Since I've been living with my mom ever since the divorce, I rarely see my father. I have mixed feelings about it, I don't hate him to the degree of how I despise my mother, but I don't exactly feel excited whenever I come over for visits.

He's a good guy – too good if I might say – but there was one aspect of him that I don't really like.

And as I neared his house, I'm reminded once again what it was. He lived in a dirt land, near a freaking barn. His home was situated in a compound, a closed area where my other relatives also resides in, and you can just guess from the life I live back in the high city what I feel about this.

But oh well, beats the other side of the family.

The gate was wide open so I smoothly drove in, looking at the identical looking houses. I stopped at the third one before I honked my horn, signaling him that I have arrived.

Big mistake.

Like I said, this is also where my other relatives live so when the car beeped, it sounded through the lot and out came the others. They were all grinning with that hospitable expression and I groaned, this isn't going to be easy.

When I stepped out, my shoes slightly sank in the semi-wet soil and I cringed at the feeling. These were kind of expensive.

Turns out, my dad was working on a paint job at the side of the barn and before he could come up to me, I was already swarmed by a sea of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Sliding my sunglasses off, I gave them a forced smile, subtly dodging every attempt of getting hugged. It's almost impossible for me to think that I was once one of them back when I was really young, before I started getting into the whole snobbish thing.

"Clara!" dad ran up to me, his arms wide open. And just like the others, I stepped aside so I wouldn't be caught. Don't get me wrong, I like him but there's no way am I going to allow him to touch me while his clothes were covered in dirt and paint.

"Hey dad," I greeted, rounding off the vehicle, trying to get myself through the family and into the back. I took out my duffel bag and without much of another word, I got inside my father's house, careful so my shoes wouldn't sink again.

Dad was following right behind me, staying when I already got inside. Well, I could say that his furniture didn't change from those old ones he got years ago.

"I'm glad you came," he said, trying to break the silence I've dawned upon the place as I marched into my room, "Hallie has been excited to see you."

When I called, I soon found out that the reason why he asked me to come was because my cousin Hallie has been recently engaged so she and her fiancé were holding up an engagement party. We used to be pretty close and I used this as an excuse to get away from mom and Will.

Entering the small room, I nodded to my dad. A signal that meant that it was now okay for him to leave me alone, and thankfully, he got the message.

Taking out my phone, I dialed up Vivian's number and sighed, waiting for her to pick up.

"Clara," she said the moment she answered the call.

As I pulled off the sheets that was draped over my bed, I told her, "I'm in the hay stack, you know the drill."

She knows my dad's living situation and we often refer to it as the 'hay stack' and every time I'm here or even anywhere away from the town, she knows what to do or else she's dead to me.

Keep an eye on Gray, make sure the girls are in check, and if anything is out of place, inform me immediately.

As much as I didn't like, she knows well enough what to do. Besides, for now, she has no other choice but to obey me. As long as I wear the crown as head-cheerleader, she has to do whatever I say.

She hummed in acknowledgement to my command, "You should've brought me along there, your cousins are a bunch of fine men if I do say so myself."

Rolling my eyes, I continued on with the chore of getting my bed fixed. Because of the acting best friend, she visited this place a few times and now. She has found quite an attraction to my boy cousins who are well shaped up from working at the farm.

I had to drag her by the collar every time she even risked on making a move on them.

"Just do what I told you," I muttered, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to fix the tackiest room known to man."

Slight exaggeration, but you know how I do.

I hung the phone up and shot it back inside my bag. After I successfully got the sheet off, I stared at the naked bed. It was stripped off of everything except for the spring mattress that has always been there. With a huff, I kicked the large sheet into the hallway where my dad will surely find it, before I went to the closet next to the bathroom where I know he keeps the spare pillows and blankets.

Taking one clean bedsheet, two pillows, and one thick blanket, I carried everything back into the room where I set up my bed. Dusting off my clothes, I plopped down on it before I kicked off my dirty shoes.

