Life with the Stevens' Boys

Chapter 1

Copyrighted.

I stared out the window, watching as the car passed trees, bushes, and mansions. Everything in my new life was so. . . green. I hated it. I came from California, a busy and noisy city. In Texas, everything was quiet, peaceful. It felt wrong. Everything was at rest.. as if I was putting her to rest.

Her.

My beautiful, amazing ---

"Here we are." I snapped back to reality as Joanna annouced our arrival. I unbuckled my seatbelt and took a deep breath.

Joanna noticed and said, "Vanessa, it won't be as bad as you think." Doubt it, I thought. "The boy are very nice and polite. And you'll have Brenda too."

"Uh huh." I mumbled, climbing out of the car. My new house was a mansion, to say the least. It was on a huge stretch of land and had three floors. I was going to be living in a mansion, just plain old me living in a mansion, with six new siblings. Five boys, one girl. I circled around to the trunk. I sighed as I took out two of my suitcases. My whole life, packed into one trunk.

"I'll get some of the boys to help us out." Joanna told me. I smiled weakly. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to leave in mansion, with strangers. I wanted --

"Ready?" Joanna smiled hestiantly at me. I nodded, revealing another shy smile. My nerves started to kick into gear as we climbed the beautiful, stone steps.

Joanna pushed the glass doors open and motioned for me to go first. I grimaced to myself and walked through the double-doors. I stopped awkwardly, unsure of where to go.

"Boys!" Joanna called. Not a sound. "Boys!"

Nothing.

"BOYS!"

"WHAT?" yelled several voices.

"VANESSA'S HERE!"

Gradually, footsteps came closer and closer. I stopped tapping my foot as one boy came hurdling in, followed by four more. A girl came in last, looking annoyed.

"Mom. I'm a girl." She complained, obviously irritated at how her mom called for the 'boys.'

"Yes, yes, I know, honey." Joanna said oblviously. It sound like an old argument.

"Guys--" Brenda huffed. "And girl... This is Vanessa. She's living with us now."

Nobody said anything, until --

"Good! I'm sick of being the only girl around here." Brenda smiled. "And you're really pretty."

"Thank you." I squeaked, grateful yet uncomfortable.

"Why's she staying here?" A cute light-browned hair boy asked. He was in his swim trunks and had a good set of abs on him. I froze. Joanna promised she wouldn't say anything..

Joanna glanced at me before saying, "That's not the point. I expect you to treat her with respect."

"Now, Vanessa," Joanna put her hand on my shoulder. "This is Nate," she motioned to the cute guy who asked why I was here. He gave a small smile. "This is Chris," The guy next to him looked around my age too. His hair was darker than Nate's. "This is Dylan," Joanna pointed towards a boy who looked a bit younger than me. "And these two are the twins, Ryan and Tyler. And ofcourse, Brenda."

I nodded. "Cool." Nate and Chris cracked a small smile.

"Nate's seventeen, Chris is sixteen and Brenda are fifteen, Dylan's thirteen, and the twins are eight." Joanna continued, "Guys, Vanessa's sixteen and --"

"Moooom." One of the twins complained. "Can we go back in the pool now? I'm bored!"

"Tyler! Va--"

"It's okay, Mrs. Stevens." I interrupted, she seemed like a yeller and honestly.. I was getting a headache. This day was bad enough; just let the kid get in his pool.

"Oh, Vanessa, you know you can call me Joanna! Come on, let's get your stuff in your room. Nate, Chris.. get the rest of Vanessa's things from the trunk." Joanna, distracted from the twins, started up the twisting staircase. I followed.

"So, this will be your room. It was just a guest room and we can do it any way you like. Paint, a new bedspread, new carpeting..." I let her ramble, not listening. The room was huge, fitting a king- sized bed, two dressers, a flat screen, desk, couch and coffee table. My old room held a twin bed, one dresser, and a tiny T.V. I used to hate it... What I would give to be back in that room.

"Do you like it?" Joanna's hand jerked me back to life.

"It's perfect, Joanna." I said.

"Vanessa, I know that this isn't exactly where you want to be, but you can't do anything about --"

"Mrs. Stevens, I'm really tired. I think I'm just gonna unpack and go to sleep." She took the hint and nodded.

"Dinner's in about an hour, if you want to come down." Joanna added, slipping out of the room. I sat on my new bed.

"Hey." I looked up to find the two older boys in my room.

"Hi." I said. They held another suitcase and two tote bags.

"You travel light." The older one, Nate, commented, while glancing at the three suitcases at my feet.

"Yeah, well... I'm a girl." I said awkwardly.

"Really?" Nate said, teasing me. Wow, he was cute. Really cute. My body felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

No, I just met him. I'm living with him.

"Naah, I'm actually an alien. But don't tell anyone." I joked, ignoring the gooey feeling inside.

"Your secret's safe with me." Nate winked. That wink sent chills throughtout my body. I laughed for the first time in four days.

"Well, I'll leave you alone." Nate gave me a tiny smile, before he and Chris left.

I sucked in a deep breath. I had been holding back my tears all day, so I let all the pain, grief, and memories fall. Nobody here knew. They didn't know about me, my past, what I like, what I don't like. They don't know why I'm here. They don't know my nickname and my favorite thing in the world. Here, I'm just Vanessa. And Just Vanessa wasn't enough.

I walked out of my bathroom (which was in my bedroom, I might add), drying the last of my tears, when my bedroom door burst open. Before I could even think 'What the hell?' I was pelted with water balloons.

"FIRE!" yelled a boy's voice. I screamed as the cold water hit me. I managed to dodge a few, but it was too late -- I was soaked. The boys screamed, "RUN!" before darting out of my newly wet room.

"Don't worry, they got me too." A dripping Brenda said, walking in my room.

So this was my life now? Having too worry about getting pelted with water balloons? Locking my room? Dealing taunts and these somewhat confusing feelings I had about Nate?

Welcome to my new life.

Author's Note: Hi people who are hopefully reading! I have TONS of ideas for this story and other stories. There's gonna be romance between characters, drama, and ofcourse Vanessa's mysterious past. I have some tricks up my sleeve for this story, so stay tuned and keep reading! If you guys could mention my story to people you know enjoy reading this type of story... I would love you forever.