In The Spotlight - Solangelo

Chapter Eleven

I laid awake in bed that night. All I could picture in my head was Will's lips. Earlier, they had just looked so... kissable. I turned over, and shut my eyes. Stop thinking about kissing Will, I told myself.

The doorbell rang downstairs. Who would be visiting this late at night? My clock besides my bed read 11:56... I was half-tempted to get up and investigate, but at the same time I didn't want to get out of bed. Instead, I just listened.

"Hello?" Dad said.

I heard crying. Who was crying? Frowning, I turned over and opened my curtains, peeking out the window. At the door was a young girl, around twelve, with curly brown hair, standing next to a tall man in all black. I couldn't see their faces, but I could tell it was the girl who was crying.

I couldn't hear all of the conversation, just pieces. "...child... dead... father..." Eventually, the man handed the girl to my dad, who took her in. The man nodded, and walked down the street, leaving the child alone.

Confused, I got out of bed, and made my way downstairs. The girl was sitting on the sofa, and my dad was pacing up and down the room. When I entered, he stopped and turned his attention to me.

"Son! This is... Hazel." He gestured towards the girl. "Your half-sister. Her mother recently... passed away... and, uh... well, I'm the only remaining family member of hers, so she's going to be living here."

I blinked. "My... sister? But..." I shook my head. "Why didn't you tell me I have another sister?"

There was an awkward silence for a moment, as Dad considered the situation. Hazel looked uncomfortable. "I, um, well... It might be best if I tell you later." He paused. "For now, could you show Hazel to the spare room? There should be some sheets in the cupboard under the stairs..."

He walked out of the room into the hallway, brushing past my shoulder as he went. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, before realising the only thing I could do was do as he said. I approached Hazel, grabbed her hand, and dragged her upstairs to the spare room. The flickering lightbulb swung from the ceiling, illuminated a basic bedroom, with a single bed pushed up against the wall, a wardrobe next to the door, and a painting of a fruit bowl hanging on the white walls.

"I-it's not the best, but, uh... We don't really use this room much, a-and this is the only room available. Sorry."

Hazel shook her head, causing some of her frizzy hair to fall over her eyes. "It's fine," she said politely, as she brushed the hair out of her face.

My father came up the stairs with some sheets in his hand, and made the bed for her. She thanked him, and immediately got in. Dad turned off the light, and closed the door. I followed him downstairs.

"So?" I asked, leaning against the kitchen door, my arms folded. "Explain."

Dad looked down, obviously trying to avoid eye contact. "Son, a-after your Mum... Passed away... I kind of dated some other women. A lot of other women. One of those women was Marie Levesque, a lovely lady. We only dated for a month or so, however. I didn't realise that she had a child after I left. That child was Hazel."

I took a step towards him. "And you never even bothered to find out? You never contacted this 'Marie' at all when you just... Left her? Why did I never see her?"

"Nico..."

"No, I don't care." I turned around. "Good night."

A/N: Sorry for not posting last weekend! I was busy with stuff... But, this week I should be able to post a few chapters, 'cause I have the week off! Yay! Also, I recently brought the new TOA book, and gods it's so good so far! It's really making want to include more Caleo... Some Caleo will be coming up later in the story! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, bye!