Olive Green [GxG]

CHAPTER 7

We were just a few metres from school after I agreed to help my new friends with helping the theatre club when my phone started to ring. Slightly surprised, because I talked to my home town friends just the day before, I looked at the screen. Dad.

  I slowed my walk a little so I was at the back of the group and could focus on the call, to which I accepted with a casual greeting: "Hi."

  "Hi, sweetheart, can you talk now or-"

  "Yea, sure... just, what's goin' on? Shouldn't you be at work?" I asked, interrupting him.

  As I looked up from the pavement to the group in front of me, I saw Leah glancing at me. Did I sound worried? I had no idea and hoped that it wasn't the case. He could just have a day off and talk to me about... a Christmas or something.

  "Can we turn the video on?" Dad asked, making me curious.

  "Yeah."

  Just as we both turned the call into video one, I heard someone next to me speak up: "Who's that?"

  Turning my head to the side, I saw Leah looking curiously at my phone's display where my dad could be seen. I shifted my gaze back to the man on the phone and smiled: "My dad."

  "Hello, Sidney's dad," Leah politely greeted him, to which I heard another voice from my other side:

  "Hello, Mr. Sanders."

  At that moment I realised that the call wasn't private home room as my friends surrounded me, stopping at the side of the pavement. Nosy people. I shook my head and was prepared to speak, but Dad stopped me:

  "Nice to meet you, kids. I see Sidney made a couple of new friends."

  This time, I just rolled my eyes and took a better look at the caller. It didn't look like his workplace or shopping centre or anything like that, which made me a little interested, maybe a little worried even.

  "Why are you in hospital?"

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Amani furrowing her brows. She might have been also concerned, however, we haven't been friends for long. Just a couple of weeks. Or I didn't even know if I could call them my friends yet. Could I?

  "No worries," Dad laughed, which made me confused. Why was he laughing? He was in a bloody hospital. "I have only good news."

  Just as he said that I could see him opening some doors. There must have been someone in the hospital room. He was only telling me not to worry but didn't tell me anything else. What was I supposed to think?

  "Sidney," Dad called me back into reality, to which he looked over at someone there. "Say 'hi' to your sister," he smiled and turned the phone so I could see the other person.

  Sister? Widening my eyes in a late realisation, I laughed as my gaze fell on a Daphné on a hospital bed with a baby in her arms. I didn't know why I couldn't think about this scenario. I was so dumb.

  I heard a light chuckle next to me: "You said you didn't have any siblings."

  Turning my gaze to Jade, I shrugged: "I didn't.... until now."

  It still didn't even feel real. This whole time it was just a big belly of my stepmother on a display and now it was just a baby on a display. I would probably believe it when Christmas was here and I could see that little human in real life.

  "Her name is Zoé," Daphné smiled, looking at her newborn kid.

  "That's a beautiful name," exclaimed Jade, which made me realise that I was just video-calling my family while I was surrounded by a group of people who were supposed to go home or something. But for some reason, they didn't. Maybe they were just curious. I would be too, probably. They didn't know almost anything about me, after all.