To Seduce My Stepbrother

To seduce my stepbrother

One week later and I’m still not allowed to join the choir. This was not how I envisioned my last year in high school turning out. Rose claims practice is going on fine without me. How’s that possible when their lead solo singer is missing?

Calum is a meanie. My stomach tightens at the thought of him. He has been ignoring me. He’s gone before I wake and only returns late in the evening to smoke. I should have reported him to Dad but I haven’t. He wanted to kiss me again that day. As much as I strongly dislike him, I like his lips. So, I wouldn’t have minded another kiss.

I force one foot in front of the other till I’m at the door of my chemistry class. Mr Andy is at his desk waiting for the rest of the students. I am too early for the class and as I watch the bald man through the narrow pane of the door, I seriously consider running out of the school.

Chemistry is too complicated. Maybe if Calum taught chemistry, I might understand it. I open the door before I can change my mind. It’s my last class of the day, I might as well suck it up.

“Catherine.” Mr Andy’s eyes light up once I’m inside. Why is he smiling? He’s a snitch. I muster a fake grin and make my way through the aisle to the backseat. He curves one hand around his mouth as if he’s about to tell me a secret. “We’ll be having a snap test.” Great. That’s the only thing in his head. “You didn’t do well on the last one.”

And I don’t need a reminder. He already tattled on me to my dad. I retrieve the chemistry textbook from my bag. It’s not as if I don’t try. But it’s too complicated. I cannot sing my way through it like I do with some maths formulas.

The door opens but I don’t look up. I’m trying to cram as much as I can before the test. The silence is broken as more students fill the class. Someone sinks into the seat beside me. Amelia. My grin is automatic. A familiar face makes it better. Sadly, we are both s**t at chemistry.

“We are having a test,” I whisper to her.

“Again?” she whisper-yells.

Our eyes follow Mr Andy walking to the tall bookshelf beside his desk. He pulls out a bulky textbook from it and I understand I’m f****d. If I don’t pass this, then it’s bye-bye to the choir. Heading to the front of the class, he writes: Test and circles it. A groan of protest ripples through the air.

“What the f**k is wrong with him?” Amelia says so only I can hear her. I wish I knew. She drags her seat closer to mine. “I’m going to fail.”

As I am too.

After making everyone get rid of incriminating materials, Mr Andy distributes the scripts to us. Thirty minutes for five questions. I am not sure what I’m doing as I scribble on my worksheet.

I peer at my seat partner and Amelia is writing. Everyone in class is writing. Do they really know what they are writing or simply winging it? Thirty minutes fly by so fast and we are asked to submit. By the excited look on everyone’s faces, I’m the only one who seems to have written rubbish.

The rest of the class is a painful blur. Amelia and I are the last to leave. She’s my ride home. I nod in agreement to everything she says as we start for her car. The only coherent thought in my head is the possible result of the test. Out of five questions, I knew the answer to just two.

Amelia snaps her fingers in my face. We are already at the parking lot. I walk around to the passenger side. “Were you listening to me?”

“Kinda.”

My best friend sees through my lie but doesn’t counter me. A click rings out and I open the car. She doesn’t start the car when we’re in. Her eyes close and she rests her head on the headrest.

“What are we waiting for?”

“Your stepbrother.”

I prop my elbow on the window. Sure, Amelia knows I’ve been kicked out of the choir but she also doesn’t remember Calum is the dare from that night. He cleaned up really well. “Why?”

“Don’t know. Maybe we can find something to use against him.” I don’t know about that. So far, he has stayed out of trouble. His routine is simple. House, school. No diversions. He hasn’t tried to make new friends. She breaks down her genius plan to me. I can only nod since I have no better idea to offer. “But he looks familiar.”

Because she has seen him before. I sit up.

“How was the test?” I ask to distract her.

“Cool.”

I click my seatbelt into place, a signal for her to get the car moving. But she doesn’t look at me.

“What was your answer for question five?” I ask.

“Forty-five.”

Amelia’s answer slaps. It hits right in my face. I open and close my mouth without voicing out my thoughts. My answer was 2.5 and number five was one of the only two questions I answered.

It’s official. I am never getting back in the choir. I can already see the F circled in red ink at the top of my script. This is all Calum’s fault. We glance at the door. Why’s he taking so long to come out?

The backdoor opens to reveal Calum. Again, his tattoo is hidden. Same as mine. Amelia’s finger drums on the steering wheel as Calum makes his way to his car. If he knows we are watching him, he doesn’t act like it. He stops in front of his car but doesn’t get in. I sink my nails into my knees when he throws a look around the parking lot like he can sense us watching him.

“I can’t place his face. Can you?”

I shake my head. For some unknown reason, I don’t want them to know he was the same guy at the bar. It’s better this way. Amelia makes an annoyed sound and returns to watching him. In a few minutes, Calum is zooming out of the school.

We follow behind his—Dani’s car, keeping some distance between us. The wind whistles through my hair, sending them all over my face. Amelia turns on the radio and I reduce the volume. She glares at me and I glare back.

“What if he’s clean?” I ask.

Her plan no longer makes sense. Find out what he does between closing hours and the time he takes to return home. If it’s illegal, then we will use it against him. She turns into a road leading to the opposite direction of my house at the same time Calum does. The hood of his red car is visible from afar. Calum is up to something.

Where is he going?

“Then you’ll just have to seduce him.”

“To Seduce My Stepbrother?” I mutter, utterly dumbfounded. Amelia rolls her eyes and makes another turn. Calum’s car is metres ahead of us but she manages to keep up. “Where are we going?”

“Do you want to get back in the choir or not?”

I cross my legs at my ankles. “I want to. But…”

“No buts, Cathy. Just play nice, pretend to like him. Anything, till he gives you what you want.”

That doesn’t sound too bad when I give it a second thought. I’m likeable, so is Calum when he’s not being an asshole. His lips are also very likeable. In fact, the most likeable part of him. And I really want to kiss him again. I shake off those silly thoughts. Seducing my stepbrother sounds like a bad idea but I love bad ideas.

“What if I fall in love with him?”

In all the romance novellas Rose reads, it always starts as play pretend. Then the female lead falls in love with the male lead for real. Ew. That can’t be us. I only want to kiss him, nothing more.

“You won’t.” Amelia’s car slows to a crawl in a deserted street. “This is not a book or a movie.”

“You give the worst advice.”

“I know,” she replies with a laugh. I survey our surroundings. I’ve never been to this part of town. “That’s why we are besties. You love bad advice.”

Well, life starts to feel different when someone super close to you dies. You don’t take things seriously anymore. You live life a little more carelessly because in the end, we will all die.

“Where are we?” Amelia asks.

Our eyes roam the empty streets. There’s not a car in sight, not even Calum’s. Did he deceive us? Fear curls through me. Amelia and I share a glance.

We need to leave. Right now.