Okay if you've been following the days (because obviously I haven't) it is supposed to be the day of the dinner (Hailey in town three days before dinner) ignore that. Hailey has been in town for three days so far. I promise the next day is the dinner. Sorry for the confusion. On with the story…
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Morgan's car pulled up to the two-story home whose porch lights were on. "We are here," She announced as she turned the car off. Opening the door she stepped onto the sidewalk.
"Finally. I thought we'd never get home." Laura said stepping out of the car. "I bet the food is cold now too."
"It still feels a little warm." Hailey said placing her hand on the bottom of the bag.
"Mom and dad better be grateful we stopped at the Chinese restaurant and ordered enough food for them too. It took way too long. I bet if we had just gotten what we wanted or went to a sit down restaurant to eat it would not have taken so long to get home," Laura supplied.
"Whatever Laur. The reason the food is probably cold is because of the traffic we hit on the way here," said Morgan climbing the steps.
"You guys, Hailey said the food isn't cold." Jake said.
"You're right Jake. It's not cold now but if we stand out here any longer it will be!" Hailey said walking behind Laura and Jake.
Laura rolled her eyes and pushed her way past Jake and Morgan to get to the front door. She put the key into the lock to open the door, but before she was able to turn it the door opened.
"You guys are loud you know that right?" Derek said as he looked at the four of them as they all stood on the stoop.
"We are not loud Dad."
"Yeah knowing you, you probably stood by the door waiting for us to get back." Laura said stepping over the threshold and leading the group into the house.
"Uhuh, I see you brought food back," Derek commented as he looked at the bag Hailey was holding.
"Yeah, we figured you'd be just as hungry as we are when we got back. We didn't want you to starve. That would do no one any good especially those people who need their brains operated on like Hailey." Morgan said.
"Hey that is not funny there is absolutely nothing wrong with my brain. You are just jealous that's all." Hailey laughed. "Derek where should I put the bag?"
"The kitchen is this way," He said as he led the teenager toward the kitchen.
The pair entered the kitchen where Hailey put the bag on the counter. "I hope we got food you liked. We relied on Laura for suggestions on what to get so," Hailey said pulling the cartons out of the bag.
"Whatever you got is fine, Laura knows what Meredith and I like. She is fairly observant." Derek said pulling six paper plates out of the pantry and setting them on the counter.
"Yep that's correct, I know exactly what you like to eat," Laura said as she came in and stood next to her sister and began fixing her plate.
"Laur fix your brother's plate too." Derek said.
"Fine, Jake" she yelled across the house in search of her brother.
"Hey Derek I saw a terrible accident on the news did the kids get home?" Meredith asked as she walked into the kitchen. She had been in their bedroom reading a medical journal with the door closed. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Hailey standing in her kitchen.
"Yeah, they made it back safely," Derek said turning around from getting a bottle of soda from the refrigerator. He watched his wife stare at Hailey as she, oblivious to the eyes staring at her, began fixing herself a plate.
The three of them stood in silence before Hailey looked up from the plate she was making and realized that there were two pairs of eyes looking at her. "Umm hi," she said unsure of what to do in her current situation.
Derek shook his head pulling himself back to reality, "Hailey this is my wife Meredith, Meredith this is Hailey, my daughter," he said introducing the two women for the first time.
"Nice to meet you," Hailey smiled extending her hand.
"You look just like your mother," Meredith said after gripping Hailey's hand and shaking it.
"I haven't quite figured out if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet," Hailey said jokingly turning her attention back to the plate before her.
Meredith continued to stare at the young adult this is my stepdaughter, she thought to herself. "What did you get from the Chinese place?" Meredith asked trying to act like it was normal to have her stepdaughter in her kitchen making a plate of food.
"We ordered shrimp fried rice, general Tsao's Chicken, beef and broccoli, crab wontons, white rice, and some other stuff I can't remember it all. We took Laura's advice on what to get." Hailey said as she closed the carton of food in front of her. She then sat down at the kitchen table next to Morgan, who had snuck in and fixed her plate while the introductions were taking place, and began to eat her food.
Derek sat down at the table across from Hailey and Meredith began to fix her own plate while Jake and Laura came into the kitchen.
"Did you guys get trapped in the traffic from the accident?" Meredith asked Morgan.
"I guess that's what it was. We didn't get to see it though, I took the back way." Morgan said. "Why was it bad?"
"From the looks of it on the news yeah. I'm surprised we didn't get called in to the hospital. Meredith responded.
"Oh that doesn't sound too good," Hailey said as she looked at her plate.
"So Hailey, what schools did you say you got into again?" Morgan asked changing the topic.
"Well I got into Julliard, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to do. As much as I love to dance I don't want to put all of my eggs in one basket. What if I get in some detrimental accident what happens then? I'll end up working at McDonald's. And I also got into UNC but I haven't heard from Duke, Columbia, or Johns Hopkins yet since they both only have early decision and not early action." Hailey responded.
"You applied to two colleges in North Carolina, why would you do that?" Meredith asked joining the conversation and sitting at the table.
"I really like the weather. Don't get me wrong I love New York, it's just that it gets so cold during the winter at home, and I'd rather be in a bit of a warmer climate in the winter."
"I understand. Which is why I applied early decision to Duke. I'm tired of the rain." Morgan whined.
"Those are all pretty good schools Hailey," Derek said as he put a spoonful of rice into his mouth.
"So you didn't apply to any colleges here in Washington?" Laura asked a little hurt that no matter what school she chose, Hailey would not be close by.
"I really had no reason to, Morgan would be moving and Matt is planning on permanently moving to New York after the wedding. On top of that there weren't any colleges I liked out here." Hailey said.
"No reason to come here? What about us?" Jake asked. The whole table quieted down. No one knew how to respond to the question Jake asked.
Finally Hailey lifted her head up and looked Jake in the eye, "When I started applying to colleges, I didn't know about you guys," Hailey said.
"So what did you guys get me for my birthday?" Morgan asked as an attempt to change the topic, but everyone was still focused on the previous conversation. So much so that Hailey did not hear her cell phone ring.
AN: okay so here is where the chapter ends (well duhh) but here's the thing, something big has got to happen to someone that Hailey's cell phone would ring. I have an idea of what to do but I'm not sure whether I should use it or not. Any other suggestions at this time would be very helpful.