The Prince and the Bookworm

Chapter 26

Before I knew it, the date was December 22nd. I had just finished my last day of school for the semester, Christmas was only 3 days away, and Cole still wasn't talking to me. I walked through the door of our apartment, thinking about how I was pretty sure I had bombed my anatomy final. 

Although I was pretty confident about my English final, so I was hoping they would kind of balance each other out. I walked into the kitchen, realizing my home was empty and my mom was more than likely at the bookstore. I threw my backpack into my room before heading over to our pantry to grab a snack. I also grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge before exiting our apartment and headed over to the bookstore. 

The first thing I noticed was that the bookstore was empty except for one man. It was Mark, and he was sitting behind the counter next to my mom. They looked like they were in deep conversation, and I almost felt bad walking in and interrupting. 

"Hey." I greeted, sending a small wave in their direction. My mom stood, walking over to pull me into a tight hug. 

"Congratulations! You lived through the first semester of school." My mom teased. I rolled my eyes before pulling away. 

"It was a little touch and go there for awhile." I replied as seriously as possible. I glanced in Mark's direction and I noticed he was watching us. 

"Hey, Mark." I greeted, walking over to give him a fist bump. 

"How was school?" He asked, giving me a curious look as I settled into one of the seats in the store. 

"It was okay." I answered, pulling my phone out of my pocket. "Finals sucked though." 

"Do you think you did good?" My mom intervened, wrapping her fingers around Mark's hand as she sat back down next to him. 

"Yeah, I think so." I partly lied, knowing she wouldn't be very happy if I told her I thought I had flunked one of them. I tried not to stare at my mom's hand intertwined with Mark's. Although he was a good guy who really seemed to love my mom, I still wasn't keen on the idea of him possibly trying to replace my dad. 

I busied myself with my phone, trying not to think about it. I could hear them talking in my subconscious, but it sounded like inaudible whispering. That was until I heard my name. 

"Earth to Sadie!" My mom called. I glanced up to see her giving me an expectant look.

"What?" I said mindlessly, focusing my attention back on my phone. 

"Is it okay if Mark joins us for dinner tonight and brings his son so you can meet him?" My mom's voice was sweet and gentle. 

I was so focused with the game I was playing on my phone, I wasn't really paying much attention to her.  I heard something about Mark and dinner, so I nodded my head. 

"Yeah, sure." I muttered quietly, my fingers dancing across my screen as I tried to beat the level I was playing. 

"Oh, good." My mom sighed with relief. "I hear he's an amazing kid." 

<><>

"Would you just pick something?" Dallas grumbled, reaching over to grab the tuner out of my hands. 

"Watch it, grabby." I snapped, slapping his hand away. "My house, my TV, and my tuner. So I'll take my time picking what we watch thank you very much." 

It was about an hour later and Dallas had come over to hang out. We were currently sitting on my couch, trying to find something to watch. Another 5 minutes passed before Dallas groaned again. 

"Great, you've taken forever and now I'm hungry." He complained, glaring at me in frustration. 

"Then go get some food." I answered, laughing softly as I scrolled past yet another channel.