My Stepbrother, My Lover

by Ward, Alice

  “I’m not upset by the idea of a little brother or sister,” Jackson explained while he fetched his own slice. “It caught me off guard, that’s all. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but if it’s what they want, I can be happy about it.”

  “This makes things between us even more complicated,” I told him.

  “I know,” he sighed. “It’s one thing to ask our parents to accept our… unconventional situation. It’s quite another to make a child deal with it. And kids can be brutal…”

  I swallowed my last bite of pizza and washed it down with half of my second beer. “There’s something else I’m worried about… you have to pass a lot of tests to be approved for adoption. The agency will run background checks on Mom and Jack, probably on you and me as well. They’ll do home studies and psych evaluations… what if the caseworker thinks that our relationship is inappropriate?”

  Jackson’s chest fell and his face flushed. He suddenly looked disgusted by the pizza in his hands and he tossed it onto the bedside table. “You think that our relationship could ruin their chances of adopting?”

  “Do you think I’m wrong? I know that your family’s money can buy a lot of things, but Jack won’t be able to pay off Social Services,” I warned.

  Jackson spun his bottle in his hands and avoided looking me in the eye. “I guess you could be right. But what does this mean for us? I can’t be without you again, Kennedy. I can’t just act like you’re my stepsister.”

  I didn’t want that either. I’d thought about it all day, and I could only see one solution to our problem.

  “You don’t have to be without me,” I quickly assured him. “We’ll just have to keep this a secret a little while longer. We won’t tell Mom and Jack until after the adoption is finalized. It’s the only way to make sure they get what they want. Once everything is official and caseworkers are no longer involved, we’ll come clean about everything. But until then, we’ll have to keep up the charade around everyone but Lauren and Rory.”

  “I hate this, Kennedy. I’m so happy we’re together and I want to let everyone know. I don’t want to keep this a secret… but I guess we don’t have a choice,” he relented. He swung his legs up on the bed and propped himself up against the headboard. I crawled up the mattress and rested my head on his shoulder.

  “I know that this isn’t what you want,” I told him. “It’s not what I want either. But I feel like it’s the right thing to do. Thanks for not arguing with me about it.”

  Jackson smiled. “I’ve learned that once you set your mind to something, there’s no talking you out of it. I do hate having to keep us a secret, but honestly, I’m just relieved you didn’t try to end things again.”

  “I didn’t even think about it,” I told him.

  He held me tight with one arm and reached for the remote with the other. “There’s a baseball game on right now, do you care if I check the score?”

  “Go ahead,” I replied, and snuggled closer.

  We spent the next few hours eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching the ballgame. For one blissful night, I felt like any other girl hanging out with her boyfriend on a Saturday night.

  CHAPTER 8

  Sunday passed without any drama or catastrophes. Jackson spent the day with his grandfather, who’d just arrived back in Boston after an extended stay at the family’s Aspen estate. I wasn’t quite ready to meet Jackson the First, so I stayed in my room and lost myself in Wuthering Heights. I read Catherine profess her undying love for Heathcliff and I finally understood her words. That was exactly the way I felt about Jackson.

  I woke up early on Monday, eager to go visit Jackson at the Sigma house before my eleven o’clock tutoring session. I took a long, hot shower, dressed for the day, and made my way to the dining hall for breakfast. My cell phone chimed as I approached the register. I was a little surprised to see Sidra’s number on the screen.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Kennedy, I’m sorry to bother you, but something important has come up. How fast can you get to my office?”

  I looked at my breakfast sandwich. It was nothing I couldn’t eat on the go. “I can be there in fifteen minutes. Is everything all right?”

  “I don’t want to get in to it over the phone. I’ll see you soon. We’ll discuss everything then.”

  “Okay Sidra… I’ll see you soon.” I ended the call and slid my phone back into my pocket. I sat my sandwich and bottled coffee on the counter and the cashier swiped my student ID. With each moment that passed, I grew more and more anxious about Sidra’s phone call. There’d been an anger in her voice I’d never heard before.

  I’m sure it’s nothing. She probably just needs me to take on another student over summer session. Or maybe she’s heard that I don’t need financial aid anymore… she probably wants to talk about whether or not I’ll keep tutoring next year.

  “Anything else?” The cashier asked, tapping his foot impatiently. I snapped back to reality and realized I’d been staring off into space, holding up the rest of the line.

  “No,” I mumbled as I grabbed the sandwich and coffee. “Sorry, that’s all.”

  I rushed out of Lowell House and set off for the library. I unwrapped the sandwich, but realized that I’d lost my appetite. I wrapped it back up and stuck it in my purse.

  I can eat it after I meet with Sidra. I’m sure I’ll feel better after I talk to her.

  I tried to remain calm and told myself over and over again that whatever Sidra wanted to talk about couldn’t be that bad. But I had a nagging feeling in my gut that wouldn’t be appeased. I knew that Meredith was still out there somewhere, plotting against me. The knots in my stomach tightened when I saw Jackson sitting outside the library.

  “Kennedy, what are you doing here?” he asked as I approached the bench.

