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28 || Fix it!
I think I did well in the tests today. But that joy evaporates as soon as I unlock my phone. The drive to school with Calum was awkward, and I don’t want a repeat of that on our way home. But that might be the only option because of Amelia.
A: I won’t be able to drop you off today but I know someone who wouldn’t mind doing that.
Amelia! I bang my head against my locker.
This girl.
She’s really going to do this to her best friend? I told her earlier I would hitch a ride home with her. She didn’t ask questions but she must have put two and two together. I call bullshit on her having to leave without waking me yesterday. She wanted to get me alone with Calum. Well, that didn’t work so well. Now, we are just weird around each other. And I’m partly mad at him.
Me: Betrayer.
A: He hasn’t left. I think I saw his car outside.
Rolling my eyes, I slam my locker close. I mis
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 29 || The answer is still no
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To Tempt My Stepbrother 30 || All girls, no boys
Calum hasn’t said a word to me. Last night, he walked right past me into his room without so much as a glance my way. For the nth time, I reread through our texts that ensued after. Fine, I was a bit too much but he sprung it up on me. They ganged up on me and I didn’t appreciate it.Me: I didn’t mean it that wayMe: I’m sorry.Me: baby. My loveMe: please say somethingC: Goodnight CatherineI didn’t send him another text after that. But now as I wait for the girls, I think I should have. He’s upset. And I know why. I told him off. I hurt his feelings. It’s all I seem to be doing these days.But it’s also his fault. Is it? I don’t know anything anymore. He had good intentions, but a bad time.We didn’t have breakfast as a family today. It’s quite normal given our different schedules but Dani and Dad were both home and I can’t help the feeling t
To Tempt My Stepbrother 31 || Break up
Calum is finally talking to me. It’s Wednesday. Our midterms are over and we have the rest of the week off. Calum snaps a finger in my face.“Did you hear anything I said?” he asks. I just smile. To have him talking to me again, even if it’s with a big scowl makes me happy. “Cathy!”I push a foot forward, and he braces an elbow on his car’s roof. “No. Not really. What did you say?”Annoyance twists his expression and his eyes twitch. These days, he’s unkind to me. I told him I wouldn’t be joining him home yesterday and he didn’t even ask why. Just a simple okay was all I got. I don’t like this new Calum.“Are you going home with me today?” he asks.“Yeah. That’s why I’m here.”“Right.” He unlocks the car. “Your door is open.”Two minutes later and my stepbrother hasn&rs
To Tempt My Stepbrother 32 || My heart
“It’s breaking,” I whisper over the phone to Amelia. The only reason I didn’t run off to her house after the fight with Calum is because I want to be alone and I don’t want to bother her.“What?” she asks.I place a hand over my chest and the organ protected by my ribcage beats faster. It hurts.“My heart. It’s breaking.” “Cathy,” she says. I tug the cover over my head. It sounded like a good idea to call her. Now, I’m not so sure. I just want to hide here until the pain goes away. “Do you want me to come over?”“No, it’s fine.” Pretending she’s here, I roll on my side and stare into space. Calum should be in his room. “Can I tell you something?” Amelia hums in response. “I feel so alone sometimes.”“What do you mean?”My eyes shut. I put into words w
To Tempt My Stepbrother 33 || Sad place
CALUMDon’t try to understand women. Sometimes, they say they don’t want you but what they mean is: please stay. And when they say they need space. They could simply mean: hold me but don’t say a word to me because I’m mad at you for reasons that shouldn’t be known to you.I’ve learnt all these with Cathy. But I don’t find them cute anymore, not with the way she has treated me over the last few days. If she really wants me, I don’t know. We have fallen apart.She’s now my sad place.I don’t think of her and smile. I think of her and remember the look of vehemence, disgust and anger when she told me she didn’t want to go anywhere with me. I can try to deal with that. The space will do both of us good anyway.What I can’t deal with are the ridiculous prices and conditions it requires to find an apartment that will sublet for two months. That’s enough t
To Tempt My Stepbrother 34 || No in-between
Calum wants to break up with me.He wants to end what we have.Tears cloud my vision as I arrange my stuff into a small travelling box. Trying to comfort myself with the fact we will spend three days together doesn’t work. My phone rings out somewhere in the room. I ignore it and resume packing.The phone is still ringing when I finish packing. I hoist my box on the bed and snatch the phone from the drawer. My frown almost disappears after one look at the screen. Amelia. I stop in front of the mirror to practise my responses.“Hey,” Amelia says when I pick.“Hey, you,” I say. My excitement is forced and my voice is stained with nerves. “How are you?”“Good. On our way to the beach house. Daddy’s home, we’ll spend the day together.” I nod along as she rambles on about their plans for the break. Due to the nature of her parent’s jobs, ha
To Tempt My Stepbrother 35 || Blue Story
It’s 6:15 pm when Calum knocks on my door. I am refreshed, well-fed and thinking clearly. We can have our talk today. Or skip it till Saturday.I open the door to a smiling Calum. He sizes me up and I almost spin to give him a better look of my dress. He came. I thought he wouldn’t.“Would you like to take a walk with me?” he asks after a minute of silence. I nod shyly and he almost stretches his hand to me, slipping it into his pocket at the last minute. “Shall we?”“We shall,” I whisper.Calum opens the door wider for me to step out first. I wait behind to lock the door and we head towards the elevator. Inside the metallic box, I steal glances at his profile. What’s he thinking?His finger drums a rhythm on his hip, the only audible sound in the elevator till it pings at our stop. Sticking by his side, we head outside the hotel and the cool London breeze hits our
To Tempt My Stepbrother 36 || Sweet and Tender
Oh.I’m not impressed.Calum departs from my side and I follow him to the front of the crowd. There’s a man on the bench. He has a guitar. His body is bent over the guitar he’s hugging to his chest. The guitar case is open on the floor for onlookers to drop money in it. Calum wanders off to the man, leaving me alone to watch and wonder. What’s his plan?They exchange words for a while and the man gives a curt nod. Dew coats the bench, my eyes follow the moisture, then move back to the man’s threadbare outfit. The thin shirt hidden under his black coat can barely keep the cold of the night away.On Calum’s return, he rocks on his soles. “So…I don’t think we will be having our concert tonight or anytime before we leave.” I pout. He barks out a laugh. The small crowd thins out after hearing him. When I count again, we are less than ten. “Except you’re up for perf
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