Falling For My Ruthless Stepbrother

1

CHAPTER 1

There was no way that could be true, but as I stared into my mother's eyes, I knew she wasn't joking. The world crumbled beneath me, a cold shiver ran down my spine, the color drained from my cheeks, and I tightly shut my eyes.

"It wasn't an easy decision, but after many years, I would like to spend the rest of my life with him," my mother's voice sounded excited. I couldn't prevent myself from feeling happy for her, even though I hated that she was going to marry the father of the person I despised the most in the world. Now, I not only have to deal with him in class, but also at home.

In a home that will no longer be mine.

"I can... start working and pay for a room myself, I...," I hesitated.

"No, Hilary, no," my mother quickly dismissed, "you must continue dedicating your time 100% to your studies, not working. I know you don't like him, but..."

"Mom, he's made my life impossible all this time in high school, and now we're going to live in the same house... I don't know if I can bear it."

"Ethan isn't that bad, sweetheart."

I let out a groan much louder than I expected. Ethan is... Just Ethan. He's an i***t.

I've spent my entire life studying at Silverlake High, and so has he. My mother and his father happened to hit it off at some parent-teacher meeting, and now, three years into their relationship, they've decided that their lives will join in holy matrimony, which means their underage kids are also part of the deal.

I hate that I still have two years to be legally an adult.

Ethan is the typical attention-seeking kid, quite troublesome, immature, a playboy, an idiot... He's the captain of the football team and has dated almost half the school. He's a joker, a party-goer, loves being the center of attention, while I prefer to be just a nobody.

He's terrible at math; that's why I was his tutor some time ago. We didn't make it past the first class.

Until a year and a half ago, I used to wear braces, bangs, and glasses... And thanks to my appearance, he could come up with thousands of horrible nicknames imaginable. Watching people point at me and laugh was horrible, seeing him laughing was humiliating.

I hate Ethan with my entire life for being the one who has given me the most insecurities.

“You really don't know him, Mom. He's a monster”, I hear the gasp from my seven-year-old little sister.

"Oh my god, I don't want to live with a monster," she begins to cry quite forcefully. My mom shoots me an annoyed look for making my little sister cry. I let out a deep sigh as Mom tries to comfort my sister.

"Not that kind of monster," I tell her, trying to get her to stop crying, "it's just because he's really, really ugly."

I shrug when she looks at me with confused, teary eyes because, of course, she knows Ethan, and he's not ugly at all. But his personality makes him seem so horrible.

"Ethan isn't ugly," she says what I expected her to say, of course.

I roll my eyes, annoyed.

"He is, it's just that when he wears the captain's jacket, it gives him a special power," I continue rolling my eyes. Mom shakes her head, hiding a smile that almost escapes her lips. "But yes, Ethan is ugly. The ugliest guy in the world."

"When you were little, you liked that ugliest guy in the world," my mother's sister, Aunt Emma, says. She has been living with us for a few months since breaking off her engagement with her former boyfriend. A very tragic moment for everyone.

"That's not true," I quickly say. "I've never liked Ethan. When I was little, I liked Sean; he was Ethan's best friend until Ethan stole his girlfriend."

"Sean stole Ethan's girlfriend?" Mom asks, furrowing her brow.

"No! Ethan stole Sean's girlfriend. Ethan has always been the bad guy, but you don't want to believe me..."

"I only see a wounded boy in Ethan who wants a little attention," my mother comments.

"Of course, you would say that; you're a psychologist. It's logical that you would seek the reason behind why he's like that, but the only reason is that he's a bad friend and good-for-nothing."

She seems to open her mouth to say something else, but she prefers to stay silent, and I release another sigh.

Living with Ethan will be like a nightmare come true; I shudder at the mere thought.

"Couldn't they wait until I was in college to decide to get married?" I ask. My aunt lets out a small laugh while Mom turns towards me slowly.

"No, Hilary. I don't want to keep sleeping alone every night. I want company; I want the man I love to be that company every night, and he wants the same for me. You're still young, and you don't understand many things, but the body needs..."

"I'm 16; you're not going to shock me with talk about the body and its needs," I say. At first, my mother looks a bit scandalized, but then she relaxes.

"Honey, it's one thing to have s*x, and another very different thing to make love with the person you chose to love. I hope that when the day comes for you to choose someone, you don't do it for what your body feels but for what your heart feels. A body lights up with any caress, but a heart only lights up with love for the person who reciprocates it in the same way.

“Although that rarely answers my question, it is annoying to have to live with a person like Ethan, but..." I take a deep breath, "I always want to see you happy, and I know that Michael is the man who manages to make you happy. At least these last three years, you have been happier than ever since Dad..."

I leave the words unfinished; my mother takes my hand and squeezes it lovingly.

"I will love your father for the rest of my life; he has been the most perfect love I could ever know. And although it still hurts that an illness took him away from my life, the last promise I made to him was that I would be happy, and I am achieving that. Don't think that by marrying Michael, I will forget your father. I have him here," she points to her heart, "always. It was very hard to find myself after his death, to move forward alone with two little ones; it was completely painful. But today, I am grateful for all of that because, unknowingly, your father was the one who brought us closer. He made me much stronger, especially for you two. I understood that healing was necessary to piece myself back together. He hasn't entirely left, my dear; he's still here with us. He's still here with me every time I look into your eyes, and he knows that I still love him.

My eyes filled with tears; my father's death was very painful, but I was little, and I didn't understand much. I only saw my mom lift her head and move forward for us, her daughters.

She has always been an example for me to follow, always expecting and wanting the best from me. That's why now I can't turn my back on her in this new stage of her life or be upset because she is happy."

I gave my mom a small smile before hugging her.

"I want the room farthest away from Ethan possible; that's all I want."

Mom lets out a little cheer of joy and hugs me even tighter. I look at my aunt, who winks at me, happy for my support. I shrug, although my happiness and stability hang by a very thin thread due to having to live with Ethan. First and foremost, there's my mom.

I don't even want to think about what will happen from now on, but I hope, really hope, that I won't have to run into him much at home. I hope his party nights last for days, and he's too hungover to leave his room when he's at home. Yes, I have faith that I'll see very little of him when we live together. He won't be able to throw any of his humiliating passive-aggressive jokes at me, and I can finish the last year of high school perfectly until I can go to Harvard.

Nothing bad can happen.