Seeded: Day 12

Word Count: 72,169

Summary of Events:

Lark and her friends were shocked that Brandt had been at church, immediately changing their conversation from their plans for going shopping on the weekend to discussing what had brought him to church. At home, Brandt refused to answer his dad's questions about where he'd gone and fed the reheated lunch he was presented with to the dog at his earliest opportunity before going off into his room to ponder everything that had happened. Lark later mused privately about her surprise that her dad had said nothing about Brandt's presence, having expected him to have at least made a comment about it. A couple days later, Brandt was called by the pastor of the church, who apologised for the woman having confronted Brandt; the two then got into conversation about the Canada Day weekend, as Brandt told the pastor that he'd decided to come to the church after meeting a girl there because he'd not wanted to be with his family, prompting the pastor to enquire why…

Excerpt of the Day:

“My dad’s new girlfriend,” Brandt replied setting one slice of bread on the pan, butter side down. “She and Dad have been dating for a couple years, but she’d been unable to come to our campouts before, so it was her first time, and…”

“It was difficult?” Pastor Neal asked.

“I mean, I’ve never really liked her or gotten along with her from the beginning,” Brandt replied. “She’s, like, the personification of all the traits I dislike in girls, and she has Dad absolutely wrapped around her finger, which… is… hard. I’m, not the only son anymore, but the oldest son, my half brother is ten years younger than me — and his trying to film a viral fail video with me as its star didn’t make the weekend any better — but, like, from… as long as I can remember, Dad and Grandpa and everybody’s been talking about me taking over the farm and Dad has bent over backwards to get me whatever I wanted.”

“Mmhm,” Pastor Neal said.

“And, like, Dad never really would believe other people when they said bad stuff about me,” Brandt added. “But… now… Veronica seems to be that person. She’s the one he always believes, and he gets mad at anybody who upsets her, which usually ends up being me because I don’t like her.”

“Hmm,” Pastor Neal said.

“And, the weirdest things bend her out of shape too,” Brandt said. “I don’t want to say good morning to her, and my dad tears a strip out of me. He has never forced me to say good morning even to himself. I don’t want to be in a selfie because I don’t like them, and I’m berated for it. I want to make my own lunches instead of having lunch made for me, and–”

Brandt flinched and dropped the cheese he’d been grating. He looked at his finger; the grater hadn’t cut it, but it still hurt. His agitation was affecting his cheese grating.

“It’s just frustrating,” Brandt said. “I feel like she’s trying to drive me and Dad apart.”

“Hmm,” Pastor Neal said.

“Not that we’ve been, like, inseparable or anything,” Brandt said, taking up a handful of grated cheese and sprinkling it over the bread. “I’m closer with his brother than with him, but, like, after he broke up with his last long-term girlfriend — my half brother’s mom — it was just the two of us here, and he was working really hard to try and bond with me. I mean, he was completely clueless about how to interact with a teenager, but I could tell he was trying, and now he’s not. It’s like all of the effort he put into bonding with me for those years was… a waste of his time.”

“Mm,” Pastor Neal said.

Brandt heard the garage door opening. He hurried into the living room and looked out the front window. Veronica’s sporty little SUV was pulling in.

“Um, I’m gonna have to go,” Brandt said. “She just got home, and I don’t want her to hear any of this.”

“Alright,” Pastor Neal said. “Well, I do hope that you’ll come give Grasslands a visit again soon. Until then, have a good day.”

“You too,” Brandt replied.