Falling In Love With Mr. Stepbrother

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Noah Gerald Sky

Start Of Something New

For some reason, I got hurt when I saw Gloss' expression when he was slapped by Genny, his mother. He was hurt. I felt the pain. My heart clenched at the sight of him crying. Nobody said anything for awhile. Dad stood up, walking towards Genny as she cried.

"Oh, God." She said as tears poured out of her eyes. "How could I do that? More so, how could I forget?"

"Shh, darling." Dad soothed, comforting Genny. Genny just cried, clutching Dad's arm, as if her life depended on it. Her whole body was shaking. Truth be told, I was not feeling any sympathy for Genny, maybe a little, but it was mainly for Gloss. What happened that day? What happened on September 3? According to Gloss, September 3 is his Dad's death anniversary. At the same time, it's his father and mother's wedding anniversary. But something else happened on that day. It seems it's a very important day to Gloss. "What's with September 3? I know, I heard from Gloss, that it's your late husband's death anniversary. But it is also your and your late husband's wedding anniversary. There's more to it, right, love?"

Genny sniffed and wiped her tears using the back of her hand. She nodded. "September 3, 2008 is the date when Kerick died. We were on the trip, with Gloss. We were laughing, smiling, having fun. That day was also our family bonding, it was Sunday. And Sunday is always a family day to us." She said, tears starting to pour out of her eyes again. I listened to the conversation, wanting to know more. It interests me all of a sudden. Gloss, I've known him just a year ago. We live in the same house. But I really don't know him. I don't know his favorites, his likes and dislikes. I just know him by his name. Gloss Kaiser Schlund. Now, I want to know him. The real him. The truth behind his past. In a year, I've been a complete asshole to him. In a year, I've tried to get him out of our house, to my life. In a year, I've tried pushing him away from his mother, from Dad, from me. "Gloss was daring us to kiss. So Kerick leaned down and did the dare. He was supposed to pay attention to the road... but he wasn't. The car crashed. Gloss and I were the only survivors. Kerick died. We were..." She cried even more.

"Shh, love." Dad said, rocking Genny back and forth. "You don't have to continue if you don't want. Tomorrow, we'll talk to Gloss. Okay?" Genny just shook her head.

"Gloss. When we were brought to the hospital. Gloss had a lot of injuries. He wasn't buckled up that day. He... When we were admitted, when we got home, he became different. He was always happy, bubbly, caring. But he changed. Every night, he will have a nightmare about it. I've tried to put him in a psychological test, I've tried to talk to him about it, but he always tries to push me away. He doesn't want to talk about it. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it."

So that's the problem.

Dad's eyes were wide, like he couldn't believe it himself. How someone like Gloss can ignore that tragedy? Gloss. He always masks his feelings so people won't see it, so people won't feel it. Even I admit that I didn't feel and see it. Genny's body was still tensed, shaking. Visualizing the worst event can mentally hurt you, even remembering it. Visualizing is worst than remembering.

I had decided that I wouldn't go to the party, so pretty much, I knew that people at the party would be shocked and disappointed. I was always present at the parties. Until now. And the reason for it is because of Gloss. I knew Chelsie would be mad at me, but I didn't give a damn right now. I love her to death, but sometimes, she can be annoying as hell. And I hate annoying bastards.

Heading upstairs, to my room, every step was making my feet numb, caused by the burning chest filled with sympathy towards Gloss. It's an unusual feeling for me. I rarely have sympathy towards others. But somehow, somewhat, Gloss is the first.

As I walked, I passed his room and I heard muffled cries. Pain. And my heart clenched. But I chose to ignore it. And I hated myself for it.

When I reached my room, I slumped my body on the soft mattress, the scent was still there. The scent of s*x. God, I so badly wanted to get laid again. The last time I got laid was two days ago. Genny, Dad, and Gloss weren't here in the house, so I had decided to call Chelsie to come over and we had a wild and intense s*x. But I resisted the urge to call Chelsie right now. I wanted to have s*x right now, to vent out my frustrations. I felt anxious all of a sudden. So I just slept.

