Chapter 3: The Beginning Part 3/Intro
It was a beautiful, peaceful Saturday morning in the Wilcox home. Although it was the weekend, James went out early to get some extra work done. Eudora was preparing breakfast for her and Tiana. She and Nagina had planned for a little playdate for their kids today and figured it would be nice to have some homemade waffles with bacon to start off the day.
"Tiana! Wake up, sweetheart, time for breakfast!" she called for her daughter in her motherly tone.
After a little while, little Tiana finally made it down the stairs still in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning, Mama." she greeted with a yawn. Eudora chuckled.
"Are you excited for your playdate with Naveen today?" Eudora asked as she fixed a plate for her and her daughter. Tiana was always used to playing with Lottie, she was actually excited to play with someone new.
"I think it will be fun." She simply said as she poured syrup on her waffle.
"I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun! His mother seems very nice too. I'm going to bring their family some of lasagna, want to help me make it?" Tiana eagerly nodded, mouth full of waffle.
Nagina heard the doorbell ring.
"Coming!" She answered the door to see Eudora, Tiana, and James nicely dressed with a dish.
"Hello! Please, come in!" She greeted them with a warm smile and her guests entered her home. She was dressed in attire that appeared to be elegant and formal similar to what she was wearing when they first met.
Eudora thought to herself, impressed.
"Thank you for having us! This is my husband, James," Nagina and James shook hands. "and you've met Tiana." Tiana waved as she peered behind her mother's leg. Nagina bent down at Tiana's level.
"It's nice to officially meet you, Tiana. Naveen should be down soon." Tiana grinned as they shook hands. She stood up and offered to take Eudora's lasagna to the kitchen. On cue, Naveen came down the stairs and met with his mother and guests. Tiana and Naveen shared a smile with one another.
"Follow me into the dining room." Her guests followed her into the dining room and Tiana followed Naveen.
Nagina led them into a lovely room filled with Maldonian decor, her husband sitting at the table, also dressed in formal attire.
"This is my husband, Kabir. Kabir, this is Eudora and her husband, James, and their daughter, Tiana." He smiled and got up from his seat and greeted them all.
"How lovely to meet you all!" He shook
"Naveen, dear, why don't you take Tiana to the playroom? Be mindful that your brother is taking a nap upstairs." Tiana and Naveen left while the adults learned more about each other and their families.
"Yes, we moved here a little over 5 years ago for my job, but we decided to enroll Naveen at Lake Forest Elementary recently for financial reasons. We're glad about our decision though, it seems like a caring and home-like environment." Kabir explained.
"I agree, Lake Forest staff really know how to put the students and family first. Eudora and I have always lived in New Orleans our whole lives. We've had opportunities to move but we wanted to raise Tiana here since we have most of our family here too." James replied before taking a sip of his water.
"Oh, it is such a cute and lively city! We hate to have to leave it so soon." Nagina frowned.
"Leave?" Eudora also frowned.
"Well, unfortunately, my job wants me to work full-time in Florida, and we figured it would be easiest to move there this summer." Kabir sighed. "It was a hard decision for all of us, with the baby and Naveen having to adjust to a new elementary school...again." he said with a worried tone.
"I'm sure it will all work out just fine, don't worry." Eudora reassured.
Meanwhile, Tiana and Naveen played a few Maldonian games that Kabir had taught Naveen that from his father. After a while, they decided to "explore" Naveen's house and play pretend- Tiana was a professional chef cooking for King Naveen, of course.
"How do your spaghetti and meatballs taste, King Naveen?" Tiana asked as she watched him pretend to eat the pretend meal she prepared for him.
"Mmm! It's the yummiest spaghetti and meatballs I have ever had!" Naveen declared with a smile. "You are the best chef in the world!" Tiana blushed.
"Thank you, my daddy taught me everything I know."
"I shall give you a reward for your yummy food." Naveen looked around the room for something he could give her. His eyes fell on a golden pen he spotted on a nearby coffee table. "Here you go, a shiny, golden pen. It will give you magic for your food whenever you need it."
Tiana giggled as she accepted the "magic pen" from her new friend.
"Tiana...we're gonna be friends forever, right?" Naveen hesitantly asked. Tiana smiled at her.
"Of course we will, Naveen." She looked at the pen before looking back at Naveen. "I'll always remember you with my magic pen." They giggled at each other before they heard Nagina call them for dinner.
"Let's go! You're gonna love my mama's lasagna." Tiana grabbed Naveen's hand as they headed back to the dining room.
The aggravating sound of her alarm clock went off as Tiana groaned, attempting to shut it off without opening her eyes. It was the first day of senior year, the year that every high schooler had waited for since the first day of high school. The year of partying, relationships, more drama, blah blah blah. But all Tiana was focused on was keeping her grades up and focusing on getting into culinary school.