Well, so much for keeping poise.

I didn't even bother with going out for the rest of the day. I made use of the weak WiFi that my dad had and browsed on my social media. He didn't really care since he was out finishing his paint job.

Though, when night started to fall, he came back up into my room and knocked at my door, "Start getting ready, Clara, we're about to head out."

Closing my laptop shut, I pulled my bag towards and me, grabbing the blue dress I brought for this occasion. I paired it up some black heels and I fixed up my makeup, opting to just let my hair down. After I finished accessorizing with a pair of earrings and a statement necklace, I was good to go.

When we got to the venue, I realized how overdressed I was. This is when I noticed how detached I really was with this bunch.

They were all dressed casually in their jeans and boots, the footwear to battle out the still damp ground. If you only knew how stupid I felt standing there with my mouth open as I stared ridiculously at the party happening in front of me.

Oi.

"When city girl meets the country," one of my cousins laughed when he saw me.

It took me all the willpower not to snap at him. I didn't even dare to move, for the sake of my dignity and for the sake of my shoes.

That was until I saw Hallie, the gorgeous woman who was walking up to me with biggest grin in the world, "It's so nice to see you again, Clara."

I don't exactly know how to react. Sure, we were really close when we were kids, but that was years ago! I may come here for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we don't really interact as much as we used to.

So when she engulfed me in a hug, my arms stayed limp at my sides. I found this situation all too awkward for words.

When she pulled back, she assessed my outfit and opened her mouth before closing it again. I'm pretty sure she was trying to rack up an appropriate way to describe my outfit without pointing out the obvious reason that I was far away from the dress code.

"You look..." she trailed off, her eyebrows scrunching before she continued, "...great."

I know I look great, but you're not acknowledging this getup of mine and how inappropriate I am for this event.

Oh well, at least I'm still fabulous.

She called up her fiancé who was holding a small basket of envelopes and she started skimming through them, stopping midway before pulling that specific one. She handed it to me, the backside up showing my name printed with a fancy font.

"Honey, you've met Clara, right?" she said to her fiancé.

He nodded and offered me a polite smile, "How can I forget the girl who spilled the mash during last Thanksgiving?"

Can we please erase the embarrassing moment from everyone's memory? It was a damn accident and it was the carpet's fault for tripping me while I was wearing heels! That ugly old thing should have been thrown away ages ago along with half of the stuff my dad owns.

Looking down at what Hallie just gave me, I carefully opened it and slipped out the cream-colored invitation, opening it up in front of them. Their names were embossed in gold cursive writing with the details of the event right under it.

My eyes zoomed in on the RSVP and I glanced back up at them when I saw the number 2.

They noticed this and she gave me an excited grin, "You don't need to pretend, I always see those pictures on your Facebook profile with that handsome boy."

Are we talking about Gray?

"We're not dating," I stated, a bit of annoyance laced in my voice, "We're just..."

Friends who somehow ends up in bed together most of the time.

Like hell I would say that.

She quickly got what I meant, though I think she guessed the innocent explanation where we're more than just friends but there are no titles. If only it was that simple.

"There's still time until the wedding," she winked, "Knowing you, Clara, you can snatch any guy you want."

She's right and wrong at the same time. I like Gray, but my pride is screaming to make him do the first move, I don't mind being the first to wink or suggest, however, I'm one of those old fashioned kind of girls who wants the boy to ask her out, not the other way around.

Instead of saying that to her, I simply smiled at her and stuffed the invite back into its envelope, tucking it safely into my purse. When someone called out her name, she excused herself and left me to deal with her fiancé.

First name, Michael. Last name, I don't really care.

"So how are you?" he questioned, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Completely and utterly frustrated.

"Good," I replied quickly.

If you haven't noticed, I'm not really the one for small chatter. Like, if you're going to ask me about the weather, I'm going to walk out on you. Unless you're up to my standards, you're not worth my time.

