Bonding with the most unexpected person

 

BONDING WITH THE MOST UNEXPECTED PERSON

Throughout the next 3 weeks, everyone seemed to get used to Sheila quickly. They all considered her in everything, even family votes and stuff. David seemed very happy that she was around, treated her like she was his daughter and even bought her an iPhone and laptop. Claire seemed a bit stiff though but she acted civil towards her. Derek was the closest to her; he walked with her in school and always talked to her every time. People didn’t really know they lived together and Sheila seemed just fine with that. Claire too since she never really talked to Sheila at school or acted as if she knew her. She wasn’t mean or snobbish; she just didn’t talk much to her. Meanwhile, she and Lauren became close. She found out Lauren was an only child and super rich but she didn’t want anybody to know. Her parents were divorced but she lived with her dad. She also loved singing and wanted to be a pro. They became best friends and were always together. Sheila even told her about the Holland’s and everything but Lauren just loved her more as a friend. One day, Derek couldn’t take Sheila home since he had band practice so Lauren took her home instead.

“So see you tomorrow at school?” she said while getting out of Lauren’s Mercedes. “Sure thing. Chat with ya tonight?” Sheila nodded and waved as she drove off. She got into the house and put her backpack on the couch in the living room. She walked upstairs and was about to go to her room when she heard sobbing. She turned around and heard it coming from Claire’s room. She went there and lightly knocked on the door. When she didn’t hear a reply, she softly said “Claire, you ok?” she just continued sobbing so Sheila opened the door and saw her sprawled on the bed with her blonde head shaking due to her tears. She went inside and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Claire are you alright? Please talk to me, I just want to help.” Claire looked up finally, her eyes stained with run down mascara and her tank top pulled up showing her belly ring.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sheila asked again. Claire looked hesitant “Please don’t tell my dad but I-I hooked up with a guy.” she wanted to burst into tears again when Sheila held her up and said “How I don’t understand? Did you sleep with him?”

“No, no. I almost did but I couldn’t and he called me a w***e but I really liked him.” she started sobbing silently and Sheila hugged her to comfort her. She cried and cried till she almost soaking Sheila’s hoodie in tears.  

“It’s ok. Who was he?” Sheila finally asked.

“E-E-Eric Daniels.” Sheila stiffened a bit. He was one of Mike’s friends. That made a lot of sense, boys like that were only trouble. And not the sexy bad boy type either.

“It’s ok Claire.” Frankly, Sheila had never seen her like this, so vulnerable and small. When she always curled her lip at Sheila or acted indifferent she was anything but fragile. Claire finally calmed down and a bit then Sheila faced her again. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Claire nodded and said “Well, we were going out for a while, 3 weeks more like it. I really liked him and I thought he liked me too but I guess I was wrong.”

“So what happened to you today?” Sheila asked.

“We were together; I skipped last period so I could go to the park with him. After that he took me to his house and we made out for a while, then he wanted more. I told him I wasn’t ready yet, but he got mad and said that I was a w***e and that I did it with my ex but not him. I was surprised; he had never gotten so mad before. But when I wanted to go away, he pulled me down and tried to do it but I was able to get off him and run away.” She looked like she was going to cry again.

“Hey it’s ok; you don’t deserve to be treated that way so forget him. And you’re no w***e.” Sheila comforted her.

“What if he tells everyone I'm a s**t?” she asked.

“Well you aren’t, I'm sure he won't. Derek won't let him.”

Claire snapped up her head “Please don’t tell him. He told me not to go near any of Mike’s friends, he’s just gonna say I told you so.”

“Alright. Everything will be ok, trust me, he won't.” Sheila smiled assuring her. Claire gave a small smile like she was relieved, like the way a person does when they throw up.

“Thank you.”

“Hey no problem.” Sheila replied. But Claire shook her head and said “Not just for this, you being nice to me even though I am a b***h to you most of the time. I'm sorry for that.”

“Hey it’s ok. I don’t blame you. I would be paranoid if some stranger showed up in my life too and wrecked it.” Sheila shrugged understandingly.

