L O G A N

Inside the folder was a signed adoption paper. I have been adopted into the Adams family! I looked up at Jennifer...mum with brewing tears in my eyes. Is this really true?!

"Welcome to the family officially." Mum smiled while Matthew...dad tousled my hair with his hand. Ayo smirked while the others except Scarlet clapped their hands and said their congratulations.

I wiped my eyes and opened the smaller box. My eyes almost popped out of my head at the gift. It was a car key, a friggin' car key!

"When did you...?" I trailed off.

"Ayo helped us to pick the car. He won't give Ite up for nothing so we decided to buy a car for you instead. We can work the license later." Dad explained. "Go check it out."

"You need not say it twice." I ran to the garage and opened it. A beautiful blue Toyota Venza sat parked next to Ite. I hugged the baby and ran my cheek up and down the hood, enjoying the squeak it gave. My car, mine! I ran back inside the house and hugged Matthew...dad. Mum joined in the hug and I smiled. So this is what a family feels like. We separated after a few minutes.

"Happy birthday Logan." Crystal dropped a small box in my hand. I opened it. Inside were a bunch of free food coupons for many restaurants that she had gathered. This girlfriend of Ayo's is a weird creature. Do you know that she has a huge ass candy jar with a series of sweets inside?

Normal huh? You think? She doesn't eat any of them, something about having a candy fossil to preserve the memory of various delicious candy she'd eaten. Any candy that makes it to her candy jar is delicious and won't be eaten. She almost killed me when I went over to her house and took the Snickers bar from the jar.

"Thanks Crys." I smiled. Free food is great food.

"You're welcome. Ayo, come come!" She beckoned and led Ayo to a corner. I was curious as to what Crys brought Ayo and so were the others.

"Omg! He's so cute!" We heard Ayo's excited squeal. That was enough invitation for all of us, even Scarlet, to go and see what Crystal gave her boyfriend.

"Woah! He's beautiful!" Bryan squealed and knelt beside Ayo. The two of them cooed at the little tiger cub in a lavender pet carrier. Yes, tiger cub. I wonder where Crystal got him from.

"A new addition huh? Crystal, Ayo, Logan, you three would be in charge of his potty training." Dad ordered and I paled.

"Why am I included?!" I gaped at him but I was effectively ignored.

"If you don't want him, I can keep him." Bryan offered, which elicited a nasty snarl from Ayo. "Hai, hai, I get you." Bryan sweat dropped and raises his hands up in surrender.

"Thank you, Snowflake. I think I'll name him Tiger." Ayo smiled.

"Well Logan, this is from Don and I." Phyllis pushed a huge box towards me. "Ayo, this is yours." She gave Ayo a smaller box.

I got a new guitar from them and Ayo got a pair of timberland boots.

"Thanks guys, I needed a new guitar."

"Cool, now all I need are trousers. Who got me a pair of jeans?" Ayo joked and everybody laughed.

"From me to you both." Bryan gave us shirts each. I'm surprised he didn't print Vermilion's logo on them.

"Thanks guy." I appreciated.

"Yeah thanks." Ayo echoed.

Jordan and Sharon gave us wristwatches each and Sharon gave me a wrapped present.

"It's from Shelia." Everybody went silent at the mention of her name.

"S-Shelia?" I questioned.

"Open it." Sharon urged.

I removed the pink wrapping paper to reveal a scrap book, Shelia's scrap book.

"Shelia loved to make scrap books for things she liked and she made one about you. I didn't read it, but I know it's like a diary." Sharon explained.

I nodded absentmindedly and opened the book to skim through it. There were lots of pictures glued to the pages of the book. "Wow Sharon, thanks for keeping this for me."

"Meh. Who's left?! Nata was it?" Sharon asked.

"Right. Happy birthday baby and cutie." Nata pushed the box towards us.

"The little extra gift is for the annoying one." Sean added. I don't trust his smile, he's up to no good.

Their gift was a wireless PS 5 which got all the boys and Scarlet awing.

"See this beauty! Man, I wanna play with it!" Don squealed like a school girl.

"Mine!" I hugged the gift close to me.

"Sean! You sick pervy transbastard!" Ayo cursed. I looked into the box for the 'little extra gift' that Sean gave Ayo and turned red immediately. Ayo ran and threw it in the thrash outside before anybody else saw it and came back in a pissy mood.

"He got him something twisted, didn't he?" Nata sighed. "Sean, what would I do with you?" She asked her laughing boyfriend.

"You're sick in the head!" Ayo yelled as he tackled Sean to the ground.

"No, you're sick in the balls." Sean retorted. "You should've given your girlfriend instead of throwing it out." He fake pouted.

