"Look at the stars!" I sang into my makeup brush. "Look how they shine for youuu!" I bopped my head as I dabbed on some highlighter and blush onto my face. I continued to hum under my breath and leant over to pick up the hairspray on the shelf. I pressed down on the can's bud and sprayed it all around my hair to lock in the curls.

I walked in front of the mirror and stared at myself. A white short skirt, a black cardigan and a cute little pearl necklace. I wouldn't normally wear something so, different. But today I actually felt like it. I was ready to take on what today had to bring.

I took my phone out of my charger and walked downstairs, slotting my feet into my shoes and grabbing some quick breakfast to take with me.

After yesterday's performance at tryouts, I felt happy. Happier than I'd ever felt before. It fr good doing something active and I thought I should endure in a lot more physical activities.

I might even go on a run after school if I felt up for it..

Okay, that could be stretching it a bit far.

I dropped my phone into my bag and pulled it over my shoulder, keys in hand as I locked the door behind me.

I put my bag on the seat beside me in the car, but just as I was ready to pull out of the drive, my phone pinged. I hummed and leant over the console to pull my phone out of my bag. The message was from Callum. Although it necessarily wasn't a message. It was an image.

I stopped humming and cautiously pressed onto the notification. It took me straight to our messages.

My heart dropped and I felt all the colour drain from my face. It was picture of Dad and Mrs Walker. But this time they weren't checking into some hotel like Callum described. Instead they were walking into some random house that was actually not far from here. It must of been her house because Dad didn't live anywhere else but here — though he never came home. I always presumed he slept at the office or at a friends house.

I felt my stomach churn and I switched off my phone, laying my head down on the console. I really felt like I was going to be sick, that bad that I had to cup my mouth just in case. I breathed in and out but that didn't seem to help whatsoever so I grabbed out my water bottle and a banana. I chewed slowly on it and gulped. I took several slow sips from my drink and leant my head back against the head rest.

To my dismay my phone pinged again and I stared down at it, contemplating whether or not to check it. I breathed in and out slowly and counted to four. In a matter of seconds I dragged my phone to my lap and my shaky fingers pressed onto the new notification.

This was from

last night. Believe me now?

Seen

I couldn't bare the thought of my own Father cheating. My Mom was the best Mom in the world and yet he had decided to cheat on her.

Did love even exist?

Maybe Dad was just seeing how Miss Walker was and he was not actually cheating. This could be a total misunderstanding and Callum was seeing this all wrong.

I sat quietly in my car, the sound of silence almost being too defending to cope. I really didn't like being by myself, so I took one glance at the clock and tossed my phone down onto the seat beside me, buckling myself in. I started up the engine a second later.

I needed to check it out for myself and I could laugh in Callum's face when I tell him it was all a misunderstanding and he got it all wrong. I could laugh in his face and tell him Dad wasn't cheating.

Luckily — though this morning wasn't at all lucky now — I had decided to leave early because I wanted to pop by the library in school to loan out some books...but that could now wait.

Dragging a shaky hand through my blonde curls, I took a detour to school.

Abbot's Avenue

I cursed to myself as I ran a red light, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. I hoped no one saw me do that..

Why would Callum send me that? He knew I didn't want to be involved with any of this, in whatever my Dad had been doing. But he chose to overstep the line and make me apart of this anyway... and now he had gotten me paranoid and curious.

Thanks a lot Callum.

I took a few turns until I turned onto the correct street. Abbot's Avenue. I bit harshly down on my lip and continued to drive down the street. Scanning the house numbers, whilst also trying not to crash, I pressed my foot gently down on the break as I saw the house I had been looking for. I quickly parked my car on the side of the road.

There was only one car in the drive and it wasn't Dad's. If Dad was cheating or living here, surely he'd need his car.. Right?

I noticed how my fingers started tapping against the wheel. I really felt like I could be sick any second.

Ten minutes passed and the first bell to school was drawing nearer and nearer making me impatiently tap my fingers against the wheel faster and faster. Over and over again.

My heart skipped a beat just as the door to the house swung open. I gulped as man dressed in a shabby black suit stepped out, a brief case in his hand.

But unfortunately, he was facing away from me making it hard to see if it was him or not. I felt myself sit right at the edge of my seat, impatient as ever.

Dad had more of a smaller build to the last time I saw him, so this surely could not be him.

A sigh of relief left me mouth. This must not be Dad.

