Forbidden Love

Chapter 4

The next few days were mostly spent by unpacking the pile of boxes we had stacked up and before I knew it, January was almost over and we had been staying in California for about two weeks.

Waking up the next day, I let my warm covers fall down to my waist as I sat up and stretched my arms up and above my head. Today was the day that I get out of this house and explore the rest of the city.

After taking a quick shower, I braided my hair to the side and slipped on a pair of short denims, with a faded band shirt.

Entering the kitchen, my father was busy with breakfast. I pulled back the bar stool and seated at the counter top before smiling at my dad. "Morning pumpkin. How did you sleep?"

I sighed in remembrance of my old bed back at home, which was much more comfortable than my current one. "Good." I lied.

He smiled, pilling up bacon on a plate and asked, "Slices of toast?"

"One please."

"Only one? What's up pumpkin?" It was almost as if he had a spring to his step. What got him in such a happy mood this early in the morning?

I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing. Just not that hungry."

"I'm surprised. Usually all you want to do is eat." He chuckled before handing me the plate.

"Gee, thanks dad." I laughed and took a bite out of my toast. "What time are you leaving?"

"In about half an hour. Are you that tired of me already?" He held his hand up to his chest and dramatically said, "I'm touched. Not even my own daughter wants to spend time with her father."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "What about Lisa?"

"She's taking today off."

"Why?"

After sipping his coffee, he broke the eye contact and turned around to the sink. "Sending out the wedding invitations." I nodded my head in response. My father knew I did not like talking about the topic of him and Lisa, which led to him not bringing it up that often.

I did feel bad. I should be there for him and talk about how lovely it's going to be but that's not my cup of tea.

Lisa walked in with a Wedding Catalogue, interrupting my father and my conversation. "Right Mike, you need to leave so Demi and I can pick out a wedding dress." She squealed from excitement. Inwardly groaning, I glared at Lisa.

"Lisa, can we maybe do it some other time. I had other plans for the day." I got up from the table about to leave until she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"No, we're going to do it now. Come on. It's going to be fun and it won't take up too much of your time." I noticed my dad raise his eyebrows as if expecting me to do as told and I sighed.

"Okay."

"Alright, I'm on my way. Love you guys." My dad kissed my forehead and pecked Lisa on the lips before picking up his suitcase and headed out to work.

"Okay," Dramatically dropping the catalogue onto the counter top, she pulled back the stool next to mine and excitedly paged through to the wedding gowns. I wish I had as much energy as she did. "Tell me about your love life."

My teeth clenched and my stomach dropped. "My what?" That came out of nowhere.

"Come on Demi. You can't shut me out your entire life." That was my plan. "I'm trying to get to know you. The least you could do is open up to me. Tell me why I get under that skin of yours."

"You don't." I admitted. Lisa only bothered me because of the fact that she made my dad very happy and I had trouble in doing that.

"Good." She flipped through pages of white wedding gowns and stopped at a mermaid, floor length dress. I had to admit, it was stunning.

My eyes widened as I marveled at the dress. "That's beautiful!"

She shrugged her shoulders, not too impressed with the dress. "What do you think of a flared out one?" She turned back a couple of pages to a blush tinted dress.

"I prefer white."

She smiled in agreement. "I agree. Has your dad ever spoken about what type of dress he might like?"

"He's mentioned lace before."

Nodding her head, I immediately recognised the disappointment on her face. "We'll have to compromise." She joked.

I smiled. "My dad's going to love what ever dress you pick because your going to outshine it." Her eyes lit up at my statement and I smiled. "Look, as much fun as this has been, I was planning on going for a walk."

"Okay, do you have your phone?"

"Yes."

"Be back by lunch time and don't talk to any strangers." Laughing to myself, I nodded my head.

Slipping on my white flip flops, I walked out onto the back deck. One thing I loved about living here was that the beach was blocked off to tourists and visitors as it belonged to the houses around it. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I headed down to water and took a stroll down the beach.

Walking down the beach, I slipped my earphones in and unfastened my braid to gather it up into a messy bun for the day.

Ten minutes into my walk, I felt the sun bake down onto my skin. Lifting a hand up to shield my eyes, I spotted the public part of the beach. Kids chased each other, sprinting once they got closer and fell to the floor as they got tackled by what I presumed was their older brother.

I smiled at the thought before directing my eyes to the sea. Plenty of good looking guys surfed the waves. Man, I should make a visit to the public part of the beach more often.

I headed up towards the gravel road and thought of checking out some of the stores. Walking down the street, I had passed a ice cream shop that I knew I would have to pay a visit to on my way back.

Across the road I spotted a building which automatically grabbed my attention. 'Musica' was displayed above the entrance. Without checking for cars, I quickly crossed the road to get to the store.

A bell rang overhead as I entered the building. The walls were painted white with huge posters of band names stuck on them.

Strolling through the isles, I came across plenty of my favourite albums and found myself smiling when I saw the latest release from NF. As I picked up the disk, I skimmed the back of it.

"You listen to NF?"

I looked up to see a girl about my age staring down at the disk in my hand. Her ash blond hair was clipped back into a half up, half down type of style I found quite pretty. I shrugged my shoulders as I responded. "Yeah."

"I love him."

I nodded my head in agreement. "Me too."

"You're new around here, huh?" She asked, cocking her head to the side awaiting for my answer.

I nodded once again. "Yeah, I moved here about two weeks ago with my dad." I replied.

She smiled before sticking out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Raquel."

"Demi." I replied, placing the disk down to shake her hand.

"Well I better go. Promised my mom I would be home by lunch time." She stated before picking up a disk. I smiled as I remember the lecture Lisa had given me earlier which was similar. "You're going to Saint Stithiens next week, right?"

I nodded. "I think that's were my dad enrolled me."

She smiled. "Maybe I'll see you around."

I returned the smile before replying, "Sure."