Stepbro Read Online Free Page A

came over. His face was a bloody pulp.
     
    “Oh my God, Josh. I can't believe he did this to you.” I raised my hand to caress his face but he flinched away.
     
    “When were you going to tell me you had a psycho stepbrother?”
     
    “I'm sorry, Abel's just really protective of me.”
     
    “Well I can't be around you anymore.”
     
    “Oh come on, Josh, you can't let my stepbrother control us.” I grasped his hand in mine. A small cast was wrapped around his index finger. Did Abel break one of his fingers while I was in the car?
     
    “I'm sorry, Kate.” Josh let go of my hand and walked away.
     
    I kept my head held high as I walked through the halls. I'd never been broken up before. I got to my Chem class and took a seat. Everyone in the room was staring at me. It seemed everyone in school heard the conversation in the hallway. I kept my head down for the rest of the class and tried not to make eye contact with anyone.
     
    After class, I walked through the crowds of kids whispering about me. My very public breakup with Josh was today's hot gossip but I didn't let it get to me. I knew that everyone would be onto something new tomorrow.
     
    During lunch, I hung out in an empty classroom. I just didn't want to deal with all the talking behind my back in the cafeteria. I sat at one of the tiny wooden desks and thought about my life choices. I needed to graduate so I could escape from here. I only had a few months left of high school anyway.
     
    After school, a group of my friends spotted me outside, walking towards my car. “Hey Kate! What the hell happened today?” Jennifer yelled from across the parking lot. Jennifer was the blonde prude in our group. She was always criticizing my decisions. The last thing I wanted was to talk to her. I quickly opened my door and jammed the key into the ignition. My tires squealed as I peeled out and raced out of the parking lot.
     
    I knew right away that I didn't want to go home. I drove aimlessly through town listening to the radio. Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time blasted through the speakers. I wished that I could speed up time and go to college. I just wanted to start fresh.
     
    After a couple hours of driving, I found myself pulling into the driveway at home. I was so zoned out, I had no idea I was driving to my house. I sat in my car with the engine still running. It was just about dinnertime and my mom was probably setting the table. I couldn't stay in my car forever. I hesitantly turned the car off and went inside.
     
    The smell of burnt meatloaf and black smoke emanated from the kitchen. I walked in to see my Abel wearing an apron and waving away smoke from the oven. “What happened?!” I yelled. I rushed over, ready to help.
     
    He coughed before he could reply. “Mom and Dad went out and left me in charge of dinner.” He showed me the baking sheet with the burnt to a crisp meatloaf. “Sorry, it looks like I'm going to have to order take out. Pizza okay?”
     
    “Yeah that sounds good. Order the pizza and I'll clean up.” I was still furious at Abel but the sight of him cooking was too hilarious to ignore. I tossed the meat brick into the trash and opened the window to air out the smoke.
     
    After he was finished ordering, we both sat down at the dinner table to await the arrival of the delivery boy. I couldn't help but laugh at his lame attempt at cooking.
     
    “Hey! I slaved away in the kitchen for that meatloaf,” he responded to my laughter.
     
    “Yeah well, I think you need some more practice,” I giggled.
     
    The pizza guy came about twenty minutes later which was unfortunately well within the “Thirty minutes or less or your pizza is free” slogan. The delivery guy was kind of cute but my mind was elsewhere. We dove into the pizza, scarfing it down as fast as possible. I didn't even realize I was that hungry until we had eaten the entire thing. So much for eating healthy.
     
    My stepbrother and I talked for awhile, cracking jokes and