Stepbrother Bestie (A Stepbrother Romance Novel) (3 page)

I felt Valerie smile before she hugged me
tightly, as though she had actually missed me. “I’d rather you be with us guys
too…”

I laughed at this and saw Diana roll her
eyes. “I feel like you two just reverted back to being five years old.” She
smiled between the two of us as though there was something reminiscent about
the picture from the past we were painting before her eyes that she was
enjoying. Although I was fairly certain she wouldn’t admit that.

“Does that mean we still get ice cream?”
Valerie asked and this time, it was my stepmom who laughed.

“I am so annoyed right now that you made
me promise that I wouldn’t record these precious moments,” Diana answered
through her laughs. “It’s something I would love to show Zachary.”

Even in her sense of stupor she was able
to find her voice enough to exclaim, “No!” in an embarrassed fashion.

“You might have, Diane, but I didn’t promise
anyone anything!” I slurred and tried to keep it together long enough so that
my words would sink into Valerie’s brain.

She stopped and stared at me with absolute
horror and I doubled over with laughter.

“I can’t find my phone anyway…” I answered,
patting my pants in search of it for only a moment and then giving up when I
lost my train of thought.

“Jerk,” Valerie exclaimed, now slightly
angry, even though I was sure that none of the medication had worn off of her
yet. I found it funny that she got annoyed at my lack of compassion. I would
have really thought that she would be used to it by now. “Why would you even
think of doing that to me? You’re so mean!”

Thankfully, I just burst out laughing,
instead of saying the ample amount of true responses that I had floating around
my completely gassed and very wired brain. If there was one time that I would
have given anything so that my loose tongue did not say anything, it was now. But
I was able to keep my secrets to myself.

As Valerie rolled her eyes, her mother
teased us. “Come on, children. Let’s not make a scene.”

After the close call and the
unpredictability of my own words, I was happy to oblige.

Just like she promised, Diana bought the
two of us ice cream and got us set up on the couch and the chair opposite one
another, before leaving us with the warning of, “Be nice.”

Since Diana always kept her promises, I
wasn’t sure why I was so surprised.

By the time we were settled back in the
place that I still, no matter what, would consider my home, Valerie had
forgotten all about being angry with me. I was happy about that. The last thing
I wanted was our day of bliss and probably pity from the parents to be
interrupted by a stupid, laughing-gas induced fight.

Yet, I still wasn’t thinking logically enough
to comprehend all of that, so I just wanted to talk. “Hey, Val…” I giggled.

“What’s up, Shawn?” She leaned her head
back on the pillow and pulled her blanket up to her chin.

“This is just like when we were kids,
right? Remember when I got the chicken pox and your mother brought you over so
that you would be exposed and we both got the chicken pox? And my dad was
freaking out, but your mom was just like, nah…they’re good. At least they’re
together.”

At that, she began to laugh hysterically
again, remembering my father completely going off his rocker with worry, for
the both of us. “Yeah…But she took good care of us though, just like she is
now. She didn’t let anything happen to either of us.”

“Yeah. She always has, even when she
wasn’t my mother…er…stepmother…”

“Yeah, I know,” she answered. “Remember
when you got in trouble for making a waterslide at recess and they couldn’t get
ahold of your parents, so they called my mom, figuring it was just as well?”

I nodded. “She let me have it that day.” I
narrowed my eyes. “Oh and are you referring to the waterslide that was your
idea?”

She smiled. “I have no idea what you’re
talking about.”

“Right, little miss…It’s so hot out here.
Why can’t somebody do something about this heat…I know, I wish we had a
waterslide!” I said, exaggerating my own girly impression of her.

“I do not sound like that!”

I nodded enthusiastically and chuckled.
“Of course you do! You just can’t hear yourself.” I raised my eyes pointedly
and mockingly. “Which is great news for you, but not so good for the rest of
us.”

She narrowed her eyes and shot me a look
that made me extremely glad that I was situated on the other side of the room.
“I have a great voice!” she answered indignantly. “Besides, nothing was worse
than the sound that came out of you when your voice started to change. It was
like a dog killing a parrot.”

Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes at
her as I said in a teasingly offended voice, “I thought we agreed that you were
never to bring that up again!”

She burst out laughing now. “Hey, you’re
the one who started to play dirty, I was just catching up.”

I gave her a playful growl and then my
woozy brain began to drift slowly, deeper into a more serious reminisce. “Thank
you for always being there for me.”

“Of course,” Valerie replied with a
genuine smile. “No matter how stupid you’re being, I’m always going to be right
there, getting your back whenever I need to and picking you up when you fall
down.”

My tired eyes rolled over toward her and I
smiled. “Thanks. You know I never want to lose you, right? Even if I am stupid
sometimes.” I giggled and settled down myself, bringing the blanket up around
my neck and hoping that I didn’t sleep too hard on my mouth so that it blew up.

However, I was so tired by that point, I
didn’t even hear Valerie’s response.

When I did wake up, my head felt as though
it was filled with lead. I thought about falling asleep again, but I felt eyes
watching me. I lulled my head over to one side and saw Valerie sitting up,
staring at me.

The sight of her made me laugh and I
rolled over to go back to sleep. After all, it was just Valerie. She could
stare at me all she wanted. That didn’t bother me one bit.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, sounding as
though she was trying to speak through a mouth full of rocks.

“Your face,” I answered and chuckled some
more.

“What? Is it that bad?” She reached into
her purse to grab a mirror. She pulled it out and stared at her large cheeks.
“It’s not
that
bad.”

