Stepbrother

by Stacy McWilliams

  My heart pounded in my ears as I shoved the note into my bio notes and pushed them into the bottom of my bag. I spent the rest of the day in nervous anticipation of what he had planned, and as he dropped Abbi off, his smile grew wider. We drove towards home and when we arrived his face fell.

  Both my mom’s and his dad’s cars sat in the driveway. He stopped behind them and got out with a frown on his face. His dad came down the steps and met us with the biggest smile on his face. As I climbed out of the back seat, my mom came towards me with a smile.

  “Mom, Shawn, this is early for you guys?” I stared at them in confusion and my mom smiled at me.

  “Yeah, it’s only once that your baby girl turns sixteen and since Coop’s missing tomorrow, we decided to have your party today. All your friends have been informed and everyone will be here tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to visit your nana and gramps, and my mom and dad.”

  I followed alongside them and Cooper shrugged at me as I glanced at him. My mom broke the stare-off between me and Cooper by stepping between us and dragging me upstairs to get ready. I wanted to wear jeans and a shirt, but my mom insisted I wear a dress and spent hours primping my hair, painting my nails, fixing my make-up and my eyebrows and forcing me into a pink and white dress that accentuated my curves and had a gold belt that clipped at the waist.

  She made me wear gold sandals that I’d never seen before and a gold necklace that dropped into my cleavage. When she was done it was almost time for the party and she dragged from the room and led me outside.

  The party was in the garden and the decor was so overdone with gold and pink streamers everywhere. There was a glass vase on each table filled with gold and pink stones and white table linens underneath.

  My eyes scanned the room and I saw that most of the people there were only there because of Cooper, Shawn, Mom, and Zane. I had a handful of people I was excited to see, Wendy, Cate, Leah and Alice, and my friends from school.

  I was having fun with them, even though I looked like a Barbie doll and nothing like myself in my outfit. As we danced around, laughing and joking, some of the others joined in and Cooper stood with his face like thunder for most of the party. He didn’t look my way at all after David kissed me on the cheek.

  As the party finally wrapped up, my mom and Shawn asked everyone to gather on the front lawn as my present arrived. It was a pink VW Bug and I wanted to roll my eyes at the color, but I had a car. My heart began to race and I jumped up and down a little as my eyes roamed over it.

  He’d got me a car! A freaking car!! I wouldn’t need to rely on Cooper for lifts anymore and it meant he wasn’t obligated to drive me anywhere.

  I ran over to my mom and Shawn and hugged them to thank them. They smiled at me and I went back to my friends dancing and laughing and for once in my life enjoying being the center of attention. We didn’t stop until dancing, singing, and laughing until the music stopped well after one am.

  Wendy, Lish, David, and I sat outside chatting and were soon alone chatting about music and bands we liked but were interrupted by Shawn who told my friends it was time to go home. I was a little disappointed, but when I checked my cell I realized it was well after two am.

  Wendy was sleeping over in my room, and we went up together. Cooper met us on the stairs and glared at me. I brushed past him, my arm touching his, making his body stiffen. Without saying anything, he pushed my hand away hard.

  “Sorry,” I muttered as his eyes tightened. He stormed down the stairs ignoring me completely.

  “Jeez,” Wendy whispered. “What’s his problem?” Her gaze followed him as he rounded the corner heading back towards the kitchen.

  “No idea,” I muttered, “he’s hated me since I arrived.” She shrugged, and we went into my room changing for bed. We sat on my bed catching up for a while, and she told me the latest drama from her school.

  “Did you hear about Lauren Lyle?” she asked in a low voice and I shook my head. I didn’t really keep up with my old school at all. Wendy was my only link to the place.

  “No. What about her?” I asked and she sat up grinning at me.

  “She’s knocked up!” She informed me gleefully, laughing as I sat up straighter to look at her.

  “No!” My voice was high pitched and I had to try to tone it down a little.

  “Yes. Harvey Kirk is the father.”

  “Oh my god, seriously?” I asked in surprise.

