The New Girl

Chapter 20

 Chapter 20

Thea's POV

'Finally! It's Friday' I thought to myself as I was walking back home after school. Looking forward to the weekend as well as my parents visit. Okay especially my parents visit. But knowing that they'll probably not be here until later tonight, I decided to take a little detour and head to the local park.

The park was beautiful and so damn peaceful. There was a running track next to the cemented road in the park for the joggers. The sides were lined with various types of trees, some with plaques on them with the name of their planter. There was a separate area for the kid's playground which had multiple swings and slides. One of the most beautiful things about the park was the big pond it confined. The water of the pond was so clear with a number of ducks swimming in it. I sat on one of the benches surrounding the pond to take a breather and to soak in the beauty of the nature.

This week had been great. I got to be more open with my friends and I didn't need to worry about any slip ups, at least not with them. The school work was going in full swing and I was actually enjoying the novelty of having friends to go through these things. I asked my friends to join us for lunch tomorrow as my parents wanted to meet them. Thankfully they all agreed and were actually looking forward to it.

After a while I made my way to the wooden bridge which connects the two sides of the pond. I saw an old couple walking hand in hand, slowing, taking in the peace and each other's company. I smiled politely at them as I crossed them on the bridge, to the side of the park closer to my home.

I reached home and decided to take a quick shower. After the shower, the day's toll made me crash on my bed and take a nap.

I got up an hour later feeling quite refreshed. I went down to the kitchen to get something to eat and then came back up to get a head start and hopefully finish the assignments for the weekend.

After a couple of hours, I was sitting at the window seat, reading a novel for the English class, having done almost everything else, when I noticed the dark sky outside. I looked at the time and realized that it's almost time to head down.

Walking down the stairs, I heard laughter from the kitchen. Recognizing it, I rushed to the room and hugged my dad from behind.

"Oh! Hey pumpkin. I've missed you so much" Dad said, hugging me back and then pulling back to place a kiss on my forehead.

I saw my mom next as she came closer to hug me. It's been a long time since I've had my parents' hug. But before I could get emotional, I saw that my mom was preparing her famous chocolate pie. I squealed and went to dip my finger in the chocolate, only to have my hand swatted away, by Nate who was sitting at the island along with Aaron.

"Mom!" I cried, pointing to Nate who just snickered and said, "I told you not to make a dessert Mom, she is just going to get worse."

"Nathaniel behave. Thea honey wait till it's done. Then you can have all you want." Mom said getting back to the task in hand.

"Yes Nathaniel." I said, using Nate's full name, hearing which he grimaced.

Before things could progress, my Dad announced that he's going to call Erik to get back soon and then was going to freshen up.

Apparently, my parents arrived not too long ago and were just catching up with these two, while Mom started on the pie. I told my Mom about the school, even about incidents with Ashley, because I would rather prefer not telling my Dad about them. Don't want to see how that goes.

We asked Mom how the clothing business was going on and I told her my views on the latest release. Hey I keep track of things too.

"Really? That's great honey thank you. Also, I'd like to have your opinion on this new idea that my team has come up with. I'm perplexed about it but maybe having your opinion might help."

"Sure Mom, anytime."

"What about our opinion Mom?" asked Nate, pointing to Aaron and himself.

"Yeah right! Like I'd want a repeat of the last time." Mom said, scoffing, probably recalling the last time the boys helped and how she ended up changing the whole thing after my brothers gave everything a tag of their own. Trust me the number of times they used the words sexy, hot, bangin' etc. would have made anyone cringe.

My brothers just laughed and excused themselves, leaving to play a few games before dinner. Seeing as there was no one else here now, I asked my Mom if she knew what was Dad going to tell us. She just laughed and told me to wait. They are both evil.

While she finished putting the pie in, so that it'll be ready by the time of dinner, we talked about our relatives. She told me all about the bizarre conversations that she has with her brother and sister. They rarely get time to catch up but they make sure that they stay in touch. Most of our relatives are in some business or the other. To be honest, I'm mostly close to my aunts only, from both my dad and mom's side. Especially my mom's sister, Aunt Lisa because she too lived in New York and I practically lived with her half the time. Her family owns a chain of hotels and resorts and she has two sons who are about my age only. Fortunately for them, they don't have to deal with the paparazzi a lot, only at events and such.

By the time, Erik came home, looking pretty tired, it was time was dinner. He quickly kissed my mom on the cheek and went to freshen up. We set up the meal in the dining room, and started soon after Erik came back down. The conversation around the table was light and all too soon dinner was over. After having the delicious pie that mom made, I was starting to get super excited, my brothers didn't try to take the plate from me this time because they know I'll just tell on them to Dad. Ha-ha!

On seeing my barely contained curiosity, my dad just chuckled and said that he has something to tell us, oh really *eye roll*. We all moved to the living room to get a little comfortable.

"So, you already know that Erik has been working really hard at work, especially at the project that he has started. Which I have to say is a very good idea, Son it's great to see your potential that I know you have."

Erik looked really happy at Dad's words. They don't always see eye to eye but I'm sure hearing this means a lot to him.

Dad continues, "It seems that I'm not the only one who thinks that this project is a great idea. I got a call last week from the Business Association and they told me that Erik, your project has been selected amongst the top 30 projects adhering to the well-being of the society. They would like to honor all the people behind these 30 projects and have organized a charity event to promote and fund some of the projects."

"Oh my god! Yay! That's amazing." I jumped up yelling and then tackling a stunned Erik, into a hug. He snapped out of it and hugged me back. Everyone congratulated him, Dad said some words quietly to him but from their faces I can say that they were both really happy.

I got really excited, feeling immensely proud of my brother. I know that he was working really hard to make this project work and I'm glad that he's getting recognized for this.

"Wait a minute. When is this event?" Aaron asked, snapping me out of my happy thoughts.

My dad looked at me pointedly and said, "Tomorrow night."

Well shit.