Page 36 of The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

I held my breath. Ella looked like she might faint. He just stood there, scanning the rest of the letter.

"Read it out loud!" I protested.

A big grin broke out on his face. "Congratulations! It is our pleasure to offer you admission to UCLA for the fall quarter."

He didn't get to finish the rest of the letter because Ella started shrieking and jumping up and down, and then I was screaming and jumping up and down while holding her hands, and for that moment, everything was right in the world.

Then we hugged my dad, who neither jumped nor screamed.

"I am so proud of you," he said as he hugged both of us. "So how much?"

Ella let go. "What?"

Dad tossed the letter and envelope on the table and went to get himself a celebratory drink. Which, because he was on some Hollywood juice cleanse, was some disgusting concoction of grass, carrots, bark and a fruit I couldn't even identify. "The tuition. I set up an account in your name for tuition, books, dorms and whatever other incidentals you need. I just need to make certain we've got enough in there. It's been a few years since I was at UCLA."

"You don't have to pay for my college, Bill. I am so grateful to you for taking me in and I've tried my best to contribute, but you're not responsible for me."

"Of course I am," he said with a tone that made it sound like she'd just said something insane. "You're my daughter."

"Stepdaughter," she quietly responded.

He stopped putting the ingredients into the blender and turned to look at her. "Does that matter to you?"

Ella said nothing, but I could see the way she trembled, saw her blinking quickly. I knew what that meant. I went over and held her hand. She gripped me tightly. Dad walked over and took her other hand.

"Because it never mattered to me. You're my daughter just as much as Tilly is. I've been your dad since you were two years old. That's never going to change. I probably don't tell you enough, but I love you. Because no matter how grown up you get, you're always going to be my little girl."

A flood of tears streamed down Ella's face as he pulled her into a hug. He rocked her gently, trying to shush her crying. She said something, but was crying so hard I couldn't tell what it was. Feeling like an intruder, I tried to tiptoe out of the kitchen.

I felt guilty that I hadn't said anything earlier to my dad about Ella's crazy ideas involving cleaning the house and having a job and paying her own way, but in my defense, I was my father's daughter and was sometimes easily distracted.

"I don't think so," my dad said as he tugged on my arm and pulled me to him. "I love you too, you know."

Gah, he was such a sentimental sap.

But I let him hug me anyway.

The emotional lovefest came to an end when the doorbell rang.

Ella snapped her head back. "That's Trent! I must look like a mess!"

"I'll answer the door and keep him company while you finish getting ready," I told her.

She hugged me again and I decided I was tired of getting hugged that day. My grouchiness lifted though when Ella whispered into my ear, "This is like the best day ever."

And for once, I didn't envy her.

I let Trent in and we hung out in the living room. He seemed nervous and distracted just like Ella had been. He obviously liked her back. He was having a hard time paying attention to what I said. I decided to mess with him.

"So once the aliens let me go, I decided to make a documentary about my abduction."

"That's great," he said. "Wait, what?"

Before I could mock him, Ella entered the room. Trent jumped to his feet and grinned at her. "You look, uh, nice."

She looked like a freaking model. Nice was kind of an understatement.

A small pang of jealousy crept up on me. They both looked so happy. They weren't playing any games or pretending like anything else was going on. They just liked each other and they were going to go out and probably have a fantastic time with those whiny college brats.

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