Damien: Being at the dining table with a new family had been suffocating, but it was more heart wrenching with a grandfather, being added to the table setting. Mr. Anderson Stephen had come into the house unannounced after a long time had passed, ever since he had a big fight with his father which separated them temporarily. The awkwardness in the air was palpable, and there was some sort of anger too. Dad's facial expression was so stern and cold, because he was probably angry that his father came without informing him. However, the elderly man appeared calm and observant. When dad got married to mum, a lady recommended by him, grandfather was proud that his son could finally settle down after so many years of waywardness with ladies. He promised him so many things concerning his corporation, which made dad try hard to keep with the marriage. Soon days to months, months to years, she could never do anything to please him. He was not used to having a lady around that was being ti
Dabby: After witnessing something upsetting almost an hour ago, I found it difficult to enjoy my dinner or the ambiance. It was particularly challenging to remain composed while dining with my stepfather's father, especially after crying my eyes out just moments before.During the meal, I became increasingly distracted as Damien's grandfather bombarded my mother with questions. I only snapped back to reality when he inquired about our town and school.Despite feeling uneasy, I tried to engage in conversation with Mr. Anderson, who appeared to be in a foul mood all evening. As my mother recounted how she met Damien's grandfather, I couldn't help but think about the shredded pieces of paper I had stashed away in my closet.As soon as Damien's grandfather left us a package and departed, I hurried back to my room to retrieve the papers, including the one I had glued together. I locked the door, turned on some music, and got to work. 'I was going to make a meaning out of these papers toni
Damien: Ryder high school"What is going on Damien? What is this video really about?" Xavier asked again with a disappointed look, and I was trying to think hard of how I would reply to his question in a convincing manner. I wasn't thinking about what he had to say or how angry he was, but my mind darted to how Dabby would be feeling if she saw something like that. She would have seen the video already, and it would be a matter of time before those frustrated girls come for her. "I didn't mean to not say anything about it, Xavier. But I and Dabby are related in some kind of way. It was going to blow of our proportion if we had to admit. I'll tell you the details later," I explained in the best way I could to him even if he still look so lost, and stop up immediately with the intention of going to fine Dabby. "Damien! Damien!!" Xavier yelled my name as I left through the door, acting like I didn't hear that he was calling. I knew that he would probably be pissed because I didn't te
Dabby: I came out of the storeroom to a sight of the most shocking scene, my eyes couldn't have expected to witness. Mrs. Carr was hugging a tall figure that surely wasn't Mason, and the face that I was looking at, made me wonder what could be going on between them. 'Damien?' My eyes darted to the right immediately when I figured out that someone was coming from the opposite direction, and it was no one other than Mason who also looked bewildered about the scene before him. He probably wouldn't have seen who his mum was hugging anyways. "Mum, I'm back," he announced, dropping the nylons of things he bought on the floor, and I siddled over to his side to collect them from him, "Mum. Who is he?" He could finally ask. His mother separated from Damien slowly at the question from her son, and Mason's eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment of what he was seeing. He suddenly became dumbstruck about what could be going on between his mum and Damien, and she answered at the shock of the
Damien: It was really hard to believe it when I found out that the dear cousin that I had loved my past with was Mason, and the aunt that I lost contact with was his mum. It made me finally realize why I had always thought that he was very familiar in some ways, even if I had not been able to pinpoint how, until we all met in the most unexpected manner. "How have you been? How has everything been going with you?" Aunt asked me again and again while grasping my hands tightly in hers, as she was still struggling with the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "It has been the same with dad. We have the worst relationship till now. It is exhausting," I told her truthfully like I always did as a vulnerable little boy, and she kept nodding because she understood exactly what I was saying. "I am sorry you had to go through all this, darling. I searched everywhere for you. I tried calling your dad several times, but he wouldn't let me speak to you. He blocked my number subsequently, and it
Dabby:It was a great relief to my heart when I realized that the word 'freeze' was for Mr. Anderson, and not for us. But when I realized that Damien could suspect that something was wrong with the way mum was talking to Mr. Anderson, I quickly coughed out loud as I walked down the stairs to avoid more problems for us. I answered mum's question and left the scene immediately, to relieve her of her unnecessary anxiety and tension. I strode past Damien who was still standing on the stairs and made my way into my room to sleep immediately. I didn't want to think of the situation that almost happened minutes ago. I woke up the next morning and was hot dressed, only to see Damien waiting for me after I finished eating. He offered that I sit in the front seat beside him, and I am sure mum would have been so surprised to know that something had improved between us. Throughout the short drive to school, Damien started his words slowly in rambles, and I could not understand what he was s
