"Vanessa get up!" Roni basically shouted as I barely opened eyes, "we need do go" she shook me again until I spoke up.

"What?" I complained as I turned over and closed my eyes, what the hell was she talking about?

"We need to go before Malcolm and Lily wake up" she explained as last night's current events returned to my memory, "I'm already up" I lied as I pulled myself off the couch.

"What time is it?" I yawned, stretching my arms far out until I heard my shoulders crack and then I was satisfied that I was able to move without falling back to sleep.

"It's 5:30" she replied, getting her stuff from the bathroom, I gathered my limited items and stuffed them into my bag and helped Veronica with her stuff. "I won't let him take you" I reassured her,

"No one can, he said that if I don't go with him he'll tell Mildred that I want to go home"

"I'll drive" I yawned as I got into the driver's seat, I only ever drive, it's not like she didn't want to it's just she's never volunteered.

An hour and a half went by and I was almost falling asleep, her phone kept going off with notifications and texts from Malcolm, telling her to get ready, "turn off your GPS" I warned "in case he really wants you to come with him" She automatically switched it off and mine too.

"What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes.

"It's 10 past seven" she smiled, making me yawn again, "hey, do you mind driving? I'm really tired and I'm not gonna be able to stay awake"

"Sure" she answered but hesitated before getting out to switch sides.

I lay back in the passenger's seat and closed my eyes, within minutes I knew I would have to drive again, "do you even know how to turn it on?" I laughed, turning the key in the ignition for her, "you have your own car remember?"

"Ehh, no" she replied as she stepped on the excelerator making us bolt forward, "pretty sure I just got whiplash" I moaned, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Sorry"

"You said you had a car"

"I lied"

"Why?"

"Cause I don't have my license" she said as if it was the end of the world, "Why didn't you get one? I got one the day I turned 16 and a half cause I failed the first one"

" I didn't see much use in getting one, what would I drive anyways? It's not like Mildred has a Tesla cooped up in the garage" She shrugged, "Ugh, ok fine I'll drive but can we stop for coffee?"

"You can, I'm laying off on the caffeine, it's giving me acne" she moaned as she once again got out of the car to switch sides with me.

"If you insist" I said, pulling off the freeway and into some small town which didn't have a Starbucks So I had to just order some from this weird local cafe.

"I'm so tired!" I complained, waking Veronica up from her nap but I didn't care, I was too grumpy and hungry but we were on the freeway again. "Two more hours" she yawned, making me yawn too.

"Do you know who our father is?" She blurted out making me wake up almost completely, "no" I lied but she knew well that I knew the truth.

"Vanessa, do you know who our father is?"

"Yeah" I sighed, "why do you care?" I asked, genuinely concerned,

"Cause it's my right to know" she said as if I should've already known the answer, "ask Clara about him" I replied, not wanting to tell her that Steven had continued his life and had a family of his own which included a child and a baby on the way.

"Why can't you just tell me?" She rolled her eyes,

"Because Clara should be the one to tell you" I defended which she did not take well.

An hour went by of complete silence, "There's one specific memory I have from 3rd grade" she began out of nowhere.

"We were making cards for Father's Day and there were a few kids in the class whose fathers weren't around but still made cards so they could send them to them, there was me and this other kid, Ryan" she smiled, she was so distracted by remembering her childhood. "Ryan's Dad left when he was born and moved to a different country so we sat out, he made a Mother's Day card instead and I was the only one with no parents" she continued seriously, her smile faded and it looked like she was going to cry but she held whatever she was feeling back. "My teacher told me that I had to have someone, she said that I should make someone up cause she wouldn't let me sit out in art class. So I made up a little brother, his name was Ben, he from then on became as real as he could possibly be, I almost convinced myself he was real" she laughed, looking up at me, "I had 'Ben' and even though he was made up he distracted me and kept me busy" she explained tears slowly began to slip down her cheeks.

"That's why you like Jacob so much" I finally understood as it clicked, "yep, he fit the description of Ben almost perfectly" she laughed as her face turned red.

We finally pulled into the driveway, my mind racing about our father and weather I should tell Veronica about him or not.

I dragged myself upstairs and trudged into my room and stopped midtracks when I looked up I saw that everything was gone, the posters from the walls, my clothes, my makeup and my camera equipment. I ran to my dresser and opened the secret shelf to find my diary and spare phone, I let out a sigh of relief. Where the fuck was my stuff. I made my way downstairs to find Veronica staring at a bunch of boxes, "Isn't that you're Leo poster and Berkeley hoodie?"

"Yes, that bitc- Karen is pulling my strings, she had this thing stuck in her head that I need to move out as soon as possible so I can grow up" I laughed, picking up boxes and making my way back up the stairs, "let me help" Veronica offered as she grabbed another box.

"You really don't have much stuff other than clothes and makeup" she laughed as I brought up the final box, "Yeah I got rid of the small stuff after I found out, to rid some memories and to clear space" I answered, "wouldn't suppose you'd want any of my old clothes? Karen basically frames them, she says that it reminds her of the 'old' me"

"Nah, Thanks though" she smiled as she helped put back all of my stuff.

"You have a diary?" She asked, I must have left my drawer open, I turned around, I panicked, "Don't touch that!" I shouted, her expression changed immediately, "Oh, Sorry" she said, backing away, I always over react when it comes to that diary. "sorry, I hate that thing but it means a lot to me" I apologized, pointing at the diary, "my bad, I'm sorry too, I used to have a diary but I left it behind with my other ones" she smiled.

We finally put everything away and we were gonna watch a movie until I remembered that I had to pick up the kids. "I'm going to pick up the kids" I shouted up the stairs to Veronica, "I'll come with you" she called back.

"Looks like Karen's staying wherever she is for another few days" I sighed, realizing I'd have to take care of the kids.

We reached Johns apartment and knocked on the door, "Ah, you, how are you doing?" He asked, he never liked me, maybe cause I wasn't an actual Anderson and he was convinced that I was stealing from Karen.

"Can I have the kids please" I asked blandly, Veronica was waiting in the car cause she wasn't up to meeting someone else.

"She's here!" He shouted but he kept his glare on me, one by one they ran out the door with their bags, "Stop! Say thank you" I said as they stopped and trudged back to say goodbye. I held in my laughter, watching them hug him and run away, "thanks" I said before leaving behind them with my arms crossed.

"Roni!" Jacob cried as he ran into her arms, "Hey Jacob" she smiled, giving him a hug.

We went home and I wrote about everything in my diary, about our father, what Karen was really doing and how thankful I was to have Veronica in my life.

(Hey guys! Thanks for reading and sorry for taking so long to update, I'm in the middle of writing the ending to this book😂❤️)