Tatum McKay hated family night 

Since her mother and father were always busy with work, Tatum usually ate dinner by herself or with Maisie on the days she didn't have plans, which she actually enjoyed very much. She didn't have her parents nagging at her while she ate. It was peaceful and quiet for her. However after Maisie recommended more family time, her mother decided to implement familly nights on Wednesdays. This meant that everyone in the family were required to drop their plans for that night and that they would all have dinner and play a board game together as a family. Usually, it was bearable with Maisie around, but since she moved to college, Tatum knew it was going to quickly turn into a disaster. Not to mention, Tatum was already in a horribly foul mood today, because Liam lost her songbook and it was nowhere to be found. They checked everywhere and they still couldn't find it.

"Tatum, can you please come down and set the table?" the blonde's mother beckoned from downstairs. Tatum held back a groan and swung her legs to the side of her bed. As she trudged out of the confines of her bedroom and towards the kitchen, Tatum noticed that the house was a lot quieter without Maisie. Instead of hearing the faint sound of pop music playing from her room, she heard complete silence. She sighed softly as she pulled her eyes away from her sister's room. Tatum then continued to walk downstairs and into the kitchen where her mother was hustling around, trying to finish dinner in time. 

Glancing over at her daughter, she gave the blonde an incredulous look. "Are you just going to stand there? Help do something. Your father will be home soon," she snapped angrily. Tatum pressed her lips in a straight line. "You know Maisie would always help out with dinner. You could do the same." 

Inhaling sharply, Tatum decided to keep her mouth shut. She knew if she said some clever remark, she would have her arse beaten. As her mother took the chicken out of the oven, Tatum set plates and silverware around the dining room table. After she was done, her mother brought out all the food and placed it in the middle of the table. Tatum then took her seat and waited for both of her parents to join her. It took about five minutes for her mother to come out of the kitchen while it took another ten minutes for her father to walk through the front door. Instead of going into his office to set down his things, he went straight for the dining room table. Unbuttoning his blazer, he sat down at the head of the table. 

With that, the three of them dug into the food. Complete silence overcame them. The only thing that could be heard was their chewing and the scraping of silverware against the plate. Maisie was the one that engaged in small talk and since she was gone, the table was silent. However, her mother broke the silence by clearing her throat. "How was your first day of junior year, Tatum?" 

The blonde only shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat her food. She was in no mood for the small table talk. "Tatum, why don't you answer your mother with actual words? It seems like she wants to have a decent conversation with you and she can't do that if you don't talk to her." 

"It was fine," Tatum replied slowly and shortly, venom seeping through her tone. 

Grimacing in annoynace, her father narrowed his eyes, "Lose the attitude, Tatum. This is supposed to be family night and you're killing the mood." 

"Whatever," she mumbled. 

Her father inhaled sharply at his daughter's sudden rudeness at the dinner table. His fingers clenched into a fist. "Tatum, what is your problem today? Is it that time of month again?" 

"Michael!" her mother scolded as she reached over to slap her husband. 

Tatum pressed her lips in a tight line once more as she glanced up at her father who had an unreadable expression on his face. Dropping her fork on her plate, she licked her chapped lips. "So you're just going to associate something girls cannot control with a bad mood?"

"And for the record, I'm in a bad mood because of Maisie," both of her parents immediately exchanged confused glances with each other. Now that Tatum had their attention, she decided that she wasn't going to hold back anymore. She licked her lips "All my life, I've been stuck in Maisie's shadow. It seems like its always been about her from the very start. It's Maisie this, Maisie that. Sometimes, it feels like the whole freaking world worships her. There are even days where I'm convinced that nobody knows my real name because they only know refer me as Maisie's little sister. Do you know how much it sucks? Oh wait, you don't. You worship her too. You always compare me to her like I'll be an exact replica of her. News flash, I don't want to be her. Not now, not ever. So, stop desperately trying to make me like her, because I'll never be like her."

At the end of this rant, Tatum was almost on the verge of tears. It felt like she didn't know herself anymore, because it seemed like everyone created an identity for her to follow. However, she decided that she wouldn't let people define her anymore. 

Her parents sat still and silent as they took in every word that their daughter had just said to them. Without allowing them to respond to her fit, Tatum stood up abruptly and walked back into her bedroom. She heaved her door shut and locked it. She pressed her back against the door as she slid down to her knees. Placing her face in her hands, she sighed heavily as she allowed the tears to spill. After letting all her emotions out, she decided that a good night sleep was much needed. 

And it was. 

As the birds sang a song outside her window, Tatum felt her eyes flutter themselves awake uncontrollably. She slowly glanced over at her nightstand to see that her alarm would go off any second. She grumbled underneath her breath before she turned it off. After laying in bed for the next ten minutes, Tatum gained enough strength to heave herself off the bed and start to get ready. When she was done, she went downstairs into the kitchen. The house was empty by this time. Both of her parents had already left for work which seemed convenient for her, after what went down last night. 

Tatum grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and waited for Graham's signature knock on her front door. It only took him about three minutes to do so. As soon as it ended, Tatum rushed out of her house. After what happened yesterday night, her house was the last place she wanted to be. "You okay?" Graham questioned, snapping her out of her elusive daze.

