The Heir's Pretend Girlfriend

23 ✮ Home Sweet Apartment

"Well, I'm off to the library!"

I gave an indirect wave as I skid the floor, past the kitchen. One of my Converse shoes were untied and I carefully tried my best not to trip over the white shoelace. From the corner of my eye, I could see my mom and Chris delightfully eating their breakfast in peace, until Chris looked up from his phone.

"So is that the excuse teenagers' use these days?" Chris chuckled and I skidded to a stop to turn to them. My backpack fell off my shoulders and I grabbed it before it hit the floor. Did they think I wasn't going to the library?

I walked closer to them, interrupting the fast pace of my morning atmosphere. "Excuse?"

"He was being sarcastic, honey." My mom took a sip of her coffee, not even looking up from the papers in front of her. She was probably doing some research on something. "He was subtly making out if you're using the library as an excuse to go hang out with your boyfriend-which stayed out a little too late yesterday, I might add."

"What!" I exclaimed, trying to avoid the topic of Will staying here too late yesterday. "I am going to the library! I want to research more about the colleges I got into and if they offer any scholarships-."

"Shannon, you don't have to keep struggling to find scholarships and money, you know you can afford college with me." Chris said. My mom gave him a sly smile even though she knew what was coming.

"Thanks Chris. I really appreciate and love you for trying to pay for my college, but you know that I can't accept that. You've already given us a nice home and nice chauffeurs, I don't want to use your money for my college. A lot of teenagers pay for their own college, and before you and my mom got married, that was my route in life. I promise I can do it. You guys can in trust me." I hugged him in his seat as he let out a long sigh. Ever since I told them that I got accepted to most of the colleges I got into, this has been happening a lot lately.

But I was happy that Chris cared, unlike my father. If only I could show my father how successful I've become without him.

He sniffled, almost as if he was crying. "I-If I see you struggling at least once, I will force money into your pockets."

"Thanks Chris," I smiled. "I still have some money in my bank account from the multiple jobs I had back at LA. I'll probably get a new job soon to raise up some more money."

"I wish you'd at least accept some money from me for friend outings." He whined.

"I'm sorry, but you know-"

My mom groaned. "Is this going to keep happening every time you both talk about college?" She glowered at the step-father/daughter scene happening in front of her and then suddenly turned her attention to me. "Shan! I forbid you to go to the library today. It is your first day of Spring Break. Please, I beg of you, have fun like a normal teenager."

"B-u-u-t Mom!" I whined, because seriously, who could be a normal teenager in a wealthy town like this? Soph and Opaline told me they had business trips to attend to so they couldn't hang out with me, Will had to do some paperwork at Prescott Industries, and since I didn't have to do any of that stuff, college researching would have to do.

"No!" She grabbed my backpack from my shoulders and I pouted. "Come on Shan! Back at our Los Angeles apartment, you would have been spending Spring Break-"

"Attending to my multiple jobs?" I interjected.

"-Hanging out with Heather and doing teenager stuff." She continued, ignoring my statement. "I was so happy that Heather forced you to be a teenager with her or else, you would have been stuck in your room, reading Harry Potter for the ten millionth time."