Unfavorable || a.u.

Chapter 54

"Wait, Sierra," I said. Sierra turned around.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Claire?" Sierra asked.

"Alex is," I replied. "I-I just needed to know. Who is Claire's father? Is it me?"

Sierra didn't reply immediately. She looked ashamed. "I don't know who he was." She didn't know who Claire's father was. Claire was the product from a one-night stand.

"Oh," I said. Sierra continued walking. I stood there for a few minutes. Sierra had been with a guy who wasn't me months after she disappeared. It stung.

I trudged back inside. When I saw Claire, I forced a smile on my face. "Claire, are you ready to go home?"

Claire nodded. It made her light hair fly everywhere. "Yeah, come on. I'm going to show you all of my Barbies. I have one named Cecilia. She's my favorite. She's really pretty. She has a long, pink dress and blonde hair like me. Mom says Cecilia is a princess like me, too!"

"That's awesome," I said.

"Yeah, can I have McDonald's for dinner?" Claire asked. "I really like McDonald's. Mom has chicken and peas for dinner, but I don't want that. I want McDonald's."

"We'll see," I laughed.

"Luke, I'm going to check into our hotel," Alex said. "I'll see you later." He nodded at me. He wanted me to spend time with Claire. He knew how much I still loved Sierra.

"Are you not coming?" Claire asked. Alex shook his head. "That sucks. I was looking forward to showing you my My Little Ponies. I have one named Firework. That's not her actual name, but I call her that 'cause I can't remember the real name."

Alex messed up Claire's hair. "Sorry, but I have to go and make sure Luke and I have a place to stay tonight."

"You can stay with us," Claire said. "You can stay with me in my room. You can sleep in my sleeping bag. It has a puppy and kitty playing on it."

"Sorry, Claire, but I can't," Alex said. "Don't worry though. Luke will take great care of you."

Alex left, and Claire finished her milkshake. I got Sierra's address from Kathy and walked Claire down.

Sierra's house wasn't what I expected. It was an old run down place with kudzu vines starting to overcome it. It was tiny too. Practically a tenth of the size of her old house. I expected a nice house with a white picket fence. This was the exact opposite.

"Come on," Claire said, pulling on my arm. She brought me inside. There it looked like a tornado had gone through the house. This place definitely couldn't have belonged to Sierra.

Claire brought me into a little room decorated with Disney Princess posters. She was definitely Sierra's daughter, that's for sure.

Claire dragged a box out from under the bed. Inside was an assortment of Barbie dolls, princess dolls, and My Little Ponies.

She stuck her hand into the bin and pulled out a Barbie dressed up in a Superman costume. She handed it to me along with a pink My Little Pony.

"That's Super Barbie," Claire said. "She saves all the other Barbies from Evil Barbie." Claire dug out another Barbie dressed as Catwoman. "Her pony is Pinkie Pie. Evil Barbie's pony is Nightmare Moon. They're really evil, but it's okay because Super Barbie and Pinkie always save the day."

Claire handed me the dolls and took another Barbie out. She explained how this one cleaned up the house for Sierra.

"Claire, what were you talking about when you called me 'man from the book'?" I finally asked. It had been bugging me.