“You haven’t wrecked a thing. Everyone here likes you. My dad seems to be happier ever since you showed up as if you triggered something in all of us. Believe it or not I'm glad you’re here. I know I can be a b***h sometimes but you teach me a lot of things, like to be less selfish or only think about me.”

“Thanks, that means a lot.” Sheila smiled. Claire put her hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze “No thank YOU, for everything. You’ve made everyone here happy, especially Derek.” her eyes twinkled as she said his name. Sheila bit her lip to keep the smile forming on her lips from spreading.

“My brother likes you and he doesn’t just like anybody. All the girls he’s out with are the same; bitchy and fake, but you are different he really likes you.” She said with a knowing tone.  Sheila finally blushed. They spent the whole afternoon talking till Derek came home from band practice. When he saw them talking, he was a bit confused but happy that his two favorite girls were getting along.

Sheila made Claire talk about the whole Eric thing to Derek, who swore to beat the crap out of him but that was after he told Claire ‘I told you so’. The next day dropped the Derek dropped them off at school and promised to met up during lunch. Lauren embraced Sheila when she got out the car and started gushing out “Hey girl! You didn’t come online last night?”

“Sorry, was busy with stuff.” She answered referring to her chat with Derek and Claire.

“Alrightttt! But I hope you can chat today.” They walked together in the hallways. Luckily, they were in the same homeroom so that was sorted. The next period was Language Arts; Lauren was also in her block too. When it was lunch time, they both went to the cafeteria together.

“So dish; what’s happening between you and Derek the hottie?” Lauren asked as they carried their trays to an empty table. Setting hers down Sheila answered shrugging “Nothing I guess. We’re just friends.”

“But it obvious that you totally like him Sheila.” Lauren said taking a spoon of her potato salad. Sheila sighed and said “Well Claire said he likes me.”

Lauren stopped her spoon midway into her mouth. “Claire told you that? I thought she was the Crowned Queen of Bitchiness?”

“Well we connected last night and we’re sort of friends now.”

“Hmm, everything’s going good for you I guess.” she mumbled taking a sip from her soda.

“Can I sit here?” They both heard someone ask shyly. They looked up to see it was Claire standing with her tray in her hand.” Sheila glanced back and saw the confused faces of the rest of Claire’s cool crowd.       

“Sure. Lots of space.” Lauren said tapping the bench enthusiastically. Claire sat down and put her tray down. “Um, Sheila that thing we talked about?” she said a bit uneasy.

“It’s ok, Lauren’s cool. She knows we live together.” Sheila assured. Claire blew out air in relief “Thank goodness. I thought it was going to be awkward.”

“So how’s you?” Lauren asked her.

“Well great thanks. Sheila’s a really cool person. I'm glad I know her.” she said smiling to Sheila.

“Me too, she was the first person to talk to me when I came here.” Lauren replied. And they all started talking, giggling and laughing like old friends. The bell rung and Claire said “I have AP Biology next, what a bummer.”

“Hey, I do too.” Lauren said.

“You guys are going to leave me all alone.” Sheila whined.

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet in gym next period.” Claire assured. Sheila watched them walk away and was secretly happy her two new friends were getting along. She walked down the hallway to her locker to get her books from her locker. After getting her combination lock, she took out her history book and closed it. She turned and saw Derek beside her.

“Hey.” she said awkwardly. He grinned his million dollar grin that always made her stomach flip over a hundred times.

“Hey, you busy?” he answered back.

“Well other than trying to get to history class, no nothing at all.” He smirked at her.

“Well good, I wanted to take you somewhere. That’s if you wanna be bad for once and skip class with me?” his eyes sparkled with mischief. Sheila put her finger on her chin and pretended to think about it.

“Well, there goes my good girl record, but ok!” Derek smiled like he was truly happy and said “Come on.” Stretching out his hand to her. She gingerly took it and followed him through the hallway. They sneaked out the entrance and to Derek’s silver BMW. Sheila texted Claire and Lauren telling them where she was going to be. Derek drove them to a park and stopped the car there. He opened the door for Sheila and left her blushing like the tomato she was. They walked to a shady area and sat down on the grass. Sheila inhaled the smell of pine and grass, she loved the outdoors.

