Still Point by Katie Kacvinsky Page A

so afraid to let me loose. This gave me a power of negotiation I hadn’t realized I had.
    I had always felt like a chess piece to him, but one that was easily dismissible. Now I knew I had high stakes. Maybe I was a queen—one sudden move could alter his strategy. Maybe we’re all that significant in life, we just have to realize it.
    â€œHere’s my rule,” I said. “I’ll wear your skin tracker.
If.
”
    My dad raised his eyebrows.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œThere are a few things that I want in return.”
    My mom was still watching us. She looked amazed at my tenacity.
    â€œSuch as?” he asked.
    â€œYour files,” I told him.
    He leaned his head toward me like he hadn’t heard me right.
    â€œThe same ones that I stole from you when I was fifteen. The files with all the digital school contacts. I won’t steal them ever again. I promise.”
    â€œThen how do you plan on acquiring them?” he asked.
    I raised my hands. “I want you to give them to me. Willingly, because you want to do the right thing.” I sat up straighter in my seat. “You could consider it my eighteenth-birthday present.”
    He laughed out loud. “Those are confidential, Maddie. I can’t share those, with
anyone.
Family connections and birthdays don’t apply.”
    I leaned closer to my dad and smiled. “No one would have to know about it. I know people who can help. We can make it look like your computer was hacked. We’ll be careful to keep you innocent. We just want to spread a message, Dad. People have a right to know what else is out there.”
    His mouth tightened. He looked away and nodded once. “I’ll think about it.”
    I exhaled a long breath. Internally I was screaming. Justin was right. There was no point in talking to my dad when he can’t listen. “Got it.”
    â€œYour mother will keep an eye on you while I’m gone.”
    â€œTerrific,” I said, and stood up. “Good talk, Dad.” I turned sharply on my foot and stomped out of the room and up the stairs. It was bratty, I knew, but so was his pathetic effort at communication.
    Two could play the dismissive game.
    I sat on my bed and soft footprints padded down the carpeted hallway and into my room. I looked up and expected to see my mom, her neutral eyes pleading for a truce. She was our live-in peacemaker. But instead, my dad stood a few feet inside the doorway and looked as surprised to be inside of my room as I was to see him there. He hadn’t been in my bedroom in years. He walked over to my window seat and sat down, next to a pile of books. He picked one up and flipped the pages, his eyes looking wistful for a second before he set it down.
    â€œI’m not trying to hold you hostage. I’m trying to protect you. That’s all. You always see protection as control, Maddie. Please try to understand the difference.”
    â€œYou don’t need to protect me,” I said.
    â€œIt’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because there are people outside of here I don’t trust,” he said, and glanced through the open window blinds to look out at the empty street. “That’s why I want you home.”
    I knew exactly who he was referring to, and every time he showed that he would never accept Justin it was harder to take, because it was the same as saying he would never accept me. I wanted to love my dad. But how do you love someone who doesn’t see you? How do you become close to someone so set on changing you?
    â€œI don’t think you trust anyone,” I told him. “And that’s your weakness. That’s why your system is going to fail.”
    His eyes shifted to mine. He looked more amused than annoyed. His amusement irritated me. Did he ever take me seriously? I guess my pink hair didn’t help
I’ve grown up and I demand respect
case.
    â€œHow do you see