Stepbrother Surrender: A Step Romance Novella by Zoe Blair Page A

time.
     
     
               “Sorry
sweetie but we’re going back to my talk radio since you two can’t agree on
anything” he said, handing my cd back to me.
     
     
    Brandon turned to me, smug and satisfied,
and I felt like curling into a ball of defeat.
     
     
               And
while it was bad enough he’d continually pester me into a fury, the worst part
was when he’d bring home some of the most popular girls in school.  I avoided
these girls like the plague, knowing I’d never be accepted by them.  I was
content skating through high school with them never learning my name.
     
     
               Sometimes
they’d even be popular freshman girls who were hanging around him.  Girls I had
class with hopelessly tethered to the star athlete in an effort to win his
attention.  They started approaching me in class with wrinkled noses as if in
disgust to have to talk with me. 
     
     
                “So,
like, is your brother going to be home later?” one would ask.  I’d only reply
by correcting her with “stepbrother,” before hiding my face behind another
book.
     
     
                “I
can’t believe you two are related,” said another.  “You guys look nothing
alike.”  I only sighed in reply.
     
     
               All
the girls wanted to know about my stepbrother, but he didn’t care about them. In fact, he seemed to only be interested in the freshman girls because it
would annoy me.
     
     
               “Wow
I’ve never seen you before, are you a new student too?” Another would often ask
me with her doe-eyed expression.  Never mind that I’d gone to school with her
for years and I knew who she was.  I was a complete stranger to her, and
Brandon thought it was hilarious.
     
     
                I
was surprised when two long years later Brandon left for college on the other
side of the country.  I didn’t miss him at all.  I definitely wasn’t expecting
him to even be looking into college much less getting any acceptance letters,
but I was grateful to have him finally out of our house.
     
     
                In
fact, it kind of stung me that he got into one of the best schools in
California after watching him goof off all senior year.  After all, I worked
like a madman on my schoolwork and always kept a high G.P.A.  It didn’t seem
right to me that someone like Brandon could be viable competition for someone
like me.
     
     
               When
he came back after his first semester, he acted like a totally different
person.  He was tall and handsome and almost a little mature. Of course, I
didn’t buy it.  I kept my distance so I wouldn’t incur any more of his jokes or
criticism.  My self-esteem had started to improve ever since the day he left,
and I felt like I was finally learning how to come into my own.  I’d be damned
before I’d let him make me feel like that again.
     
     
               It
really didn’t seem like anything was ever going to mend our relationship.  It
certainly wasn’t dad’s constant budging of me to accept Brandon as my brother
from the time him and Brandon’s mom were dating.  We just didn’t get each other or have anything in common, and I wasn’t sure I cared if we ever
spoke to each other again.
     
     
               “Elle,
you hardly said a word to you brother entire time he was here” I remember my dad
scolding me after Brandon flew back to Los Angeles.  I gave a long sigh and
rolled my eyes.
     
     
               “He’s
a jerk; besides, he hates me anyway” I said.
     
     
               Brandon
was far from my mind at the time, though.  He was across the country and I was
nearly seventeen at that time, brimming with my own indignant attitude toward
everything. So, in standard teenage fashion, I stomped upstairs to avoid
continuing the debate with dad.
     
     
               But
I did find myself