"Okay, okay stop. I don't want to know what you got him Sean but the party needs to continue." Dad pulled them apart.

Asa gave us cash gifts and Scarlet gave Ayo a really cool headset and as for me, she sent me a video and told me not to play it until I am alone. Why though? I'm curious!

"Now that the presents are out of the way, let's dig up some embarrassing secrets about these boys' past, shall we?" Dad had a sly grin on his face as he pulled out the photo album that Ayo was trying so hard to hide.

"Ooh ooh, I wanna see Ayo's baby pictures!" Crystal squealed and sat next to Ayo on the floor, where we all hurdled round the photos.

"This is Danna, Ayo's mother and next to her is Janice, Logan's mother." Dad said as he showed us a picture of two pregnant women. I was surprised that Ayo's mother and my mother knew each other. "They were best friends. None of them knew they would give birth on the same day."

"I thought Jennifer was Ayo's mother." Bryan thought aloud.

"I am his step mother." Mum smiled at him.

"Oh."

The picture changed to another picture of my mum laughing with a man beside her. "Who is he?" I asked.

"Uh?" Dad asked and frowned. "You don't know him?" He asked. "That would explain a lot." He muttered to himself. I see where Ayo gets his habit of giving vague answers from. On seeing my confused face, he smiled. "He was a good friend of ours." He explained.

"Is there a reason I should know him?" I asked. The man had brown hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen after Scarlet's.

"In time." Dad murmured and turned the page. "This picture was taken on the day I wedded Jennifer." He smiled fondly as he said that.

The picture was of mum and dad in wedding apparel with a young Ayo and a girl beside them. I pointed at the girl. "Is this Sama?" I asked.

"Yeah." Ayo poked her picture and smiled fondly. That action withdrew many expressions from the group. Crystal was down right jealous and she proceeded to ask him who she was, Scarlet was expressionless as usual (she sat far away from me and avoided my gazes) while the others left their mouths open in surprise that Ayo actually liked a girl before Crystal came along.

"Next picture." Dad announced and turned the page. The next picture was of me and a pretty girl on a swing. We were laughing in the picture.

"Aww, look how cute Logan was!" Phyllis squealed. "Who is she?" She asked pointing to the girl on the swing.

"Dad, don't you dare...!" Ayo started but was cut off by dad. The man had a sly smirk on his face.

"That's Ayo." Dad announced.

Blinks and spit takes of cola and fanta.

"Aha! I knew you are a transgender!!!" Sean yelled.

"Daaaad!" Ayo groaned and buried his face in his hands as dad began to tell the story.

"You see," dad started, "when Danna was pregnant, she was so optimistic that Ayo would be a girl so she bought girls clothes and stuff. She even decorated his nursery in bright pink colours. Never seen that much pink in my life." Dad paled at the memory. "She really wanted a daughter and didn't get a gender scan. Do you know what Ayo's original name is?" He asked.

"What?" We all inched closer to him while Ayo dug his face into a cushion and groaned loudly.

"Gwendolyn."

Everybody started rolling on the floor in laughter at Ayo's plight.

"G-Gwen - Gwendolyn! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Bryan howled in laughter. Asa chuckle as she tried to hide her laughs behind her hand. Scarlet laughed in the Scarlet way...snorting, and mum just laughed as if she had never heard this story before.

"Ayo came as a surprise to us. Now Danna didn't want the clothes she got go to waste so she started dressing Ayo up as a girl. Danna was a fashion designer that specialized in female children's clothing so Ayo became her model. The poor boy. Guess what?" Dad asked again.

"What?" We all inched forward for another juicy news.

"Young Logan here had a crush on him!" Now it was my turn to bury my face in a cushion. "He used to declare that he would marry 'her' when they grow up. He did it so much, my ears almost fell off."

The gang laughed till their ribs ached and after a while, subsided.

"Next pict-"

"NO!" Ayo yelled and jumped onto the album, using his body to cover whatever secret was there but dad was quicker than him. He removed the album before Ayo could land and showed all of us the picture of a butt naked Ayo trying to run away from Danna, who was holding a frilly dress, and me standing not too far off and looking horrified.

Once again, the whole room resonated with laughter at Ayo's embarrassment.

"This was the fateful day when Ayo rebelled against his mother's pink dresses. That fateful day, Logan found out his crush's true identity. You shoulda heard his squeaky voice that day screaming 'AAAH! AYO HAS A PEE PEE!" Dad made his voice ridiculously high and squeaky for that last part. I sighed in embarrassment.

"Fu fu fu, pee pee!" Crystal chuckled and then broke into a fit of giggles. "Look at his butt! This is ridiculous!!" She howled in between laughs. Everybody joined her laughter because it was seriously contagious.

