(Mc's Pov)
I stand in front of a familiar house as I'm wearing a compression turtle neck top with a black blazer and grey trousers with sneakers. I may of gone overboard with the gift as I don't think people usually give wine bottles worth a quarter million dollars on first meeting but I've never done this before.
Phil messaged me a few days ago if I wanted to have dinner with his family on the weekend and I replied yes. Now I got to channel my inner Bruce Wayne and charm the hell out of them. And then I ring the doorbell.
I hear a few muffled shouts and then a few seconds later the door opens a hot blond who I obviously recognise as Claire welcomes me with a smile.
"Its nice to meet you Mrs Dunphy, you have a lovely home" I smile and say politely.
"Thank you for the complement and call me Claire, come inside and meet the family"
"This is for you" I say as I go through the door and give the bottle of wine to her.
"Aww thanks, you didn't have too" she says with a smile but then freezes as she looks at it and says.
"How much does this cost" I decide to not say the truth and just say
"It's better you don't know but keep the wine in the fridge to store" I say with a smirk
"How did you get this though aren't you just 12 years old?" she asks worriedly.
"Don't worry I didn't get it illegally it was given to me as a gift and seen as though I don't like to drink I thought it would be better here" I say with a laugh.
Hearing that Claire relaxes and sighs in relief that I'm responsible.
"Please have a seat at the dining table, dinner will be ready in 20 minutes." she says and shows me where to sit and as I walk into the room I see 2 faces I haven't seen before. a little kid Who has curly hair and an older teenage girl who is on her phone not realising I came in. Luckily I see Phil there so I go and greet him.
"Hey Phil thank you for inviting me over for dinner" I say with a smile and shake hands with him.
"No problem A-man" he then points to the boy and says " this my son Luke i told him about what we discussed before and he'd like to join in on the battle" he says with a goofy grin on his face and the little kid says
"Please can I have a lightsabre battle I want to be a jedi *swoosh*" Luke says with pleading expression as he imitates the sound of light sabre.
I laugh and bonk his head lightly saying "its on I'll play the Sith lord" this causes a smile to form on the kids face and then he gets distracted ad runs off saying thank thank you.
"And this is my oldest daughter Hailey. (a minute later) Hailey will you please greet our guest?"
"What dad?" Hailey exclaims dramatically and then realises that theres someone there and then coughs then says "Hi I'm Hailey and who might you be handsome" she flirtatiously says.
I then laugh and say "Atlas Veena, 12 years old" with a smirk and then she freezes up and goes back to her phone slightly embarrassed.
I then hear someone coming down the stairs and then I see Alex wearing a black jumper and very light makeup with jeans on and I can't help but be stunned and so is Hailey and she says
"Wow I can't believe my little sister actually dressed up for once. I thought you'd only do that for your funeral when you die alone"
"At least I wont die due to an overdose or alcohol poisoning and actually be successful in death" Alex says with a sarcastic tone.
"ughh" Hailey exclaims and then goes back to her phone
"H-hey Atlas its nice to meet you again" Alex says with a slight blush band avoids my eyes slightly.
"It's Nice to see you again Alex, you look beautiful" I say with a soft smile and she smiles lightly, looking down a bit and moves a hair behind her ear.
to change the subject Alex asks "so have you got everything ready for school on Monday?"
"Mostly, I confirmed with the school about my schedule and the tests I will take. I also agreed to join the school football team and take part in several competitions if theres any spots available"
"wow so your going for the popular route or the loner nerdy route like me"
"I have had enough with people so self absorbed to care about what their social standing is so I'm just going to act aloof and just hang around the 'lonely nerd' so we can have fun just by ourselves" is say with a smirk,
Alex laughs slightly at that and we begin to talk further about everything creating a very harmonious atmosphere between us.
after several minutes Claire starts to deliver the food and Alex sits down next to me.
"Luke put on pants and eat your dinner!" Claire shouts
After that the evening went alright without any hiccups and I got to know the family better than what a tv would show and I got to say being with a happy family and seeing the chaotic yet positive atmosphere is just what I was looking for when in my last life and I cant help but led out a sad smile remembering my family thats gone form this life.
Claire and Alex seem to notice my sad smile and why it was there but didn't say anything about it.
Now I'm leaving the house with Alex escorting me out and she says with hand rubbing the back of her head
"Sorry about my family I know they can be a bit much at times"
"Its alright. Despite the fact they are a bit chaotic I can tell you all really care fore each other and I cant help but envy that even with everything I have the loneliness still gets to me " I reply with a sad smile
"Don't worry we're friends so i we can hang out right?" she says with as cheerful smile.
"We're friends now huh?" I reply with smirk "I'd love to be your friend" I say as I see her start to panic a bit.
"Thank you" she mumbles as she looks down with a slight blush.
"Here" is say as I pass her my personal information card and make sure its not a business one.
"This is my personal card with my contact information so we can chat at any time"
Alex takes it with a brighter smile on her face and then starts to panic a bit as she realises what her mom would think
I chuckle a bit and say with a knowing smirk "Don't worry just tell your mother and give her my personal information too if she gets worried and I can teach you how to set up your phone so she can't access it and read your messages"
"Thank god" Alex exclaims with a hand on her heart and then we both look at each other and laugh. Then my driver pulls and I say "talk to you later Alex" and she says "talk to you soon" she says with happy smile
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(Alex Pov)
I lay in bed after convincing my mother to let me text him and I cant help but be nervous about doing so. what if I screw up? what if he doesn't answer? questions like that keeps invading my though and my sister suddenly says.
"My god what the hell is the matter with you?"
I jump a little at that and after seconds of hesitation I reply
"How do I message someone for the first time" I ask quietly
My sister suddenly sits up surprised and says "wait your actually messaging someone. who is it?"
"Atlas" I mumble the darkness hiding my flushed cheeks
"Wow my dorky sister actually managed to get a boys number" Hailey mumbles quietly but I still hear and throw a pillow at her.
"Hey! watch it do you want my help or not?" Hailey says
I take a deep breath and say "Yes please"
"Right so first of all what the deal here is he a love interest, friend, best friend, frenemy, enemy."
I don't know why but I take a while to the answer this even though I should be choosing just friend.
"Just a friend for now" with the last two worlds quite.
'Wow my sister got her first crush, lets help her bag that dude' Hailey thinks
Hailey then goes on to explain the complex social algorithms pertaining to messaging and after half an hr of a lecture I finally just message him.
^Hey this is Alex^-Me
A few minutes go by and I'm more nervous to see what he'd reply.
^I'm glad to hear from you Alex^-Atlas
YESS he answered.
"Thank you Hailey" I mumbled.
"yeh yeh to help you become less dorkish, just make sure to grab him as soon as possible before another dorkess does I mean that accent I would kill just to be your age and listen to that all day" Hailey says with a dreamy tone at the end.
"Shut up Idiot!" I say to Hailey but deep down I'm worried and exited about the prospect of what may happen in the future but right now I'll just enjoy the moment of us being friends. I wonder what he's doing now.
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(scene change) (Mc Pov)
I'm currently on the toilet and watching One Piece.