STEPBROTHER: Bad Boy Blues (Taboo Romance) by Ora Wilde

open your account for the time being.”
     
    “Sorry I haven’t been able to check up on you.  I’ve been... preoccupied this past week.”
     
    “Preoccupied with what, exactly?”
     
    “Stuff.”
     
    “Oh, and here I was thinking that you were preoccupied with your stepbrother.  Speaking of which... when did you have a stepbrother?  I knew that your mom recently married this guy from Boston, but you never told me about him having a son or something.”
     
    “Yeah, it was a surprise for me too.”
     
    “I bet it was!  So surprised as to forget me, eh?”
     
    “Oh, Wilfred... don’t be a drama queen.”
     
    One look at Wilfred and anyone would immediately get the idea that he’s a geek.  I can’t blame them.  Wilfred is, based purely on appearance and mannerisms, the prototypical nerd... small and skinny and frail, neatly-combed hair fixed with some kind of gel that may have most probably been banned for decades, thick glasses with enough grade that can toast a piece of paper when placed under direct sunlight, and a fashion sense that was completely out of this world.  That morning, he was wearing a red polo shirt and loose jeans... pieced together by a pair of suspenders instead of a belt.
     
    “So... kissing siblings, huh?” he asked.  He had the license to speak to me like that.  He was, after all, a very good friend.
     
    “I was drunk, alright?”
     
    “Drunk my ass!  You never drink, Betty.”


     
    “Well, I drunk that night.”
     
    “And that got you so intoxicated that you ended up kissing your own brother?”
     
    “Stepbrother!  God!  I hate correcting people who misrepresent our relationship like that.  Don’t be one of them, Wilfred.”
     
    “Sorry,” he meekly apologized.  “So?”
     
    “So what?”
     
    “What’s the score?  Between you and your step brother?”  He emphasized step that time.
     
    “Nothing,” I lied.  “It was just an unfortunate incident.  I told you, I was drunk.”  Thank God for Chelsea for giving me an excuse I could use.
     
    “If you say so,” Wilfred replied.  “But you’ve got a lot of damage control to do.”
     
    Damage control?  I knew my social life was a total wreck, something beyond repair even.  There was no damage to control... because the damage that has been done was simply beyond mending.
     
    I went back to my book, but I found it hard to concentrate once again.  My mind was wandering... towards Darwin. 
     
    Where was he? 
     
    As first period started and finished and Darwin was nowhere to be found, my heart began to sink with the realization that he was not coming to school...
     
    And that I may have lost him forever.
     

“D id something happen between you and Darwin?”
     
    My mom’s question caught me by surprise that evening during dinner, so much so that I almost choked on the mashed potato and braised beef I was chewing.
     
    “Uhm... no,” I answered.  “Why?”
     
    “Well, he’s been acting weird lately,” she said, her tone was filled with worry.
     
    “But he’s always been weird,” I retorted.
     
    She chuckled a bit.
     
    “Yes, but you know what I mean,” she continued.  “He spent the past two days in his room.  He didn’t attend school today, I know.  I knocked on his door and he didn’t even answer.  I heard him grunt and I took that as his way of telling me that he didn’t want to be disturbed.”
     
    “Maybe he’s sick?” I tried to reason out.
     
    “Maybe.  But then, he went out after lunch and he hasn’t come back yet.”
     
    “Probably a girl.”
     
    “Pardon?”
     
    “He’s probably with a girl.  You know... young guy... testosterone... stuff like that.”
     
    “Probably,” she replied as she started to eat dinner with me.
     
    After a few minutes, she looked at me sullenly.  She was observing me, trying to determine if I was in the mood for a conversation.
     
    “Betty,” she started, “you will have to exercise a lot of