The next picture was of me caked in thick mud. My teeth stood out against my soiled and dirtied body as I held a piglet up in triumph. The piglet looked like it would murder me in my sleep.

Lots of funny pictures passed until it came to one final one. It was a picture of the two of us on our walk earlier today. Stalker much?

The party finally came to an end and everybody went home. Ayo retired early to bed along with our parents while I stayed up a little bit to read Shelia's scrapbook. I opened the first page which was designed with shark themed graffiti and stickers.

The second page had an input on it in Shelia's beautiful handwriting.

A new guy came to our school today. He is so hot! Do you think he would like me? Why won't he like me? But he might not like me. We might be good friends.

I flipped a page. The next page had a picture of me walking to the bus stop to catch the bus home. Stalker!

I am not stalking, I swear! He is hot, isn't he? He has the voice of an angel, so smooth and deep and wonderful. I think I have a crush on him.

I chuckled. Another picture of me with my mouth full was on the next page. How did she capture that?!

Cuteness in one picture!😍 I know you're wondering how I captured this moment with him right in front of me. Easy! Silencing the shutter sound and the flash of your camera and pretending to text somebody works. Sharon caught me though.😡

I turned to another page.

I think I like him more than just a crush and fan girl obsession. He's a really nice guy and on top of that really handsome! I am so love struck.😱😣

Guess who asked me out today?! LOGAN ASKED ME OUT! I am absolutely, positively freaking out! What would I wear? Hope I would look good! He asked for my number! Yiii! He texted me! He texted ME! Gtg, ttyl.

I chuckled. The next few pages were pictures and sneak pics of me on our first date. Sneaky girl.

Guess what? I am Logan's freaking girlfriend! We kissed and... That kiss was unlike anything I've ever felt before. I am in nirvana!

I read through the scrapbook. Sneak pics of me at the pool during our field trip, on our dates, pictures of us together and of the whole gang filled the book. I smiled and caressed a picture of her holding Nori, the shark plushie I won for her. The toy was placed in the crematorium with her ashes. I miss her a lot but my heart doesn't hurt again.

"Thanks for liking somebody like me, Shelia." I whispered.

I dropped the scrapbook on my study table and picked up my phone. "I wonder what the video she sent me is about." I mumbled to myself as I unlocked the device to play the video.

I sat back on my bed. "Play." I spoke to the phone and the video started.

Vermilion's masked face came to view. "Scar doesn't know about this part of the video, I'll be soup if she did. I wonder who you are, the person Scar is doing this video for. If you break my cousin's heart, I would hunt you and kill you..." His threats trailed off when Scarlet's voice sounded from behind him. The camera shook and became black but I could hear voices.

"What are you doing?" Scarlet's voice asked.

"Camera testing." Vermilion lied through his teeth. Would Scarlet fall for it? There was agonizing silence until Scarlet finally spoke.

"Come on Barry." Sounds of footsteps was heard and Vermilion's face resurfaced. So Vermilion's name is Barry and he is Scarlet's cousin!

"Keep the camera rolling and don't let Scar know I did this!" The camera was handed to another person I guess. Now Vermilion's face was clearer and fuller as he spoke to the camcorder.

"Wassup guys? Today I'll be dancing with my baby cousin, Scarlet. This video is actually a gift for somebody important-!" He swallowed his words at the menacing glare that was shot his way. Scarlet wore a scarlet mask with a golden S printed on it, just like Vermilion's except that his is vermilion with a V. "It is a gift for a friend. Whoever you are, consider yourself lucky. Anything you want to say, Scar?" Scarlet shook her head and the camera zoomed out as they took their positions.

Jon Bellion's iRobot started playing after a while and the two dancers started moving.

Scarlet tried to escape somewhere but Vermilion dragged her back. With grace, they both twirled and Vermilion dipped Scarlet to the floor and mock hit her. Scarlet crouched, acting scared and it was then I realized it. They were pantomiming my story.

Scarlet broke free and got to the 'outside world' only to have other dancers toss her to and fro...how people treated me after I escaped Maru. Nobody gave me a chance. They only saw me for who my father was.

Vermilion came back with a change of costumes. He wore green. He broke Scarlet free from the crowd and they both did a breakdance choreography. The other dancers joined in too and they danced... My friends and the people that accepted me. That is what this part of the dance meant.

The dancers narrowed down to only Vermilion and Scarlet and finally, the song ended. I chuckled softly and lied back on my bed. I placed my hand over my eyes. I just couldn't control the smile that fought my lips.

Scarlet , I think I love you.

***

I hope I ended it well. The next chapter would be in Scarlet's POV and about her back history. The secret of the attic shall be revealed! (I think😶)

Please vote and comment.

-Star.