Daughter Dearest

Joanna's POV

I woke up and went down to the bathroom to do my everyday morning routine. I went back into my room to get dressed.It had been a week since my little spat with Emily. I made my way to the kitchen and what I saw made me stop in my tracks. I saw Emily at the stove in my apron. I glared at her and walked over to the blonde gold digger.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?", I questioned.

"I'm making breakfast for your Dad. I hope you like Banana walnut muffins", she smiled.

I glared even more,"I'm allergic to nuts"

She sucked her teeth,"Damn, too bad. I really wanted you to try them"

"You little-", I was cut off by hearing Daddy come down the stairs.

"Whoa, what's this?", Daddy smiled.

"I was making breakfast. I mean, Joanna always makes breakfast, so I thought 'Why not give poor Joanna a break' ya know?", she smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes at this. She was trying to replace me is what she was doing.

"That's so nice babe", Daddy kissed the serpent and looked at me,"Isn't that nice Joanna?"

I forced a smile,"Most definitely, thank you Emily"

"Anytime", she smirked even more.

Oh, how I hated her.

***First period***

"So wait,she made banana nut muffins knowing you were allergic to nuts?", Denise tried to understand.

"Yeah", I confirmed.

"What a bitch!", she growled.

"I know", I nodded in agreement.

"You shoulda brought me one", she continued.

"Denise", I scolded.

She laughed,"I'm kidding! I hate muffins anyway. Is it an extremely dry cake or is it a boring, old cupcake"

I laughed along with her, that's why I loved her. She made me smile when I was feeling down.

***Next period***

I walked into class and sat in my seat next to Daniel. I smiled at the brunette and took out my notebook, ready to take notes.

"Hey, how ya likin' that Timberlake album?", Daniel asked.

I beamed at the mention of the subject,"Oh my gosh, I love it. I've been listening to it non-stop ever since you gave it to me! I love the song 'Pusher Love Girl'"

He smiled,"I like that song too. It makes me think of you"

I blushed,"Thank you Daniel, that's very sweet of you"

I kinda feel guilty that I never gave him a real chance. He's such a great guy and if I don't make a move soon, someone else might get to him, someone unworthy of his attention. I was thinking about this for the rest of the class before the bell rang. I saw Daniel close to door and I quickly waltzed behind him and grabbed his arm.

"Need something, Joanna?", he asked politely, like the gentleman he is.

"Yeah, I realized that I've been a complete jerk and haven't really given you a chance. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date... with me... tonight", I asked hopefully.

"No, I'm good", he answered with a straight face while he shook his head.

My face and my heart fell,"Oh, ok, that's fine, I was just curious, I mean you could have any girl you want. Why bother with a silly Sophmore?"

"I was kidding Joanna, I would love to go out with you tonight, pick you up at 6?", he grinned

I nodded vigorously,"Yes, absolutely!"

"Great, see ya later", he said heading to his class.

"See ya later!", I grinned.

I was so excited right now.

***After school***

I was in the front seat with Daddy listening to the radio that was playing The Fray's song 'Heartbeat'.

"So Daddy", I started.

"Yeah?", he said still looking towards the road.

"I have a date tonight", I continued nervously. I had never really been on a date. There would be times where Denise and I would go out with a guy and his friend, but I wouldn't consider those as dates.

He quickly looked at me then back at the road,"Really? With who?"

"Daniel", I answered with a smile.

"Oh that's nice. He's a good kid", Daddy approved. I was so glad he was okay with this, because if he wasn't, I wouldn't go through with this.

"Yeah, he is. He's coming at 6", I informed.

He nodded in an approving manner,"Cool. Do ya know where he's takin' you?"

"He didn't say, I guess he wants it to be a surprise", I guessed.

The rest of the ride was just us talking about our days and the antics of my uncles.

We finally arrived home and we entered the house and I smelled something delicious. Did Daddy order take-out? We went into the kitchen to see Emily yet again in my apron cooking dinner!

"Oh yeah Jo, I forgot to tell you, Emily's makin' dinner", he smiled and hugged Emily from behind. I wonder if he ever fucks her from behind.

I forced a smile for the second time today,"Wow, first breakfast, now dinner. Ya gonna make dessert too?"

"As a matter-of-fact...", she trailed off, going into the oven and pulling out an apple pie.

The skank made pie! Who does she think she is trying to replace me?

"This looks so great babe", Daddy grinned.

"Sure does, but I won't be able to eat. I have to get ready for my date", I said with fake disappointment.

"Well we could save you some", Emily smirked.