“It’s lovely isn’t it?” Derek said reading her mind.

“Very.”

“Y’know my mom used to bring me here when I was a kid. We would stay here for hours and play I Spy with Claire. It was the best feeling in the world to be with her.” he said tugging at a piece of grass.

Sheila looked at him sympathetically “You must miss her?”

He closed his eyes as if in pain “A lot. Everything feels different without her. I can’t forget the day the doctor announced that she didn’t make it. I felt like a ton of bricks hit me.” It hurt her the way he talked. She wished she could touch that beautiful face of his and take away any form of sadness from them. She knew what it was like feeling pain and she didn’t want anyone to go through that. Especially Derek.

“The state took my mom from me when I was 7. They said she was unfit to take care of me and my sister. I saw her last when I was 10. I never knew my dad, but I guessed my mom hated him from the way she always talked about him. You at least have a family that loves you. Claire, your dad and even Penelope. Your mom would have wanted you to live life happy and not dwelling on the past.”

Derek looked at her and smiled. “You remind me so much of her. You both act sweet and smart. You always make me feel better no matter what, I'm so glad I met you Sheila.”

“Well I'm glad I can help.” she said with a smile. They looked at each other and for a crazy moment, Sheila thought they were going to kiss.  Derek leaned in a bit and stroked her face with his thumb, their faces were inches away but he just said “We should get some ice cream; the sun is probably getting too much and I don’t want anything to spoil your beautiful skin.” Even though she was a bit disappointed, she smiled when he called her beautiful. They stood up and Sheila dusted the grass from her black skinnies and blue tank top while walking to the nearest ice cream van. Derek had a chocolate brownie shake while Sheila had chocolate chip.

“You seem to like a lot of chocolate.” she teased Derek while they walked round the park.

“Doesn’t everyone?” he answered.

“Nah. I know a lot of people who don’t like chocolate. Mostly bimbos.”

“Well, everyone knows bimbos aren’t normal humans. They’re life sized Barbie’s.” he said making Sheila chuckle a bit.

“Oh yeah. Totally.” They continued talking about random stuff till Derek checked the time and said “Whoa, schools over. We should probably get home now.” Sheila nodded and threw her cone away since she didn’t like eating it.

On the ride home ‘Payphone’ by Maroon 5 was on and they both sang along. Surprisingly, Derek could sing. When they got home, Claire was already back. She smiled smugly when she saw her brother and Sheila holding hands.

“Where were you two delinquents?” she said folding her hands.

“Um, just the park.” Derek said holding Sheila tighter but in a gentle way. Sheila blushed a bit.

“Alright, I’ll be upstairs in my room. If you guys need me.” she said turning round and walking upstairs. “But I don’t think you will.” she thought to herself on the way. Mrs. Greenson came home shortly after them with Penelope, who jumped on Sheila and gave her a bone crushing hug and wet kiss.

“Hey don’t I get one?” Derek asked pretending to be hurt. Penelope also planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Come on Penelope, you have to get a bathe now.” Mrs. Greenson said to the little girl who followed her eagerly. Sheila chuckled “Penelope is such a cutie.”

Derek scoffed “That’s what you think, she's an angel around you guys but she’s a little hyperactive rhino with me.”

Sheila laughed “That’s because she's little she’ll come around when she's grown up.”

“Well Claire didn’t come around she’s still as annoying as ever.” Muttered Derek. Sheila giggled then they heard the open and David came in with his briefcase in hand.

“Oh hello Mr. Holland.” she said politely. He smiled at her “Hi Sheila how was your day?”

“Good thank you.” she replied.

“Hey dad, great to see you too.” Derek said waving his hand as if he was being ignored.

“Good to see you too Derek.” David smiled and walked to his study. Derek stood up and said “Well, I’ll be up in my room. Gotta shower this sexy body.” he smirked at Sheila. She rolled her eyes playfully “Yeah you wish.”

