Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Hayley’s POV

“Do you want more milk with that?” Mom said that and then handed me that carton of milk, even though I shook my head.

“Thank you.” I said regardless and drowned my cereal in even more milk.

“So, what’s your plan for the weekend?” She kissed the top of my head and sat across from me, watching me eat.

“Well, I’m just going to hang out with Mina and Mona.”

“No.” She rolled her eyes.

“No?” What did she mean?

“I get that you three are besties or whatever, but still, you need more friends.”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

She was at it again.

“I have more friends.”

“Like?”

“Alessa…. and…”

“Yes, and?” She said it in a mocking tone.

“Okay, okay. I don’t have a lot of friends. But I like my friend circle being small; it’s easy to keep track of.” I defended myself.

She rested her chin on her hand and looked at me softly.

“We had a deal, Hayley.”

The deal was that after I finally decided to forgive her and forget about the Aiden situation, courtesy of Mina and Mona, she made me promise not to be all sad and lonely and that she would stop meddling in my life altogether.

It wasn’t really much of a deal, but she called it that to make it seem more official. It was weird how we actually got closer after the drama. I hadn’t heard from Aiden after that, and I hadn’t bothered with it. I couldn’t even if I wanted to; I was way too busy to think about him. Everyone made sure of that.

“I know, I know.” I said I was munching on cereal.

“So… how about you go see a movie?”

“A movie?” I looked at her, confused. That was what she wanted me to do so badly-see a movie?

“Yes, have fun. You’re not getting younger, and all you do is spend time in your room with M and M.”

“M and M?”

“Mina and Mona.” She chuckled lightly.

“Nice one. Okay, if I agree to go see a movie, will you get off my back for the rest of the week?”

Her eyes lit up with excitement, and she nodded.

“I’ll be off your back for the whole month if you do.”

“It’s starting to feel like you’re just trying to get me out of the house.” And really, it was, which was fishy.

“That’s not the point; your dad and I will probably be out as well.”

“Aww, are you guys going on a date or something?” I teased, and her face flushed bright red. ”

“Yes, we’re thinking of stopping by that club downtown.” The excitement was all over her face; she was practically glowing as she went on about how they were given to have an exciting night and party like a couple of teenagers.

“Eww, aren’t you two too old for stuff like that? You should just go to some boring fancy restaurant and eat Bruschetta con Granchio.” I teased

“I have no idea what that is.” She laughed

“It’s some fancy food I saw online; that’s beside the point. How does dad feel about your date?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing; you just seem really excited and bubbly, and he doesn’t really seem like the partying type.”

A part of me felt happy, but I also felt jealous. Aiden and I could have had what they were having, but life had other plans.

“Leave that to me. I already bought the tickets for the movie; I got three just in case you wanted to take you two henchmen along.”

“Mum!”

“Okay, Mona and Mina, not henchmen. Even though they follow you around like flies,

“That’s what best friends do.”

She pulled out three tickets and passed them to me, smiling.

They were tickets for a horror movie I had seen recently.

“Horror, seriously?” I was shocked by her horrible choices in movies.

“That was all I could find. The lady at the booth said you’d love it.”

“The lady at the booth only cared about selling the tickets out.” I fiddled with the tickets between my fingers and stood to leave. I was done with the cereal, so I cleaned up and went back to my room.

“You’ll thank me for it later, I promise.”

Okay, now that was weird. Why would I thank her for making me go see a horror movie? What surprise did she have planned? It wasn’t my birthday any time soon, and I hadn’t done anything to really deserve a surprise.

On the bright side, Mina and Mona were on board with going out to watch a horror movie as long as they didn’t have to use their money to get the tickets, which made this situation perfect.

The night came, and we all agreed to meet in front of the cinema. I got dressed and rushed downstairs when mom stopped me.

“Are you going to the cinema dressed like that?” She pointed to my outfit.

I looked down in confusion; there was absolutely nothing wrong with what I was wearing. It was basically just a sweatshirt, tights, and some trainers, plus it was already dark outside; no one was going to be busy playing fashion critic in the night.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”

“It’s an outing; you’re going to have fun, so dress like you want to have fun.”

“Mum, I’m going to be seated in a poorly lit cinema with a couple of strangers. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” She waved me back upstairs, and I reluctantly obliged.

“I’m running late, you know.” I protested while marching up the stairs with my mom following behind me.

The moment we got into my room, she walked over to my closet and pulled out some clothes, like she already knew what she was looking for.

I waited patiently as she pulled out a short as hell jeans skirt and a crop top I totally forgot I had.

“You want me to wear that?” I asked in shock, What in the world was giving on? Was she messing with me right now?

“Yes, it’s better than the gym outfit you were about to leave with.”

“Who are you? There’s no way you’re my mom.” I held the skirt up and examined it; it was still in good shape, but damn, it was short.

“Mother by day, fashion critic by night?” She joked, and I tried it on.

I looked smooching hot in those clothes. There was no denying that; it just felt a little bit like overkill for just watching a movie, and I told her.

“You never know; you could want to go somewhere else after.”

From the look on her eyes when she said it, I realized I was wrong. She wasn’t planning something for me in the house; it was outdoor, wasn’t it?