I nodded and headed to my room. I redid my makeup and fixed my hair. I watched some TV and read some magazines before my phone rang, I saw the screen had Daniel's name on it.

"Hello", I answered.

"Hey, I'm outside", he said.

"Ok, I'll be right out", I grabbed my bag and put my shoes back on. I checked my self in the mirror in the hall and smiled at my appearance.

Daddy and Emily were in the living room watching TV snuggled up.Yuck.

"Danny's here. I'll see you later", I said hugging Daddy.

"Alright sweetheart have a good time", Daddy hollered as I walked out of the door. I saw Daniel leaning on the passenger door of his car holding a bouquet of pink roses.

I walked up to him and hugged him. He handed me the well wrapped bouquet.

"You got me pink roses?", I asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I didn't know what kind of flowers to get you, so I went with my gut", he smiled nervously.

"Well your gut has great taste", I kissed him on the cheek.

He laughed and opened the car door and once I got in, he closed it back. He got in the drivers seat and started driving.

"So, where're we going?", I asked playing with the flowers.

"Well I figured we'd go out to eat at this diner I think you'll like and then I wanna take you somewhere special.", he answered.

I smiled,"I can't wait"

We drove 30 minutes until we reached this cute, small diner that had the sign 'Sandy's Diner' on the top. Daniel opened my door and I thanked him while grabbing the flowers. We walked up to the place and he opened the door like the gentleman he was. Daniel took my hand and led me to a booth by a window, and we sat down. A sweet looking elderly woman came up to us with a notepad and a pen.

"Hey Danny", the lady smiled at him.

"Hey Grams", he greeted. He took me to his Grandma's diner!?

She then looked at me," And who might you be sweetheart?". The smile still present on her face.

"Grams this is my friend, Joanna. We're on a date", Daniel answered for me.

"Oh that's nice. So this is the Joanna you talk so much about", she said to her now red grandson.

I was also red now. I can't believe Daniel talks about me to his family, I feel so special.

"Grams, you're embarrassing me", he groaned with his head in his hands.

"Don't be embarrassed, I think it's sweet that you talk about me to your family", I smiled at the blushing mess in front of me.

"See, there's no problem. Now what'll you have?", his Grams asked.

"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with fries and a chocolate milkshake", Daniel ordered.

His grandmother then looked at me,"And you?"

"Uh, I guess I'll have the same", I said.

"Alright, I'll be right back", she smiled and walked off.

I looked at Daniel lightly slapped his arm.

"What was that for?", he whined while rubbing the spot where I slapped him.

"Because you didn't tell me you taking me to your Grandma's diner!", I scolded.

He laughed,"What's the big deal with that?"

"I mean, we aren't even dating and I'm already meeting your Grandma", I laughed along with him, not really that mad.

"I've met your family!", he pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right", I ended the little argument.

*1 hour later*

After eating at the diner, Daniel was now taking to that "special" place. We drove for around 20 minutes before coming up to this cliff that overlooked all of Huntington Beach. I got out of the car and gazed at my hometown in all it's nighttime glory.

"This is amazing", I beamed.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, I come here when I'm stressed and need to think", Daniel stood next to me in front of the car.

"Why'd you bring me here?", I looked over at him.

"I've always considered this "my" place. I've never brought anyone here. But Joanna, I think you're special, and I wanna make this your place too. Plus I wanted to sing you a song", he walked to trunk of his car.

He brought back an acoustic guitar and set a quilt on the ground. We sat down on the quilt and he began to strum. I noticed that he was strumming song "I Only Have Eyes For You". I've loved this song since I was a kid. My dad would sing this to me before I fell asleep. Daniel had such a beautiful voice, I just melted. When he was done singing, I was speechless.

"So, how'd you like it?", he smiled.

I sighed,"It was great Danny. You have a great voice.", I complimented.

"Thanks, I know how much you love that song", he remembered.

We got back in his car after a hour of talking and he drove me back home. He walked me up to my door and we faced each other.

"I had a great time today", I admitted.

"Yeah me too", he grinned.

"So, I'll text you later?", I asked.

"I'll be waiting", he chuckled nervously.

There was kind of an awkward silence.

"Can I kiss you?", Daniel asked while looking down.

I was taken by surprise, no one has ever kissed me before.

"Uh, of course", I answered nervously.

We both leaned in until both of our lips touched, and I swear I saw fire works and unicorns. So this is what a kiss feels like. All the things people have told me about kissing was all true, maybe even better.

I think this could be the start of something new