  My mouth dropped open because Lauren was head cheerleader and Harvey was the geeky mathlete who didn’t hang out with anyone outside of the Geek Squad.

  “Yep. It’s a total scandal.”

  Her eyes widened a little and she swallowed before turning away. I knew she was hiding something from me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what it was.

  “What is it, Wendy?”

  “Well, they gossip about you as well. There’s a rumor going around that…”

  She broke off and eyed me warily, but I knew her love of gossip would win over her fear of upsetting me. I saw the moment she’d made her decision because she stopped chewing her lip and sat up a little straighter

  “They’re saying that Cooper and you were together and that he got you pregnant and that’s why you moved in here. His dad apparently married your mom and they plan to take the baby from you and raise it as their own.”

  She eyed me nervously as I threw my head back and burst out laughing. I’d forgotten how cathartic it was to properly laugh and after a moment she joined in.

  “So, it’s true then?” she asked a few minutes later and I answered her sarcastically.

  “Oh yeah, of course, it’s true. Except you’ve seen Cooper. He fucking hates me, my mom isn’t that interested in me and I haven’t ever slept with anyone. So no, not even a little bit true.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m beat, Bailey. I gotta go to sleep now.”

  She sighed and leaned down, curling into the wall and falling asleep within moments, but I couldn’t sleep. Coop’s face kept invading my mind and I decided to get a drink of water. I reached down to my bedside table for the bottle I’d placed there earlier and heard a soft rattle.

  I was sure I was imagining things. There was no way a rattler could get into my room. They usually didn’t come near houses and the only times I’d ever seen one was when I was out hiking with my dad and Louis when we were kids. Our dog Captain had been bitten by one in front of me when I was eight and I’d hated them ever since.

  I reached down again, and the rattle got louder. I snatched my hand away and saw the snake shoot out from under my bed. I wasn’t sure screaming was a good idea, but I screamed as loud as I could, waking Wendy up, she mumbled incoherently.

  Within a second my door battered off the wall and Cooper was in the room.

  “Wait,” I called out, “rattler.” He froze at the door and glanced around the room, motioning for Wendy and I to go to him. The rattling started again and I flew towards him. Snakes were my biggest fear and knowing there was one in my room made me a wreck. Cooper gathered me into his arms and took us into his room sitting us on the bed. His dad met him at the door to his room.

  “Coop, what’s going on, son?” he asked glancing in. His eyes widened as he saw me sitting on the bed. I was rocking back and forth, Wendy next to me trying to calm me down.

  “There’s a snake in her room. Dad, it’s a rattler?”

  Shawn’s eyes widened, and he glared at me. I wondered if he thought I was making it up for attention, but there was no way I’d do that.

  “Are you sure, son?” Cooper nodded and his dad spoke softly to him.

  “Take the girls to the guest room. Then we’ll have a talk when you get back here.” As we walked to the guest room, I realized Cooper was shaking. I reached for his hand, giving it a small squeeze, but he snatched his hand back looking scandalized and stared daggers at me.

  When we reached the guest room at the opposite end of the hall, I made Cooper check out everywhere before I let him leave us alone. Wendy climbed int
o bed and was out as soon as her head hit the pillow, but the look on Cooper’s face as he left me haunted me because I couldn’t stop thinking about how much he seemed to hate me and how much I irritated him, but also about how scared he was. Something about his dad’s tone had set Cooper on edge and it unnerved me.

  My head went around and around with these thoughts and kept me awake for hours. After a while, I heard him. He only cried out twice, but I heard the blows on his body through the open door.

  When I heard Shawn retreat downstairs, I wanted to go see Cooper to make sure he was okay, but I knew that somehow what happened to him was my fault and I just couldn’t make myself go because he probably wouldn’t want me there.

  I sat awake and twirled my necklace from Wendy around and around, the thoughts in my head whirring and keeping me awake. At four a.m. I tiptoed downstairs and sat outside on the deck with a bottle of water. The seats were hidden from view, and I was glad because I was considering sleeping out there.

