What I Still Hate About You (#2 What I Hate About You) (Wattys 2019)

Chapter 2

I show the drawing of Nathan to my sister as soon as I finished it. She was impressed with it and I couldn't wait to show my boyfriend the finished version of it.

Mum was in the kitchen preparing dinner when we returned home. Lindsay and I head up to our rooms until dinner is ready. We eat quickly before heading up to my sister's room. She was heading off to a party tonight and had begged me to come along to it. Parties weren't for me. I didn't enjoy them and avoided them as much as I could. I didn't think it was necessary to attend where people used alcohol to get drunk to have a good time.

When it comes to fashion, Lindsay and I have our own ideas. I prefer jeans and t-shirts while my sister prefers short skirts. She had suggested to me to where one of her mini-skirts to the party, but there was no way I was even putting it on. We may be twins, but it didn't mean I wanted to dress like my sister. It has been years since we convinced our parents we had our own individual styles. Lindsay may not have been able to convince me to where a skirt, but she did convince me to put on make-up, promising to only put it on lightly, saying I would hardly even notice I have it on. The idea of make-up made me feel self-coincidence about myself.

The doorbell rang just as Lindsay and I head down the stairs once we were headed out. It's after seven and I wondered who could be at the door at this time of the night. Nathan maybe? No, it wouldn't be him. He would have rung to let me know if he was coming over.

Reading my mind, Lindsay turns to me, asking if Nathan was planning to come on over.

I shake my head. "No." He knows I hate the idea of him showing up here without telling me first.

Curious about who was on the other side of the door, I reach for it first. Lindsay stands close behind me. I open it to reveal a man with brown hair and blue-green eyes, wearing rectangular glasses with black frames. I recognise the man instantly. At the back of my mind I tell myself to yell at him for standing there. But the other voice in my head tells me not to get mad because he is finally standing at my door of all these years.

"Alex?" the man asks, wondering if he was talking to the right twin.

I should slam the door in his face or tell him off for being here. For the past six years of my life he had chosen to disappear. Now he was standing in front of me, returning after walking out without an explanation. I blamed everyone for his disappearance, but somehow knew he will return even when no one believed he will.

I cross my arms across my chest. "What are you doing here, Dad?"

He gives his best smile to us, like he never disappeared from our lives. "I have come to see how you two are. I missed you both."

I frown at him. I spent the last six years wishing and hoping Dad would return after walking out on us. Now that he was standing right here in front of me, I no longer wanted him to return in my life. He had no right to show up here. "Why did it take you six years to come see us?"

He doesn't meet my eyes and glances over at my sister. Unable to meet her eyes as well, he glances between us. "Girls, I get it. You're mad at me. I'm sorry."

I chuckle. "Sure you're sorry. If you were, you wouldn't have left us."

Lindsay puts her hand on my shoulder. "Alex, let's get going."

Listening to my sister, I push past my dad and walk down the steps.

"Girls, please. Just let me explain," Dad calls out to us. "I know what I did was wrong, but I can explain everything."

Lindsay spins around. "Explain what, Dad? There is nothing for you to explain."

I spin around to hear what he had to say.