Almost Home

Ch. 11 - Honeydew Heaven

"You sleep with your makeup on?"

I squint my eyes open, the sun too bright to stand. Will sits on the edge of my bed with a warm, curious smile on his face.

Gasping, I pull the comforter over my head. "What are you doing in here?"

"Your grandma told me to wake you up."

"What time is it?" I groan and peek my head out of the comforter.

"Noon," he says. "You sleep in really late. Is that a New York thing?"

"Oh my gosh," I mutter. "I don't know!"

"You're not a morning person, are you?"

"No." I run a hand through my hair to untangle the mess. "Can you get out of my room?"

He nods and jumps off the bed to his feet. Instead of leaving my room like a normal person would, Will stops at my mirror to examine the photo of my mom and Isaac.

"Are these your parents?"

"That's my mom," I say with a tired sigh.

He takes the picture off the mirror and keeps examining it. "This guy isn't your dad?"

"No. He's my mom's ex-boyfriend from when she was in high school."

"Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing," he assures. "I just.. Never mind. It's stupid."

I rub my eyes and plop my hand against my comforter. "Will, what is it?"

He slides the picture back in it's place and shrugs. "Really, it was nothing. You look just like-"

"My mom," I finish. "I know. I get that all the time."

He glances at me and back at the picture. "Oh, yeah. I mean, you guys have the same hair and eyes and skin, but I was going to say you look just like the guy."

I open my mouth in surprise, raising a suspicious eyebrow and letting out a small laugh. "What? Are-are you trying to imply that he's my dad? Will, you're insane."

"No! That's not what I was suggesting at all!" he defends. "It was just an observation."

"An insane observation. I look nothing like Isaac."

"I know," he says with his eyebrows pulled together. "I'm probably just seeing things."

"Yeah."

He pats my wall before finally leaving my room. "See you downstairs, bud."

I let out a sigh and move off of my bed to get dressed. Taking off my pajama shorts and tank top, I change into a light pink sundress. My wavy hair is a mess, so I throw it into a perfected messy bun- a talent I learned from my mom. Reapplying more makeup, I finally feel ready enough to go downstairs.

"Morning, Valerie! Or should I say good afternoon?" my grandma jokes and kisses my cheek as I walk into the kitchen.

I sit take a glass from the cabinet to pour myself a drink of water. "Long night."

"I can imagine," she comments with a smirk. "William seemed pretty hungover this morning."

Will nods with a wide smile.

"Considering I'm the adult in this situation, I have no other choice to punish you two."

"I wasn't drinking," I defend.

"I know," my grandma says and pats my head. "But you still drove without a license and no adult supervision."

I look at Will with a frown. "Thanks."