Dream with Me ✔️

15: Blood is Not Family

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Aurora ☪︎
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Chapter 15: Blood is Not Family [Edited]

"You must be Aurora, I'm Alice." The woman who I now call stepmother introduces herself. Her awkward smile stretches a little too far and makes it seem forced. She presents herself as someone with authority, power. Her black hair is pulled into a sleek bun, an emerald blouse tucked in her black pants, not to mention the many accessories she has on. Necklace, earrings, watch, and of course her wedding ring. I could see that chunk of the diamond from a mile away.

I feel underdressed. "Hi, nice to meet you," I reply, giving her an awkward smile of my own. Before any uncomfortable silence can creep its way in we get interrupted by a kid running up to Alice and throwing themself at her.

"Mommy I'm a shark now!" The girl who scarily resembles a little bit of me says in excitement. Alice quickly shushes her for being so loud in the restaurant but gives her a warm smile. It's quite small here with only a few people dining in. The yellow-tinted lights with the lit candles as the centerpiece gives this place a cozy look. At a glance, this doesn't look all too fancy until you hear the live band going on in the corner.

"That's amazing Bri, you're my little Olympian huh?" she says teasingly before guiding her into a seat. "She's a swimmer." she explains briefly, seeing my confusion and I nod before taking a seat of my own.
I look at the girl who stares at me with curiosity and I look away.

Her hair looks slightly damp from the way it sticks on the back of her neck. She wears a baby pink knee-length dress with floral lace designs all around. I feel my cheeks heating up as I think about how that dress is probably more expensive than the outfit I'm currently wearing.

"Hi guys, sorry for being late, Jackson finished karate later than expected." My eyes shoot up to the voice of my father, no matter how many times I hear him talk, I can't help but feel a sting in my heart. It sounds the exact same from the last time I talked to him over the phone.

He leans down and kisses Alice like it's an instinct. She has a soft grin on her face, a completely different smile from the one she gave me moments ago. It doesn't take me long to figure who Jackson is, he told me about the little boy earlier.

Seeing him for the second time today is less weird than I thought it would be. He picked me up at the airport and we had lunch. I was debating on getting the most expensive item just to mess with him but decided against it, it isn't who I am. It's funny, I know me four months ago would do exactly that. As if making him spend a whole bunch of money on me would compensate for his absence.

Lunch was mostly silent, the atmosphere was suffocating, and beyond awkward. He would try to make conversation, but my resentment for him couldn't help but give short clipped answers, or ignore him altogether. After that, he took me to some popular tourist attractions in Los Angeles to wander in before dropping me off here, the restaurant.

Like Alice, he ushers Jackson to a seat next to his sister before taking a seat himself, right next to me. Now it's both adults on either side of me while the two kids are directly in front of me where I can feel their stares.

"Are you our sister?" The girl blurts out, causing all eyes to be on her.

"No," I say instinctively but quickly biting my tongue for not thinking before saying. She squints at me, as if she's offended by my answer. Alice and my father give me a wide eyed look, both of them seem surprised at my answer. "Well, kind of I guess," I add on to satisfy them.

I've been an only child my whole life. My childhood consisted of my imagination and random objects in the house to entertain me. I never had a pet for obvious reasons and that was that.