Blended Family

Joey

Elliott Soo had been my archnemesis for a long time. However, he was starting to grow on me. Once you got him away from his douchebag football friends he was actually an okay guy. Not the brightest crayon in the box, but still reasonably intelligent.

He'd accidentally walked in on me in the bathroom while I was changing last week. I instantly moved to cover up as he pulled the door closed fast. That was the first time anyone had seen me naked. Well, besides my parents as a little kid. I was embarrassed, but then I wondered if he'd liked what he'd seen. Since he was a member of the football team, a jock, surely he'd seen some action before. I was as inexperienced as they came. I'd never kissed a boy.

I was a little self-conscious of my body as most teenage girls were. I'd started sprouting breasts in 7th grade but I was still pretty small. Some of the junior and senior girls had amazing chests and the guys definitely noticed. Sometimes I caught myself looking, admiring. Did that make me a lesbian?

Poor Elliott was struggling a lot with algebra. I'd taken it a year early in 8th grade. Elliott was a year behind, taking it as a sophomore. He told me he currently had a C-. I would die if I ever had a grade that low. If I got a B on something I felt like shit for days.

I checked my phone. 10:32 p.m. Dad would probably be in to make me go to bed any minute. I opened up my mock trial materials. We had an event in two weeks and I felt like I was way behind. I didn't just prepare. I over-prepared. My worst nightmare was to be up in front of a group of people and get caught off-guard. I prepared for every possible scenario. Every possible counter-point the opposition would make. Lucky for me I had a lawyer for a mother.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and predictably it was Dad. He was looking more and more exhausted these days. Jack and Alex were a lot of work. I tried not to cause him any extra worry.

"Time to hit the hay, kid," he told me, just poking his head in.

"Okay," I told him. "I'm just finishing up."

"Alright. Love you," he said. I mumbled back that I loved him too and continued. I knew he'd be back in ten minutes or so to check if I'd actually gotten into bed, so I found a stopping point and then climbed in. I turned off my light and waited for Dad to go to bed. I heard him go into Pippa's room.

Pippa was nice enough and I honestly didn't mind them being together. She was great with Alex and Jack. Her son could be a bit of a hellion but what teenage boy wasn't? I set my alarm to get an hour of sleep or so, then woke up to continue with my work. I felt a bit refreshed when my alarm went off at midnight. I got up and turned on my light.

The house was silent but a few minutes later I started to hear moans from down the hall. Gross. I put in my earbuds and turned my music up. I was surprised a while later to see the door push open and Dad stood there looking confused and unhappy. I took out my earbuds, biting my lip.

"What are you doing up?" he asked me.

"I forgot I have a test tomorrow," I fibbed, pushing some papers around. He stepped in and looked closer at my materials. "Daaaad."

"Mock trial?" he asked. "Joey, I knew this wasn't a good idea. Your work load is hard enough as it is."

"Dad, I can handle it," I insisted.

"This isn't handling it," he said. "This is overworking yourself. You want to give yourself a nervous breakdown like you did last Spring?"

This was still a sore subject for me. I hated when he brought it up, and he did whenever he thought I was doing too much. I'd gotten so overworked and overwhelmed at school that I completely lost it one day. I'd forgotten that I had a project due and when I realized it I started crying uncontrollably and hyperventilating. Dad had to come get me.