Off to Neverland

Off to Neverland (23)

When I woke up the morning of the last day of break, I couldn't help but feel relieved. After the dinner with Jack, the break went smoothly and I pretty much spent the entire time in my room, not counting when I rushed to the phone in the kitchen whenever it rang to see if it was Jack. Which it was, ninety percent of the time.

"How sickening," Claudia would grumble to Cassidy every time the caller was Jack. "The girl is so sprung up on him but he's just going to break her heart. Just watch."

But I didn't listen. I wasn't about to let Claudia rain on my parade. I was happy, and I couldn't remember a time that I had been this happy.

But since it was the last day of break, it meant I was going to see Jack again, which was exactly what I wanted. The sooner I saw him and got away from Claudia, the better I would be.

But I definitely wasn’t expecting what was about to come next.

“Dad?” I blinked when I saw my father sitting on the couch. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“I was able to get the day off today,” my father started, and I then noticed Claudia was sitting next to him, “so I could talk to you about something.”

Oh, no.

“It’s about your living arrangements,” he continued, jumping right into it. Oh, man… was I going to like where this was going? I never seemed to like what my father had to say when Claudia was with him. “It’s actually very important.”

I nodded, not knowing what else I was supposed to do. “Okay.”

“You’re going to move out of your dorm and back here with all of us.”

My eyes widened in shock at what my father had said. I was going to have to move back into this house? No way! Not with Claudia and Cassidy! Not after I had become such good friends with Chloe!

“Are you kidding me?” I almost shrieked, not knowing what else I was supposed to say to him about this matter. “Why the hell do I have to move back? It was your idea for me to stay at the school anyway!”

“I know, but it would just be easier if you came home,” my father continued, still calm even though I was on the verge of completely freaking out. “I mean, since Cassidy goes to your school now and she lives here, there’s no point in you staying at the school because Claudia takes Cassidy to school every day. You might be there on a scholarship, but living at the school costs us money.”

I froze after he said that. I had been costing him money by staying at Neverland? I didn’t want to do that! But it was his and Claudia’s idea to have me stay there because it was apparently easier…

But if it was costing them extra money, then there was no way I’d be able to stay there anymore. Aw, man… I really liked living with Chloe…

But all I could notice right then was that Claudia definitely didn’t look happy, so I knew that this definitely wasn’t her idea. I knew she didn’t care how much money it cost to get me out of the house as long as I was gone.

But I couldn’t help but feel upset. It meant I was going to have to live with Claudia and Cassidy again, which I definitely didn’t want. And since my dad was working pretty much all the time, he wasn’t going to be around to protect me from them…

“What if I get a job or something?” I found myself asking, biting on my tongue before I even knew what I was saying. What the hell was I telling them? There was no way I was going to get a job! I had tried so many times before, but my reputation ruined it all for me! “I really want to continue living at Neverland!”