Step Brothers

|Chapter 4|

I started unpacking the bag I'd brought with me. It didn't take long because I didn't own many things. A few clothes and some of my dance equipment, nothing much. The money my mother would give me was not enough for me to buy more, not that I needed it, but it would've been nice to have more.

I looked at the mirror in the corner of the room, which made me remember the way I was dressed. The dress I adored a few hours ago had suddenly become one my most loathed clothes. Why can't I look pretty?

I pulled an oversized white shirt and my old pants, although I was no big fan of wearing such clothes, they were the only things that made me look somewhat less fat. I liked pretty clothes, I'd always envied Adrienne. She was perfect in every sense of the word. She had loving parents, and siblings who would buy anything for her. Not only that, but she was skinny and pretty.

I decided to stop thinking of her, envy was not something I liked feeling, though it had always been present in my life.

My stomach grumbled, telling me that I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday night. I'm just thirsty. The trick I'd learned to not let myself eat as much, was to drink as much water as possible. I'd once read that hunger oftentimes is just boredom.

When I looked for my bottle of water, I noticed it wasn't there. I'd forgotten it. I cursed at myself for being so distracted, I'd lost one of my favorite things.

I opened the door to the room and started going down the stairs, only to be met with Callum. I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing. While I would very much prefer to avoid the boys, I still didn't know where anything was in this big house.

"Uh-" As soon as I opened my mouth he looked at me, he seemed angry. "Sorry, I don't know where the kitchen is..." I trailed off, not wanting to ask him directly in case he'd refuse to show me to it.

"Great," he smiled sarcastically at me, "father told me to come tell you to go down to eat. I was going to tell them you weren't hungry." His smile was suddenly wiped off his face and replaced with an annoyed look, "how would you even be hungry with how fat you are."

That stung... I tried to smile at him in understanding, he'd been forced to do something he didn't want to. He turned away from me and started going down the stairs. Although I wasn't going to eat, I was thirsty. I need water.

I followed behind him, trying to pay attention to the path to the kitchen. As soon as we came into the dining room, everyone looked at us. The hopeful looks turned sour when they noticed me standing behind Callum's tall frame. I tried to ignore it and went to take a seat, only to notice that I had to sit next to Greyson. I'm so lucky...

I went to sit down, but the chair that had been behind me not long ago was not there. I fell to the floor. Ouch. I'd landed on my butt and my injured hand. Laughter exploded in the dining room, I wish I could also laugh with them.

I stood up, a tight smile on my face, to stop the tears from falling. Seating down, in the actual chair, I looked at the plate in front of me.

"You have a dead wish, don't you?" Greyson looked at me evilly, "I don't know how you still have the nerve of coming down to eat instead of starving." Finley snickered under his breath.

"Really though, you should starve," I guessed it looked like a normal conversation for the adults, because none of them intervened. They were lost in their own happy world.

I decided that saying nothing was the best, I didn't want to cause a scene in front of anyone. The food in front of me looked good, I would even dare to say that at some point I might've eaten everything on the plate. But... After looking at it for some more time, it started turning into numbers. Calories.

I picked up my fork and started moving the food around. Then I grabbed the knife and cut everything into small pieces. There was no one looking at me, so I didn't have to put on a show of me eating. But I still did, trying to make it look like I had eaten something, even when nobody would question me if I didn't touch the food in front of me.

I grabbed the glass of water and started drinking water, one glass after another until I felt like I'd burst. When I looked up, I noticed Aiden looking at my plate, I became nervous, had he noticed? Maybe he won't call me fat if he notices I don't eat.

"Oh Calla," a voice was soon to distract me from thinking, "I forgot to present myself." With so many changes and introductions, I had completely forgotten about him. "My name is Byron, your mother just told me she hadn't had the chance to talk to you about me. Feel free to call me in any way you'd like." I smiled and nodded, sure, I don't really think he means that.

"Are you all done eating?" He looked at everyone's plates on the table, until his gaze landed on mine. The food had been moved around so many times it looked almost unrecognizable. I held my breathing when his eyes didn't move, "you're not having more, Calla?"

"I had a big breakfast this morning... I'm not hungry, sorry." No, I hadn't had any breakfast.

"Well, if you dislike the food, please tell me. I wouldn't want to force you into eating things you dislike." I was about to talk, but he continued, "school starts next week. Aiden will tell you everything you need to know and will also get you materials." School, more like hell. I didn't know how school here was going to be, but going there with my step-brothers wasn't going to be a good experience. I wasn't stupid. School was never going to get any better for me.

Everyone got up, ready to go back to their rooms and complete their homework. I was somewhat relieved by the fact that Byron hadn't asked any of them to keep me company. I'd very much prefer spending time on my own before starting school.