The next week of school seemed to go along like any other. Lydia and Carter spent a lot of time together while she continued to avoid Riley whenever she could.

She'd accepted that their relationship was over. But she couldn't ignore the fact that they had spent their entire childhood side by side. She knew that he would always hold a piece of her heart.

The conversations between Lydia and Johnny continued without pause. All throughout the day the texts were exchanged. It was often light topics. But on occasion there would be more depth. Things about their childhoods. Sometimes even politics, which Johnny was well informed on. Lydia however, could have used some educating.

On Thursday evening she came home from school late after spending a few hours with Sadie in the library. She dropped her bag beside the door as she wandered into the kitchen. Nathan and Spencer were leaned against the countertop, embraced in an affectionate hold while they stared at each other with big eyes and wide grins.

"Hey," Lydia walked towards the fridge and took note of the outfits they were dressed in. Spencer had a pale pink suede coat on, a pair of black jeans and her knee length velvet boots. She looked elegant and sophisticated along with Nathan who was dressed in a tailored tuxedo. "You guys got big plans?"

"You don't remember honey?" Spencer questioned as Nathan freed her from his hold and pushed his sleeve up to check his watch. "We have an event thing for Grandpa's work in Ridgeview."

"Oh," Lydia nodded, retrieving a water bottle from the fridge. "I do remember that now. Weird it's on a Thursday night though."

"Mhmm. We're going to stay in a hotel tonight and travel back in the morning once we're rested," Spencer explained. She picked up a scarf from the countertop and began wrapping it around her neck.

"You can watch Liam for the night, right?" Nathan asked, sliding his hands into his suit pockets.

It was a little amusing to see him dressed to the nines. She was used to seeing him in jeans and a tee or his maroon shirt and track pants. Her step dad scrubbed up well though and from the googley eyes that her mother was making, it was obvious that she thought so too.

"Yeah I can watch the little booger," Lydia nodded. "Can you leave money for pizza?"

"That depends, are you going to order it with anchovies like you did last time?"

Lydia almost spat out her mouthful of water at the reminder of the petty prank that she'd played on her brother a few months ago. Nathan rolled his eyes with an exasperated smile and pulled a few twenties out of his wallet, handing it to Lydia who was fitting with giggles.

Not long after that, her Mom and Nathan left with an overnight bag and an excitement that was so pure that Lydia couldn't help but smile. The two of them deserved a little time to themselves.

Lydia changed into a pair of harem pants and a fitted jumper before she walked down the corridor to her brothers bedroom. She flicked the door handle and let it open, hitting the wall with a thud which caused Liam to glance up from his bed where he read a novel.

"What?" He questioned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Where's your contacts?"

"Mom's waiting on a new set to arrive," he shrugged. "Can I help?"

Lydia rolled her eyes at her smartass kid brother. His dark brown hair fell over the rim of his black glasses. Like her mother and Lydia, Liam had a thick head of wavy dark hair. But he took after his father with a paler skin tone and light hazel eyes. The features were quite striking and she knew that he'd be a looker when he was older. But right now he was just her dorky little brother.

"I'm ordering pizza for dinner. What do you want?"

"Chicken, cranberry and Camembert," Liam answered without hesitation, glancing down at his book before he whipped his head back in her direction. "No anchovies!"

Lydia gave him a wicked smile and the two engaged in a threatening stare down as she left the room, slowly closing the door with an unwavering glare until it clicked shut.

She traipsed the quiet corridor as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening the pizza app and kicking her bedroom door shut with her foot. She fell down on to her bed and punched in the order which would be delivered in twenty minutes.

Once she was done, she wondered if her next thought was one that she should ignore or pursue. She bit down on her lip and turned the phone over in her hand for a few moments, verbally deliberating the thoughts with Vidia who yawned in response.

Deciding that it was childish to even get nervous about something so minor, she unlocked her phone and dialled Carter.

"Hello," Carter answered relatively fast. "What's up?"

"Hey," Lydia grinned, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. "So I'm just hanging out, home alone— ish. And I wondered, what are your thoughts on pizza?"

"I'm a fan," he replied with a curious tone. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you wanna come and have some? You'll have to come through the window though. My little brother will squeal."

"Damn James," he hollered. "It's been a while since I've climbed through a girls window! How can I turn down an offer like that?!"

Lydia felt her cheeks heat up and she shook her head from side to side as she put a hand across her eyes. She suddenly felt ridiculous. Carter probably wasn't the type of guy that spent time with girls who couldn't bring them through the front door. Even more so considering that her parents weren't even home and she still had to bring him through the window.

"I'm teasing," Carter laughed when she didn't respond. "I'm heading out the front door right now. I'll be ten."

—

I am so excited about this prequel that I'm writing guys. Ahhhhhh. See, I have this process when I write my books. The ideas, they come to me. Which is why I haven't done a story about the triplets yet. Which I do apologise for. But I have to wait for the feeling. It's hard to describe but my works legit hit me like a brick wall and if I don't get the 'feeling' I can't write them. But this prequel, phew it hit me good. Haha. Like with TQBBBAM. That just hit me one day. An idea for the character and a general theme of the book and I started writing it immediately with no plot plan or structure and I just didn't stop until it was finished. 😂 so there's a little insight to my frantic brain. Haha. I love you guys.