My Stepbrother-Too Hot To Handle

DABBY:

It was after I returned to my room and sat on the bed, that I realized what I had said to Damien. Even though I knew that it was the truth and that we could really be stuck with one another till the end, I shouldn’t have said anything to Damien.

“You shouldn’t have said it, Dabby. You shouldn’t!” I scolded myself and stood up from the bed to pace around the room, wondering if that would even make him hate me more.

My mind flashed back to the look he gave me when I said that, like I didn’t even exist as someone reasonable before him. He just stood up and left the scene immediately.

It was disheartening to know that I was trying my best to honor his wishes, and getting him to like me, but I was even doing it wrongly and getting things worse.

‘But, I was so sick of hearing and knowing that he wanted us to leave. That he didn’t like being family, as much as I hated it too. We really have a choice.’

“You are fine, Dabby. You’ve got this. You can do it. You can survive even with a rigid stepfather, a lovestruck mum and obnoxious step brother who hates you. You can,” I encouraged myself over and over again with words, and moved to make instant coffee for myself. I needed something sweet to calm down.

Mum called when I had laid on my bed and was ready to sleep, while listening to some sad song that would make me even feel worse. She said she missed me and asked about school. I told her everything was fine, and didn’t even bother to ask her when she would come again.

It was useless asking when they would be back home, because it felt like I was hanging on like a little child who was abandoned by her mother. I was just going to be cool about anything that happened, and allow her to do whatever she wanted.

I was feeling better the next day and my stitches didn’t hurt that much again, apart from crazy itches in-between the mended flesh that I couldn’t even scratch. That was the most frustrating part of it, that even felt worse than the pain.

My mouth watered for bacon, eggs and bread, and I knew I had to cook something in the kitchen no doubt. I rushed downstairs after I had dressed in my usual clothes, and set out everything that I was going to use to prepare my breakfast.

Even with my hand still hurting, I tried to get work done fast so that I wouldn’t be late for school. Mason had called me that morning and said I should stay at home and not bother, but there was no way I could spend that much time doing nothing. I couldn’t miss class too.

I took the bus to school and felt refreshed as I entered the school. I went to my locker to drop my books, and there were so many crazy stickers all over. Offensive and insulting words were written on them, and I wondered what had happened again. The next thing I felt was a hard hit on my head.

Before me were three fiery looking girls standing so angrily, and their eyes were shooting out beams of intense anger. They all stood like they were ready to fight over something, and I was really scared about what had happened.

“Are you really dating Damien?” The one who looked like their leader asked, and my head skipped a bit about what she could be talking about.

“I do not know….”

“Are you dating Damien, bitch?!” She screamed at me and hit me on the head again, which almost burst into tears immediately.

‘Why were these girls doing this to me?’

“No. I am not. I am not,” I spoke out hurriedly and tried not to cry even more, as one of her minions passed her a picture and she flashed it before my face.

‘The picture Madison showed me yesterday. Did she do this to screw me over again?’ I now began to let my tears guard down.

Apart from telling them that we were not dating, there was a worse problem, because I couldn’t explain what I and Damien were doing there even if I wanted to. There was no way that I would tell everyone that we were living together, and there was a little accident so he had to drive me.

“Can you not talk?!” She barked again, and I shivered so much. There were piercing eyes of so many looking at us too, like they were waiting to hear an answer from me.

‘Who was this girl anyway, and why was she bent on knowing? I mean, she wasn’t even Damien’s girlfriend. Wait, his ex? Did Madison hire her? Did they hire them to humiliate me like this?’ I had so many questions storming my head and brains at that point, instead of thinking of a lie that I could tell to fit perfectly into the picture.

“Tell us, bitch! Are you dating Damien?” I heard a spiteful voice from above me, and there were girls too standing up the stairs.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Are you really the nerd that he is dating?” Another clamored.

“I mean, he cannot lower his standards for a girl like you!” One screamed.

“You are really a bitch. First the new hot guy and now Damien. You’ve got some skills!”

‘There was only one way to get out of this mess. Tell the truth that you and Damien are siblings, and that such could never happen between both of you.’

‘Then if you tell them, they would become relieved for a second, and probably burn at you again. They would ask why, how and when you guys became siblings, and persecute you for living in the same house with him.’

‘Either way Dabby, you are damned,’ my thoughts slapped reality to my face.

“If you lay your hands on her again, then I will break them,” I heard Mason’s voice coming from the right direction, and I was really relieved. I became so relieved in my heart that I started to cry. The girl who was still talking to me was forced to stop.

‘If he didn’t come for them, then these hungry girls would suck my breath mercilessly.’

“Mason. Are you really dating this thing?” A redhead that had black lipstick smeared over her pucker lips asked him, as she casted an irritated look upon me.

“What I do, does not concern you, Vivian,” he replied so politely in a sarcastic manner, and she looked quite shocked. She was another popular and wealthy girl too, because her father was a mayor.

I followed him immediately without even having to be dragged, because I wanted to be free from the suffocating looks from everyone. They obviously needed an explanation, and I didn’t have anyone to give them. There was nothing to say.

I also feared that Mason might already have so many anti-fans because of me, in just a few days of being in our school. It was so crazy to know that his life had been hectic ever since he moved here, because he had met a friend like me beforehand.

“I am so sorry for making your life this rough,” I apologized as I followed him, still crying. My mother would really puke if she saw me in that way. She would be so disappointed.

“You do not need to apologize. Just fight back, Dabby. Do not let these people trample over you,” he scolded, and I even broke down more. He was telling the truth.

I followed him out of the school building immediately, and the news that had spread fast about Damien and I, which made hatred more palpable. It hurt me to know that someone had solely done this purposely to screw me over.

“I should find Madison and tell her to erase the fake news about me and Dalton. She had really gone too far,” I bit my lips.

“It is not actually Madison, but one of Madison’s haters. She probably got her hand on the picture and decided to use it to screw her over. The headlines would probably be; Damien on a date with a new nerd girlfriend. Madison is now a low bitch. Something like that. It is to make Madison mad, but the pressure is now on you,” Mason explained, and I broke into more tears again.

It was crazy to know that I had to suffer for a news that was meant to hurt Madison, so far it included Damien’s name and mine.

“This is the toughest year in my life I had so much. The toughest,” I cried, and Mason was really sorry for me.

Dalton was right. Ever since I became his stepsister, things had gotten much harder for me. Maybe leaving was actually the way out, because there was no way I could survive hostility from anyone any longer.

The pressure was so much that I couldn’t return to class, and I felt bad for Mason because I was inconveniencing his life too. We sat together for so long to talk, and he said to wait for a few minutes while he went to get drinks from the vending machine. Perfect timing.

I dropped a note for him telling him that I was sorry, but I couldn’t watch him suffer because of me, and ran off from school immediately. I switched my phone off, and took the first bus at the bus stop to wherever it will take me.