No Such Thing | ✓

Ch.21 | Surprise

N O

S U C H    T H I N G

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"Thanks for the ride home." I smile over to James who is already staring at me.

"Of course."

I watch as his lips turn upward, and to be completely honest, it's an amazing sight.

"Bye Skylar!" Ian shouts, and I slightly jump.

"Goodbye Ian." I sigh, leaning over to push the truck door open. Once I'm out of the truck, I notice the foreign car parked in my driveway behind mom's car.

"Who's that?" I ask more to myself than anything.

"Want me to come inside with you?" James asks, and I turn to him in surprise.

"No, it's cool. My mom is home so I'll just see you both later." I smile, and shut the truck door before walking up my driveway.

I take note of how James waits beside the curb and only drives away after I get my front door open.

As I walk inside, I immediately feel an uneasy chill going up my spine.

I hear chatter in the kitchen, so I head in that direction. As I walk inside, my eyes widen.

"Skylar... my God. Look at you."

"What are you doing here?" My eyes turn to slits as my glance moves over toward my mom.

"Well, we were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by."

"Oh, so you were just casually strolling through the neighborhood and thought, 'hey, let's stop in on my daughter that I abandoned years ago and see how she's holding up', because that's just so normal?" I seethe, my fists clenching at my sides.

"Skylar..." My mom warns, and I shoot her an ugly look.

"Don't even do that. Respect is something you earn. What has he done to earn mine?" I question, and it's only then that I notice a little girl sitting quietly behind my father at the dining room table.

"Who's she?" I ask.

I watch as my dad steps aside, and kneels down beside the little girl.

"Skylar, this is Katrina, your baby sister."

Surprise?

The little girl gets up slowly, and walks over to me. She barely reaches my stomach as she looks up at me.

"I'm Kat." She says in a small voice, and while I find her incredibly cute, I can't help but feel that much more angry.

I give her a half smile before bringing my attention back to my dad.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Skylar! Language!" My mom gasps, and I almost want to roll my eyes.

"No! You don't even bother sending me a birthday card, but you go off and have another kid with someone else and pretend as if you're father of the year?" My voice has risen to unnecessary levels, and Katrina hurries over toward the table in a way to hide from me.

"Skylar, it's not that simple." My dad sighs, as if he actually has something to be annoyed or angry at.

"Oh, but it is. You didn't want me anymore, so you went out and had a replacement." I casually say, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Congratulations, dad." I sarcastically grin.