by STEPHEN HILL
For the first time in a while excitement fill me. Seven years ago - when my dad was around – was the last time I had gone bowling. It had been a family tradition with my dad, but the second he left us my mom couldn't stand bowling. I couldn't believe we were going. "Yeah," Christian replied, confused. Finding myself smiling, I stood up. My heart was pumping in a good way for once. "Wait," Christian said cautiously. I looked at him, suddenly remembering I hated him. My pumping heart soon began to pump with hatred as well. "Let's try to have fun together today. Okay?" he said. I rolled my eyes. "How about no. You have fun with your family, and I'll have fun by myself." "It's your family too." Once again, I rolled my eyes. I wasn't in the mood to have this conversation again. "You know you look like your mom," Christian suddenly said.
My eyes widened slightly at that. No one had ever told me that, and I found that hard to believe. My mom was beautiful. The type of beautiful that drew people in. She had long, wavy chocolate brown hair, and hazel eyes. Her body was long and thin, but she had the perfect hourglass figure.
The only similarity we had was the same hair and clear skin. Other than that, I had chocolate brown eyes and was short. My figure was also less curvy than hers. There was no way I looked like her. "No I don't," I eventually said.
Without waiting for a reply, I turned around and rushed upstairs. Now away from Christian, excitement began to fill me again. Bowling was one of the many things I missed from my old life.
We were all standing in front of a bowling alley, waiting for Stephen to input our names into the computer that calculated points. I was staring at the area with awe, taking in the place I missed so much. It was quite empty to my surprise, but I enjoyed that because this place seemed to be just mine today. Mine and twenty other people I didn't care about.
"Okay, we're ready to go," Stephen said, approaching us. He was wearing a big smile, as he usually did. My eyes softened at the sight and I felt sorry about the fact that I was about to destroy him and the others at bowling.
"I made the order of names by age. I'll go first, and Autumn will go last." I huffed to myself, feeling annoyed. My excitement had been pumping through my veins for the past hour, and I just wanted to start bowling. Stupid Stephen.
"You did that so you could go first," my mom said, clearly amused.
Stephen winked and walked away. My mom giggled and I rolled my eyes. For the past two weeks she had been giggling at everything Stephen said, and I was close to banging my head against a wall. I was glad to see that Christian didn't seem that comfortable with their flirting either.
Moving away from the wooden lane, the three of us watched Stephen walk back with a bowling ball in his hand. He looked dead serious as he walked, seeming to be in 'the zone'. I found myself becoming amused.
Once he reached the lane, he winked at my mom again. She giggled again, and I found myself annoyed again. Then, Stephen pulled his hand back and rolled the bowling ball forward with sudden speed. My eyes widened in amazement, but then it hit the gutter and I found myself smiling as Stephen walked back to my mom with his head hung low in shame.
When he reached my mom, she pecked his cheek and said, "You did well honey." He shook his head. "I got a gutter ball." "But you looked cute doing it." Stephen chuckled and I quietly gagged. Seeing old people flirt was disturbing. Especially, when one of them was your mom. Stephen then bowled one more time, earning him three pins. He was still ashamed, but happy he had some sort of score. My mom went next. Unlike Stephen, she hit eights pins. Years of practice was to thank for that, and if she wasn't 'rusty' she would have gotten a spare at least. I knew how good my mom was, and I was slightly disappointed in her. Stephen wasn't though, he was extremely proud of her. Christian went next. My eyes glued onto him as he casually walked over to where the bowling balls were, picked one up with his two fingers, and then walked to the front of the lane. Smoothly, he then proceeded to extend his arm with the ball back, take a few steps, and throw the ball forward with enough power that kept the ball fast but steady.