  A light touch on the back of my neck made me jump awake and I spun around in my chair ready to ninja kick someone off the decking. Coop smiled down at me, but I could see the pain cross his features as he sat down beside me.

  “I’ve been told to stay away from you,” he said after a moment’s silence and I glanced at him, seeing the tears behind his eyes. One escaped and rolled down his cheek. I reached over and wiped it away; he shuddered at my touch, then winced.

  “Coop,” I whispered, the sound of my voice making him look right at me.

  “What, Bailey?”

  I shrugged and shook my head.

  “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.” I answered in a low voice, debating whether to say what I wanted to him.

  He stared down for a moment.

  “Don’t you do that, not to me. It does matter. Say it.” His words caught me off guard because I didn’t feel like I mattered to anyone, least of all him. After a moment staring at him, I smiled softly and he seemed to relax a little.

  “Why don’t you just stay away from me?” I asked in a quiet voice.

  He shrugged staring out into the blackness of the night.

  “I don’t know. I’m gonna try when I get back from camp. I’m gonna stay away from you.” His voice was breathless when he answered and I glanced over at him, watching him for a beat before I nodded feeling tears prickle the corners of my eyes. He leaned over to kiss me on the head, and whispered, “Happy birthday, Bails.”

  He stood a moment later, leaving something sitting beside me as he passed me. He ran his hand along the back of my hair, brushing his fingers gently on the side of my neck. I opened the small box and inside was a note and a silver butterfly pendant with purple and silver stones set into it, hanging from a length of black leather.

  I opened the note and my heart melted as I read it.

  Bailey, I’m sorry I never got to take you out to give you this. I wanted to get something unique for you and when I saw this, I knew it was something you had to have. I hope you have a wonderful birthday. Cxx

  I dragged myself to bed a little while later, exhausted because I hadn’t had any sleep all night, but with a huge smile on my face.

  The following morning the man arrived to take the demon snake away from my room and I was so grateful that I could have kissed him. I left with my mom and Wendy after he was done; we dropped Wendy off and visited my family as promised by my mom the previous evening. My mom even surprised me with a visit to the cemetery to visit Louis.

  I cried when we arrived, but the rest of the day was perfect. Coop came back from football the following day, but he completely ignored me. He didn’t speak to me at all and I found myself missing him, but he’d been out with Abbi every night since he’d gotten back, and then he’d gone to football camp over the summer.

  I started to see David regularly at summer school which Shawn and my mom had signed me up for. They’d decided I need to try and catch up with all the kids at the private school and signed up without even speaking to me about it.

  David and I grew closer as we spent more time together and began dating him almost at the end of summer. We went to the roller rink for our first date and laughed as I slipped and fell about a dozen times, hurting my ass and bruising myself as I bumped into the siding.

  We went ice skating and bumped into some of Cooper’s friends who made fun of us, but we ignored them and had fun on the ice, or at least David had fun while I tried not to get my fingers sliced off.

  We went swimming, to the library and took a road trip to the beach with everyone which was so much fun. I tried really hard not to think about Cooper, but part of me missed him and I wore my necklace from him almost every day.

  Abbi had been seeing Logan Tierney, one of Cooper’s best friends while he was away, and we bumped into them on dates from time to time which was strained and awkward because Logan and David were friends, but Abbi and I could barely tolerate each other.

  The day Cooper arrived home, I was at the pool. Zane was out with friends; my mom and Shawn were at a conference and wouldn’t be back for another day, so I’d decided on a swim since I had the house to myself. Only I wasn’t as alone as I’d thought. Zane’s creepy friend, whose name I’d since found out was John, had turned up at the house. My heart thudded as I opened my eyes and stared up from my sun lounger to see him standing leering at me.

  He leaned over me and ran his fingers across the tops of my breasts that were visible over my bikini top before he opened his legs and thrust his erection in my face. I didn’t think. I just reacted. I reached up, grabbed hold of him, and twisted hard. When he fell to the ground next to my chair, I jumped up and sprinted for the house in a panic.

