Bastiana has a loving family, two amazing best friends, and a secret.
Over summer vacation, Bastiana and her besties do their best to focus on their bucket list in order to distract them from all the secrets they're keeping from one another. When a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Does it really matter if it goes 'cranberry, popcorn, popcorn' instead of 'cranberry, popcorn, cranberry'?" Carter whines as we decorate the Christmas tree. "Who decided it needed to be a one-to-one ratio anyway?" She rolls her eyes and tosses up a piece of popcorn, catching it in her mouth with a grin.
"That's how we've always done it, Car." Abi's voice comes through the speaker on Carter's phone from where it sits on the coffee table in front of her. "It's tradition."
"Well, tradition also dictates that you're here to help us." Carter says softly. "Maybe it's time to change things up."
"Come on, Car." I say as I wrap a string of white lights around the tree a few feet away. "You know that's not fair. She'd be here if she could."
"She's right, Car." Abi sighs sadly. "I'd much rather be there with you guys. Decorating the tree and making cocoa with Dil would be much more fun than studying for my Econ exam with a bunch of sweaty dudes." She laughs softly.
"Hey! We aren't always sweaty! It was just that one time when practice ran late before our study group!" Jaxon's boisterous laugh comes through the phone. "Besides, you know we always bring the best snacks, Rig!"
"Fair enough, Jax." Abi laughs. "But I still hate missing tree decorating with the fam." She sighs.
"Don't worry, Abi. We're saving the star for when you come home for winter break next week." I tell her.
"You guys don't have to do that." She says quickly. "That's Dil's thing anyway. Where is Dil, by the way?"
"He's the one who insisted we wait for you to do the star." I smile and laugh softly. "And he and mom went out to get more marshmallows for the cocoa. They should be back soon."
"Okay, cool. I was hoping to catch them before my next class." Just then, my phone starts ringing on the table beside Carter. "Is that your phone, Tiana?" Abi asks.
"Yeah. One sec, I'll see who it is." I turn to Carter. "Will you toss that to me?" I ask, nodding at my phone. She picks it up and gently tosses it to me. I just barely catch it without falling off the step stool I'm currently standing on. When I look down to check the caller ID on my screen, there's a number that I don't recognize flashing across the screen. "Weird, it's a random number." I mumble but decide to answer it anyway. "Hello?" I say, picking up the call.
"Hey baby. I'm calling for a real good time." A deep masculine voice says on the other end.
"I'm sorry, but who is this?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion. The only person that calls me 'baby' is Nico, and that definitely isn't his voice.
"You can call me daddy, baby." The voice says slowly.
"Ew. What the hell?" I quickly hang up the phone, shaking my head.
