During class, my father called the office to take me home and help carry the limited items we had to his old friend. The sun was glowing through the window, creating a beautiful rainbow reflection stealing my attention. His friend appeared to be well off since we were driving by the rich areas, especially compared to our old rundown apartment.

One of the benefits of this move was that their house was only a fifteen-minute walk from school and personally I rather walk than use public transportation again. The amount of things you witness on a bus is insane! Besides, I needed the workout with all the food Ambrose be giving me.

"Sorry for taking you away from class," my father said, making a sharp left.

"It's alright, it was getting pretty boring." I laughed, shooing my hand.

"What did we say about you daydreaming." he jokily glared.

"I can't help it! His voice is so monotone if I'm not daydreaming then I'm doodling or making faces towards Catalina and Meadow," I erratically explained.

My father pulled the van into the driveway lined with pine trees and glass garden skates. My mouth hung open from the incredible cage lanterns in the shape of spheres hanging next to the door and from the trees. Apparently, I was born in the wrong life because I would've loved to have an amazing house like this.  

I would change the outside paint though. White is just too plain for me.

"This is Nolan Novak's house," my father informed.

"Wow, it's breathtaking." I don't think my mouth closed since I've gotten here.

"Nolan is the President of a gaming company; he graduated from NYU," my father added.

"NYU? He must have been smart to get accepted there." I smiled, admiring the stray cat running through the freshly cut yard.

Opening the back, I held two boxes, feeling the weight tugging at my weak biceps. Damn, going to the gym doesn't sound like a bad idea.  

"Wait, what was his name again?" I asked, not quite remembering half of our conversation from before.

"Nolan Novak," he answered, and immediately the boxes slipped from my grasp.

Novak? Out of all the names in the world. It must be a coincidence, right? There's no way in heck that my father would be buddies with his father. It's just out of his realm. Whatever, push the thought away, Lana.

My father's eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" I quickly yelled, reaching down for the boxes practically crushed at this point. "I mean no, it's nothing," I answered, nervously laughing.

"Hurry, let's go inside," my father said, gesturing his head towards the door.

"Yeah, okay." I bit my lip.

Suddenly, the door bursted open with a middle-aged man running outside with a lopsided smile on his thin lips. My father snapped his head towards the man's direction and instantly smiled, almost losing the hold on his boxes.

"Chase! How long has it been like fifteen years? Yet, you hardly aged! How?" he hysterically laughed, sounding like a hyena.

Usually, in movies, the President of a company was a super hot muscular man with combed-back styled hairstyles. Except Nolan totally changed my opinion on that matter. Nolan was at least a foot shorter than my father and had a beer gut. Honestly, he seemed like a jolly Santa Claus, but with glasses.

"I don't know what you're talking about, you still look great," my father chuckled, his eyes gleaming with joy.

"I'm sorry about your house, but isn't it great to be in each other's lives again?" Nolan pondered, stealing a box from my father's hold.

"The world sure has a mysterious way of working things out," Dad stated.

Casually, I walked into his eye range and attempted to wave but couldn't without having boxes take another trip to the floor.

"Hello," I sang keeping along with the happy vibe.

"Hi guys," an elegant woman rushed out the door. "I'm so happy to have you guys here. I prepared some cookies and coffee for us to munch on." she grinned, her teeth shimmering in the sun.

"Thank you, guys, again! I really appreciated you guys taking in not only me but my daughter as well," my father said, his voice wavering.

I think he's going to get emotional.

"It's really no big deal!" she protested.

"I'm Lana, nice to meet you," I greeted, my cheeks heating from shifting the attention to myself.

"Oh, my! You're so pretty! I'm happy to have an adorable girl like you here. We only have two sons," she complimented, causing my cheeks to burn more.

My eyebrows furrowed. "You have two sons?"

"Yup! I'll introduce them to you, later," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside the house.

After placing our boxes by the main granite stairs, the friendly couple took us into the living room. The couches were beige color basically melting once your butt sat on it and I completely fell in love with it. There were two flat screens on the crimson wall and a burning wood fireplace. Unique art pieces were placed around the house, making it feel so cozy.

In the middle was a coffee table stocked with dozens and dozens of cookies. The chocolate aroma practically made me lose my mind.

"Sam! Come be a gentleman and greet our guests," she shouted with such a cherry tone.

The noise of feet stomping down the stairs echoed through the house and ended with a bang. I guess he jumped at the last step. He hesitantly sauntered into the room by poking his head first and his body after.

"He's your son? Aw, he's so adorable," my father teased, reaching over to pinch his chubby cheeks.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sam and I'm this many," he recited, holding out seven skinny fingers.

