My Stepbrother secret-possession

I Desperately Want You Too

The entire situation has changed, and the tables have turned.

I've been trying to engage in a proper conversation with Leigh, but all he does is ignore me. Sometimes he blocks out everything with his AirPods or gets absorbed in excessively loud and intense games like 'Call of Duty.' He even lets Sawyer into his bedroom, which annoys me more than all the salt he adds to my wounds.

It's early on a Monday morning when Lilith stops to grab her coffee from IHOP, while we sing along to a Katy Perry song playing on the radio.

"Did he just blush?" My eyes widen as the bartender brings Lilith's coffee and refuses to accept her tip, or is it a bribe? I still don't understand the need to give extra money after paying for the service.

"He's just some strange guy," she rolls her eyes and winds up her window before driving off.

"Looks like something more to me." I chuckle, and she nudges my arm.

When we arrive at the school car park, instead of joining Lilith and her group of bully friends, I head to the hallways with my new hairstyle, glowing skin, and perfectly manicured nails. In short, I'm a refined and elegant version of myself, thanks to the spa weekend Lilith arranged.

The hallways are crowded as I stride over to Evie's locker. She's so focused on her test script that she ignores my presence, so out of impatience, I start poking her until she looks at me.

With terror in her eyes, she blurts out, "I can't believe I got a B! I'm sorry, Ava. You look pretty and expensive, but I have a B. That means I just broke my A+ record. I can't handle it. I might as well die." She panics.

I grab both her shoulders and make her face me. "Okay, calm down and breathe."

"I can't. Look, I have a B," She lifts the paper as if I haven't seen it.

"You're exaggerating..."

"I swear to God, if you finish that word, I'll stick this inside your nostrils." For a moment, she looks threatening, and my eyes widen.

"Now you're scaring me."

"I'm sorry, Ava, but I can't let my parents down, and the teacher won't give me a chance to retake the test." Her shoulders slump as she pouts.

I try to think of a way out, and then it hits me.

"Don't worry, just go and study. Leave the rest to me." I grin at her.

"Now you're really scaring me. What are you planning? Ava, you're not going to threaten Mr. Moreno. Oh no... please don't even try to sneak into the principal's office to change the scores." She panics even more.

"Can I do that?" I feign interest.

"Ava," she calls, a warning evident in her tone.

"Just kidding. I'm not going to do anything illegal, or at least not that I'm aware of. So calm down and go read your book. You have a makeup test today." I remind her enthusiastically.

Evie looks more than confused as I quickly turn and head in the other direction down the hall. "Wait, is the teacher a man or a woman?" I pause to ask.

"Male, Mr. Moreno?" She answers, perplexed.

I hope The Leigh Syndrome works on older men. If I'm correct, I've seen it work on some of my male teachers and the football coach.

With that in mind, I set out to find the boy who is deliberately avoiding me.

The school bell rings as I stand outside the senior social studies homeroom. It takes me a few minutes to gather my courage and turn the doorknob.

I've never been to classes outside of my grade, let alone a homeroom filled with seniors. I feel incredibly uncomfortable as I become the centre of attention for too many jocks, cheerleaders, popular girls, and older teenagers.