“Okay, if you think that looking like a
starving chipmunk that just discovered an everlasting supply of food is
not that bad
then you look absolutely
beautiful.”

I could feel the ire steaming off of her
now, even though I hadn’t dared to look back at her.

“Well, let me see you then,” she spat.

I shrugged, then sighed and made my way,
slowly, up into a sitting position. I turned to her and smiled, as her anger
disappeared and she started to laugh hysterically. “You should talk,” she
finally wheezed, only after she had doubled over. “You look like you got in a
fight and lost…badly.”

I shrugged and answered evenly, “Yeah,
well, while your injuries make you look large and slightly more animal-like, my
molar pulling experience makes me look tough!”

“Hardly,” she answered, and the two of us
laughed because I knew well that there was likely nothing on the planet that
would make me look tough. I was just too goofy. It was a gift, really.

It was nice to laugh and be able to enjoy
the company of one another. It was good to get back one on one with Valerie.
There was so much that I missed about being able to just have a conversation
with my best friend. Over the past few years, that concept had become
increasingly difficult and that was bothersome to me.

However, not only was I aware that we had
our problems, I was also aware that things were the way they were because of
me.

Deep down, I knew that the issues I had
with my stepsister really had nothing to do with her, but it was just something
that happened.

Still, even through all the teasing, the
pain of my head feeling like it was going to fall over, the dizziness and the
discomfort caused by the procedure, I recognized how nice it was to enjoy an
afternoon together, just like we used to do every day.

There was no Zachary to distract Valerie,
my father wasn’t there to tell me that I was recovering wrong from getting my
molars, because only he could do it the best, and there was no Dalilah demanding
my attention. So the two of us were able to enjoy life, the way that we were
supposed to: together without any interruptions.

Chapter
5

Valerie

It sounded silly, even to me, but during
the time the two of us were having our high little reminisce, heart-to-heart,
whatever you wanted to call it, I held out hope that we had made a
breakthrough.

Although I was sure that I would never
actually admit it, I knew that I wanted my best friend back. I wanted the Shawn
that could tell me anything and the friend that would be there for me no matter
what.

It didn’t matter that the two of us were
completely off our rockers that weekend; we had a great time and I missed that.
We might not have been quite as random and silly when we were not under the
influence of anything, but back when we were best friends, before the decline
that took place after the marriage of our parents, there was never a dull
moment.

Having that weekend together reminded me
just how much I missed Shawn and wanted him back. Due to the fact that he had
decided to pull away, we had assumed a new normal that was nothing like the
relationship we used to have.

Up until a week and a half ago, we had
lived under the same roof, but we hardly spoke. He resented me, but I wasn’t
quite sure why and so eventually, I went my way, searching for what I was
missing from our relationship, and he went his way.

He found Dalilah…a crazy woman that I
detested, but my relationship strengthened with Zachary, so I really couldn’t
complain, in that respect.

Yet, I missed him and that past weekend
had really put it into perspective of exactly how much I missed him. I didn’t
want to have to go another day…or another minute trying to be away from him. The
weekend made me realize how much we had been torn apart and how superficial
this new normal was.

Therefore, the following Monday morning,
when I was feeling good enough to get out of my room, I quickly made my way
downstairs. I wanted to catch Shawn before he left for school to see if he
wanted to talk.

However, his car was already packed by the
time I was ready to go and my mother said that he wanted to leave early to get
back to his own mother’s house.

“So, he isn’t staying?” I realized how
desperate my voice sounded, even though I really didn’t care. In truth, I was
desperate. I wanted my friend back and I couldn’t imagine him living with a
woman who didn’t care for him at all, while I tried to sort this out.

My mother shook her head sadly. “He’s a
teenage boy and Paul is very rough on him. I wish he would lay off, but it
seems that the more he pulls away, the harder he tries to push him away.”

I shrugged and wondered what the
difference was. Sure, I was better at school then Shawn, but I had always been
better at it. School came easy to me where, unfortunately, it did not come near
as easy to Shawn. But he was working on it and therefore, I couldn’t understand
why his father would always be so hard on him.

However, I never said anything, because it
wasn’t my place. Staring at my mother now, I really didn’t think it was my
place to say anything now either, even though I was fairly certain that
whatever I had to say, my mother would agree with.

Even so, she didn’t give me very much time
to answer before she asked, “How are you feeling?”

I thought for a moment, trying to switch
gears. Honestly, I was so concerned with fixing Shawn and my relationship, that
I wasn’t even considering my own personal state. “I’m okay, actually…” I said
after thinking for a moment. I switched gears again and added, “Do you think
that I could still catch him?”

My mother chuckled. “Well, no…I think he’s
pretty long gone. But you’ll see him at school.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Why does he
do this to me?”

“I don’t know, dear,” she answered, even
though I was sure she knew I actually didn’t mean for her to. “He’s going
through a rough time right now though and he does need our support.”

I smiled and nodded, knowing that for as
aggravated as I was at the moment, he was feeling far worse about his
situation. At least both my mother and stepfather allowed for me to do what I
pleased, for the most part. I had witnessed the harshness that Shawn’s father
plagued him with and I knew it wasn’t right.

But my mother had often reminded me that
before anything, he was Paul’s son and therefore, he needed to be the one to
decide how he should be disciplined.

Even though my mother was there as an
equal parent, I knew that ultimately whatever Paul said went as far as Shawn
was concerned, and whatever my mother said went with me. It was an unspoken
rule, but one that was securely in place nonetheless and I took care to see
that rule was not broken, despite the disproportion that I witnessed.