My Stepbrother-Too Hot To Handle

Dabby:

I tried texting Mason for about two days, but he had not been checking his messages. Knowing that he would still end up checking them later, I didn’t want to pressure him unnecessarily about replying or anything. He was like the only friend I had, and there was no way I would lose that by being too clingy.

The setting at home was still the same, and my mornings ended up with being dropped miles away from the bus stop. I guess having a rich step daddy was better than I thought, because he sent money into my bank account, which was more than I had ever received as keep-money. So, regardless of how Damien avoided me like a plague or acted, I didn’t feel so bad.

The trauma of being poured sauce still stuck to me for days, so I made sure to avoid being in the same space with Madison or going for lunch. We were in the same class and it really sucked, because others also wanted to take advantage of how she acted to mess up with me.

Damien and his friends were not in our own class, which was really the best for my peace. No one would like to see a stuck up step brother right in their faces every single time.

“Why do I feel like there is some kind of crappy relationship with Damien that you are not telling me about? You guys don’t get along pretty well like I expect normal teenagers do. Are you sure there is no problem?” Mum in her detective state asked the morning before school while I helped her prepare breakfast, and I just shook my head like she was totally wrong about it.

‘Could she not see the difference between both of us?’

“We are fine mum. I am fine. Really,” I stressed on my words, so that she would let go of the topic and talk about another thing, but she was really bent on it and it was really stressing me.

“Should I say you are kind of intimidated by him? The aura is evident,” Mum pointed out again, and I just dismissed it with a mockish chuckle like she was wrong indeed.

“I am still just a bit awkward, Mum. Everything is fine,” I assured her, and quickly sidled away to the fridge to get the bottle of milk and cut off the discussion.

‘Just how do I tell her that the setting they thought was working with us going to school together was messed up? Then I’ll have to say I had to board the bus afterwards. Nah. I would suck even more if I said that.’

“I know you are kind of conserved, Dabby, but I didn’t raise you to be weak. Get your heads up, and be the boss over anyone who tries to sit on you,” Mum said and I just smiled, biting my lips from saying any further. She would probably cry if she knew I was getting bullied and probably set my school on fire. Just kidding.

“What did the other kids say when you guys were in school together? Weren’t they curious to know how you became siblings?” Mum asked excitedly and I sighed really hard.

‘This woman was really too curious to know everything.’

“They just assumed we were neighbors or something. They didn’t think to the siblings’ extent and we didn’t say anything,” I let out a forced chuckle, and quickly grabbed a bowl of cereal and poured my milk into it.

I filled my mouth with some spoonful of cereal in no time, totally not ready to answer another question from Joanna.

“Just in case I forget to tell you again. I and Maxson are taking a break from work and finally going on our honeymoon this weekend. It’s probably going to last for one week or so,” Mum informed me nonchalantly, and I spat out the cereal that was stuffed in my mouth in an attempt to shout.

“What?!” I yelled in exasperation.

‘I would just die if I was left home alone with Damien. Someone please tell me it was a dream.’

~~~~~~

The first period of class was really sad and depressing for me, because I had to overthink the information that mum told me in the morning. It was difficult to comprehend no matter how I tried.

‘Who the heck leaves grown-ups at home under the stance that they became siblings?!’

The news was really hard on me and I was feeling under the weather already, because I couldn’t just understand how I and Damien would coexist in the same house for days without parents. I bet he didn’t know yet, else he would probably meet me after school.

We do not even have each other’s phone numbers again which means; Things are about to get worse and pathetic for you, Dabby.

‘Just how could this even happen to me?’

I needed someone to talk to and reckon with about everything that was going on with me, but Mason was not even replying to his texts, Mum was crazily in love with my night mare’s father and I was all alone. There was no one to even cry out my frustrations to.

As usual after school, I got home and ran upstairs to take my bath and cool down. I was not going to make lunch because I had no appetite, and I just decided to stream a nice movie with a romcom genre, to improve my mood. I was not laughing or enjoying the movie. My head was clearly absorbed into my fears and thoughts.

I tried to do some exercise in my room as I bounced up and down the huge room, but I was already getting so tired and heated after a few minutes of stress. And then, a beautiful idea struck my mind when I moved to my window for a good breeze to feel better.

I changed into one of the nice bikini sets that mum bought me many months ago, which had rarely served its purpose ever since I had them. Sure that there was still enough time to play around and calm my nerves, I stepped out through the backdoor that led to the pool directly wearing a huge dress.

The moment I got to the back of the house where the pool was situated, I pulled my dress, dropped it on the ground, and carefully got on one of the floaters that was inside the pool.

The air around was soothing to the relaxation of my alerted nerves and mind, while I played around with the water that was around me.

It was hard to stop the numerous thoughts that kept crawling on my mind, and I suddenly got the urge to cry out and release my heart. It was this kind of feeling when someone feels so frustrated about everything, in which they do not know why they are like that, and just want to cry to feel better.

And before I knew it, my face was trickling down of tears and my nose was not left out in the fluid game too. I was so tired and stressed out of my mind, and yet I was bawling my eyes out. I was tired and too sad, yet I would be happy if everything was fine. The emotional switches worked perfectly well for me.

After I had cried terribly for minutes and sniffed countless times, I tried to raise my body up from the floater and balance well because of the cold. My eyes were still cloudy from the tears that were trying to drain itself, and it suddenly got really hard to see properly because I wasn’t wearing my glasses.

Suddenly, my hand slipped away from the floater where I tried to lean on properly, and I dived straight into the pool without warning. My body plunged deeply down and floated back up, and I panicked and flapped my hands helplessly trying to use my skills.

“Helpruuu!” I said some rubbish when I floated back up and tried to catch my breath, as I went back down again without any reasonable skill that I thought I had an idea about to help me.

I was drowning and I knew it, and I was suddenly scared that I would just die like that and no one would find my body till I was bloated in water.

‘Dear lord. So this is how I will die now. In my new father’s house where there is no one to help.’Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

And just when I thought I was sinking finally to my death, a large hand pulled me out of the water and I didn’t even see the face. I thought I was dead already and that the angels had probably come to get me.

“Dabby! Dabby!!” I think I heard my name faintly as someone slapped my cheek severally, the moment my back landed on a hard surface which I think was the floor.

I didn’t know what happened next but I felt pressure on my chest pressing me down to bring out water, and something touched my lips softly and blew hair into my lungs. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I was probably slipping into unconsciousness or waking up.

‘Was I dead already?’