Step Brothers

|Chapter 1|

The soft notes filled my ears, I let it play as I looked out the window. The song that was playing was one I hated, somehow, even when the lyrics had nothing to do with my situation... It reminded me of it. Of how I was but a hindrance in my mother's life. I was useless and insignificant to her eyes, yet I always seeked validation.

"Why can't you bring home good grades?!"

Her disappointed face along with her disgusted expression appeared in my mind, as though she was here, telling me this, when in fact it had happened a few years ago. I studied, I always did. I guess I always thought that as long as I was good enough at school, I'd be good enough for her.

Yet... It has proved unsuccessful so far.

She knew how much time and effort I spent on studying, as well as dancing. She knew, but she'd always comment on it. After some time you become used to it, to not having a mother praising you for whatever you did.

I ripped the earphones out, as if it would somehow relieve the sudden sadness that had settled in. The sudden urge to cry was so unexpected I wasn't able to help myself, to stop the tears from gathering at the corner of my eyes and falling down my face.

I wasn't one to cry, at least I liked to say I wasn't. "Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth", it was a principle I liked and used more times than I was able to count.

I stood up, finally coming out of my music induced stupor. I put on my worn out jeans and threw on a simple white shirt. I'd dress up prettier, but there were two reasons why I wouldn't. It was simple, I neither had the clothes nor the desire to do so.

Who would? School was no safe haven to me.

I made my way out of the closet sized room and onto the kitchen. The kitchen was little, tiny even, but it was just perfect for me. Everything was at my reach in the white kitchen. We lived in a studio apartment, my mother had been able to afford it after years of hard work. She'd never actually stayed here with me for long though, she had her own plans and dates, in which I was not included.

As I grabbed the milk and the chocolate, I noticed something was missing. The money.

Mom would always pay me a visit once every two months. The visit never lasted much, and sometimes I missed her timing. So I almost never got to see her. Yesterday night she had come in, yet, the money she would leave for my living expenses was nowhere to be found.

I let out a shaky breath and tried to calm myself; it is probably in her room.

I rushed to her room and noticed she was there. Lounging on her bed, with a phone in hand as she typed. A small smile creeped up her lips. I'd never seen her smile. Never.

As though she'd heard me, her smile disappeared and her phone was lowered. She looked at me with her stunning blue eyes I had unfortunately not inherited. She was a beauty, she'd always been. Even when I didn't know much about her, I knew she had been the most pretty girl in high school, every guy drooled over her.

She'd sometimes tell me how I came to ruin her perfect life. Dad and her had been dating, a three year relationship that had been broken when she got pregnant. Teen pregnancy was not in either of their plans. Mom had to drop out and forget college, while dad... Dad had pursued his sports career.

I focused my attention on her again, her face had become serious. "Look kid," she started, disdain palpable in her voice, "I'm here because I need to tell you something." My mouth almost hung open, tell me something? For a second I thought she'd talked herself into talking to me and mending our very much broken relationship. But her expression was quick to shatter any little hope.

"I'm getting married," I paled at her words, did she come here to tell me she's abandoning me? "We're moving out tomorrow, I'll tell you more after school. Go."

The news hadn't fazed me much. When you have a young and pretty mother who doesn't ever communicate with you... What else could you expect?

I was happy for her, but I couldn't say much about myself. Would I be happy there?

***

School came into view, I dreaded it, hated it. Kids were always too judging, too cruel. If you didn't fit in they'd prey on you. So, they preyed on me, they knew that it didn't matter how much they did to me, no one would come to my rescue.

They realized slowly, first with nicknames. Nobody called them out on it, as if naming a person "fat ass" or "ugly as fuck" was just a joke. Soon the nicknames were accompanied by threats, I ended up with triple the homework everyday, it was either that or them taking away what little money I had brought to school.

Last year was the worst. The threats had evolved into kicks and punches, into pushing and hits. The words written on my locker and carved in my desk remained, all had become a messy case of school bullying, and yet, no one helped.

I was afraid of them, I was afraid of pain. I'd always been, like any other kid. They didn't care, they'd never do unless it was them who was the target. But, now, I'd be out of this hellhole, I'd be free from the bullying. They'd have to look for someone else to put their eyes on.

I arrived at school. Soon after I did, the bell rang, I sighed in relief. If I came in too early I'd have to face them all. I had decided a long time ago that being late and getting scolded by teachers was better than being early and getting hit.

I walked slowly, trying to make time. My head down, like always. I arrived at my locker safe and sound, or so I thought... I was getting my books out when the door slammed into my hand. My mind suddenly registered the pain, a scream was ripped from my throat. I cradled my hurt hand with the other and let the books fall down.

"Oh no!" A high pitched voice resounded in the empty halls. I turned to look at her as tears fell from my eyes. "Are you crying?" She pouted, she was mocking me. "Poor Calla, she's crying!" She started laughing while looking at her 'best friends', they were enjoying the show.

Adrienne was the most popular girl in school, she managed to charm every single boy of every year. She was indeed stunning, with her long black hair and big grey eyes. It didn't really matter how beautiful she really was, her personality was the complete opposite. Her best friends were Allana and Becky. They weren't as beautiful as her, but they looked a lot better than I did. They were always following Adrienne around, like baby ducks.

The three of them had started the bullying, making everyone else join in afterwards.

"Hey Allana," Adrienne turned to look at the brunette, "what class do we have now?"

Allana smiled sweetly at her and replied, "we have English."

"Good," She turned to me and smiled wickedly. They hadn't had enough, and I was crying ridiculously in front of them, I was sure my hand was hurt badly. "Let's go to the bathroom Fatty." That was her favorite nickname for me, for some strange reason it amused her. I didn't want to go with them, but I didn't have a choice. It was either going willingly or being dragged by her puppies.

As we entered the bathroom, the door was closed. Allana stood in front of it, guarding it so I wouldn't get out. Becky was beside Adrienne, they were watching me closely, maybe deciding how they wanted to vent their anger with me. As they weren't so creative, they would just throw random punches and kicks.

And, as I anticipated, they started doing just that. They went for my stomach and my legs, knowing that the bruises wouldn't be so visible. I tried muffling my sobs biting into my arm, they didn't like to hear me cry, it somehow made everything worse. Crying always did.

They finally decided they'd had enough and stopped, then they walked out. I curled into a ball and kept on crying. I cried and cried until the coppery flavor of blood hit my tongue. I tried standing up but my body ached everywhere, even my head was pounding horribly. I sat there for a little more, finally deciding that I had to go to my next class. I washed my face with cold water and blinked a few times to get rid of the redness in my eyes. I was about to get going when I noticed that the bite looked horrible.

"What should I do?" I muttered to myself, I hadn't brought a jacket with me today. I tugged at my sleeve to try and hide it, but it was impossible. When the bell rang again to announce the first period was over, I decided to give up and go to class. Nobody would even notice.