Damien: I had my sleepless night restless, with Dabby's abrupt answer the previous night. I had never been rejected in my entire life by a lady, and the first time was by a girl whom I could never have thought I would like so much more than I could tell with just words. My heart had become so attached to everything about her, that it hurt to hear someone say the word 'NO' to me. In my time of experience with girls and relationships, I had never had deep and intense feelings for any girl before, except one. But I remained with cluelessness about how to handle rejection, even before the entire romance started. Yet it was so sad that even though I wanted something real now, it was impossible because I had fallen in love, in the wrong situation. She was my stepsister. 'Just how can you decide to make things hard for me again with your decisions, dad?' I blamed him in my head the entire night over and over again, while I tossed and tossed on my bed without sleep. The next morning
Dabby: Calling Mason the next day to hang out was the best of my resort, because I couldn't even embrace my response to Damien the previous night. My answer made me so restless even after I had entered my room to sleep, with the endless bothers that I might have sounded too harsh to him. When I finally got to sleep and woke up the next morning, I discovered that mum and Damien's dad weren't home. The housekeepers had increased in number and had come around to clean, while I just directed them to do everything necessary around. After everything was done and the house was in order, I returned to my room to bathe and got ready since Mason said he was going to pick me up. When I was about to leave the house, I was bothered because I had not seen Damien come out of his room. I tiptoed to the door of his room and placed my ear near the door, to know if I would hear any movements in his room. For almost ten minutes, I stood there pondering if I should enter and check, but became relieve
Writer's POV 'Would it end that way?'"Why are you crying, Dabby? What is wrong?" Damien who was so startled to see Dabby in that manner asked her, as he was still trying to process her word and what it meant. He probably understood and recollected very fast, the fact that he thought he had seen someone who looked like her at the event the previous day. The person she seemed to be referring to, was the only person he had been with the entire time. "Hi, Dabby. I'm Akeelah, Damien's Mum," the woman who was luxuriously dressed in a nice blue dress introduced herself. "Damien's Mum?" Dabby's shaky voice asked when she heard what Akeelah said. It cleared the whole misunderstanding about the beautiful mysterious woman that has been his mother all along. ..~``~.. • ..~``~.."I didn't know that she was your Mum," Dabby uttered slowly in her words, as she walked side by side with Damien towards the field of her huge school. She was thankful in her heart that she had not thrown unreasonabl
Writer's POVThe drive to the airport was a messy one with Dabby not talking to her mother throughout, even till the point that they were to enter into the plane and leave for the city. It was a rough patch. While Dabby went to the bathroom to go and organize herself after her profuse tears, Joanna did one last thing by intentionally dropping Dabby's purse where her phone was at the airport. To her, it was the best way to sever ties between her daughter and her ex-husband's son. When Dabby realized that her phone was gone for good and not in her box, it was when they arrived at their destination and she wanted to text Damien. She asked her mother about her missing phone, and Joanna vehemently denied that she didn't see her phone. It caused her so much pain to know that she had lost contact with Damien, and even caused both the mother and daughter a good relationship. The tension between them was hard to wade off.It was tough for Damien to finish the night without Dabby, and the h
It was past evening already, and Mum could finally affirm that I looked perfect enough to go for prom. Mason came around to pick me up at home in a car, and he was looking so stunned by his expression when he saw me. Yeah, I knew I was killing it. It was more stares, jaws dropping, astounding looks, and more expressions that I couldn't decipher, the moment I made my way into the prom hall with Mason holding my hand. There were so many things to look forward to, that I made sure to leave my pains down at the door of the hall. The party mood kicked in almost immediately with nice music, and there were glasses of champagne rolling in everywhere and there. I was laughing and talking with my Mason and his friends, when Amelia, the girl who won the valedictorian of our set came to drag me with her. "And shall I and the most outstanding of the set take a dance together," she flashed a smile at me, and I took her hand in pleasure as we both started to dance together. She was always sec
