Making it.

Chapter 4 - Very Original.

I turn around for the hundredth time already, trying to shut my eyes hard enough and continue sleeping. It is four p.m. already, I think. At least that's what the clock on my phone has showed the last time that I checked it which feels like an eternity ago. Actually, my initial plan was to sleep through the entire day and then wake up tomorrow for my first day of school in London which will also be my move in day into the dorms there. My hand involuntarily turns my phone around once more. Four o' five p.m. Seriously?

A little bit over half an hour passes of me tossing and turning from left to right until I hear a knock at the door.

"Come in." I say quietly when I don't spot any movements coming from the door at first. Mike sticks his head through and smiles.

"We are preparing dinner. Do you want to come downstairs and join us?" His tone is extremely polite, which is something that I am not used to hearing when someone calls me for dinner after moping around all day.

"I am actually not that hungry." I lie and my stomach betrays me by rumbling like a damn lion.

"That sounded like quite the opposite, but if you want to, I can ask my wife or your mother to bring it upstairs for you." He offers, not angry at all which, to be honest, I kind of expected.

"No, it is fine. I will eat with you guys. Just give me a few minutes." I say and he looks genuinely happy about my answer.

"Alright then. See you in a bit." With that he closes the door and I turn my head to look outside the window. Most of my time here has been spent with me staring out of that piece of glass. I just can't go five minutes without looking at the city. It's captivating.

The sun is slowly starting to set and I get up to walk towards it. I can see a bit of my reflection in the glass and cringe slightly at the bird's nest on top of my head which is usually called hair. With quick movements, I search through my backpack for a mint, throw that into my mouth and aggressively chew on it to get my bad breath from not brushing my teeth in definitely over twelve hours, away. Walking downstairs, I open up my bun and re-do it as fast as possible.

A kid's laughter draws me further into the kitchen, where Mike's son is sitting on the kitchen, mixing the salad. "You are supposed to keep the salad in the bowl, not spread it all over the counter, Josh." Mike laughs with the little toddler while his wife picks up the salad leaves, shaking her head at the mess they are creating. I look to the dining table and see mom setting it. Well, more like watching the little family with sad eyes but the moment my gaze catches hers, she continues with what she was previously doing.

"Hailey, would you be so kind and take this to the table?" The woman that I forgot the name of asks me and I nod, bringing the lemonade and water to the table with me. How can I ask them about their names, while trying to not sound rude? I don't think that's possible, no matter the situation. I will always end up sounding rude.

"Do you need help with anything else?" I ask politely as Mike walks past me with the salad.

"No, no. You can already take a seat." The woman I desperately try to remember the name of answers and I nod.

I take a seat opposite of mom and sit down with the windows behind her, providing me an amazing view of the sun setting slowly. My body tenses up when Mike sits down next to me and I don't know if that was out of some reflex or if I am uncomfortable with the fact that my biological father is sitting next to me for the first time and not even approximately a metre away, the way I would prefer him to.

My question lingers in my head as Mike's wife sits the toddler down in between her and Mike at the end of the table and then eventually puts the food down. There is an uncomfortable silence as we try to make out who is going to grab the food first until Mike chuckles and lifts the lid of the huge pot. When he puts the food on his plate, I can see that they cooked pasta in some kind of cheese-chicken-ham sauce. He takes my plate out of nowhere and puts the pasta on it, then freezes for a second before letting me take it from him.