"Yeah," she responded quietly as she hugged her elbows. Graham gently nudged her, causing her to sigh softly. "I just got into a fight with my parents last night."

Graham immediately understood. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he pulled her in tightly in embrace. "Me and Liam will always be here to talk, okay? If you need anything, you can call us. Don't expect yourself to fight alone." 

Tatum smiled widely at Graham's attempt of reassurance. The two best friends walked peacefully to East High in silence. The fluffy haired brunet knew that Tatum was in no mood for small talk and he understood. As they strode through the entrance of East High, Liam threw himself in the middle once again. "Tay, what's wrong?" Liam instantaneously noticed and queried. 

"Family issues," she replied plain and simple. 

Liam nodded in understandment and left the conversation hanging in the air. The three of them then began walking to their lockers. "So, the auditions for the fall musical are today. . ." Liam audibly brought up causing both Graham and Tatum to tilt their heads in confusion. 

 "What?" he asked. "My parents are making me audition. Something about looking good on a transcript." 

Both of them shrugged their shoulders. "I don't think I could ever imagine you in a musical, Liam," Tatum chuckled quietly as she shook her head. 

Before anyone could say anything else to each other, the PA system kicked on. Instead of hearing Principal Gutierrez's voice through the speaker, all the students heard Miss Jenn's high pitched perky voice. "Will Tatum McKay please head to my office. Tatum McKay." 

The blonde tilted her head to the side as her face contorted with absolute confusion. Tatum racked through the memories of yesterday, she never remembered introducing herself to Miss Jenn. How did she know her name and what did she want from her? She wasn't like Maisie who had talent and ability. However, Tatum felt herself finding Miss Jenn's office at the opposite side of the campus. Knocking on the door softly, the new teacher immediately snapped her head up. "Tatum McKay, just the girl I wanted to see! Come in, come in." she exclaimed from her desk.

Tatum chuckled timidly and pushed the office door slightly open. Her eyes first immediately land on her desk where her songbook was laying. "You're probably wondering why I called you in here for, huh?" 

"Yeah," she whispered out, barely audible, taking a seat in front of Miss Jenn. 

Miss Jenn kept her beaming smile and continued, "Yesterday after school, EJ Caswell stopped by my office with this." 

She then picked up Tatum's songbook. "You have no idea how many nice words he had said about you. I won't tell you all of them, because that's for him to share with you. However, I will say he said that you had talent and then he gave me this book. I felt hesitant to read this, because I didn't know you and I thought it would be an invasion of privacy if I read this alone." 

Tatum frowned at the thought of EJ reading her songbook. There were some songs that she wrote that were very personal. "Wow, um, I respect you for not reading my book without my permission. I really appreciate that, but it doesn't help me that EJ read it." 

"He had the right intention, but wrong execution. I agree that he shouldn't have read your book, but how he described you was really sweet. I mean I wish I had someone talk about me like that," Miss Jenn gushed to herself. EJ was never the compliment type which was fine with her. However, she found it weird that her ex would still speak highly of her. She hadn't talk to the kid ever since they broke up. "Anyway, I was hoping that we could go over your songs together. I personally would love to read them and I want you to know that this is a judgement-free zone. So you will only hear positive feedback from me, because if this is your passion, I want to be one who supports it." 

Tatum's smile widened. For some reason, she felt comfort within Miss Jenn, even though the two had been talking for about ten minutes. "I suppose." she answered hesitantly.

"Only if you want to, hun. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything," Miss Jenn was quick to reassure.

Tatum only nodded and gestured her to open the songbook. With that, the two of them dove into her written songs. It took so long that Miss Jenn had to excuse Tatum out of two class periods. She knew that her parents wouldn't be happy about it, but she honestly didn't care. Miss Jenn was so supportive, it honestly surprised her. "Tatum, the one you starred, what does it mean?" 

"It's my favorite," she confessed. "I wrote it not too long ago. I bottle my emotions up and I don't let them out for quite awhile. And, I just write songs to cope. But the day I wrote this, I was mad about everything that was going on in my life and I just decided to let loose. Let me tell you though, it was brutal." 

"I can tell," Miss Jenn laughed softly as she reread the song over and over. "All I'm going to say is you have major talent. EJ was definitely right about you. All these songs are beauitfully written and well crafted. I want to work on this with you some more and I highly reccomend that you audition for the musical or become stage crew even. I think it will give you experience that you may need for the future and I promsie you it is a fun environment to work in." 

With that, Tatum decided that she was going to audition for the fall musical with Liam. 

━━☆

AUTHOR NOTES. 

thank you guys for all of your support on this book!! i really appreciate it, please continue to do so because it helps me motivate me! voting and commenting makes this whole process a lot faster. i love reading your comments while you read this book and right now, it's been a fun book to write. in the next chapter, it will dive more into episode 1 and the drama with ricky, nini, and ej. also tatum and ej will speak to each other!!

also, tatum does NOT have a good relationship with her parents. so that's why she acted the way she did and maisie will actually make an appearance soon!! so please continue to support this story by voting and commenting.

i'm pretty sure i will stick to a schedule when updating so i'll be updating this book every wednesday if i have time:). please know that can fluctuate because i have a busy schedule but writing helps me through all of it. also sorry for any typos, typing with long nails is kinda hard lmao.