My Stepbrother

Chapter One - Moving to New York

Chapter One:

"We're almost there!" My dad said cheerfully after about nine hours of driving. 

I really didn't care. I turned the volume up on my iPod to tune him out, as I stared out the window to see a lot of trees and bright lights. New York City may be beautiful, but it doesn't change how I feel right now.

I really do love my father, don't get me wrong. It's just that I was upset with him. He was marrying his girlfriend, Ashley, in two weeks. Because of this, I had to move away from all my friends to New York. It was unfair. Ashley insisted we all live there with her children. Lucky for them, they didn't have to move away from their home town like I had to.

I wasn't just upset with him that he was marrying Ashley. I was upset my mother passed away in a car crash. And that's not all. She was also pregnant. I was probably the happiest girl in the world, knowing I'd have a little sister. I've wanted one for so long. My father told me he would never love anyone as much as Mom after she died. I wonder what happened to that? My dad and I haven't even bonded as much ever since he started dating Ashley. So you can see why I don't exactly like her.

"Did I mention Ashley has a daughter?" He looks at me through the rear view mirror. "I know how much you've want a little sister."

He's told me about a million times now. That won't make me all of a sudden like New York, or Ashley, or her two kids. All that did was remind me of Mom and all the names I planned to name the baby. And I really didn't want to discuss Ashley or her kids in the last few moments I had without them.

He pulled over in front of a large house painted white with a balcony and a backyard filled with yards and yards of grass.

"Welcome home!" He smiled.

This was not home. Our brick house in Indiana was home. The house I had grown up in with markings on the wall, indicating my height over the years, which was now painted over, was home.

I got out of the car. Dad handed me my suitcase. I held onto to it, waiting for him to get the rest of the stuff.

"James!" Ashley cried as she opened the front door. 

They embraced each other as I stood there awkwardly. He seemed so happy to see her. It hurt that he could look at someone the way he looked at my mother. She pulled away from my dad and gave me a fake smile.

"Hi, Abby."

"Hi,"

I forced a smile even though I hated her. I just liked to see my dad happy. Especially since he's been without a wife for years.

"Well, come in!" Ashley exclaims excitedly.

She lead us to the porch and opened the front door for us. I followed my father as he walked in. Once I was inside the house I realized there was a little girl, wrapping her arms around Ashley's leg. She stared up at me with wide blue eyes. She had blonde hair in little pigtails and a pink dress on. I knew she was Ashley's daughters from the pictures Dad had showed me before.

"Hi, Kate!" My dad said in this gentle voice to the girl. He turned to me. "This is Abby."

I didn't want to meet these people. I didn't want to live with these people. I wanted to be at home with my father and little sister and mother. Unfortunately, things weren't going to go the way I wanted them to.

"Jeydon, come downstairs!" Ashley called. I stood there with my dad, waiting for her son to come downstairs. And soon enough he was.

The first thing I noticed was his hair. There was a lot of it. It was a really dark brown, you might even think it was black. It fell on his face, covering half of his left eye. But his eyes were gorgeous. They were blue. No, green. Maybe a mix of both? And they brought out his face. How does someone with dark hair have blue eyes? 

I glanced at Ashley, and realized she had blue eyes. So, I guess that's the answer to my question. He also had a lip piercing on the corner of his lower lip. It was sexy. I had to admit, his looks weren't too bad. But that wasn't going to all of a sudden make me like the idea of moving here.

"Hi," I said shyly.

"Hi."

We locked eyes for a split second.

"Jey!" Kate cried. She released Ashley's leg and ran over to Jeydon. He smiled and picked her up.

I loved his smile.

"Piggyback ride!" She cried. He slung her over his shoulders and carried her into the kitchen.

We all stayed silent until Ashley spoke up."Why don't I go show you your room? Here, follow me."

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