  I made it inside just as he got up from the floor. He ran towards the door and I slammed it and locked it. All the windows were open, so I ran around closing them, but he got to the last one before me. He managed to scramble inside, grabbing me by the hair and dragging me across the floor with a look of pure rage on his face.

  I grabbed the nearest thing to me, which was a metal dustpan and smacked him hard on the leg with it. He yelled, but it didn’t stop him from slapping me hard across the face. I screamed out as he laughed before speaking again.

  “Scream all you want you little bitch. There’s no one here.” His raspy voice caused the hairs to rise on my body.

  “Isn’t there?” came Coop’s voice from the corner of the kitchen. “Let her fucking go.”

  His voice thundered with rage, and he moved across the kitchen faster than I’d ever seen him move. I couldn’t see, but the shaking of the hand holding my head told me John was freaked out by the sudden appearance of Coop.

  “Why, little Christie? You wanna share her?” He sneered, sending more panic and fear through me.

  Within seconds, there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and some of my hair ripped from my head as my head slammed against the island making me scream out as the pain lanced through me. My eyes blurred and my stomach rolled as I was dragged a little by the hair across the floor.

  My screams echoed around the kitchen and I clawed at his hands, trying to get free.

  Another hit and John finally let me go and scrambled towards the door. Cooper let him go as he turned to look at me on the floor, shaking and bleeding from my lip from where it’d hit the corner of the island. My face was throbbing, and my vision was blurry with tears. I was sobbing and unable to stop myself from shaking.

  Cooper dropped to his knees beside me, shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the sofa in the living room.

  Where he set me down. He disappeared but came back quickly with some ice and a cloth. Quietly he set about cleaning me up being gentle with my injuries.

  Once he was done pulled me into his arms and held me tightly until the shaking subsided, but my heart was still racing, and the tears were still flowing although they began to slow.

  He leaned back and looked at me. His eyes roamed my face an
d he spoke after a moment of staring at me.

  “Bails? Are you okay?”

  I just stared at him in shock, unable to speak as I struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

  “Bailey, talk to me, please? Did he hurt you?”

  I nodded and then shook my head.

  “Yes or no?”

  His tone was gentle, and he lifted my chin, staring into my eyes.

  “He didn’t do that, but he wanted to…”

  I muttered and he hissed out a breath before standing.

  “I’m gonna kill him.” My tears started falling before I could stop them, and he stared at me for a moment before he stood and moved to step away, but I reached for him, grabbing his wrist and making him look down at me.

  “Stay,” I whispered brokenly, “please don’t leave me alone?”

  His gaze narrowed and he nodded at me, placing some ice on my cheek and my lip and holding the cloth in place. He moved the ice around to the back of my head and I winced and moaned, trying to move away from him.

  “Cooper,” I spoke, even though the world felt as if it was at a funny angle and my head was hanging upside down.

  “Yeah, Bails?” he asked me with a small smile as he leaned towards me, just as I whispered, “Thank you.”

  Everything went dark for a moment, and when I woke up Cooper was pacing around in front of me.

  “Coop,” I called out, “sit down, will ya, you’re making me hella dizzy here.” I pulled myself up to a sitting position, making him smile as he sat beside me giving me a sip of water and kissing me on the head.

  “Jeez, Bails, don’t do that to me.” He handed me some Advil, and as I took them, I began to relive what had happened. My whole body shuddered, and Coop put his hand on my arm to calm me down.

  “It’s okay, Bails, you’re safe. I’m home and I got you.” I smiled as he spoke and managed to get half my sentence out.

  “Glad you’re home… missed you.” My voice was sleepy and groggy from the pain meds and sounded funny to my ears.

  He smiled down at me and for a moment it was just us, sitting in a bubble, and then his cell vibrated in his pocket. He stood up and moved away from me answering the call as he left the room. My head swam and I thought of our parents.