"He must be so smart if he's anything like you, Nolan," my father replied.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Sam," I joyfully responded, earning a scowl from him.

"I wasn't talking to you," he snapped, rolling his eyes.

"Sam!" his mother smacked his arm. "Don't be so rude."

I frantically shook my hands, not wanting to cause any trouble. "It's no big deal," I exhaled.

Ignoring my words, Sam exited the living room and ascended the stairs, most likely to his room. Well, that was a friendly first meeting.

"Here, dig in," his mother said, shifting the platter closer to me.

She was basically tempting me with cookies and milk! How can I reject that! Cookies are the foundation of happiness and certainly wouldn't ever humiliate you. 

"Thank you." I smiled, obeying her request by shoving three cookies in my mouth.

"You have grown so much since last time, Lana," Nolan said, stirring his coffee.

My eyebrows drew together. "Wait, we met before?"

"Yes, I ate at your father's restaurant when he was first starting out. You just turned two years. If I'm remembering correctly," he said, his finger resting on his chin in a side-ways L.

"Really, that's so nice of you to support my father," I spoke while munching on a cookie.

"Of course! It was the least thing I could do after using him as my own private chef during our college years. My parents were always busy working, and I was the last thing on their minds. Your father always took good care of me," he explained.

"We have known each other since kindergarten. When he started his company, there was hardly any time for us to reconnect then our children came, but he recommended my restaurant to his coworkers, business partners and help get it started," my father filled in. 

It was admirable hearing the stories that brought them together. Mostly we would spend our dinner time talking about my mother. I think my father thought if he told every story he knew about my mother I would feel closer to her, but he sometimes forgot about himself. I loved learning about him, too.

"When Amanda heard about the house she just sold bursting into flames. She was so surprised to find out you guys bought it." A frown appeared on Nolan's lips. "But I am happy we can at least be together again."

"Please, Lana, make yourself at home because it's yours now." she grinned, wrinkles appearing under the apple of her cheeks. "I think it was fate for us to meet."

Abruptly, the door opened, seizing all of our attention, but we were prevented to see who was there because of the wall. Footsteps became louder with every stomp.

"Oh, I think my older son just came home," she said, trying to glance past the wall.

Older son? Hopefully, he's nicer than the little demon child.

When his slick-back chestnut hair peeped through the wall, my heart immediately dropped to my stomach. When I saw our uniform, I knew the Gods played with me. Instantly, my body jolted and jumped on my father's lap. My eyes were bulging from my sockets and I swear flies were entering my mouth right now.

"What's wrong, Lana?" Dad yelled, shoving me away. 

Is this really happening? Maybe the shooting star was wishing wonders because of how out of everyone; it's him. My heart was powerfully beating like a drum to a beat. Hopefully, no one can tell how frantic my breath was being.

"Sorry for being late; I'm Declan Novak and I'm pleased to meet you," he said, holding his large slender hand in front of me. I was still in shock, my body couldn't react no matter how badly I wanted to.

"Declan mentioned that you both go to Yvon High," his mother added, standing next to her son. Her petite frame reached below his shoulders, just elevating his attractive height.

"Lana, why didn't you say anything." my father playfully slapped my arm. "Please to meet you." he reached out to shake Declan's hand. My father bumped my shoulder, causing me to move an inch closer than I wanted. "Shake his hand, Lana."

Still, I couldn't reply. Seeing his charming, intense features put my whole body into shock. My brain was short-circuiting and I couldn't complete a normal human sentence.

"What are you doing, Lana," my father asked, finally pulling me away from my trace.

"I was just shocked because Nolan and Declan don't look alike at all," I babbled.

My father playfully smacked my head, sending a burst of pain through my veins. "Lana, that's highly inappropriate."

His father hysterically laughed, clutching his round belly. "Well, I think our sons got lucky and gained most of their looks from their mother."

"Oh, honey." She cutely blushed. "Sit down and join us, Declan."

Declan took the spot in front of me and no matter how much I tried to stop staring; I couldn't. My eyes kept finding their way towards him, yet his eyes were wandering in every direction besides mine. What? Do I have cookie crumbs on my face?

"I'm grateful that neither one of you guys was inside of the house during the accident," Declan said, mixing his straight black coffee.

Irritatingly, I grabbed two cookies and kept switching between the both of them. He's so lying. He probably wished I freaking tripped or broke my leg or something. This time I was inhaling macaroon cookies which had cookies and cream filling, making my stomach cry with happiness.

"It was very intense. Lana was stuck inside, and I was so scared about losing her too," Dad informed.