Waking up isn't the best thing. I'm not a morning person. I feel grumpy whenever I wake up. But today is an exception. I shoot out of the bed as soon as I wake up, remembering Gloss. Crying at night to sleep isn't the best thing. I did it. When my mom left us, I cried to sleep and when I woke up the next day, I wasn't really feeling well. So I immediately head to Gloss' room, barging in. But he's not there. His bed is made, the duvet is folded neatly. The pillows are placed neatly, too, on the bed like it hasn't been used at all. The things are organized. Gloss' room isn't like the typical room for men, or for boys. It's neat and very organized. He doesn't have any posters of women who are almost naked. Not that I have those kinds of posters. In fact, the only things that are on the wall of my room are pictures. I walk over to his bed, seeing pictures frames on the nightstand, to look. The first picture is Genny, little Gloss, and I suppose the man beside Gloss is his father, Kerick. He looks like him. Kerick had a blonde hair, slicked. He was smiling, looking at Gloss whereas Gloss was grinning at the camera. Genny was just smiling at them, looking happy for her family. The next picture is Gloss wearing his soccer uniform. He was holding a soccer ball. He looked happy, with no hints of sadness. The third picture is Gloss and Kerick, playing soccer. They were trying to take in charge of the ball. Sighing, I get out of Gloss' room and go downstairs.

I plow down on the chair, sighing. Dad eyes me, probably thinking why I got up early. Odd. He just shrugs it off and Genny seems to be shocked when she sees me.

She walks towards me and plants a kiss on my cheek. "Good morning, sweety." She smiles at me, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes. In fact, you can tell that she's not in the mood to smile by her posture. She seems down. "Can you please go upstairs and wake Gloss up?"

"He's not there," I say simply, shrugging. Dad and Genny look at me, urging me to elaborate further. I sigh and say, "When I woke up, I went to his room and when I got there, he's not there. His bed is made. Like it hasn't been used. Scratch that, it hasn't been used since last night."

Genny releases a breath and takes a seat, as if knowing that makes her weak all of a sudden. Dad stands up and rubs Genny's back, soothing her, comforting her. She clutches her head and it seems like she's going to cry. Dad just hugs her and Genny hugs her back.

Without any second thought, which shocks me to my core, I rarely say, "Don't worry, I'll look after him." My eyes nearly widen at that. It's not nice of me to say that. Dad and Genny are the only people I care. I'm not nice. At least I used to. But I'm not nice. Genny gives me a thankful smile, and Dad does the same. But something is different in Dad's eyes, like he's telling me he's proud. It almost makes me happy, to smile, since he acknowledges my simple act of kindness, and he's proud of that. I return the smile. We eat our food without Gloss.

Searching Gloss in the school grounds is not nice. In fact, it's hella annoying. I'm starting to get annoyed, but then again, I'm always annoyed at everyone. Except my friends. And Chelsie. I look at Gloss everywhere, and the students swarming around isn't helping. Too many blonde heads. The bell rings, signaling the first class of school. I quit at searching.

But I'm sure I'll continue to do it.

"Hey, babe." Chelsie says seductively as she pops her head on my side, pecking me on the cheek. The jocks whistle and I grin at them. "Why'd you not attend the party last night?"

"Sorry, Chels." I say. "Something happened last night. And I couldn't get away."

"It's okay," she says. She plops down on the seat next to me and the jocks wiggle their eyebrows at me. I put my hand on Chelsie's thigh and rubs it. I feel her shiver against my touch and I smirk, satisfied with effect I have on her.

"Babe, I'm hot." I whisper huskily in her ear. The jocks don't seem to catch what I said, because they just ignore us. Usually they'd tease me about how I am being a total perv. Hypocrites. Chelsie gives me a lustful smile and her eyes twinkle mischievously. Later. Ha.

"Have you heard of the new girl?" Kevin asks as he looks at us, waiting for an answer. I shake my head.

"Yeah, everybody says she's beautiful." Rolly says.

"And hell she is!" Tommy butts in. "Brunette. Pretty. And hell, I swear she's a hella beauty queen!"

"I wonder where she is," John says.

Chelsie just makes a a hmpf sound, which translate to 'I'm prettier than her, and I definitely don't care about her'. The jocks just ignore her. They keep talking about the new girl. Who is this new girl? Is she better than Chelsie? Is she really pretty? Nah. Probably not.

The rest of the day passes by, and even the slightest shadow of Gloss, there's no hint or clue as to where he is. I've asked students, his bodyguards (we named them 'the bodyguards'), but none. He didn't go to school.

When I get home, as I enter the living room, Genny looks at me with a hopeful smile but I merely shake my head and her hopeful smile turns into sadness, her brows furrow as she looks at Dad. Dad hugs her and Genny rests her cheek on Dad's shoulder as she hugs Dad back.

Gloss. Where the hell are you?