And this guy is the perfect example of those kind of people.

Apparently, he didn't get the hint from my dry look as he continued on, "You've grown up so much, first time I met you, you were still in middle school."

First time I met him, I wasn't as cynical. Oh well, people change.

I wonder what goes in the minds of my family from my father's side. They rarely see me, and from the small amount of visits I make, I become even more different from the last one. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as drastic, but you could clearly tell that something went wrong.

My dad knows this well, but he chose to let me be because he thinks that it's better to give me space than to suffocate me with attempts of affection.

"Michael!" Hallie called out and he gave me a nod again before going to her.

The night went on with me barely moving on my spot, for the sake of my damn shoes. Some people came up to me to strike a small conversation or a session of catching up, but other than that, I remained silent.

After the toast was made and other festivities had died down, people were now slowly leaving. My dad came up to me and saw my disgruntled face, scrunching his eyebrows, he bent down and started undoing the laces of his shoes. My eyes widened when I realized what he was doing and before I can even start to protest, he had successfully removed both shoes and his toes were now sunk in the soil.

"Here," he said, pushing it towards my feet as a gesture for me to use them.

Dad, you're one of the sweetest men out there and I question everyday what made my mother let you go.

Oh yeah, Will's money.

"Thanks daddy," I mumbled, stepping out of my heels and getting into his boots. They were quite big and chunky on me, but I instantly felt better than when I was wearing my own pair.

When I expressed my appreciation, I saw him brighten up. I guess that was because I rarely acknowledge him so he thinks that these moments were kind of special.

And they are, because if you're me, you don't want to show what you really feel. You'll hold back at all cost.

He offered his arm as support and held onto my heels with his other hand. We clumsily made it to his little pickup truck and we quietly drove back home.

I returned him back his shoes and put my own before getting down. Entering the house, I kicked my heels back off and frowned at the amount of dirt clinging onto it. Well, that's the second one from today that needs a little bit of washing.

My dad came in soon after, making me turn to the front door, "Sleep well, Clara, you still have to drive home tomorrow."

As he slowly trekked upstairs, I yelled out after him, "Good night, dad."

Like before, his features lit up and he continued climbing up. With a sigh, I walked barefoot to the fridge and poured myself a glass of water before I plopped down on one of the hard couches. Taking my phone out, I scrolled through my messages for anything important, but aside from casual group messages, there was nothing there.

Well, as long as Vivian didn't report anything bad to me, I can relax. She might be horrible at most aspects, but she's diligent with keeping me in the loop. She's the main reason why I managed to keep on this little game with Gray. So for now, I can sleep in peace.

And that's exactly what I did. I woke up feeling refreshed as ever.

I had one more task to get through before I come home, get through breakfast with my dad. When I finished packing again and tidying up my room, I went downstairs after I did a shower.

"So Clara, how's everything with you mother and Will?" he questioned.

Oh shoot, I knew this will happen.

"I don't really know," I told him truthfully, "I'm usually out of the house."

He nodded as he shoveled some scrambled eggs into his mouth, "Everything good in school? Still doing cheerleading?"

This is painful. Our relationship went from normal to awkward in a small amount of time. He's used to the country lifestyle and I live my everyday life in a huge house, with a fancy car, and surrounded a bunch of rich friends.

There was huge gap that grew between us and I know he's trying his best to stitch it up while I'm trying to tone down my attitude, but we're both having great difficulty with this.

"Yeah," I answered, "You know cheerleading is my love."

With the pompoms and the cute uniform, I adored all of them but what I fell for is the way you create a routine for competitions. How much you practice just to nail a move, you learn how to balance even when the only thing holding you up is three pair of arms. It's the way that you jump around and pump up the crowd in school events, when you're there at the sidelines during a game, no matter how your team is doing, you try your best to keep the school spirit up.