My eyes widened as he got a strike. "That's my son!" Stephen cheered, clapping as Christian walked back to us. My mom also cheered, "Good job!" Christian wore a smug look as he ended up standing beside me. My eyes were still glued to him, so I was surprised to see him look at me in a way that I had never seen before. A way that was almost condescending, saying that he was better than me. Huffing, I stormed up to the area where the bowling balls were and grabbed one. I was now annoyed. Annoyed by the stupid boy who thought he was better than me when he clearly wasn't. I would show him that through bowling I walked up to the lane and played the movements I had done years ago to be a great bowler in my mind. The moves that Christian had done. When confident with them, I did them precisely as seen, and was amazed to see all of the pins fall down. "Good job!" Stephen yelled, as I stood there with wide eyes. Collecting myself, I walked back to them with my own smug look. The fact that my mom didn't say anything stung, but I ignored that and focused on the fact that I would beat Christian. The fact that his eyebrows were also raised, showed me that he didn't expect that.
We continued fighting for the win after that, but to no success. Almost creepily, we would always get the same score as each other in every round. Our parents noticed that, but they were too impressed to be frustrated like myself. I just couldn't believe we kept tying. The last round eventually came, and we were tied for one hundred and forty points. Christian brushed past me as he went to bowl for the last time, shooting me a smug look. He had been doing that the entire time, and I was growing insane from it. It took everything within me it to not smack him in front of everyone.
Happily, I watched Christian earn a spare and then eight pins. I smiled smugly as he walked back, clearly not pleased with himself. It made sense since this was an easy win for myself. Now brushing past him, I grabbed a bowling ball and shot him a devious smile. Without trying, I knew I could get a strike and hopefully nine pins as well. If so, I would win by a lot. That was all I wanted right now. I pulled my hand back, ready to bowl and looked at him one last time. To my surprise, his smug look had been wiped off of his face. It had been replaced by a gentle, caring look. That threw me off guard as I threw the bowling ball forward, only hitting three pins.
Christian snorted at that and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. Not once in the game had I hit that little pins, and in the last round I had. I was horrified and a bit humiliated. Taking a deep breath in, I grabbed another bowling ball and threw it hastily at the pins. I hit six pins, leaving one standing. My jaw dropped again as I realized I had officially lost. Lost to Christian who I had so badly wanted to beat. I couldn't believe it. "You cheated," I accused, pointing a finger at Christian.
Christian held his hands up. "I did nothing. What are you talking about?" My cheeks heated up as I realized I couldn't say what I wanted to say. Saying that you looked at me like you cared would sound weird, an awkward thing to say too. I wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"You both did good," Stephen said, trying to calm things down. "Good job. "I snorted and walked away, not caring about the others. I was so angry. Angry at myself to be honest. It was such an easy win yet I lost. Lost because the stupid boy had distracted me. I hated Christian even more. I found myself blasting Eminem songs in my room, wanting to forget about the world. Two long weeks had passed since the bowling incident, but I was still mad. Mad that I lost to stupid Christian. To his perfect self. The thought drove me insane, which was why I was listening to Eminem.
The thing I loved about Eminem was that he seemed to be angry in a way that made you feel good because someone knew your pain. Someone, was actually experiencing it as well. That was how Eminem made me feel. I suddenly heard a loud knock on my door, making me pause my music. It was my mom, I knew. She was probably going to tell me to lower the volume on my speakers, which I found annoying. Ever since Stephen appeared she didn't seem to be my actual mom, so I didn't understand why she had the right to give me instructions like that.
Sighing, I walked up to my bedroom door and opened it. My eyes widened as the person I saw wasn't my mom. It was Christian. Quickly, I closed my door slightly so that he would only be able to see me. My room was a mess. A complete mess because magazines were scattered across the ground, posters were stuck hastily onto the wall, and I had a huge pile of dirty clothes in one corner of my room. If 'golden boy' saw this, he would be disgusted.
"Hey Autumn," Christian said, looking nervous. "What do you want?" I asked flatly. A month had passed since Christian moved in, but I still hated him. Actually, I hated him more after the bowling match. Everything about him and his 'perfect' self was just so infuriating. Christian sighed. "Your mom wants us to go out one more time. As a family. Schools going to start soon and... Yeah." "Why?" I asked, exasperatedly. "Haven't we spent enough family time together."
"Not enough." He raised an eyebrow. "You still seem to hate my dad and I." I glowered at him. "That will never change." "What did we do to make you hate us?" "Just leave," I snapped, growing tired.