"Since you guys know each other from school, is it because you guys are in the same class?" his mother wondered, her gaze shifting between us both.

"No, but we recently met in an interesting unexpected way," Declan responded, calmy swallowing his plain coffee. "Right, Lana?" his eyes gleamed with wickedness.

I innocently smiled back, wiping the cookie crumbs from my face. "Yeah. . ." I drawed out.

"Perfect! Now, you two can get to know each other more. Isn't Declan extraordinary?" his mother whispered, using her hand to cover her lips. "Do you think you guys can be friends?"

"I'm sure, we can." I nervously giggled, stuffing the remainder of the cookie into my mouth.

"Declan, I finished all my homework." Sam barged in.

"Really? That's great. You're on the right track to being a genius," Declan responded.

"Yeah, but I did have this one question about a math problem." Sam's lips set in a hard line.

"I'm sure, Lana would love to help you with that." Declan devilishly smiled.

Damnit! Hopefully, it's like multiplication or adding; he was only in third grade. Shouldn't be too hard.

"That's a great idea." Sam grinned, shifting closer to my side of the couch. "Can you please tell me what's the answer to this equation?"

The moment my eyes stared down at his book; I was completely lost. Suddenly, I was a deer in headlights trying to understand the random symbols on the paper. I don't remember learning anything like this before. The private education system has played me. Even a freaking third-grader is smarter than me.

Swallowing the uncomfortable knot in my throat, I said, "3?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Not. Even. Close. Wow, you really are stupid," he chuckled along with Declan. "How does a high schooler not know calculus?"

"Sam! Stop being rude and apologize to her this instant," her mother nagged him.

"No way! I hate you," he spat, his little boy gaze sending daggers to me.

"Sam! I'm sorry about him; he can be immature at times," his mother explained.

"He's probably not used to being around cute girls. I think he's just being shy," his father joined.

"Anyway, Lana, I'm so excited to show you your room." her smile radiating.

"What do you think?" She asked, opening the white door.

Once walking in, I ultimately fell in love with the room. Every single item was pink mixed with a sprinkle of white things. My bed was cluttered with dozens of plushies and pillows, making it look so cozy. This bed was fit for a princess also known as me. There was a white desk in the corner, stocked with bonsai trees and plenty of writing materials. Even the curtains were pink! Oh, my god, this was heaven.

"We only had boys, so I wasn't sure if this was too much. I always wanted my own daughter," she sighed.

"I'm so happy. Since my mother passed away when I was little, I never got to experience girly things like this. You know, fathers; he would only buy pants and t-shirts until I was old enough to shop for myself." I jumped into the soft bed.

"I wanted to go shopping with my daughter and now, I can do that with you. Maybe we can even exchange clothes. I already love you, Lana." She stared off into space like she was imagining it.

A thud erupted, and from my peripheral vision, I caught a tall muscular figure dropping three cardboard boxes. My eyes ran over his entire frame and my legs suddenly felt like jelly. 

"You know, this used to be Sam's room," Declan admitted, leaning against the doorframe. "Now, because of you, all of his things have moved into my room. My room is so cluttered."

No wonder. Sam doesn't like me because I stole his room. Honestly, I understand him; I wouldn't love being forced to share rooms with my brother because of a random stranger. But I will do everything in my power to change his mind.

"You always have to ruin things, Declan, stop talking out of your ass," his mother responded. "Be a gentleman and help the poor girl organize her things."

The moment his mother left the room, the vibe shifted to an awkward one. My lips pursed as I stared down at the stuffed animal debating over ending the silence or just allowing it to linger.

My hand clasped together, "Um..." I started.

"Well, where should I start?" he asked, opening one of the boxes without my permission.

"It's fine, I can do it myself," I quickly replied, trying to seal the box back up but was distracted with the love letter in his hand.

My eyes widened, immediately stealing it away from him. I knew it was a bad idea to keep that letter. A part of me didn't want to discard it so quickly. But clearly, the universe was taunting me at this point with my ex-crush and the letter that started it all.

"Oh yeah, there's no reason for me to help you. I don't care if you live here or not, just don't ruin my life," he sneered, leaving me along with my thoughts.

How many billions would the probability be that a girl ended up living with her crush who recently rejected her? Could this be a start to our complicated relationship? Or tragic heartbreak? I frowned, shoving the letter in one of the drawers of the desk.

Every single thing stemmed from this stupid mistake.

A few of you guys guessed it in the chapter before ;) but little old Lana was still shock!
What plans do you think I have in store for them ;)?

Thank you for reading and commenting!! Every single comment makes Lana float on cotton candy clouds!!