I was glaring daggers at him. "So, you aren't gonna tell him you skipped school? And why?" He smirked at me. I noticed the black stud earring on his left ear. His hair looked ruffled, perfectly sticking out in different ends. His face was looking shinier than usual. What are you doing? Give him a rude answer. By the look on his face, I guess he'd just given an offensive remark. His eyebrow was now raised up in a questioning manner. "Now you're mesmerized by my face?" He asked, earning a scoff from me. I made a gagging noise at the back of my throat, accompanied by a pukey face. "Go to hell where you belong."

"Right after you." He replied. There wasn't any use throwing words at him. He was just going to hand them back to me. He brought his ladder and hoisted it over his window's edge.

"It sure looks like you're on your way there." I muttered, loud enough for him to hear. He climbed down the ladder when it had securely stood against the wall. As he made it down the ladder, he called up to me, making sure it was loud enough to hear too. "Nice bathroom." He winked and walked off. I looked at what I was wearing and gave a frustrated scream.

** ** **

Dad made a reservation at a French restaurant downtown. We were seated at seven thirty and Miranda was running late. My leg bobbed up and down in my seat, a sign that I was nervous. I kept smoothing invisible creases in my dress too. Dad was looking down at something on his phone too but I could tell that he was nervous too because he was tapping with his left hand continuously on the table.

A waiter came over to our table and we took water. I was starving though, but we couldn't have dinner yet. On the table, my phone's screen lit up with a text. I picked it up and smiled.

'Good luck! Stop adjusting your dress.' –Chloe.

I almost laughed out loud. She knew I was nervous and even though she couldn't see me, her guess was right about what I was doing. It still surprised me how she knew me so well.

When I'd gone back in after the incident which Jamie's mom had almost caught us, I'd received Chloe's call. Classes had ended and she wanted to know what was up with me and why I left school without her. I told her I'd skipped school. When she asked why, I told her that dad wanted me to meet his girlfriend tonight and how I felt about it. She was a little mad at me for keeping it from her when I found out that my dad was seeing someone.

I thought about Jace and how our friendship seemed to be strained as of recent, how he'd been avoided me. I hadn't seen him all week and Chloe hadn't either. He being a year ahead of us was a perfect excuse to any normal person, but our relationship was beyond normal. Something had to be wrong.

I scrolled through the contacts on my phone and found Jace. I decided to send a message to him to find an explanation for his actions.

'We need to talk.' –Me.

Just as I sent the text, I looked up to see Miranda approaching our table. She looked so elegant in her royal blue top with delicate lace patterns all around the upper part and a below-the-knee tulle skirt; black leather pumps. She held a black purse, showing off her perfectly manicured nails, polished a dark blue. She was an epitome of elegance.

Dad got up to give her a kiss on the cheeks and I got up also, feeling awkward. "I'm sorry. We got held up in traffic." Her voice was delicate but firm. The skin of her heart-shaped face had that rose petal soft quality. Her short brown hair bobbed up and down as she turned to look at me, a wide smile on her face. Unsure of what to say, I smiled back at her.

"Annabelle, it's so nice to finally meet you." We'd actually met once but that didn't count right? She pulled me over, into an unexpected hug.

"It's nice to meet you too." My nerves were finally starting to calm. "Tasha is on her way in. She stopped outside to receive a call." We took our seats and the conversation began to flow. Without judging by her outer appearance, she was a sweet person. I tried to prevent the conversation from steering towards me. Even when it did, I found a way of getting out of it. Like, when she asked me what my favorite food was, I simply replied and then, threw the question back at her. Of course, she had a funny story to back up why chicken breast and spaghetti was her favorite food. All my nerves weren't still as calm though, because we were missing someone.

"Oh God. I told her to return the call later but she didn't listen." Miranda sighed at the table. My dad placed his hand over hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

When a waiter began to take our orders, Miranda started waving madly. She was waving someone over. She wore a pale green chiffon dress and her blonde hair fell in waves over her shoulders. She sighted Miranda and started to walk over in her red stilettos. When she got closer, I thought I had seen her before but it was difficult for me to recall where I had seen her. I could've walked past her in the mall when I went on those tiring shopping trips with Chloe but she seemed too familiar, like wed had a kind of encounter. She had a small frown etched up on her round face with annoyed green eyes. Miranda got up to introduce us.

"Richard, meet Natasha. Tasha, Richard."

My dad smiled down at her. Though she was wearing heels, my dad still managed to tower over her. "Hell Natasha, it's nice to meet you."

"Same here." She replied, smiling slightly. I wasn't trying to judge her but it was pretty evident that she wanted to be anywhere but here. Her mom moved next to introduce me. "And now, meet Annabelle." I wasn't comfortable with anyone calling me by my full name but I smiled.

"Hey." My smile was so genuine compared to hers. She looked bored and I guessed she was putting up this look on purpose. She gave me a once over and replied smugly. "Hey."

All through the dinner, Natasha kept more of her attention on the phone in her hand, tapping away and I tried to sound enthusiastic, listening to what Miranda was saying. Dad didn't say anything and I knew he felt the tension. I had to do something. Before dessert was served, I decided to excuse myself.

"The dinner was lovely but I'm afraid I have to leave now. Chloe and I scheduled doing homework over the phone tonight." I lied.

"It was nice meeting you, Miranda." She got up to give me a hug. "I wish you could stay for dessert."

I smiled at her politely. "I also wish I could but she always gets annoyed when I suddenly change plans."

I hope we get to hang out some other time." She said. "Me too." I

replied. I turned to dad. "Make sure to have lots of fun tonight. There's still time." I gave him a quick hug and he told me to be safe since I was going to take a taxi home. I gave Natasha a small wave. As I moved out of the restaurant, she also got up too, as I anticipated. By leaving, I knew she was going to leave too since she was so bored out by the conversation going on at the table. Now, dad and Miranda were left to have an alone time. I wanted Dad to be happy too. I called an uber and I stood, waiting.

With her pair of heels, clicking against the stone floor, Natasha came to stand a little distance away from me. She was on the phone.

"I thought I was going to die of boredom in there." I heard her say. She was talking about the dinner. When she hung up, I walked up to her. "Hey."

She looked at me like she hadn't met me before. "Who are you?" She asked scornfully.

"Seriously? I sat in with you in there for about two hours."

"Ah." Was her only reply. I was getting so riled up.

"You could've at least pretended to be nice instead of showing your face with boredom written all over it."

"I don't know what my mom is getting into. I have to know why your mom left you both. For all I know, your dad could be violent and because you were all smiley-faces doesn't mean he could be innocent." That felt like a slap in my face. How did she know about mom? And how dare she talk about my dad in that way? I fought the urge to slap her.

I heard the purr of a motorbike and I turned to see Jamie sitting on it. He frowned at me and put his sweatshirt hood over his head. I stared at him and sighed. This wasn't making any sense. How did he know where I was? I didn't ask him for a ride. Natasha's voice brought me back to her. "Here's my ride. Ciao."

She pulled of her heels and hopped on the bike behind Jamie. With one glance at me, he drove off.