Back With The Bad Boy

Chapter One: Claire

Me and my dad both sat in silence for a lot of the ride to his house from the airport. We just didn't know what to say. My dad came to visit every Christmas, and I can came down every summer, but I had lived with my mom since my parents got divorced when I was 8.

"What day do I start school?" I asked my dad, even though I was pretty sure I already knew.

"This Thursday, the fourth," he answered, offering me a smile, "are you excited?"

"Kinda," I said, although that was a lie. I was super nervous to start school here. I was worried none of my old friends from elementary school would remember me, or even worse, they wouldn't care. Not only that, but it was the middle of the school year. My parents had decided it would be smartest to come with my dad when he was leaving after Christmas, meaning I was joining right after Christmas break. I had been surprised when my dad proposed the idea over FaceTime and even more surprised when my mom agreed it would be a good idea. My dad wanted me to come live with him for at least this year, seeing as I was starting high school and once I went to college he would have missed the opportunity.

"They just opened up," My dad said, pointing at an ice cream shop called Ice Cream Wonderland, "we should go there once they open."

"I love ice cream," I said, smiling despite the fact that it was January and they wouldn't open until at least late April.

"Here we are!" He said as we pulled into the driveway.

The house looked exactly the same as I remembered it which was weird cause I hadn't been here since I moved away 7 years ago when I was 8. As we walked in, a labradoodle puppy bounded up to me. "This is our dog, Biscuit," dad said, leaning down to pet him. I leaned down too.

"He's so cute!" I said as I stepped away from the puppy and kicked off my shoes, tossing them into the closet that he still used for shoes after all these years.

I grabbed some of my stuff from the entryway and started pulling it upstairs to my old room. It was still the blush pink I had helped my dad paint it in first grade. The curtains were still the same flory white one I had picked out before. Even my bedsheets were still the same flowery white ones they had always been.

It appeared that everything was still the same, or, at least, that's what I was thinking until I looked at my moms old yoga studio/ art room. The door was slightly open and I peeked in. Inside was a bed with messy blue sheets and lots of clothes- teenage boys clothes- on the floor. What was this room?

     Dad came upstairs with another box of my stuff. "Hey, sweetie what's-" he stopped when he saw me looking into the room.

      "Who's stuff is this?" I asked, kind of hoping my dad would say it was his old stuff even though it clearly wasn't.

      "Didnt your mom tell you? Penelope-" he started to say but I cut him off.

       "Who's Penelope?" I asked, a nervous feeling in my stomach.

        "Claire, Penelope is-" he got cut off again but this time it wasn't my voice that said something.

        "Honey, we're home! Is Claire here already?" A cheery voice that clearly came from an adult woman said.

        "Who's that?" I asked cautiously.

        "Sweetie, this is my girlfriend Penelope, and her son, Jacob, the guy who's room you found," Dad said and my head started to spin.

        A girlfriend? A brunette woman and a boy with beige hair who appeared to be 15 like me, walked upstairs to where we were. "Oh, you must be Claire! You're so pretty!" The woman said, "I'm Penelope! Your fathers girlfriend!" She trotted up and hugged me and I hugged her awkwardly back.

        When she stepped away back to Dad, her son- Jacob- waved at me and smiled a little. I waved back, giving him a little smile. "Oh you guys look like you'll become such good friends!" Penelope gushed at us, causing me to blush a little.

        "Jacob, would you mind showing Claire around the school tomorrow?" Dad asked him. Jacob nodded, giving me a little smile. He seemed nice and probably actually wouldn't mind showing me around but I still felt bad that he was stuck showing me around.

        Dad and Penelope walked downstairs- with her hanging on his arm- leaving me and Jacob upstairs. "Showing you around once school starts again sounds fun, you can meet my girlfriend Audrey." Jacob said, "plus, I can tell you who to avoid cause there definitely are plenty of people to avoid."

        "Thanks," I said, smiling a little.

        He started to walk into his room but then stopped, hesitating a little before saying something else. "Are you upset about me and my mom living here? You seemed surprised."

        "I- I didn't know my dad even had a girlfriend. I didn't realize he had started dating again, although, I should've. My mom has and it's been 7 years. I was just... surprised," I confessed.

       "I get it. My dad died when I was 11. When I found out my mom had started dating again, I ran away to my friends house for a whole weekend," he laughed.

       "Well, I should go unpack," I said, leaving to go to my room. Jacob and Penelope seemed really nice, I just wished I'd known they were coming. As I walked to my room, I opened a suitcase full of notebooks, yearbooks, and, well, just all sorts of books.

      I found my yearbook from 2nd grade and pulled it open. Looking through it. I stopped on my old class and saw my old friends. My friends Natalie and Layla. Then I saw my old crush, Cole Hayines. And finally, I saw my old best friend: Hunter Balings.