The Freeze-Out

A disastrous date night and date life.

Cody stood frozen in the doorway, heart pounding, as Carl bellowed, “Get out of my house! No daughter of mine is going to date this!”

Seventeen-year-old Cody glanced toward Allison, confusion painted across his face.

“Daddy,” she pleaded, stomping down the stairs.

“Don’t ‘Daddy’ me. That’s not going to work this time. And you, young man—why are you still standing there? Get!”

Carl’s hand reached toward the knife block. That was enough.

Cody ran. Fast. He didn’t even stop to grab his phone—he just bolted into the night.

“I lost my phone,” he muttered the next day in the hallway at school, breathless, but also: “Allison’s dad came at me with a knife!”

By lunchtime, the story had spread like wildfire. No guy wanted to end up like Cody. Allison became a beautiful ghost—admired from afar, but untouched.

“Why is everyone acting so weird?” she asked her best friend Darcy one afternoon.

Darcy hesitated. “They think your dad’s dangerous. Cody told everyone.”

Allison fled to the girls’ restroom and locked herself in a stall. Her sobs echoed off the walls. Her prom, her friendships—her whole life—destroyed by one outburst.

It was time to teach her dad a lesson.


Two months passed. Carl offered cabin trips and fishing weekends. Allison offered polite refusals and cold stares.

One morning, Carl slumped in the kitchen. “Never thought she’d stay mad this long,” he muttered.

Sherry rubbed his back. “The way you acted, I’m shocked she hasn’t poisoned your food.”

“So, you’re on her side now?”

“I’m on the side of fixing this family. Start by talking to Cody.”

Carl swallowed hard. “What would I even say?”

Sherry smiled gently. “That’s something you’re going to have to figure out on your own.”