Knowing it wasn't him, I kept my eyes trained on the guy anyway. I could tell Callum that he misunderstood all of this and mistook Dad for this guy. I laughed and fell back in my seat.

Then he turned around. "No. No, no." I slapped my hand over my mouth. I could now see his face. It was as if all the air had been smacked clear from my lungs, puncturing them and my heart.

He looked so, happy?

Why did he look happy?

I watched and I watched, I didn't take my eyes off him. All of a sudden, I saw a lady who I recognised as Miss Walker. She stepped out, wearing nothing but a dressing gown and a smirk on her face. She leant up, blatantly kissing him, my Dad, on the lips.

What did we do to deserve this? Was Mom not good enough? Were me and Callum not good enough?

I contemplated whether or not I should of of sent a picture to Callum to tell him he was right... all along. But he would just say I told you so, or comment about how stupid I had been for not believing him sooner.

I watched with glossy eyes as my Dad waved goodbye to Miss Walker.

Then he bent down. He was now caressing her stomach. Why was he stroking her stomach.

My mouth hung open when Miss Walker turned to the side, her hands also caressing her belly. Wa she pregnant? And if she was, how long had she been pregnant for? Was he the father?

I felt my hands begin to shake even more. I wasn't just feeling sadness, but I was also feeling anger. How could he do this? What had we done wrong? What made him leave?

Did I make him leave? Was that it?

A sob left my throat and my head dropped limp downwards. I shut my eyes and a flood of tears poured out of my eyes, ruining my makeup. My makeup was very pretty and I felt very pretty. But now, the wind had been knocked from my sails and I felt so horrible within myself. Did I make my Dad leave?

Whilst Mom had been slaving away working day and night when she could to just keep us in the house under a roof, he had been here getting me and Callum's old middle school teacher pregnant. He had been living a double life this whole time and we never knew. He never had the decency to tell us.

Was I such a bad person to deserve this? What had I done wrong to make my own Dad drop me from his life?

I wiped my eyes frantically with the palms of my hands but there was no point because more and more tears, warm, eye burning tears rolled down my cheeks..

I roughly rubbed away the new tears that were forming in my eyes and I squinted. My eyes followed my Dad as he ran across the road over to his car that was parked on the curb. How did I not see his car? How did I not see this all coming? How stupid had I really been?

I bit down on my trembling lip and grabbed my phone back into my clammy hands, hot tears were dropping down onto both my hands and the screen.

Can't make it in

today. I feel super sick.

I ignored the girls' worried messages and turned my phone completely off. I wasn't ignoring them just because I was heartless and doing it for the fun of it, but I couldn't deal with anything else right now. I didn't want to let anything else in at the moment.

I took a deep breath and wiped away my tears. I wasn't going to tell Mom.

Did she even know about what Dad had been doing behind her back? Or had she been just as clueless as me and Cal?

I shook my head and reversed, spinning round the car and driving back the way I came. Instead of running back home and crying into the comfort of my own bed, I drove down to the beach.

I parked and got straight out, leaving my phone inside the car. There www no point in taking it anyway.

I took the pathway — the same pathway me and my friends walked down yesterday — and scrambled onto the beach. I hadn't been down to the beach by myself in a very long time. I used to

come here when I wanted to clear my head or if I was just stressed if I felt like I didn't want to do face masks and self care at home to calm me down through my struggles. I hated being cooped up somewhere by myself for a very long time because it made me feel trapped.

Mentally and physically.

I perched down on a big rock and pulled my legs up to my chest, leaning my chin on my knees whilst I just stared right out to the ocean. The beach wasn't as busy as it was yesterday but that made me feel better, and relieved.

I sat there, soaking in everything. Soaking in the warm heat shining down on me from the blazing sun up above. Soaking in the smell of sea salt that was wafting into my nose. Soaking in the sight of the aqua blue waves crashing down making me want to just dive right in and swim until I reached somewhere that wasn't here. Somewhere that was really far away.

Would anyone really care?

Before I knew it I felt a multitude of tears fall from my eyes, dripping down onto my bare legs. I jolted at the feeling. It feels like acid was burning my skin. It was like every memory of my Dad was acid, pouring down on me, burning and exposing my deepest wounds. Exposing the memories I'd ever had with him.

Come to think of it now, I'f never properly felt like his daughter. He hadn't ever treated me as one. Nor had he been a good Dad to Callum, either.

