~

I woke up Friday morning way excited than usual. Shelia and her kids were moving in this evening and Dad and I couldn't be more excited. We lived in a five-bedroom house which was just perfect. Dad was gonna share his master bedroom with Shelia, while her kids each got their own rooms.

I had their rooms cleaned and redesigned during the weekend. Although being an only child had its perks, It was also really boring having to watch my favorite reality shows with Dad. This man falls asleep 10 minutes into 90 days fiancé. Then he wakes up two hours later during a completely different movie and goes wow this '90 days cast are something, alright'. I'd want to scream at him and tell him I was watching 'Ex on the Beach' but I get lazy and just say it in my mind instead.

I walk downstairs and pour myself a cup of orange juice as I made toast. A new mum also meant great homemade foods. I love my Dad but he's a terrible cook and I inherited that from him. If I had back every penny we've spent on takeouts, I'd be fucking richer than Bill Gate.

Dad gets down a few moments later and we drive off to my school with him constantly reminding me to get home early because we were making dinner for Shelia and her kids.

"Hope she likes toast or cereal for dinner," I joke laughing and my dad shoots me a serious look.

"I downloaded this recipe and I think we can do it if we work together,"

"Dad, we've been working together on food for years and it always turns out terrible. We don't want to scare Shelia now, do we?"

"We can still try"

I internally roll my eyes and just agree. I knew he wanted to make a good impression on her and I just wanted him to be happy.

After Dad drops me off. I head over to my locker to grab my books and head to the first period.

"Hey," I smile and sit next to Fawn. It's been a few days but I've started getting used to her. She wasn't like the rest. Yes, she was pretty but she had a really kind soul and I just couldn't help but like her.

I scan the classroom for Gray but he was nowhere to be found. Ever since the party, Gray hadn't been to school. I don't know what happened but I hope they didn't do anything bad to him. I shrug off the thought, Zyair and Aaron we're still attending classes. They wouldn't be in class if something bad happened to him.

So I guess Gray didn't come because of the rumors going around about him being in a gang. He was the type to wait until everything died down and was no longer an issue.

I sigh and lean on my desk and try to drain the noise from the classroom. I couldn't help but overhear Zoe talking about getting a boob job after high school, Lily couldn't stop talking about her sexcapes to Ursula. They probably thought they were whispering but I could hear it all and I'm pretty sure everyone else could.

"Do you guys need a fucking microphone so you could tell us more," I said in a cool voice, fed up with their noise.

Zoe turns to look at me, a disgusted look on her face. "Why don't you close your ear if you don't want to listen," she replies and I rolled my eyes.

Could this girl get any dumber? "I can't close my ears, you dummy. It's not like I have ear lids"

"Then just stop paying attention," Ashley snaps

"I would if I could"

"You should really learn to stop stalking us, Dove. It's obvious you are jealous of our friendship," Zoe flips her hair and leans on her desk.

"Oh please. What's there to be jealous about," I spat.

"Oh. Do you have a best friend? Your dad?" Zoe says mocking me in a child-like voice. I honestly just wanted to slap the sarcasm out of her. I enjoyed sarcasm as long as it came from a friend or someone I actually like.

Zoe has to be my least favorite person, it's like her brain feds on being mean all the time. I was about to reply with a snarky comment when Zyair suddenly gets up from his seat and stands on the table.

Great. Just Great! Our calculus teacher was running late, which allowed room for all our talks.

"My Dad's out of town today. So party at my house tonight!" He announced grinning and a few people whistled.

"Don't you ever get tired of parties?" Fawn says from next to me, rolling her eyes. From the look on her face, I could tell she didn't mean to say it out loud. She was probably thinking about it and ended up blurting it out. "Did everyone hear me?" She widened her eyes at me and I nodded in reply.

"What screams senior year other than everyday parties," Zyair asked folding his arms across his chest, flexing his muscles.

"Hmm... I don't know college, scholarships, acceptance letters," Ursula rolls her eyes. She was Lily's best friend. To date, I still don't understand how they could be best friends. Ursula is smart, nice, and responsible while Lily is..... well, you know.....Lily.

Aaron blows a raspberry and proceeds to stand on his own table which made me facepalm myself. "You aren't forced to come. Just know you'll be missing out on the best party in our senior year," he shrugs and gives Zyair a high five.

"I threw the best party this senior year," Lily states proudly, admiring her nails.

"You can't call it the best party in senior year when it's the only party we've had," Aaron raises an eyebrow.

I rested my head on my hands. They were making so much noise. I hate loud people. I hate loud noise. I hate a crowd so, I basically hate being anywhere that's not my room but I'm here because Note my sarcasm.

"Anyways, you're invited, you're invited, you're invited. Everyone's invited," Zyair cheers pointing at random people as he tried to imitate Oprah.

Just then our calculus teacher, Mr. Joseph walks in and stops in his tracks when he sees Zyair and Aaron on the table. He stares them down and the guys replied with a huge grin.

