Self Improvement, chapter 20

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Perhaps he forgot, or maybe he slept in. He might have even died from alcohol poisoning for all she knew. There was also the slightest chance that he didn't find Rachael that attractive after all. Either way, the drunkard from earlier had yet to call her, or even send a text. Not that she was complaining. Rachael would much prefer to keep him out of her life for good. The first thing she did once she came home was of course to shower, but right after that, she'd plotted out her new route for the morning runs. It was a painful process considering all the time she had put into finding the previous one. Still, a small price to pay to remain unbothered during her favorite time of day.

So why was it then, that she couldn't get the old geezer out of her head? The entire day her thoughts had been bouncing between Fred, stupid reality tv shows and the drunkard. His odor still lingering at the forefront of her mind. As she was stuck daydreaming, a soft knock on her bedroom door pulled her back to reality.

"Come iiin!"

It was her dad, wearing a look of concern as he entered his daughter's room.

"Hey honey, I just wanted to have a little talk."

Not the sort of words any girl likes to hear from her father. Rachael however was never the type of girl who acted in a manner that warranted "the talk", at least until now. Any other girl her age would probably have rolled their eyes at this point, thinking their parent overbearing.

"I can't help but notice that you've pretty much stopped going to lectures. Is everything alright at school?"

In a vacuum, Rachael's change in attentiveness wouldn't be enough to cause reason for concern. After all, she has been way ahead of the curve for a while. Missing out on lectures could hardly be considered an issue. If anything, her time might as well have been better spent studying for herself at home, instead of attending lectures that on paper only covered stuff she'd already read and learned. In a vacuum. The reality of the situation was much different to that. She'd began working out, wearing girlier, more provocative clothes, dyed her hair. Hell, even the way she spoke had degraded into that of a total airhead, not that she'd spent too much time conversing with her old man over the past couple of months. Especially after she'd received her bad midterm results.
It's not like she cares much for her downward spiral. As a matter of fact, she's quite enjoying her more carefree attitude. School and her overly big ambitions had been slowly, stealthily choking her.

"Yuh. I'm totes fi- ..I'm good, dad. It's just.. I've come to find that my time alive now is equally as important as whatever I'll end up doing later down the line. I guess i needed to balance work and pleasure a little better. Don't worry, I'm still way ahead of the curriculum, promise!"

Rachael gave it her all to sound somewhat dignified as she spoke, trying to ease the concern off of her father's face. She didn't lie to her father per se, because good girls shouldn't lie. But she did avoid speaking the uncomfortable truth about her test results. And how she found it near impossible to access any of the information she'd attained from her copious amounts of self study. The last thing she wanted was her parents nagging on her to get her head back into the game.

"I'm glad to hear. Remember, you can always come to me if there's something bothering you. I might not be a girl, but I'm damn knowledgeable about boys. Really, anything you need. I am here for you."

"Thanks dad, I know."

She put on a halfhearted smile and looked her father in the eye, feeling guilty that she was pulling this much wool over his eyes. The self righteous part her rationalized her behavior by pretending it was for her father's own best that he didn't know the direction his daughter's life was taking. It was still a blank canvas, and she might as well land on her feet, albeit in a slightly different place than what she imagined growing up.