Chapter Eight: Harper

(Troy's POV)

Once I get off the phone with Chad, I come back to where my mom and Harper are talking.

"Mom, if it's ok, Chad, Taylor, and Gabi are going to come over here," I say.

"That's fine with me," she says.

"Alright," I say. "I'm going to go pick up Gabi, she left her car at Stanford."

"Ok," she says.

"Harper, do you want to come with me?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says happily.

"We'll be back soon," I say to my mom.

"Troy, please be careful with her," mom says.

"I will, I'm a good driver," I say.

"I don't know about that," she says.

"Mom, trust me, I know what I'm doing," I say.

"If you say so," she says. Harper and I then leave the house.

"Thank you for taking me with you," Harper says once we get into my truck.

"It's no problem at all," I say. We then pull out of the driveway and head over to Gabriella's hotel.

"So, Gabriella is your girlfriend?" she asks.

"Yes," I say. "We started dating during our junior year in high school."

"How did you meet?" she asks.

"Well, we met at a ski lodge on New Year's Eve," I say.

"Really?" she asks.

"Yeah, we actually did," I say. "We were forced to sing karaoke with each other and then talked afterwards."

"Was it love at first sight?" she asks.

"I don't know if you would call it that," I say with a chuckle. "I did think she was pretty the first time I saw her." After a few minutes of talking, we reach the hotel. Gabriella comes walking out towards the car with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey, Wildcat," she says.

"Hey, Gabi," I say as I open the car door for her. When she gets in, she sees Harper and asks

"Who's this?"

"This is Harper," I say. "My parents are fostering her."

"It's nice to meet you Harper," she says.

"You must be Gabriella," Harper says.

"I am," she responds.

"I've heard a lot about you, and I agree with Troy, you're very pretty," Harper says. I blush a little bit.

"Thank you," Gabi says. Gabi blushes a little bit herself. "You're pretty too."

"Thank you," Harper says. We then head back to my house. I'm glad that Gabriella and Harper seem to be getting along. I was afraid that things wouldn't go well.

After a little while, we are back at the house. Gabriella seems to like Harper and Harper seems to like her. That's a good thing for sure. I have a feeling Harper is going to want to hang out with me the entire time I'm here. I just hope that Gabi will be ok with it.


(Jess' POV)

I decide to leave work a little early because I want to make sure that the house looks somewhat presentable since we have a guest staying with us. I don't want Ava thinking that our house is a mess all the time.

When I walk in the front door, I see Ben's clothes all over the floor. I quickly pick up his clothes and then go into the guest bedroom. At least it's clean. I'm so embarrassed though. Normally our house doesn't look this bad. Oh well, I'm hoping that she won't care.

I then decide to straighten up at least the main rooms of the house. It doesn't take too long for the house to look presentable, thankfully. I then make myself a cup of coffee and turn on the t.v. This is one of the first times in a long time that I've had the house to myself. It feels nice and peaceful.

After what seems like just a few minutes, I hear the garage door open. Great! That means that my moment of peace is gone. At least I got some time to myself. I then get up off of the couch and see that it's Dylan, Ben, Reed, and Aly, but Ava is not with them.

"Dyl, where's Ava?" I ask.

"She's riding home with dad," he says as he grabs a sprite out of the fridge, "dad thought it would be better for her to ride with him. Plus, I didn't have any room in my car for anyone else."

"That's true," I say.

"How long is she going to be here?" Dyl asks.

"I"m not sure," I say. "Probably not for too long."

"Ok," he says.

"Please be nice to her," I say.

"I will mom; don't worry," he says.

"I mean it," I say.

"I will," he says. "I've got some homework I need to work on."

"Ok, I'll leave you alone," I say. He rarely voluntarily does homework so I'm not going to complain. I then go upstairs and find Aly sitting in her room reading a book.

"Hey, mommy," she says.

"Hey, sweetie," I say. "How was school?"

"Good," she says. "I had a science test today."

"How do you think you did?" I ask.

"I'm not sure, but it was easy so I'm hoping for an A," she says.

"I'm sure you'll get a good grade on it," I say. "I just wanted to give you a heads up, there's going to be someone staying with us for a while. Her name is Ava and she goes to school with Dylan."

"Yay, it will be like having a sister," she says.

"That's a good way to think about it," I say. "So, you're good with this?"

"Of course," she says.

"Good, well she's going to be here in a few minutes," I say.

"I can't wait to meet her," she says.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me, ok," I say.

"Ok," she says. I then leave her room and head back downstairs. I'm not so sure how this is going to go, but I'm hopeful that everything will go smoothly.