(Rydel's POV)

I cuddle into the warmth next to me and the warmth engulfs me in a hug.

Wait...

I open my eyes and see that Ell is that warmth that I love.

I want to go back to sleep but I've gotta take Riley to school and get to work so I sit up.

"Riley, baby girl, go and ask my mom to get you breakfast please. I'll be right there, okay?" She gets out of bed, yawns, and nods before leaving out the door.

"Ell, get up. We gotta get to work." I nudge him. He doesn't budge. I nudge him a couple of times before I finally give up and push him off the bed.

"Why do you keep doing that?!" He asks, regaining his breath.

"What happened?! Is everyone okay?!" My doofus brothers run into the room.

"Yeah, she just keeps making me fall!" Ratliff rubs his head. My brothers stand there for a minute before busting out laughing.

"Haha, yea very funny." He mocks, getting up and walking out.

"Well I got everyone up all at once." I giggle.

After getting myself ready I go to the kitchen where mom and Riley are.

"Hey Rydel." Mom comments.

"Hi mommy." Riley quietly whispers because the boys are already up.

"Hey mom, hey sweetie." I kiss Riley's head and hug my mom.

"Are you ready for school?" I ask.

"No, I don't have cute clothes to wear!" She whines.

"I already got you covered, Rose is bringing your favorite outfit to school and you can change there but in order to do that, we've got to get going. Head to the bathroom and I'll meet you there." She smiles and runs off to the bathroom. I see that she left her plate on the table so I clean up quickly.

Before I leave I hear my mom chuckle and mutter "just like you two."

"alright girly, what style today?" I question and she puts on her thinking face.

"Oh! Do the flower pin thingy!" She bounces in her seat. I know exactly which one she is talking about.

I brush out her wavy hair and grab two largish pieces of hair in the front and cross the in the back. Then I secure them with a small rubber band (knowing that it wouldn't stay with just the flower clip). I grab the pink flower clip I have in my bag and clip it to the rubber band.

She smiles, satisfied with her look. I pull out a mini toothbrush out of my purse make sure she brushes her teeth.

"Are we ready in here?" Ross pops his head into the door way.

"Yep." I say, popping the 'p'.

"Alright, let's move out." He reenacts a spy move, making Riley laugh hard.

"C'mon pretty girl." He smiles taking her hand.

'Im so glad he knows, god knows what I'd do without the help of my little bro.' I sigh and make sure I've got everything before heading to the car.

We get to school a lot faster than I thought we would. With 20 minutes to spare I take the clothes from Rose and help Riley into her white lace summer dress and pink cardigan with some white sandals (the ones with the ankle backing) with pink jewels. I also make sure her hair wasn't messed up.

I quickly change into a white shirt with a black vest and some light washed jeans that were ripped at the knees. I slip on my converse and apply some eyeliner, mascara, and light pink lip gloss.

"Alright, let's go." I take her hand and we head to the music room where everyone hung out before school starts.

I dump our clothes in the closet for me to take home later.

"Hey, won't her mom be mad that we kept her all night and she hasn't seen Riley since yesterday?" Riker questions.

"Nah, you're cool with me taking care of Riley, right Rose?" I felt terrible for putting Rose on the spot but I had to.

"Yea that's cool with me. As long as my little girl had fun." I smile. And this is why she's the best drama teacher in the district. She could be an actress if she really wanted to but she loves kids too.

"Whoa, you're her mom?" Rocky asks surprised. Rose just nods.

"Well I'm gonna go set up in the theatre, we're going to be working in there for today." She informs Ell and leaves.

"I don't see it." Rocky blurts out after Rose leaves.

"Yeah it's true, I mean you can't see similarity. Sorry to say it." Riker agrees.

"Yeah, for example, I see some resemblance in Rydel and Riley but not the actual mom and daughter." Rocky rambles on.

"Now that I think about it you two do look alike." Ratliff says and everyone agrees.

"What do you think Ross?" Everyone turns to Ross who's been silent this whole time.

"Uh, I guess but not that much. She looks a lot like someone else but I can't put my finger on it." He covers.

"That's true but who does she look like? She really does look like someone I might know. Ugh, who is it?!" Ratliff mumbles off to himself.

I can see that Riley is going to do something.

"We gotta go dude." She walks up to Ratliff while grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room.

"Anywho, I've gotta go to my room. See you at lunch guys!" Rocky heads out the door.

"Hey, I've gotta get something from my car. Can you chill until I get back?" Riker asks but quickly leaves to his car.

"Thank you Ross." I hug him.

"You're welcome...you should tell him soon." He tells me.

"I can't." I look down.

"He really still loves you after all these years. He just can't forget about you." Ross chuckles.

"I know but it's hard. I don't know how he's gonna take the news of being a father and especially after I left because of that." I confess.

"I know but at least tell the others that you're her mom. Give them that at least."

"I will just give me some time." I let him know.

"That's the one thing you're running out of." He says while hugging me and leaves.

'What do I do?!' I walk around, frustrated.

"I'm back." Riker calls while entering the room.

"And just in time too." I point out the clock while the bell rings for class.

"Alright class you know what to do." I instruct as they all get their clean instruments and start learning the songs.

(Ratliff's POV)

She really looks familiar. Like for some reason I see Rydel in her but I might just be going crazy. Maybe I know her dad and that's why she looks familiar.

"Riley, who's your dad?" I question randomly.

"Um, I don't know. I've never really met him before." She admits.

"Oh I'm really sorry. I just figured that you probably looked more like your dad than your mom so I wanted to see if I knew him." I babbled.

"If you find out and you know him can I meet him please? I really want to meet him and spend time with him." She smiles.

"Yeah, I'll totally do that for a awesome girl like you."I smile back.

"So she doest have a dad?" I walk up and sit next to Rose.

"No, she doesn't have a dad." She doesn't look at me.

"Why?" I question.

"Because I was scared and didn't know what to do. I left without thinking about it and i might just be regretting it." She confesses.

"Riley, Dillon, Jack, Marsha, and Bonnie are next." She announces and we get ready to see the play.

"She's full of energy, silly, and really funny." I compliment.

"Yeah, she gets that from her daddy. I get reminded everyday but somehow I keep going." I nod in understanding.

"Oh by the way after lunch you guys apparently switch so Ross's is coming here and you're going to the music room" she reminds me.

"Alright, I can do that."