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.” I fiddled with my purse strap and avoided making eye contact with him.

  “Sidra called and asked me to come in and talk to her. I’m a little early, so I thought I’d wait out here and enjoy the sunshine,” he explained. “So what about you? Did your tutoring session get moved up?”

  “No… Sidra called me too.”

  Jackson’s face went pale. “What could she possibly need to talk to us about? I got all of my final grades. I aced all of my tests, she has to know that you did a good job tutoring me.”

  “I don’t know what she wants to talk about. But I’m afraid that Meredith is behind it. You didn’t hear her that day at the spa, Jackson. She’s determined to ruin our lives.”

  Jackson studied me for a moment with a pained look on his face. “You have no idea how much I wish I could hold you right now and tell you everything’s going to be okay.”

  I nodded. “I know, but we can’t do that here. What time is it?”

  He glanced down at his watch. “It’s time to go in. Just try to stay calm. No matter what Sidra says, don’t overreact.”

  “I’ll try. That’s the best I can do,” I replied.

  Jackson stood and we walked into the library together. There were only a handful of students scattered around the tables. It gave the place a sad, almost deserted feel. A few of the student workers smiled at me as Jackson and I walked to Sidra’s office. He rapped lightly on the door and Sidra called out for us to come in.

  “Kennedy, Jackson, thank you so much for getting here so quickly. Please, take a seat.” Sidra pointed at the two well-worn guest chairs with the stylus of her tablet. “I was just going through your tutoring schedule for last semester. The two of you met four times a week, is that correct?”

  “Yes,” I replied in a hoarse whisper. I cleared my throat and continued. “Jackson had fallen behind in all of his classes. He understood the information, but he slacked off on his coursework. We met four times a week, an hour for each class.”

  Sidra nodded without looking up from her screen. “And Mr. Montgomery, you managed to bring your grades up from C’s and D’s to B’s and A’s?”

&nbs
p; “Yes,” Jackson replied. If he was as rattled as I was, he hid it well. “Like Kennedy explained, I understood the material, but I’d fallen behind on my assignments. She helped me stay on track and get caught up before finals.”

  “I see… now, Kennedy, I’ve gone through the schedules of some of your other students and I noticed that you usually stick to three sessions a week. Was there a specific reason you devoted more time to Mr. Montgomery?”

  My mouth went dry. I didn’t know what she was hinting at, but I knew that we were in trouble.

  “I make recommendations, but I let the students make the final decision on how often we meet. Some of them are working their way through school, others are busy with extracurricular activities. Jackson’s not the only person I’ve recommended four sessions a week to, he’s just one of the few who agreed. What’s going on Sidra? Spring semester has been over for weeks. Why the sudden interest into Jackson’s tutoring?”

  Sidra sat her tablet down on the desk, lowered her reading glasses, and studied us intently. Her eyes darted back and forth from me to Jackson and I could tell that she was trying to make up her mind about something.

  “Kennedy, Jackson… there’s no easy way to tell you this so I’ll just come out with it. An anonymous complaint was filed with the Student Services Center this morning. The informant accused the two of you of academic dishonesty. The complaint alleges that you, Kennedy, completed a significant amount of Jackson’s coursework yourself in order to help him catch up on his classes.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” I insisted. “You know me better than that Sidra! You know I’m not a cheater.”

  “I know what kind of person you are, Kennedy,” she assured me. “But this is out of my hands. The university has opened an official investigation.”

  Panic filled me and a million questions raced through my brain. Jackson spoke before I could ask any of them.

  “Sidra, I realize that you don’t know me as well as you know Kennedy, but I’d never cheat. This really is absurd. Why would we do something like that? I was perfectly capable of passing my classes on my own, I just needed someone to hold me accountable. That’s all Kennedy did, I swear.”

  “I believe you, Jackson. But the complainant implied that you and Kennedy’s relationship went beyond student and tutor. The official report states that the two of you are romantically involved and implied that you may have also provided Kennedy with monetary compensation.”

  “Sidra, I’m sure you’ve heard that my mother is engaged to Jackson’s father. I have the same allowance as Jackson now, I don’t need to cheat for money. And I’ve never dated any of my students.”

  That’s not a lie… I refused to go out with Jackson until after finals were over. I insisted we couldn’t date until he was no longer my student.

  “Sidra, as I’m sure you can imagine, the last thing our family needs right now is a scandal. Kennedy and I are willing to cooperate in any way necessary, but is there any way we can keep this investigation quiet?” Jackson asked.

  “I understand that this is a sensitive situation,” Sidra assured us. “And I’m sure that you don’t want rumors swirling around campus about the two of you being involved romantically, considering your parents’ relationship. I’m confident that we can keep things quiet for now, but if the investigation turns up anything suspicious, that will change quickly,” she warned.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I pictured Meredith sitting around her sorority house with all of her snobby friends. I was sure she was gloating about the complaint and planning her next step.

  “I’m having a hard time with the fact that the university is launching a full scale investigation based on one anonymous complaint,” I announced. My anger was obvious by the harsh tone of my voice.

