~

I stare at him, feeling numb. What was he doing here? He can't be Shelia's son, can he? Gray? Grayson? Was Gray, Grayson? Ha! This has to be a joke. Where's the camera, people?

All hopes are shattered when Shelia comes up behind me to see what's taking me so long. "Oh! Grayson, come in," She smiles and he walks in leaving me standing there all alone. Contrary to my surprised demeanor, Gray looks calm and collect. Almost as if he was expecting this. This douche. He knew!

I shut the door and turn to face Gray, who is on his phone as he leans on the wall.

"Did you know about this?" I ask defensively, putting my hands on my waist.

"I tried to tell you," He shrugs and I raised a confused brow. When?

"When?"

"I remember telling you I wanted to be your friend. But what did you say, huh?" He scrunches his brows as he speaks.

"I did not want to be your friend!"

"Well, we are going to be living in the same house. Try and get used to me," he smirks.

This night couldn't get any worse. How was I supposed to live with Gray? I could barely get used to him in school and now I have to see him every day in my house. Just kill me. Okay, I'm kidding I actually don't want to die.

Dad opens the last bowl of food on the table and Shelia clasps her hands under her chin. "Oh my God! Dave, this looks so good," Her eyes beams, happily while my dad just grins sheepishly.

Dave? That has to be the first time I'll hear my dad being called by his first name. I am used to hearing Mr. Kelch instead.

"Did you make all this?" Gray asks me, his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Yeah."

"I thought you couldn't cook," He whispers again and I turn to look at him. When did I tell him I couldn't cook? Oh! Right. When we dated.

I roll my eyes. "Well, I can,"

I see Shelia lean in towards my dad and try to kiss him on the lips. Ewww. Everyone turns to me and I immediately cover my mouth with my hand. "I just said that out loud, didn't I?" I groan and Gray chuckles slightly.

"Right. Sorry," Shelia grits her teeth, her cheeks flushed making me feel bad for interrupting them.

Dad also looks a bit embarrassed and I internally scold myself for being a Debby downer. "No, please go on," I quickly say in an attempt to make everything less awkward. I didn't realize how weird that sounded until I said it out loud.

Gray lifted an eyebrow at me. "Go on with what?" He asks defensively. "No kissing while I'm around, Dave," He teases, tapping my Dad on his back.

Oh really! Was everyone calling my Dad Dave now? "Dave?"

Gray turns to stare at me, his lips curls up with amusement. "You wouldn't want me to call him, dad. Now, would you?"

I decided against replying to him because I knew Gray. It was in his blood to tease someone until they began to question their existence.

I internally roll my eyes and blame myself. Just because his body became more mature, didn't mean his brain did too. Ha! Good one, Dove.

"Can you smell that?" Chloe asks in her tiny squeaky voice, tugging at my sweatpants.

"Yeah it smells like something's burning," Harry replies from the living room. He was comfortably seated on a sofa while the rest of us were still standing at the dining.

I sniffed the air and realized they were right but, I couldn't quite pinpoint what it could be. A loud blast is heard from the kitchen, making us all jump in fear. Soon, the entire room is covered with smoke.

I lower my head and cover my eyes with my elbows. "What the fuck was that?" I ask in between coughs.

"It came from the kitchen. Are you still making anything?" Shelia asks, waving her hands dismissively trying to dissipate the smoke.

I shake my head in reply. "No, I-

Then, the realization dawns on me. "Fuck! the cake," I mutter under my breath and run to the kitchen with Shelia behind me. The oven was on fire and there was smoke everywhere. I gasp and cover my hands with my mouths, watching in awe as the fire races up, eating the wooden cupboard vigorously.

Shelia pulls me out of the kitchen, ushering me and the rest of the family to leave the house. Shakily, I bring out my phone and immediately dial the fire department. It took ten minutes for Ally and Gabriel to arrive. Yes, I know their names because we have had more than one fire outbreak in this house and they are ones posted to our vicinity.

I know you are wondering why we don't have a fire extinguisher. Well, we did once but then it expired and we never got around buying a new one. Bad habit. Yes, I know but Dad has just been too busy lately. And me? I've been too lazy. So, whenever there's a fire outbreak in our house. I just call the fire department. But, it has never been as bad as this, I've never baked before.

It takes them like 5-10 minutes to put off the fire and then it was safe for us to go back in. Gabriel comes out of the kitchen, holding my baking pan, was burnt beyond recognition, in one hand. He sighs at me and I give him a lopsided grin.

"Next time you want to bake a tiny cake. Try not to put the oven temp too high and don't leave it for hours," He warns and hands me the pan. I hold the burnt pan at arm's length so as to keep it away from my white top.

Gabriel then goes over to talk to my dad, who was with Shelia. They were nodding as they talked, probably talking about how irresponsible I was.

"I thought I said we shouldn't see each other again, Dove," Ally teases, turning my attention back to her.

"That's why I called Gabriel," I blink, a hand on my waist as I lean on a dining chair.

"It's the same code!" She throws her hands up in the air frustratedly.

