Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word.
Even mine does.
Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment...
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CHAPTER 10
It was one of those days that couldn't possibly go right. My morning started in a heated argument with my mother. We'd been having this discussion on and off ever since the holidays. Her engagement was coming up, and she was making sure that I'd be there.
"I'm going to school," I said.
"Are you really going to be like this?" Mom demanded, her tone rising. "Really, Micaela?"
"What do you want me to say?" I asked her, forcing myself to calm down. I heard Kath's bedroom door close from upstairs. She didn't want to hear this fight again.
"The engagement party. You're coming, right?" asked Mom.
"It's not up in months," I replied.
"It's in two months, and there are so many things to do. You're not helping with anything. Look, I'm fine if you're not comfortable helping around. We got people who would do that. But you have to come to that party. Is that clear?" Mom stressed out.
"It's not like I have a choice," I muttered.
"Ela." My mom heaved a sigh.
"Okay, all right, I'll come. I won't even say a thing in the event to make it better for the two of you. So please, stop asking me about it. It's not like you will let us skip that party of yours," I replied, clutching the straps of my bag.
"It's not just mine. He will be your stepfather. You need to properly accept him into the family," Mom reasoned out.
I bit my lower lip, trying to breathe evenly. "You're the one getting married, Mom. It doesn't mean he's going to be my dad just because you're going to marry him."
"Ela!" Mom stood up, her hands landed squarely on the table.
"You can make me go there," I paused. All these years, I used to be so good at tolerating her and Patrick. But now that everything was getting more real, I was losing it. Letting that person occupy the spot my dad had left made me feel sick. "But you can't make me change how I feel about him."
"Fine. Just go. We'll talk about this later." Mom finally gave up, picking up her chair that fell to the floor and putting it back in place. My sister went down from upstairs, holding on to her backpack. She gave me a little smile before dragging a chair at the dining table. Mom placed a bowl of cereal in front of her. "Kath, have your breakfast. I'll drive you as soon as you're done. I'll just change my clothes."
Throwing me another glare, my mom went back to her room. With another deep breath, I felt better. It was finally over for this morning. I didn't have to hear more about her engagement details for, like, eight hours.
I went back to the kitchen, placing a kiss on my sister's head. "See you later, Kath. And sorry to let you hear that."