I stared up at the ceiling in my bedroom. My bedroom. That still felt strange. I'd been sleeping here for three months now and I still felt like a guest. The room was as clean as it was when I first set foot in this house, maybe a part of me hoped deep down that this wouldn't be permanent, that one day soon we'd just pack up and move back home. There was no use getting comfortable when this is all temporary, right? But that day never came, for the time being this was home. Just me, my dad, and the others.
Dad had met Hannah one night in a bar. He went to that bar all the time, he was friends with the bartender, but this night in particular was his birthday. She saw him sitting there alone, offered to buy him a drink and the two got to talking. They got to talking all night, until the bar closed. I could tell straight away that he was smitten, the way his face would light up at the very mention of this mysterious woman at the bar. They started dating a few weeks later, and then, a year and a half after that night at the bar they were married.
There was a knock at my bedroom door, "Hmmmm?" I said in response. It was all I could muster, having woken up only a minute ago.
"Oh, sorry!" A voice whispered from the other side of the door. "Breakfast is ready!" The voice waited for no reply before I heard the footsteps descending out of earshot and down the stairs. I take a deep breath and throw the bedcover off me, I put on some pyjamas and head downstairs.
Hannah was seated at the head of the dining table. She'd already started on what looked like a delicious egg white omelette. Sitting on the left side of the table was one of Hannah's daughters, Millie.
Millie was 18, like me, and blonde like her mother, although her long hair was tied back into a tight ponytail while Hannah's shorter hair sat freely by her shoulders and somehow always looked like she just shot a conditioner commercial.
They both gave me a smile as I sat down. Hannah's smile was genuine, Millie's seemed obligatory, barely giving me full eye contact before continuing typing on her phone. Hannah's smile continued even after I'd sat down and picked up my fork.
"No Mads again?" I motioned to the empty seat next to me. Mads was Hannha's other daughter, a year older than Millie, and very rarely seen at gatherings like this. This was frustrating because I actually hit it off well with her when I first met her. I quickly discovered a mutual love of movies and games and we spent hours talking about our favourites, we even 1v1'd in an obscure fighting game I hadn't heard of nor could I remember the name. That obscure. And she shamed me. Of course I blamed the controller to save face, but the way she laughed at my blushing face told me that she could see through the ruse.
"Madelyn had a late night," Hannah said, "and she doesn't have classes until 2 so I thought I'd let her sleep."
"Did you ask him yet?" Millie said, eying her mother from the side of her eyes.
"Give him a minute, Millie, he just sat down!"
"Ask me what?" I said.
Hannah gave Millie a face, as if to silently scold her but she quickly went back to a smile. "We were wondering if you could drive Millie to school today. She's never liked taking the bus and we thought..."
"Oh, yeah that's no problem."
Hannah motioned to me, looking at Millie, "See? There's no problem. What do you say Millie?"
Millie shot her mother a look of her own, after a moment she looked to me again, "Thank you, Jason." There's that obligatory smile again. I barely talk to this girl, why is she so against me?
Hannah looked very excited, and she had reason to, I suppose. After breakfast she stood up and said "Right! I need to head out now, you two, shower." Us two? She can't mean- "I don't care who goes first so I won't hear any arguments about it. It's a big day for all of us and we're all going to embrace it with open arms. Yes? Yes?" She punctuated each Yes by looking at each of us, waiting for us to nod in agreement.
It was a big day. Millie was starting senior year, it was my first day in a new school in a new town, and Hannah was starting her first year as principal of River Rock High. And she certainly looked the part. She wore a red buttoned shirt, black blazer and matching pants. The pants, I couldn't help but notice, were just tight enough that I could see the curve of her legs, but I quickly got off this train of thought after a moment.
Grabbing her bag and keys, Hannah said "It's my first assembly as principal, I could use the confidence boost of seeing both of your lovely smiling faces," she demonstrated by showing an enormous, comically exaggerated smile which made me laugh. Millie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Jason, you're on the fast track of being my favourite, Millie's been slipping lately." She gave me a little wink at that moment, and my eyes widened involuntarily just a little. Alright, love you both, have an excellent day and don't forget...it's Ms Stanton now!" And with that, she was gone. I turned back to Millie, only to see an empty seat. I could already hear the shower running.
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