Some people discriminate against cheerleaders because they think they're just doing it for the position or for the school popularity, but I do it for the energy and excitement it gives me.

During practice, you barely feel it, but when you're finally there at the real deal, you feel your blood pumping in your veins, your heart racing as you throw your body around to the flips and trick, and the endless screams from the crowd invigorates you.

I didn't do it for the sake of just being pretty, I did it because I loved it.

The after effects such as popularity, the boys, and an image only came after I did my best to rise above the others girls in my grade.

"And that's the reason why you wanted to stay there, didn't you?" he concluded.

It was true, I was given the offer of whether to move out with my dad as he goes back to this place or stay in that town with my mother and Will. I chose the latter for the sole reason that I heard good things about the cheer team at the high school I'm currently studying in.

Sure, I didn't want to see my mom schmoozing around with Will, but even at middle school, I dreamed about joining that team. Most girls who graduated there went straight to the collegiate teams and my high school currently holds the back to back champion title for three years.

Yeah, I don't really mind being called 'the blonde cheerleader' as long as I can continue doing what I do.

"Were you mad when I made my decision?" I questioned, quite afraid of his reply.

But as kind as he is, he shook his head, "Not really, I can see how happy you are from the pictures and videos I see of you cheering."

Looking into his eyes, I concluded something. He might not be angry, but he is rather sad that we're not together like this everyday.

So instead of saying anything more that will lead him into a more disappointed state, I continued on eating. I think working on this farm surrounded by his family is good for him, he has good company and he has a way to distract himself.

Soon enough, it was my time to leave. I said goodbye to my relatives living next door as dad loaded my duffel bag into the car. Walking up to him, I finally gave in and allowed him to hug.

"See you soon, Clara," he said, patting my back.

"See you, dad," I muttered, pulling away.

The next time I see him, I hope he's brighter than he is today. Like Hallie said, we still have some time before the wedding so I wish it's enough for him to find something he can be happy with.

And speaking of which, maybe I can round up Gray to be my date even if it's just for one time.

The drive home was rather peaceful, but as always, traffic got me into an irritated mood. When I was about an hour away, I was already hungry.

So I pulled into a McDonald's drive-thru. Not the healthiest option, but it will do.

As I waited in line, my phone started ringing and when I saw Vivian's name on the screen, my heart dropped to my stomach. Please tell me it's just about her breaking a nail or one of our teammates broke up with her boyfriend.

I picked up the call and placed it on speaker as I moved forward in the line, "What's up?"

"So you know about one of the boys throwing a party last night?" she asked and I hummed in confirmation. How can I not? That guy bugged me for a whole week to try me to go, I would have if it wasn't for this visit.

She heard me and continued on, "Well, the usual happened, some hooked up with others, we found a teammate passed out on the couch, had the worst hangover..."

She kept droning on and since I was next in line, I lowered my window as I listened, my ears opened for something out of the norm.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," she said,

"Welcome to McDonald's what can I do for you today?" a chirpy female voice inquired through the speaker.

And that was exactly when Vivian dropped the news, "Someone saw Gray and Evan Matthews' sister having breakfast at..."

I didn't even catch the last part of her sentence as my mouth suddenly let out a very inappropriate cuss for my current situation, "Fuck!"

I was gone for one damn day!

-------------------------

I barely crawled through my first week back into college. To make matters worse, I'm currently sick and even missed one of my best friend's birthday. I'm so frustrated right now and as someone suffering from insomia, I'm exhausted.

We made it through though and got a chapter up. Not much happened, but this is essential for future events. We needed to meet her father, we needed to trigger that wedding invitation, and of course, the very last part of this chapter, which leads me to this inquiry...

Question: What happened with Gray and Erin?

Now if you'll excuse me, it's eleven in the night, I'm tired and can barely breathe because my nose is clogged. I'll see you next chapter, don't forget to comment, vote, and follow. I love you all!