Actually, he DID have a sexy body. Even though she had never seen him shirtless or anything, he did look gorgeous no matter what he wore. His mesmerizing blue eyes that seemed to speak on their own when he looked at you. And his ruffled but sexy chestnut brown hair, that was always perfect even when he didn’t touch it. Or even his killer biceps that showed under his shirt sometimes. Sheila had to admit, he was hot but she wasn’t going to say it anytime soon. Everyone seemed busy or tired so she had no one to talk to. She wanted to text Lauren but she guessed that would be busy with homework or something.

She stood up and went upstairs then took a shower and changed into her pajamas. She lay down on her bed, her damp hair wetting the pillows. She thought about her current feelings well, growing feelings for Derek. She wondered if it was even right, if he even had the same feelings for her. She tossed and turned to her side and sighed. Falling in love was harder than she thought, especially when you’re not sure if the person has the same feelings for you. All her life, no one ever made her feel the way Derek did. Sure, there were guys in her life but most of them just wanted to get into her pants, but Derek was different. He made her laugh and feel safe every time she saw him, plus he had a killer hot body to with it. She checked the time and saw it was almost 11:00 and she was still awake. She stood up went downstairs to take a glass of water. As she left the kitchen, she noticed that the light in the study was on. She peeked at the door and saw David bent over some paper work.

She was about to walk away not wanting to disturb him when she heard him speak up “Who’s there?”

“It’s just me Sheila.” she said timidly walking in. H e broke into a weak smile, he was obviously tired.

“Oh you’re still awake it’s late you know.”  He said as she made her way to one of the chairs.

“I know I couldn’t sleep so I came to get a glass of water and I saw the light on.” she explained. He nodded “So what’s keeping you awake?”

“Thinking about some things.” More like someone.

  “Oh not about someone?” he said a small smile on his lips. Darn it…………..

“Uh, not really, somehow-“

“It’s about Derek right?” Oh man, this guy was practically photocopying her brain, was it really the obvious? Sheila sighed “Yes, it’s about Derek.”

David smiled and said “Well, I'm not surprised. The way he looks at you it’s very obvious that he likes you.” He nodded knowingly. Sheila was a bit surprised “But you’re his dad and no offence I thought that you wouldn’t want something like that to happen since I live here and it would be like taking advantage of you after everything you’ve done for me Mr. Holland.” David surprised her by chuckling.

“Firstly you don’t need to call me Mr. Holland, that’s my father’s name, call me David. Secondly, this is the 21^st century nobody does that anymore. You’re not taking advantage of me in anyway, everyone here is happy that you are here, especially my son. Derek’s been happier than I’ve seen him in a while and it’s because of you. So who am I to stop that?”       

  Sheila nodded taking everything he said “Thanks David, but are you sure he likes me like that because I really like him.” She with uncertainty.

David laughed “Sheila everyone but you sees it. The way he looks at you, talks to you, the way his eyes lit up when he hears your name or sees you walk into a room. It’s very obvious.”

“Funny that’s what Claire said.” Sheila mumbled. David leaned forward in his chair “Then it’s true.”

Sheila sighed “Yeah well I guess so, I hope so too.”

“Just give it a while, Derek is someone who likes to take things easy not rushing things.” David assured. Sheila sighed inwardly and closed her eyes. When she fluttered them open she said softly “Thank you so much David, for everything. I’ve never felt so wanted in my life, thank you for taking me even though you hardly knew me and making me feel like part of the family.”

“You don’t need to thank me for anything; you’ve also helped us too. Made us to realize what happiness and love is even after I lost my wife. I’ve never seen so much joy in this house.” He said with a little hint of sadness.

“My mom is a wreck as you know. I never knew my father and I'm sure he never knew me. But now, I feel like you’re my father.” She said her eyes already watering up. David gave her a hug, was a bit hard because of the huge mahogany desk between them, but it was a hug never less.

“More like father-in-law.” He whispered into her hair. Sheila couldn’t help but giggle to that.

“Well I better get to bed, tomorrow’s Saturday and I don’t know what gruesome shopping experience Claire is going to put us through.” Sheila said with a small groan.

“You go, sleep tight.” David said to her.

“Goodnight.” She replied leaving the study and going upstairs to her room. As she closed the door, she leaned on the frame, she sighed happily to herself. She jumped on her bed and it didn’t take long for sleep to overtake her. Her heart was a little less burdened.