"Are you seeking a future in this field of study, maybe?"

"Actually, I've been considering going into research or becoming a professor myself. I really enjoy studying this subject."

"Well, if you ever decide to teach, come to my university. I'd be more than welcome to give you a position there."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"A hundred percent."

She smiled brightly. "That makes me so happy," she said, her heart bursting with joy.

"I'm glad," he said. Looking down at the papers in his hands, he stood up and stretched them out to her. "Here you go. Sorry again for reading them without permission."

She grabbed onto her papers. "It's okay, I don't mind," she said and retracted her hands eagerly, a little too soon. The paper caught between both their hands and a ripping noise sounded into the air, a tear forming at the top of the first sheet.