"Is it just me or is Mr. Joseph looking extra fine, this morning," Zyair says in a flattering tone

"I was just about to say that too," Aaron replies and strokes his chin and examines Mr. Joseph. "There is something different about him today?"

"Is it the shirt?" Zyair widens his eyes.

"Nice try boys. But one more word and you get detention," Mr. Joseph says and a few members of the class laughs. Zyair and Aaron enjoy flattering the teachers when they know they might get in trouble, but Mr. Joseph had gotten familiar with their antics. Normally, he would have replied with a 'thanks, my wife got it for me' and the boys will proceed to continue with their flattery by saying something like 'wow she has great taste'.

Mr. Joseph tells us the topic of the day and I internally cringe. Algebra. I hate algebra. I know I have been saying a hate a lot of things lately but I'm actually a very positive person. I think.

But algebra is a bitch. Excuse my language, but does it keep asking me to find its

Get over him/her, they are probably a douche bag. Hehe. See what I did there. Ah classic.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I tie my hair up into a bun and place a net over it, tightening the straps of my apron as I turn to look at Dad. His hair was also hidden in a net and he had an apron on.

Dad clasps his hand and smiles at me. "Are you ready?" He asks and I nod.

"Tell me. What are we making!" I ask clapping my hands.

"Bacon and spinach stuffed chicken for appetizers, fried pork chops with peas and potatoes for main and velvet cake for dessert," He says reading out from his IPad. As soon as he starts talking my face drops. There's no way on earth we could make all that.

I swallowed. "So do you want me to call the fire department now or what," I laugh and my Dad gives a straight face.

"Dove, we can make em. I've bought all the ingredients all we need to do is follow the recipe and we'll be gold!"

"Okay. Fire department later "

Dad sighs and looks at me. "They say you can do anything you put your mind to," he preaches, a smile on his face.

I wanted to tell him they also say but I decided against it. He was happy so I should let him be. But I put the fire department code on speed dial just in case.

"So what are we staring with?" I ask and a bigger grin appears on his face.

"Hmm.. we can start with the main first and we'll do dessert last."

I nodded my head and we got cooking. Following the recipe correctly, we made the main meal without any hitches. Then we made appetizers next.

"Aren't you glad we are doing this?" Dad asks, halfway through our cooking process. I was busy mixing the ingredients for the velvet cake.

I nod in reply, my feet hurting from standing too much. "What time will Shelia be here?"

"Around... six pm," Dad replies and glances at the clock. "Shit. It's 5:30!"

I glance at the clock and realize we used almost two hours to make a meal that was supposed to be ready in 45 minutes. But in our defense, we spent almost thirty minutes trying to read and understand the recipe. I quickly greased the pan and ushered Dad to go and get ready.

"What about you?" He asks.

"I'll get dressed as soon as I place the cake in the oven," I reply, pushing him towards the stairs.

After putting the cake in the oven, I raced to my room and rummaged through my wardrobe for an attire. I was opting for a classy but laid black outfit. Something that made me look like I looked good without trying.

I wore my pink sweat pants and paired it with my white crop top. I tie my hair up in a bun and allowed for a few loose curls. I applied a little bit of mascara and lip gloss.

"There are here!" Dad knocks on my door excitedly. "How do I look?" He was wearing blue jeans paired with a blacktop. He was dressed in his usual way but his eyes had a glittering glow to it. I wondered if that's how love made you feel like.

"You look great!" I gave him a thumbs up and he grins in reply before leaving. I heaved and took one last look at myself. I couldn't wait to see Shelia and meet her kids.

I walk downstairs and find Dad at the door with Shelia, Chloe, and a guy that looked about 14 years old.

Shelia looks at me, a huge smile creeps on her face. "Dove!" She squeals and embraced me in a tight hug. I wrapped my hands around her back and smiled.

"Hey Shelia," I greet and look down at Chloe. I have talked to her once on a video call when Dad went to visit them. "Hey, Chloe!"

"Hey Dove," she grinned, a toothy smile.

"Hi, I'm Harry," her second son smiles, holding out his hands and I shake him and introduce myself.

"Where is Grayson?" Dad asks Shelia, holding on to her hands. I suppose Grayson was her eldest son that was apparently my age.

"He is parking the car, he should be here any moment," she replies and a ding is heard from the door.

"I'll get it," I announced and skipped off to open the door. Dad had talked about her eldest son and how he's a nice guy, saying we'd get along.

I open the door excitedly and my muscles become rigid as I stared surprised. My eyes meet familiar piercing blue eyes. His face mirrors my surprise. And I took a sharp breath before speaking.

"Gray?"

••••••••••

Please note: It seems like a lot of people have this misconception, but this book is NOT about incest. I do not support such and would never write about it. You'll need to read the entire book to understand everything, but please stop jumping to conclusions. ❤️🫰🏽💡

OOTD: What talent do you wish you have, but don't?

Honestly, I've got a lot 😂. I want to be good at singing and dancing, but God said NO. So, here I am. Wishing I had those talents.

Kindly, Vote and comment

Much 💕