I fold my arms across my chest and pout. "Hmm okay, next time I'll just burn to death," I sigh, speaking in a childlike tone.

Gray throws me an irritated look before shaking his head. "Anyways, we are sorry for the disturbance," He apologizes, holding out his hands to Ally. I roll my eyes, way to make me look stupid.

Ally smiles and takes his hand. "Who is this?"

I mentally cringe at Ally's sudden voice change. Ally isn't much older than us but, she's still older. She is 24 and I know her well because she once babysat me when I was young. Everyone kinda knew everyone where I lived, it was a small town in Orange County, New York.

"I'm Gray," He grins back.

"Well Gray, I'm Ally," She smiles, still holding on to his hands.

"Gabriel it's time for y'all to go," I throw my head back and yell Gabriel's name. He really needs to get Ally and get the hell out of her. One fire in the kitchen was enough, no need to ignite another between Gray and Ally.

Soon enough, they leave and we settle down to eat. The food didn't taste as bad as I'd expected. Dad and I really did a good job. I might actually start making my meals now. Lol. Just kidding.

Dinner was going pretty great until Dad decided to start a small talk at the table. Bad idea, I tell you. "So, Gray. I hear you go to the same school as Dove," He asks, forking his potatoes gently.

Gray looks up, his mouth full of chicken as he nodded his head.

"Oh! Are you guys friends?" Shelia asks, a smile playing on her face.

"No!" I yell, defensively.

"Yes," Gray replies in a calm voice at the same time I spoke.

Dad and Shelia look at each other with raised eyebrows before looking at both of us. "What are we to believe? Yes or No," Dad chuckles lightly.

"Believe no," I say

"Definitely yes," Gray replies. Again! At the same time, I did.

"Okay, maybe Dove doesn't consider you a friend then," Shelia jokes, placing a forkful of pork chops in her mouth. Why was everyone bent on making me look bad tonight?

"Oh! Forgive my daughter. She thinks she doesn't need friends," Dad fake bows, laughing and I cover my face with embarrassment. God! Can the earth please open up and swallow me. Once my Dad starts ranting about me, it's kinda hard for him to stop.

"I do have friends," I retort defensively, folding my arms across my chest.

"For example?" Gray asks daringly, leaning his chin on his hands.

I roll my eyes and drop my fork with a clatter. I knew I couldn't mention random people because we go to the same school and he'd obviously know if I lie. "There's Fawn," I nod my head proudly and Gray raises an eyebrow.

"Is that all?" Harry asks and I noticed everyone at the table was interested in my social life. They were all looking at me expectantly, waiting to hear more.

"Oh! That's more than enough for Dove," Dad laughs when I didn't say anything for a while, and I mentally bang my head on the table. Leave it to my Dad to embarrass me.

"No, and there's also this really cute guy Luca," I say before I could stop myself.

Gray tenses the moment he heard the name, his ears spiked up. "Luca?" He raises an eyebrow and lifts his chin.

I already said it. I might as well just own up to it. "Yes," I reply, folding my hands on my laps.

"Is it the same guy that brought you home that day on a motorcycle," Dad asks, looking up from his food and I nod my head.

"Wait! How did you know? You weren't home that day," I squint, suspiciously.

"I have my ways," He winked. Right, the nosey neighbors. It's really like they have nothing to do. I have a feeling it was Mrs. Elliot, two houses to our left, who spilled the beans. She was looking at me suspiciously that day, her lips pressed into a firm line as she watched us.

"But yes. He was the one," I stuck my nose in the air.

"Is he your boyfriend or something," Shelia leans in to ask.

But Gray was quick to reply before I could. "No, he's not," He replies in a firm voice. He looks up from his food and noticed everyone's confused faces. " I just meant that he isn't," He says anxiously, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Okay, okay. We hear you," Shelia raises her hand defensively and I just look downwards at my food, feeling my face heat up with embarrassment.

Why was he mad? It wasn't his business.

~~~~~~~~~~

I groan as I get up from bed and stretch. I checked the time and noticed it was 7:10. Yep, I was a morning person. I don't know why I always feel really happy whenever I wake up early. It just sets my day off well. I walk downstairs to get some water and make an avocado toast before I head off to the gym.

I only gym twice a week because I have school and I'm too lazy. It took so much dedication on my part to work out thrice a week. Besides, I paid good money to be a member of the gym and I wasn't going to let it waste.

I was busy crushing an avocado, humming to toosie slide when I hear a low whistle from behind me. I turn to find Gray, leaning against the wall staring at me, his eyes roam around my body quickly before he returns his gaze to my face. His eyes pierce through my heart every time he looks at me like that.

Fuck! I had totally forgotten about Gray and his family moving in. I was so used to being the only one awake by this time and was walking around in my tiny short and tank top PJs. I knew I looked good but I didn't look modest.

Gray's lower lip curl up in a smirk, his eyes still holding my gaze, "You've certainly grown more, Kelch."

••••••••••

OOTD: What's your latest obsession?

Mine is watching K-dramas😂. Anything with Lee min ho or Ji chang wook❤️