Ashton pulls the car in front of Lydia's Dance Studio.
"Come on, we should get going before Riley starts throwing tantrums," Ashton says as we get out of the car.
I chuckle and follow him towards the building. Ashton holds the door open and lets me in first.
As I step inside the door, I look around and find small girls in pink and white dresses giggling and running around the reception.
One girl is practicing her steps while other girls circle around her. Many of the parents are talking with each other enthusiastically.
"Hey, it's been a while," I hear a sweet voice saying and turn to my left.
A girl, not much older than us is walking in our direction as she keeps her eyes on someone behind me-Ashton.
"Lydia," Ashton greets her as she stops in front of him. "We just met at Riley's recital a few weeks ago."
Lydia pouts. "That doesn't mean I don't get to miss my most favorite guardian here."
I wonder why.
Her eyes drift from Ashton and land on me. She looks between Ashton and me and then whispers something in his ears.
I see Ashton shaking his head while laughing. Then he glances at me and gives me a light smile.
About time he remembers that I'm still here.
"Snow, meet Lydia, Riley's ballet tutor," he tells me and looks at Lydia. "And Lydia, this is Kiara. A good friend of mine."
Yeah, good friend.
Something flickers in Lydia's eyes and she smiles at me softly. "Hi Kiara, it's nice to meet you."
I try to return her smile, but can't ignore the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.
It's no doubt Lydia is beautiful. It's not just her face, but the whole existence of her. Her red hair is pulled into a bun. And that killer body of her, there's no doubt Ashton would go for a girl like her.
And that makes my stomach hurt more. What's with it today?
Just then, we hear a loud yelp as a small girl climbs on Ashton's back. "You're late ogre!"
The girl screams in Ashton's ears. She looks around eight years old wearing black dancewear and her kinky hairs are pulled into a braid. Almost instantly Ashton's whole feature changes from gentlemen-ish to a boyish one.
I watch with awe as Ashton wraps his arms around her little ones and makes a loud 'wolfish-noise' and tilts his head to the side. "What's up Riley-bear?"
The girl giggles and jumps up and down on his back.
Lydia shakes her head with a laugh and excuses herself. I, on the other hand, freeze on the spot.
This is Riley? As in Riley, Ashton's little sister? But-
Suddenly I realize why Ashton was hesitating to bring me here. It's not because he thought I'd be mad at him for ruining our plan.
It's because he was afraid of how I would react.
Because even from miles away, anyone can tell they're not bloodily related. Even sharing one same parent doesn't apply in their case. Because while Ashton has dark brown straight hair, electric blue eyes with pale-now a bit tanned from playing football-skin, his sister is blessed with dark skin with dark eyes and black kinky hair.
And as because I've met Mr. Fellan already, it leads me to two conclusions: either Ashton and Riley are step-siblings or Riley is adopted.
I shake my head and clear my thoughts. I probably should not jump to the conclusion. So I turn my attention back to the siblings in front of me.
Ashton is smiling at his sister as she continues telling him about her day, still clinging on his back. Then she turns to the side and her eyes fall on me. She pauses and looks at her brother.
I decide this is the best time for me to approach in front of her. So I walk closer. "Hi, Riley," I say and wave a hand.
Riley blinks and looks down at her brother who nods. She turns back to me with a broad grin, revealing her missing front tooth. "Hi, Kiara, it's so good to finally meet you." She sounds mature than her age. "Ashton told me so much about you."
I lift a brow and look at her brother. "Did he now?"
Ashton protests immediately. "I did not." But the tip of his ears says otherwise.
We ignore him. Riley gets down from her brother's back and looks at me properly for the first time. Then she says, "Ashton was so right, you're really pretty."
I turn back to the boy. He refuses to meet my eyes as he glares at his sister, who sticks out her tongue.
"I'll go and get my things," she says and leaves us standing there in awkward silence.
Ashton turns to me. "Well that was something," he says and I nod.
Then he steps closer. "Hey, I'm sorry."
I look at him confusedly. "For what?"
He scratches the back of his head. "You know-about Riley-I should've told you this before that she was-"
"No, it's fine-"
"-it's not like I'm ashamed of my sister or something but-"
I take Ashton's hands in mine to stop him from torturing himself farther. "Look at me."
At first, he refuses. I ask him again. This time, he obliges.
"It's okay, really. I'm cool with it," I tell him. "I won't lie, I was a bit startled at first but-"
"It's wasn't your-"
"Don't," I cut him. "Don't apologize. It's fine, really."
"Are you sure?" He holds my gaze.
I nod with a smile. "In fact, I find it really cool that your parents didn't care about her race, not many people do," I say, remembering the articles I read about how people refuse to adopt a child of a different race, that's very racist of them if you ask my opinion.
Ashton mutters something under his breath.
"What was that?" I ask him.
Ashton returns his gaze on me and shakes his head. But something flicks in his eyes. Something between admiration and guilt. He opens his mouth to say something but gets interrupted when Riley reappears. "I'm ready to go," she announces.
I pull back from Ashton and bend down to her level. "We were thinking about going somewhere to eat," I tell her. "Are you hungry?"
Riley nods. "Starving."
"Me too," I turn to her brother who's watching us. "Then let's go to eat somewhere before this ogre decides to eat us," I joke. Riley giggles.
"Did I mention I love you already?" She tells me.
I turn back to her with a grin. "Did I mention I love you more?"
The smile Riley's face broadens. She wraps her small hands around mine as she drags me out. Ashton shakes his head with a smile and follows us outside.
He opens the backdoor for his sister. Riley takes a step in and starts screaming.
Ashton and I panic and look inside immediately. "What happened?!" Ashton asks.
Riley comes out of the car with Grisbee in her arms, who's fighting for her life now
"Aww, she's so adorable," Riley coos as she holds Grisbee close. "Can we keep it, please? Can we, can we?" She whines.
Ashton sighs and shakes his head. "You know p-I mean dad hates cats," he reminds his sister. "Moreover, she belongs to Kiara."
Riley looks at me and I nod with a smile. "But you can come over to my place to play with her whenever you wish."
Riley looks at me with hopeful eyes. "Really?"
I nod.
"Even on Sundays?" She asks.
"Yes," I say. "Even on Sunday."
"Even after midnight?"
I chuckle. "Even after then."
Grisbee, on the other hand, doesn't look amused at all to be manhandled by a little girl. However, she doesn't try to claw her either, as she was trained not to harm small children.
"Okay now let's get going, I'm starved too," Ashton ushers his sister inside the car.
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