In Your Time novel Chapter 4

"Who are you, and why are you in my house?" He deadpanned.

"Phoenix! Braden! Dinner!" Elizabeth yelled from downstairs. I picked up my towel quickly and ran to throw it in my room before sprinting down the stairs. Elizabeth motioned me to a seat. A moment later, Braden came to sit at his seat. Elizabeth set the food on the table before sitting in her own seat. It was odd seeing a family eat dinner together. Normally, my dad would be at work and my mom would be out so I would have to fend for myself when it came to ordering something to eat. So this was the almighty Braden's teenage years.

"Braden, this is Phoenix Di. She's a... daughter of a family friend. She'll be staying with us for a while," Elizabeth said. I looked at her curiously. She couldn't told the truth, but she probably wanted to preserve my self-pride. Either that, or she didn't know how to explain my situation herself.

"I assume your parents will be in Australia for a while regardless, so after tomorrow, we'll enroll you in Braden's school. Also, I'll do that checkup after we finish eating here," George said to me. I nodded, unable to really say anything else.

"She's going to my school? Why?" Braden protested.

"Because she's not from here and we want to make sure she stays safe, so you have to help her out at school. Alright?" Elizabeth said in a sort of warning.

"You're going to fish all that money out for someone else's daughter?" Braden asked as he raised an eyebrow at them.

"It's not like we can't afford it. Plus, education is more important than your video games," Elizabeth snapped back at her son. Braden huffed a breath before digging into his food.

"You wanted a daughter so badly, you stole someone else's," he muttered under his breath.