  “I know this is frustrating, but the investigation is standard protocol,” Sidra explained. “Harvard takes cheating very seriously. The board feels that it’s better to err on the side of caution.”

  “So what happens now?” Jackson asked.

  “A task force from Campus Police will look in to the accusations. I’ve already sent them your tutoring schedule. I’m sure that they’ll pull surveillance video from the library and see if anything inappropriate happened before or after your sessions. They’ll interview your professors, Jackson, and ask if they were surprised by how quickly you brought your grades up. They’ll probably interview your friends as well. If there’s anything either of you would like to tell me, now is the time.”

  “The frat party,” I whispered. “And your donation… there are so many things they could twist to their advantage.”

  “What frat party? And what donation?” Sidra demanded.

  “Kennedy and several of her friends attended a party at the Sigma Chi house,” Jackson told her. “They were there as representatives of FLA. It was a few months ago, right after Kennedy started tutoring me.”

  “And the donation?”

  “They came to the party to raise money for FLA’s summer food drive. I donated a… significant amount of money to the cause.”

  “How significant?” Sidra asked with a groan.

  “Ten thousand dollars.”

  Sidra gasped. “That’s more than significant, Jackson.”

  “It was a business decision,” Jackson shrugged. “I have to give away a certain amount of money every year for tax reasons.”

  “Be that as it may, this isn’t going to look good. The Campus Police have the resources to subpoena your financial records. And they probably will, since the complaint implied that you paid Kennedy off. I’m not sure they’re going to buy that you wrote that check for tax reasons.”

  “So what do we do, Sidra?” I asked. I didn’t care what it took. I was determined to prove that the allegations were false.

  “There’s not much you can do right now,” she replied. “The investigators will start digging around in your lives and we’ll just have to wait until they’ve finished their report. Answer their questions honestly and be completely upfront about that donation. Mention it before they even ask about money. If we knew who filed the complaint, we might be able to discredit them. But that’s probably why they filed it anonymously in the first place.”

  “Anonymous or not, I know exactly who’s responsible for this,” I told her. My voice was shaky and my face felt red hot. I knew that Meredith was to blame for our trouble and I fought the urge to run straight to her sorority house to confront her.

  “I went through a bad break up at the beginning of spring semester,” Jackson told Sidra. “My ex’s name is Meredith Dyer. She had a hard time accepting that things were over. She saw Kennedy and me together at the frat party, and it’s entirely possible that she jumped to the wrong conclusion about our relationship. Meredith pleaded with me to take her back, but I refused. I wouldn’t put it past her to file this complaint to get back at me. I just hate that she’s hurting Kennedy in the process.”

  “This isn’t your fault, Jackson,” I reminded him. “And everything he just said is true.” I told her what I’d overheard at the day spa.

  Sidra rose from her chair, moved out from behind her desk, and walked to the windows that separate her office from the rest of the library. She closed the blinds and turned back to us.

  “You didn’t hear this from me, but if you can get proof that Meredith was behind the complaint and show proof that she has a personal vendetta against you, I may be able to get the charges tossed out,” she told us.

  “But that’s impossible,” I argued. “How can we possibly prove that she filed the complaint?”

  “I don’t know, Kennedy. Maybe one of you can draw out a confession. Until then, keep your head down and cooperate with the investigators. For the time being, Kennedy’s suspended from the tutoring program and you’re both under academic review. I’ll let you know when I learn anything new.”

  Sidra started typing away at her keyboard and I knew we’d been dismissed. I grabbed my purse and Jackson and I left the library in
dull shock.

  “We need to figure out how we’re going to deal with this,” Jackson told me as we stepped out into the sunshine. “Do you want to come over to the Sigma house? We can talk things out and figure out a plan to expose Meredith.”

  I shook my head. “There’s something I need to take care of. Can I meet you over there in an hour or so?”

  “Sure,” he agreed, then lowered his voice. “Don’t worry. Kennedy. Everything’s going to be okay. As soon as you get to the house, I’m going to hold you until you feel better.”

  “Sounds good,” I agreed with a weak smile.

  Jackson gave me a look that spoke volumes about how he felt for me. Then we parted ways. He set off for the Sigma house while I went to pay Meredith a visit.

  ***

  I didn’t know where to find Meredith, but I figured my best bet was the Delta Gamma house. I trekked across campus, blind with rage. I’d spent my whole life doing the right thing, working hard for what I wanted. And now my academic reputation was at stake, all because Meredith had her feelings hurt. I was certain that the complaint against me was only the beginning. She’d make sure that news of the investigation got around campus. And once everyone was talking about the charges against me, she’d file a complaint against my mother. It would look like the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree and soon everyone would believe her stories.

  I’m not going to let that happen. I don’t know who the hell she thinks she is. I can’t believe Jackson was ever involved with such a spoiled bitch.

  I found Meredith alone on the front porch of the sorority house, reclining on an overstuffed chaise lounge.

  “Well, look who’s here,” she said with a sneer. The condescension in her voice was so thick she almost choked on it. “I can’t say that I’m surprised. I figured you’d show up sooner or later. Let me guess. Jackson’s finally shown his true colors and you’re here to commiserate?”