First Family Dinner

{Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying Step Sisters so far. I made a little Spotify playlist to listen to while you read. I'll put the link here but also put it in my bio. It's a mix of summer music, sapphic music, songs I was listening to as I wrote the first story, and anything else I thought could relate to the book

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/51FZ5aOSqdTaPzsyUaYJY9?si=PRLSGJH-TJSq4W-oSQOZGw&pi=u-S3D90z3pS0uz

Enjoy the chapter!}

Casey and I had a good day today. It wasn't anything particularly out of the ordinary. I would call it just a day in the life of us. We always go on little dates like that. I would have loved to spend the rest of the day with him and maybe slept over at his house but my mother made plans for us tonight. Anyway, I'm off to do awkward step-family activities. We just pulled up outside of the restaurant.

"Bye Case. I'll hopefully see you tomorrow" I say and kiss him.

"Do you really have to go?" " He asks.

"I wish I didn't. I think my mother would kill me if I pulled a no-show after some of the stuff I've said the past few days." I say.

"I'd rather have you alive than hang out with you for one night" He says.

I smile. "Great flirting there, Casey. Really a 10 out of 10" I say and open my door.

He laughs. "Have fun" He says.

"I won't" I close the door and start heading inside.

My mom and the rest of them were already inside. The restaurant is cute. There was a bar when you walked in and the seating was to the right of the door. The four of them were waiting by the hostess stand. They must have been waiting for me.

"Hi, guys. Was I late?" I ask. My mom told me to be on time. I wasn't.

"Yeah, you were. We'll pretend we were all early" My mom says.

"Great" I say.

The host takes us to the table. I sat next to Jessie and my mom sat next to her boyfriend across from us. Levi sat at the head of the table.

"How was seeing your parents or grandparents?" My mom asks the three of them to make small talk.

"It was fun" Jessie says.

"Yeah, they missed us" the dad says. I would really love to learn his name. Calling him homewrecker boyfriend seems a little mean now.

"I made cookies with grandma and ate a lot of cookies" Levi says.

"That's good" My mom says. "And you how was your day?" My mom asks me.

"Good" I say.

"What did you do?" She always asks so many questions. I don't want to tell her what I do with my boyfriend and I hope she doesn't tell me what she does with hers.

"He picked me up. We went back to his house for a little bit. We then went for a walk and picnic on the beach" I say.

"Aw that's cute" She says.

We ordered our food. I got a steak. If the boyfriend is paying I may as well go big or go home. It's a reimbursement for the inconvenience he has caused me. He's gonna be paying my therapy bills soon too. My mom and her boyfriend then went into a conversation. Levi sat and colored his kid's menu. Jessie helped him a bit. I think they were playing tic tac toe. I wanted to start a conversation with her but I didn't know what to talk about.

"What's your favorite place in town?" She turns to ask me a few moments later since she is done with the game.

"Well, that beach near my house is like my second home. That's where I went today. I love going to the shops in town. My favorite is this cute little thrift store called The Hanger. The diner is another place I go a lot. Casey and I make it a point to go at least once a week. Other than that we will just hang out at my friends' houses. Also, Orlando is close enough that I could just go there whenever I want." I say. "Why do you ask?"

"Well I figured we would need something fun to do tomorrow" She says.

"Can I come?" Levi asks.

"We don't even know where we are going yet. What if it's boring?" Jessie asks.

"Like where?" He asks.

"A tour across Florida to look at colleges" I say.

"Being in the car and listening to music is fun" He says.

"Yeah he's not wrong" Jessie says.

"I want to go to Orlando. I haven't been since summer started" I say.

"You can go anywhere but Disney World. All five of us are going together later this summer" My mom says to us, then goes back to her conversation with the boyfriend. She is normally really strict about me going to Orlando by myself. I've only been a couple of times without her and it was with friends whose parents were there. I've been trying to convince her to let me go with Casey for at least six months now and she won't budge. She must be really desperate for me to hang out with her boyfriend's kids.

"We can go to Legoland tomorrow" I say. I figured Levi would like that place. I've never been there before but it should be fun. It looks fun from the pictures at least.

"Yes! That's a great idea! I have never been!" Levi exclaims. He is about to jump out of his seat.

"I haven't been either" I say.

"I went once" Jessie says.

"When?" He asks. He looked so offended that he wasn't invited.

"I was little. Maybe four years old. I went with Dad and a few of our cousins" She says

"That's not fair" He says.

"You weren't born yet" She says.

"How often do you come to Florida?" I ask her.

"We normally come every summer. This is the first time we are staying the entire summer. The first time I came here I was a baby" She says.

"I was a year old. I came for my first birthday" He says.

"That's cool" I say to him.

"What about you? Were you born here?" She asks.

"Yep. Born and raised" I say.

Our meal came and we ate. It was just my mom and her boyfriend talking to us now. It wasn't a fun conversation. It was them just asking us about school. It's summer vacation we want to talk about something other than school.

"Do you play any sports?" The boyfriend asks me.

"No none of them seem interesting to me" I say.

"Only if naked makeout sessions were a sport" Jessie whispers in my ear.

"Shhh. That's not funny" I say and try not to crack a smile.

My mom and her boyfriend gave us a weird look.

"Why don't you tell her your history with sports" Jessie's dad says to her. I can tell this is about to be entertaining.

"Ok, so last winter I tried Volleyball and quit after two weeks because my wrists and hands hurt too badly. Then that spring I tried softball and on the second day I got hit with a ball and it broke my nose. Just so you're aware I'm still bitter I wasn't allowed to get a nose job. After that, I tried cheerleading. I figured that it wasn't a contact sport and I wouldn't get hurt. I was so wrong though. They threw me off the top of the pyramid. Whether it was an accident or on purpose is still up for debate."

I started laughing. "You're such a klutz" I say.

"I was hoping you were good at sports and could maybe teach her a thing or two" the boyfriend says to me.

"No. I can't. I tried basketball and didn't make the team. Apparently, you need to know how to make a basket" I say. Jessie and Levi laugh.

"What about you Levi?" My mom asks him. He was more focused on his mac and cheese than the conversation.

"I play baseball"

"That's a fun sport. Do you like it?" My mom asks him.

"Yeah. It's my favorite" He says.

"How long have you been playing?"

"Two years. Since I was seven" He says.

"I'm considering signing him up for a baseball camp while we're here." Mom's boyfriend says.

"There is a great one at my school. It's full but I could pull some strings and get him signed up for next week" My mom says. She is a third-grade teacher at one of the elementary schools in our district.

"Oh my god! Yes! That would be awesome!" Levi says. I think it is safe to say she just won him over.

We finished our food. The boyfriend paid like any good gentleman would. It's what I deserve. We went outside. It was windy which probably means it's going to rain soon. It rains every day here. I would say that is the one downside of living in Florida in the summer.

We are walking towards the car when Jessie pulls me by my arm. "Wait. We've been here for two days and I haven't even taken a picture with you yet"

"Let's take one now then" I say and smile at her.

We stop and my mom pulls out her phone. Jessie wraps her arm around me in the front and pulls me in closer. The sides of our faces touch. I put my hand near my cheek to keep my hair out of my face from all this wind. We smile and my mom snaps the picture. It was pretty cute if I do say so myself.

"That's so going on Instagram later" Jessie says smiling down at her phone.

"Be sure to tag me. I need the followers" I say and we laugh.