We Met At A Lake House | Greg Feder |

03

"Would you like water or Pepsi, Ada?" Sally questioned. The girl had been staring motionless at her father since he walked through the door, the man looking just how she remembered — maybe a few pounds heavier; he still had the same hairstyle, the same kind of clothes, the same face, the same smile, the same voice.

She hated it.

She hated that she was excited to see him, that she still wanted to jump up and hug him, that she wanted to spill every detail of her life he'd missed. She hated that she still called him dad after everything that happened, she hated that she didn't hate him at all.

"Water please." Ada finally looked away from the man, sending a smile to the blonde mother in thanks. "Do you need help?"

Sally, who was juggling setting the pizza boxes on the table, along with plates and kitchen roll, and filling glasses with Pepsi; stopped to respond to the girl with a relieved smile. "Would you mind?"

Adhara jumped up with a shake of her head, quickly moving to take over filling the glasses up — Beans drink going into a plastic cup instead. Donna had moved to help as well, not something she would usually do, and was setting Bean in his place at the table.

Sally followed in suite and took her seat, then Donna just as Ada was closing the almost empty bottle of Pepsi — Eric moved to take three of the glasses, placing them respectfully in front of his wife and youngest daughter, taking the last for himself as he took a seat. Adhara grabbed the other two cups, putting one near Bean with a silly smile toward the boy; making him giggle; before she took the final place at the table.

Eric sat at one end of the table and was the furthest away from the paper plates, so he opted to go without and just took a slice of the cheese pizza in front of him. Sally, who was next to him — on the left, took two of the red plates and placed them in front of herself and Bean before she took anything from either box. Donna had opted out of a plate too, reaching for the pepperoni straight away; she was next to her dads right, which made Ada's seat directly across from Bean.

"Ada?" Bean was the fist to break the silence, calling for his sisters attention. "Can you pass me a piece of that?" The youngest pointed at the pepperoni pizza in front of him, the boy was to small to reach for the box in the middle — his shoulders only just reaching the top of the mahogany table.

Adhara grabbed a slice, reaching over the wood to drop it into his plate, "There you go, bubs!" She grinned amusedly. Her fathers voice called his own nickname for her as she went to sit back down, finally starting conversation with his oldest child. He spoke around a mouth full of pizza, looking interestingly toward her as he awaited an answer.

"Did you get here alright?"

"Yeah." Her voice was flat, void of the cheer she'd just displayed with her brother. The man cleared his throat awkwardly, taking another bite of his pizza slice as he asked her another question.

"Your mom sends us the report cards whenever she gets them, your grades are great, all A's and B's. I can tell you like sports the most though, you in any teams?" Ada took a deep breath, trying to let go of any resentment for Donna and Beans sake.

She had taken a plate and a slice of pepperoni pizza whilst he talked, taking a sip of her drink and clearing her throat before she responded, "Yeah, I played for my schools baseball team back home and sometimes coach would ask me to fill in for some of his basketball players when they were out sick."

"They had a girls team?" Eric questioned, his eyebrows had raised slightly in surprise; Sally slapped his arm and gave him a scathing look, "Sorry, it's not often schools have girls teams for most sports." He shrugged sheepishly.

"They don't have a girls team. I played with the boys." Ada shrugged back, half her slice was already gone and she could swear this was some of the best food she'd ever eaten. Her taste buds were partying and she was tempted to do a little dance in her seat. "Do you play any sports, Donna?"

The dark haired girl looked up at the question, her face scrunched up as if the mere thought was disturbing. "No!" She answered. "Though I wouldn't mind being a cheerleader sometimes, that seems like fun!"

"Yeah? You should come cheer me on when I join a team around here." The teenager grinned, "I'll bet your great at it!" Donna giggled at the girls enthusiasm, taking a bite out of some cheese pizza happily.

Sally cleared her throat, a smile on her face before she asked a question that made both Ada and her dad choke. "Do you have a boyfriend, Adhara?" Donna stopped eating, curiously staring up at her big sister; Beans face scrunched like the thought made him feel sick. Ada and Eric, who were both taking a gulp of Pepsi while she asked, choked lightly on the liquid at the unsuspected question.

"Not right now." She responded, her green eyes blown wide at her near death experience. Bean hummed happily at his sisters answer, his voice sweetly calling; "Good, you'll get cooties if you have a boyfriend! And then I won't be able to go near you 'cause I'd get them too!"

"How come? You're a beautiful girl!"

"Boys don't really like me, they think I'm to similar to them. I don't really mind though, they're all douche–bags back home; they make me want to be sick." She sneered, "That and I don't have time for boys." Eric sighed in relief, though it was a moment to soon as Sally asked another question that made his eyes drastically widen.

"Have you had one before?" She continued, grabbing a cheese piece and sticking one on both her own and Beans plate. Ada reached for a cheese slice herself, placing it down on her plate as she looked back to pale woman. "Yeah, his name was Robbie and we were both eleven. But he kissed another girl in the grade below us so I broke up with him." Ada shrugged carelessly.

"Oh, I'm sor–"

"Don't be." The teen interrupted. "He was only my boyfriend because he asked me out in front of his friends and I didn't want to embarrass him. He was an ass anyway." She smiled.

"Sounds like it." Eric breathed. He was just relieved Ada hadn't gone into a boy crazy phase, it was one of the things he feared for when she was little. He couldn't imagine his carefree, happy, giggly little girl only caring about what a boy thought of her.

The thought made him shiver.

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| The lake house will be coming soon, Ada will have only been with them for around a week before it happens.

It's kinda sad to watch Adhara push her feelings down so much, she just needs to be angry I think. Let it out ya' know. (Was definitely singing 'Let It Go' while writing this)

Bean is adorable, though. |

1,168 Words.