I had been so stupid. Clueless too.

I let out a choked sob, letting the wind devour me whole. This was where I felt most free. By the water.

"Willow?"

My head snapped up at the sound of my own name and I felt utterly embarrassed. How many times had I embarrassed myself in front of him? I had lost count. He must of thought I was so stupid.

I tried to not let my gaze drop from his slightly worried face and down to his exposed torso that evidently dripping wet. His eyes devoured me, scanning over me for any physical signs of wounds or scrapes. But there were none.

The only deep wound I had, as weird as it was, was inside. Bleeding out. I ft like I was gasping for air.

His lean muscles tensed under my stare. His top half was exposed, giving me a whole overview of how muscular he really was — telling me exactly how much he worked out. That six pack didn't come without some sort of cost.

His lower half, where the v-line in his body disappeared down under his black wetsuit. His hair was dripping wet, ( like the rest of his body), and almost casting a shadow over his eyes that made them ten times more intimidating and dark as he stared down at me. I admired the specs of sand dusted around his face, mixing into the many specs of freckles he had. He was full of surprises.

Was he surfing again?

My eyes dropped down to the dark green board wedged under his right arm. Yep. He was definitely surfing.

I looked up to meet his eyes, suddenly sinking under his heated gaze. There was some sort of look in his eyes. Worry? Discomfort? I had no clue, I couldn't seem to decipher it.

"Can I sit?" He spoke, after some time, breaking the awkward silence I had created.

I gave him a meek nod and he wedged his board into the sand. I watched in slight awe as the sun shone down on him, making his tan skin glow in the honey coloured sun. Before I could process what was happening, he took a seat on the same rock as me and stared out towards the sea with his dark brows furrowed partly.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" He asked and I dragged my eyes away from his face. The water did look beautiful. Glistening in the sun, and all.

I cleared my throat and subtly dried my eyes and cheeks. "It is."

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

He broke his eyes away from the water and down to me. But I just let his eyes linger on me. Only because the heat felt nice on my skin.

After some time, I plucked up the courage and looked up at him. I had never been this close to him before — I could feel the butterflies fluttering around inside my stomach and it was driving me crazy.

As much as I liked looking into his eyes, I knew I shouldn't be looking for this long. Before turning away I noticed how he wasn't looking into mine. Instead he was looking at my cheeks which most likely had smudged mascara and dried up tears on. I should of looked at myself in the mirror beforehand — yet I didn't know I was going to bump into Theo did I?

He let his eyes linger on me for a little longer, making me swallow thickly. I had never had this much attention on me before... I kind of liked it.

Suddenly, I felt my heart beat faster as he brought his thumb to my skin, wiping away the fallen tears before he finally meet my eyes. Every emotion inside of me stopped. I felt like putty in his hands.

"Want to get out of here?" He asked softly, his voice slightly raspy. He retracted his thumb from my face and I let out a shaky breath that definitely didn't go unnoticed.

I felt thankful for him not asking what I was doing here or why I was crying on the beach.

I found myself nodding and at that, he stood up, dusting his hands off and pulling me up to my feet. He grabbed his board and signalled for me to follow after him, back up the sandy walkway.

I followed behind him like a lost puppy and watched him as he put his board away, muscles flexing as he did that.

I looked down at the floor, scuffing my shoes against the stony ground. This was crazy. My friends probably won't believe me when I'd tell them I went somewhere with Theo Willis.

I shook my head cleared of my thoughts and brushed a hand through my hair. It just looked a mess now. I wasn't even sure if it was curly anymore — it was more of a cats nest.

When I looked back up to Theo, my mouth dropped slacked open. How on Earth was he already dressed? He was dressed up in a white baggy top and a pair of black sport shorts, his hair was still disheveled and damp. "You coming or not?" He called, looking over his shoulder. I was just about to follow walk over when I remembered I had taken my car with me.

"What should I do with my car?" I asked, calling over to him and pointing back to my Honda.

He thought for a second, pushing his hair back. "I'll drive you back here after."

I silently nodded and walk over to his car, my fingers coming to graze the door handle. I was getting into Theo Willis' car. Holy fuck. Was this even real? I cleared my throat and pulled open the car door and carefully slid myself in. The seats were made out of soft leather and I felt myself slowly sinking into them in peace. The whole car smelt just like him.

I was in Theo Willis's fucking mustang!

A/N: