Something Changed: Day 2

Word Count: 12,017

Summary of Events:

Luke was unable to find a moment to sneak out of the church service until it was over, and was left feeling rather dazed. He described what happened to Finn the following Monday, and was also harangued by Keeley about whether or not he'd be attending a dance party that Friday night at the church. On Friday Luke was asked by his mom what his plans were — something she never asked him — immediately upon arriving home, and after supper, while he was halfway through his homework, his dad told him to get ready to go out, but didn't linger long enough for Luke to ask where they were going . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Since lights were still on inside, Luke didn’t lock the front door, and when he saw Dad was alone in the SUV, he felt confident that meant Mom was still inside, as she never drove Dad’s car, even though Dad drove her SUV all the time.

Luke went around to the front passenger seat with the question rising in his mind as to whether he should’ve worn the Leafs jersey Dad had bought him for the Christmas before last — the same year they’d moved into this house — as the Leafs might be playing tonight, and Dad might’ve finally gotten tickets to see them, as he’d always promised he would, but had to the present failed to.

Considering that the jersey was starting to get a little small on him, however, Luke decided he wasn’t going to go back, and instead climbed into the seat without a word.

Part of him suspected they weren’t going to a Leafs game, as Dad wasn’t wearing any of his Leafs merchandise either, and since Dad would deck himself out to watch games at home, Luke knew there was no chance Dad wouldn’t deck himself out to attend a game in person.

Where they were going was still something Luke wished he knew, but he decided not to ask, as his family had a habit of not telling him what was going on, yet being convinced that they had, which led them to chastise him condescendingly when he asked where they were going.

Luke was also pretty sure he would’ve heard about their getting to a Leafs game long ago, as Dad would’ve been as excited as Luke always used to be around Christmas, back when he’d had big hopes and dreams of what he would get for Christmas and had been, for a large part, rewarded. He felt like Dad had always wanted to go to a Leafs game more than he ever had, and considering the Leafs’ failure to do well when it mattered, Luke was starting to get to the point where he didn’t think it would be all that spectacular to go to a game.

There was, however, nowhere else Luke could think of that he and Dad might go to together, as Dad usually spent his evenings watching everything he could find about the Leafs on TV, and had never even taken Luke to the movies for a sort of father-son bonding night before — and Luke, for one, had to admit he wasn’t really keen on having those sorts of events start happening now, he was sure Dad would humiliate him.

As they drove, Luke noticed that they were heading toward the north end of town, where the industrial area was, as well as that ChangeMaker Church.

Luke felt a sudden horror. No. They couldn’t be going there. He didn’t want to go to that Domino Group dance party. He hated dancing, and he certainly didn’t ever want to set foot in that building again. His parents couldn’t possibly do that to him.