The Story of my Life

Chapter 19

Riley's POV

Halston was bouncing excitedly. I knew without even looking because I could feel her pulling on my hand. As the escalator made its way down, more of the arrival area was revealed. As we descended, John appeared, smiling in the distance. I focussed the camera I was holding on him, before turning to glance at Halston. She was smiling wide. I smiled at her, turning the camera to face her. "I see dad!" She said happily, looking up at me. I smiled at her.
"Yeah." I replied. She shifted closer to me, hugging my leg.
"Pick me up?" She asked. I reached down, lifting her and balancing her on my hip, adjusting my grip to hold her with one hand and the camera with the other. We made it to the bottom of the escalator and I walked over to John, smiling.
"There's my girls!" He exclaimed, causing Halston to giggle. I wrapped my one arm around him, hugging him. He hugged me back with one arm, hugging Halston with the other. I pulled away from the hug, Halston gripping onto John's neck. I laughed, transferring her to him, making her smile. I turned the camera back on them as Halston hugged John tightly again, burying her head in his neck. Then I turned the camera off, dropping my arm by my side. "How are my 2 favourite girls?" John asked as we began walking to baggage claim.
"Careful, Michelle isn't here." I teased him. He chuckled.
"She knows Halsey's my favourite." He replied jokingly. "How was the flight?"
"Good. Long. We had to get up at 4 this morning so we're a little tired." I explained.
"It's almost dinner time. When we get out of here we can go surprise Michelle and then get some food." John suggested. I nodded.
"Sounds good." I told him. We hadn't eaten a real meal on the plane, just snacks, so we'd skipped lunch and were pretty hungry. Dinner sounded good. We arrived at the baggage claim and after waiting a few minutes I spotted our bags and grabbed them. John grabbed a bag, lifting the handle and placing Halston on the top.
"Hold onto the handle. It's a ride!" He told her enthusiastically. I shook my head, laughing slightly. We wheeled the bags through the airport, heading to John's car. Then we loaded it up, I buckled Halston into her car seat, and we took off. I was filming short clips of the drive, things that would be good for a montage, when John's phone rang. "Quiet one second." He said, answering his phone over the car's Bluetooth. "Hello?" He asked.
"Hey man where are you?" A familiar voice questioned. I turned my head to look out the window, attempting to mind my own business.
"I'm just running some errands." John lied. I stole a quick glance back at Halston, worried she'd realize John was lying and say something. Luckily, she was too busy colouring in her colouring book to notice.
"How far are you from Lost and Found? Emergency band meeting." James told him. John sighed quietly, causing me to snort in laughter. I think that at the age of 23, John was realizing the 'emergency band meetings', which I fondly remember James attending all the time, are not actual emergencies. More like Luke deciding they needed to spend an extra hour rehearsing for their non-existent gigs. There's a reason they all have other jobs now. John teaches music to kids, which he likes, but he enjoys the band (when they have real meetings) more. I keep telling him to take advantage of my following and drop a few names. My followers all know who he is, they love him, if he slipped the band name they'd probably make the boys go viral. John always says no though, he says he doesn't want the guys finding out they went viral because he profited off of my fame.
"Okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Only an hour though! I have dinner plans with some friends tonight." John stated.
"Sure bro." James replied before the line went dead. I licked my lips, trying not to laugh.
"How are things going with everyone at the studio?" I asked, rather amused.
"The guys are driving me nuts. The dancers are driving Michelle nuts. And overall, anyone that danced on A troupe with you has completely lost their minds and are taking it out on Michelle and I." He replied. I laughed. He's friends with them all, he does enjoy spending time with them, but he'll be the first to admit they're crazy. To be fair, their lives aren't quite going according to plan. None of them are famous like they'd hoped.
"What about your relationship with...." I trailed off, making sure Halston was occupied and not listening, before continuing. "The baby daddy?" I whispered, making cradling gestures with my arms. John let out a staggered exhale, clearly angered by the topic. I laughed again. "I see you're still pretending to be friends then?" I inquired.
"There's still so much to be angry at." John replied.
"Don't be. I'm better without him. Remember, I'm the only one from The Next Step that is successful." I reminded him. He nodded.
"You deserve it." He muttered, pulling into the parking lot of my old dance studio. "I'll be an hour, at most. You can look for Michelle, say you're my cousin or something, she'll go along with it. If she's not in the juice bar, check the studio. Her and Emily wander up there when they miss it." John informed me. I nodded, turning to Halston.
"Wanna go surprise aunt Michelle?" I asked her, earning a huge smile.