The Stepbrother

Closer Now

Eric watched from the driver's seat as Andie anxiously combed her long flaxen hair and its many layers with her fingers. She stared forward out the window, watching the windshield wipers slip back and forth while tugging at the ends of her long tresses and slowly working her way up to the roots of her hair.

"I'll drive slow," he told her, his voice sounding weird in the silence.

"What?"

"You seem worried..." he explained, "about the rain."

"Oh..." She shook her head. "I don't expect to die in a car crash like mom."

Eric nodded slowly, his lips pursing. "I'm glad you aren't scared."

The silence filled the car once again, aside from the pattering of rain on the roof, and the squeak of the windshield wipers.

Eric guessed that if Andie's anxiety wasn't caused by their driving in the rain, then it must be what they both just witnessed back at the house. He opened his mouth, feeling compelled to say something, but she surprised him by speaking first; her voice soft and uncertain.

"I feel a little bad leaving without saying a word..." she said. "All those dishes were left uncleaned, and the door..."

"I'll go back tomorrow and help John fix the door. And we had to leave. They needed... privacy."

Eric looked to Andie when she didn't respond, and noticed how pink her cheeks had gotten. Glancing down at the AC, and feeling the chill in the car, he dashed all thoughts of her being overheated and flushed, and realized instead that she was blushing.

If she was uncomfortable from what they had just witnessed, he didn't blame her. But maybe her reaction was stemming from something a little deeper than that. Maybe she was concerned for her friend. Maybe this sort of thing frightened her.

"Andie, does... does that happen often...?"

He tread upon the subject carefully, but Andie didn't budge right away. Without looking his way, she replied with a mock-indifferent 'what?'. With a sigh, Eric pressed a little harder. "I mean does John discipline Morgan often?"

"Not like that, no... He's strict with her I think. He gets onto her a lot. But he's never done that before. Although, Morgan says he's been threatening to for awhile..."

"Listen, John's in a position to do that sort of thing... Their dad isn't around often, you know? And--"

"It's OK, I-I don't think it's...bad...or anything."

"Oh." Eric nodded, more than a little surprised that Andie wasn't more upset about the whole thing. "Alright, then."

"What were you doing there?" Andie's question burst out of her.

"John called me over for dinner. He thought I knew you were there." Eric then turned a scowl on Andie. "Tell me next time, by the way."

Andie squirmed in her seat, and again, she looked uncomfortable, but Eric couldn't determine if she really was. Eric was quickly discovering that he couldn't read his stepsister very well.

"Alright," she eventually answered, her voice soft and without any of the attitude he might have expected from a teenager; especially after having just witnessed the explosive reaction from Morgan.

Once again, he found himself taking his eyes off the road to study Andie. This was the most they had ever spoken, he was sure of that, and it helped him realize how little they knew of each other.

Another thing he was quickly realizing: Andie was a good girl. She was well mannered, and aside from her late night out the previous night, she never misbehaved. He wasn't sure about her grades, but he imagined that if he checked, he would find impeccable scores in all of her classes.