I quickly shut the door, wanting Christian to leave. The thing I hated about Christian the most was the fact that he didn't seem to hate me. In fact, he wanted us to get along. He wanted us to be the ideal family actually, which sucked for him because that was impossible. Groaning, I then realized I had to go to wherever my mom would take us now. She would never let me miss out on our 'family time', which was incredibly annoying. So sighing, I got dressed in blue jeans and a white graphic tee, and then went downstairs.
I didn't know why my mom wanted to take us out to a restaurant. We were all perfectly capable of eating at home, but she had insisted on it. I wasn't complaining though, because I loved Chinese food. And we were now at a buffet filled with it.
"This is a nice restaurant," my mom commented, looking around the restaurant as she sat down with her food. Once I also sat down, I looked around as well. The restaurant was simple, but cute with its walls painted with fishes in ponds and bright lights hanging from the ceiling. There was also a blue and red theme to the place, which I liked because those were my favourite colours. "It's lovely," Christian said, sitting right beside me. "Thank you for taking us here, Alice."
My mom blushed and I nearly gagged. Around Christian she was like a typical teenage girl. Swooning over all of his actions and treating him like a god. I hated it. "It's alright," I muttered, just wanting to disagree with Christian. My mom frowned. "Autumn..." "Don't listen to her," Christian quickly said.
"She's just cranky after listening to Eminem." I scowled at him. Christian seemed to want to get on my good side, but he was doing a lousy job at that. "Oh." My mom smiled. "I don't understand why people listen to that man. He's just so... Angry. It can't be healthy to hear him rap whatever he feels."
"I love Eminem," Christian quickly said, sounding honest. "I feel like he understands pain in a way that makes you respect him, even though he has no filter to what he says." My eyebrows raised at that, but I made sure not to look at Christian as I began to dig into my food. For once, I agreed with what he said. I was also kind of happy to hear that he had good taste in music.
Stephen soon came and the three of them began to chatter away. I didn't talk at all. I just ate quietly as they talked. No matter how much my mom wanted us to be a happy family, I didn't care. Some feelings could never change and that was how I felt about Stephen and Christian. After ten minutes, I realized I had finished my food. Everyone else was still eating, so I got up by myself and walked outside of the room we were in. Outside was where rows of trays of food were at, so I went there and grabbed some noodles and shrimp tempura.
With a filled plate now in my hands, I inhaled the sweet, incredible smell of the food. My mouth even began to water as I closed my eyes briefly, welcoming the scent. Even though I wasn't enjoying my time with my family, I was happy to be able to eat Chinese food. "The food is amazing here, isn't it hun?" I suddenly heard someone say.
I quickly opened my eyes and became surprised to see an attractive boy standing in front of me. He had blond hair and brown eyes, giving him an innocent look. The smile he was also displaying to me was also quite beautiful, which made my stomach stir with butterflies.
"Yeah, it is," I said, smiling. "The shrimp is the best." "It is." The guy's smile grew. "My name is Nate and I think you're pretty. What's your name?" Blushed instantly filled my cheeks. "My name is Autumn." "Like the season?" I nodded.
"That's incredible." He chuckled lightly. "Do you want to hang out?" The butterflies in my stomach seemed to be having seizures as my stomach felt extremely uneasy - in a good way. I was kind of surprised a cute guy like Nate was hitting on me, but I was extremely happy too. Today was definitely going to be worth it if we hit it off great. I opened up my mouth to agree to his request, but I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. A large, warm hand that made me look up to see who it was. To my shock and disappointment, it was Christian. A serious looking Christian actually, who had his eyes glued on Nate. "Sorry," Christian said, forcing a smile. "She's spending time with our family."
Nate frowned. "You're her boyfriend?" My jaw dropped and before I could say anything, Christian said, "No, I'm her step- brother." "But, can't she spend some time with me. I just want to get to know her." "No." Christian pulled me closer to him, so that my back was now pressed against his chest. "Bye now."
