Property Of Daddy

The Test

[Dakota, Age 16]

I love my life.

It may sound totally ripped out of some crappy TV movie that was too corny to be released in the theaters, but it's true. I live with my dad and his boyfriend in San Francisco County, one of the wealthiest counties in the country due to our location and our manufacturing of tech stuff. I don't pay too much attention to all of that economics crap, bit I do know that my dad is a corporate lawyer for one of the many companies Downtown. Needless to say, we live very comfortably.

Our three-story house in the Pacific Heights district is situated atop a hill, giving us a gorgeous view of the Bay. Every morning, I like to peek outside my bedroom window and get an eyeful of the ocean, spotting the numerous sailboats and the occasional freighter. On days I don't feel like going to school, I just chill in my room and play on my Switch or my PS4. Whenever I do go to school (which didn't happen too often, but my dad donates a lot of money so the administration won't dare kick me out), I enjoy hanging out with my best friends, Asher and Ricky. The three of us have every class together and we never really pay much attention to the teachers, but it doesn't matter because I don't really need to go to college and get a real job. Dad has mentioned this countless times before that he's set me up with a nice bank account that I can live off of for the rest of my life.

I'm all set and living it up— nothing can ruin this for me

There was a light knock on my bedroom door. "Hey Dakota?" came a deep voice, making me grimace.

I looked away from the glowing screen of my Mac, rubbing at my templates as I paused the video I was watching. "What?" I asked, annoyed that my show was being interrupted. Don't people know that I have big stuff going on right now? I need to finish this series ah that I can start with one and break my personal record of most anime series watched in a three-day weekend: Five.

Enrique opened up my bedroom door and poked his head in, cocking his eyebrow when he noticed that I still hasn't showed yet. "You're still not ready?" he frowned.

I shrugged. "Oops." I muttered, turning back to my Mac and pressing play on the video, the Japanese voices sounding out loud as I turned up the volume.

Dad's boyfriend sighed loudly, throwing his hands up in the air as exasperation. "Your appointment's in an hour!" he cried. "Why haven't you gotten ready yet? Or better ye, why hasn't Marisol gotten you dressed?"

"You fired her for using to much starch when she ironed your knockoff shirts," I sneered, rolling my eyes. I'd love having Marisol around, but now that she's gone, I have to make my own breakfast like a damn animal. I shuddered at the thoughts of it. I'm not even sure that's legal, like, doesn't it break child labor laws?

"It wasn't a knockoff," Enrique muttered, shaking his head. He used so much gel in his hair that it stayed put like a stone when it moved. "Just get your ass ready and be in the car in twenty minutes. We need to leave soon if we want to beat the traffic."

"I'm tellin' dad that you said 'Ass'," I called out as the old man closed my bedroom door and stomped off down the hallway, muttering curse words to himself. Yeah, he and I never quite seemed to get along mainly because of call him out when he and my dad had gotten together, revealing that his Armani suit has actually been a cheap knockoff from Chinatown, exposing him for the poser that he is. I have always been able to tell the difference from a knockoff and the real thing. I have never been wrong but damn, the nerve of some people...

Sighing, I stopped my video again and shoved myself away from my desk so that I could get ready and get this bullshit done and over with. My wait time was over and I couldn't afford to push it off any longer; I had to take that damn test to see if I carried a Mating Gene or whatever it was called. I'd turn sixteen eleven months and three weeks ago, and since humans are required to take the test when they're sixteen or else (I was too nervous to ask what "Or else" meant), my time was pretty much up. I knew that it was silly for me to be all chicken about this, but damn!