Suddenly, Tiana heard vibrating coming from her nightstand. She tried shutting off her alarm but realized it was her phone. It was Lottie calling, which wasn't surprising. She was probably up early getting ready to put on makeup and pick out a cute outfit. Tiana reluctantly answered the phone, knowing her best friend's voice would immediately wake her up.
"Hello?" she answered, half asleep with her eyes still closed.
"Tia! Tia! Tia! It's time to get up, it's the first day of
!" Tiana flinched as Lottie excitedly shouted through the phone.
"What time is it?"
"It's 6:30. Now c'mon get up, it's time to get ready!" Lottie was about to brush her teeth. "This is our year for boys, gossip, and fun!" she said almost inaudibly would her toothbrush in her mouth. Tiana sighed and figured she wasn't going back to sleep, so she sat up and rubbed her eyes as she yawned.
"Lottie you know I'm trying to focus on school this year."
"Um, Tia, you were all about school last year, now you have to try and let loose and have a little fun this year. It's your last hoorah before going off to culinary school...leaving me all alone…" Tiana playfully rolled her eyes, and couldn't help but smile. Lottie is always so dramatic.
"Lottie, you know I'll always be with you. Whether we're a thousand miles apart or right around the corner. Plus, don't think too far ahead. We don't even know if I'm getting into culinary school yet."
"Are you kidding me? How could you
get in? You're the best cook I know." Lottie had moved on to her closet to look for an outfit. Tiana chuckled.
"Thanks for the reassurance, but we'll just have to wait and see. Alright, I'm gonna get ready now, see you in a bit." Tiana finally got out of bed to get ready for school. Lottie might actually be right. It is her last year, and a little fun couldn't hurt...but culinary school is her top priority...
She turned on her desk lamp and looked at the photo of her late father. She sadly smiled at the framed photo and gave it a kiss.
"Don't worry, Daddy, we'll be there soon."
Tiana wasn't a huge fan of makeup but knew she wouldn't hear the end of it from Lottie so she decided to put on some mascara and concealer. From her closet, she went with a hunter green blouse with long sleeves that flare out and a pair of jeans. Finally, she headed downstairs to have a bowl of cereal before Lottie came. She offered to drive them both to school since it was their last first day.
She saw a flash of headlights in her driveway and realized Lottie just pulled up. When she got into her car she was welcomed by her best friend squealing.
"Oh, Tia, you look cute! Are you wearing makeup?" Tiana nodded.
"Yeah, I figured I'd try not looking like a zombie today." She said as she buckled her seatbelt.
"Alright, let's do this!" Lottie declared before starting up her car. Tiana just shook her head in amusement.
As they pulled into the parking lot, they saw a few of their friends and met up with them to see if they had any classes together.
"I think we have all but 2 classes together." Tiana told Lottie as they compared schedules.
"Hey look, Tiana, we have math and bio together!" Georgia said.
"No way!" Tiana replied. The warning bell rang. "We should head to class."
The three of them said their goodbyes to their friends and walked to their first class which was math. They found seats by the window and took a look at the class.
"Hey look, Chase Greenfield, is in our class." Lottie pointed out, looking across the room. Ever since he buffed up summer of sophomore year for football she has had her eyes on him.
Georgia laughed at the bubbly blonde. "Charlotte, why don't you just talk to him?"
"Honey, there are certain ways to get a boy to notice you and one of them is to play hard to get. He'll notice me with the cute, new outfits I bought last week. Plus, he's friends with the Nolan brothers who throw the best parties every year." She smirked then turned her attention to Tiana who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation.
"Tia, you are going to a party this year." she said looking her dead in the eyes.
Tiana sighed. "I don't know, Lottie, you know parties aren't my thing."
"Yeah, but you should be taking risks this year! You know having fun at parties, going to sports games, talking to...boys." Lottie distractedly finished her sentence as someone caught her attention.
Georgia and Tiana followed her gaze to a
attractive boy talking to their teacher.
"Who is that?" Lottie asked out loud still staring at him, as well as the other girls in their class.
"No idea, but it looks like he's already making himself at home," Georgia said. The new boy was already making friends with Chase and his friends.
"I guess we'll find out who he is later," Lottie said daydreaming.
She wasn't sure what it was about this boy but he just seemed so familiar to Tiana. She just shook her head and rolled her eyes. Oh well, it's probably not that important, he's just a boy.
A/N:
So, I don't know if a ton of people still use this but if you were following this, but hi! So this whole quarantine thing has really gotten bored and figured continuing this story would keep me entertained with all of this free time.
I would like to remind and stress to those who are reading that I am not a professional writer AT ALL and if anything doesn't make sense, I am so sorry. BUT hopefully you enjoy it still, thank you!
Hopefully, I can get update more more or the next day cause I ended at a a cliffhanger lol but if you're reading, thank you and stay safe!