I scowled as I felt Christian's hard muscles on my back. His hand was still on my shoulder, making me squirm away from him. I didn't know what he was doing, I didn't know why either. But, I was now furious. He had no right to interfere. Turning around quickly to face Christian, I snapped, "What the hell! This is none of your business." Christian didn't react. He just stared at me with a neutral expression, angering me even more. My hands even clenched into fists as anger boiled through my veins.
"What are you doing!" I exclaimed. "I'm protecting you," Christian simply replied. "Protecting me from what?" I asked, exasperatedly. "You're the only one causing me problems lately, so you should be protecting me from you."
To my surprise, Christian flinched. His eyes widened as well. Ignoring his reaction, I turned around to face Nate. To my disappointment, his eyes were also widened. "Nate, I'm sorry," I said tiredly. "Maybe I should go now," Nate replied, still looking shocked.
Before I could say anything, he turned around and walked away. My butterflies seemed to die painfully as he walked away, knowing I lost my chance at being with a cute guy. Knowing it was Christian's fault, I felt my veins boil again. Turning around quickly, I began to scowl at Christian again. "This is your fault."
Christian shrugged casually. "It is." "Stop acting like it's not a big deal!" "It isn't a big deal," Christian shot back, finally losing his patience. "He's just one guy." My hands clenched into fists again, but I turned around. I turned around and walked away, knowing I would lose it in front of everyone if I continued talking to Christian. He had that effect on me and I hated it. Completely hated it because I knew I would get in trouble for it in the end. Not Mr perfect, but me. That was how life would work from now on. "Mom, do you have to go?" I whined, following her to the door.
"Yes Autumn." Mom narrowed her eyes at me. "Be nice to Christian while I'm gone." I snorted, unable to believe that Mom was leaving me alone with Christian. A near stranger I hated. Stephen had really made her screws loose. "I'm serious Autumn," she scolded. "If I come home to see a hair touched on that boy you will be in huge trouble. Got that?" My eyes widened as my heart clenched. I couldn't believe she was supporting Christian. Saying I would hurt him. I was her daughter. The person she knew for sixteen years. Despite my now aching heart, I said, "Okay. Bye." "Goodbye."
Without another word, my mom quickly pulled on some black flats and left the house. I closed the door and sighed. School started tomorrow and she had abandoned me. Left me without any supplies because she had been so caught up with Stephen. Anger began to well up within me. Turning around, I inhaled deeply. My heart hurt, yet it was pounding. Pounding with anger that needed to be re
leased. I knew who exactly it needed to be released on too.
Loudly pounding my feet against the ground, I stormed upstairs. Taking a right turn, I stood in front of a closed bedroom door. A door that I would've broken down if I hadn't taken another deep breath in. I knocked on the door, heart racing as I waited. There was so much anger within me. So much anger for Christian. He had stolen my mom away from me, ruined my chances with a cute guy, and so much more. So much more I couldn't explain.
###THE END####
STEPBROTHER ROMANCE
THE BROAD WAY
(FREE BOOK ) 2
THE BROAD WAY
Before I knew it, the door flew open. Still holding the door with his right hand, Christian stood in front of me. Dressed in a black tank top and black basketball shorts, his tired eyes met mine. My heart froze for a second, but then it burst with adrenaline.
"How dare you?" I asked, clenching my jaw so that I wouldn't yell. "What?" he asked tiredly. "How dare you ruin my life!" I exclaimed, completely frustrated. "You ruined everything! Everything! School starts tomorrow and I have no supplies because of you!" Christian crossed his arms over his chest, looking like he wasn't in the mood for this. Too bad for him, I didn't care. "How did I do that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You... Your dad married my mom!" Christian suddenly shook his head tiredly. "Autumn, can't you see your mom is happy?" "She was happy before!" "No, she wasn't." Christian suddenly took a step forward, so that we were barely a foot apart. "But my dad isn't the issue. Your issue is me." My heart froze from how near he was. This was the closest we'd been face-to-face this past month, and I wasn't happy with it. But I couldn't move. Not when his blue eyes were locked with mine, challenging me to be honest.