Dabby: "Oh, dear. You look so beautiful in this dress. So gorgeous," Mum complimented as she adjusted the design on the red dress I was wearing, and I smiled brightly in delight as I looked through the mirror. I looked so astounding more than I could have ever thought that I would look, which made Mum's job for everything so commendable. She had taken more than an hour to style my hair to perfection, and another hour to make my face up. Looking at myself over and over again in my new complete look, made me realize that I was looking more like my mother. The facial features were outlined to look like hers, and I was beginning to have the same accentuated body as hers. "Who is your date?" She inquired to know. "I don't know. I've got quite a lot of asks to prom," I told her truthfully. And I didn't expect the numbers that increased before and after we finished our valedictory. More than I ever thought I'd ever get."You are like a mini-me. How can you be so pretty?" Mum commented
Damien I never knew we could ever be this good, or even be so close to the extent that your absence would affect me. I mean, when I knew that we were going to be siblings, it almost drove me crazy. I was sick, and I was sad. Who would I tell? I wondered. Then I remembered that I didn't have anyone to tell which made me think it would get better. But you hated me so much which made things so hard for me, and I swore to avoid you at every cost even if it was hard. I have thought of running away so many times. Maybe to where no one would see me again. It was so hard to understand you, and the kind of person you were in school, made it a lot harder for me. But the day we had our first bump kiss, I began to struggle with my emotions. And maybe it had even started before that. I could now see you everywhere in my head, and craved to see you more often than I have ever done. I was scared too. What if Mum found out that I was crushing on my brother? But then things picked up pace, and
Dabby: I rushed out of my room barefooted and ran across the hallway we shared to Damien's room, only to realize that the door had been locked and he was out of the house already. As much as I was trying to remain organized, my heart was failing me and I could feel tears burn my eyes. My feet ran as fast as they could down the stairs to the kitchen to confirm if he was really gone, and there was no sign of Damien either in or out of the house. I was trying to call his number too, and it was unreachable. "Oh, dear. I hope this is a prank. I really do," my breath shuddered as I said the words, and ran back into my room trying to relax my nerves. I wanted to believe that I had seen wrong or it was probably a mistake. 'Maybe for an ex-girlfriend,' I comforted myself as I sat in front of the mirror, trying to wear the latest brand of lipstick I just got for myself. As I ran it slowly over my lips, my breath could not keep calm and my hands were shaking too. I ended up smudging it ov
Dabby:I was startled when I watched Damien's dad make his way into the house, because there was no way that I could ever have expected to see him there. My mind darted to Mum immediately, and disappointment filled my heart that she must have gone through her threat. Watching him and Mason's Mum talk back at one another, made me realize that Mrs. Carr had been keeping too much for the past years. It made me understand why Damien had always been wary of his dad, and why he always thought he wasn't a good man.'Why was he desperately trying to hide him from the only family he had from his mother's family?' He threatened to have Mrs. Carr locked up if we didn't follow him back home, and we had no choice but to do that because Damien didn't want any problem for his Aunt. We were both mute throughout the journey back home, while I pondered endlessly on whom it could be that exposed us. Damien's dad seized the car keys the moment we got home, and told us that we should drop out phones
Damien: I have loved every day of the week with Dabby so far, and it has been fun even though I had not admitted it to her. Her words of encouragement did something in my heart, and I could see myself pushing for my second challenge. Getting help from her directly had been so great, and it amazed me that she was so intelligent and well-versed in so many things. She did so much research, made a list of people's answer surveys about games to me, and even taught me her smart gaming moves. Getting to talk to her about so many things made me understand her more, and it made me open up about so many things I probably have been wishing to tell someone too. She showed me her childhood pictures and talked about her life journey, while I had no pictorial memories from the past to show her. It was fun to do so many things with her and communicate on a different level than I have ever talked to someone before. Even the one time that I was emotionally invested in my relationship with Gina, I
Dabby: "What is that between you and Damien?" Mum asked the moment we both made our way into my room, and I feigned ignorance immediately like I didn't understand what she was talking about. "What are you trying to say?" I asked with a calm demeanor, and she frowned when she saw my expression."Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about because I see everything so clearly! Have you been sleeping with my husband's son?!" She demanded in a raging voice, and I turned to look at her with a shocked expression. 'How could she just accuse me like that?' 'And are you even sure that he is still your husband? You are having a fallout already, and it is hard not to notice," I asked calmly while trying not to be offended by her words, intentionally excluding the part that I had heard of their conversation weeks ago. She looked so shocked after I mentioned their marital fights, probably because she didn't expect me to just be straight with her."Don't talk about our marriage. It is o