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Chapter 3
After getting dressed this morning, I have to admit I'm slightly nervous to go downstairs. Since it is a Thursday, both my mom and Peter are already at work. Meaning, unless he went out or something, it'll just be Paul and myself home.
But, I can't stay in my room forever. That's for sure.
Walking downstairs, I turn around the corner and slowly enter the kitchen.
"Oh god, you're one of those people," Paul states. He's standing by the toaster, a box of toaster strudels in his hand. By the smirk on his face, I can tell he's joking; however, I'm not sure what he means.
"Um, what kind of people?" I ask nervously.
He chuckles, obviously amused by my caution. "One of those people who get dressed even when they're not going anywhere."
I can't help but grin back. "Well," I laugh, "I wasn't really sure what the dress code was in this house." I gesture to Paul, who's standing shirtless in just a pair of pajama pants – trying my best not to stare at what appear to be rock-hard abs. He's your step-brother, for god's sake, Cassie. "I didn't realize it was so liberal."
Paul laughs, turning back towards the toaster. Before his face is out of sight, though, I'm pleased to see that he looks slightly embarrassed by my comment.
I slip by him towards the cupboard to grab some cereal. Paul must take my joke seriously though, because after he puts four – four? – toaster strudels in the toaster, he slips out of the kitchen and returns a few minutes later with a shirt on.
"So, you have any plans today?" I query, trying to break the silence that's unravelled since we've taken a seat at the table.
Paul shrugs, swallowing a huge bite of toaster strudel. "Not much. I work tonight. Dad asked me to take down the Christmas ornaments and throw out the tree, so… gonna do that."
"Oh, do you want help?" I offer brightly.
"No," he answers immediately, as if the idea of me helping is quite alarming. I blink in surprise, but before I can manage to say anything, he smiles sheepishly. "I mean, I'm sure you have a lot of unpacking to do."
"I've got almost a week to unpack before school starts, so I really don't mind." I pause, taking a few bites of my cereal. "Besides, I think my mom and your dad want us to get to know each other. After all, we will be walking down the aisle together."
Paul's eyes bulge out of his head, something I attribute to him nearly choking to death on his final toaster strudel. When he finally swallows and appears to be able to breathe again, he exclaims frantically, "What!?"
Blinking in confusion, I ask, "Well you're Peter's best man right?" When he nods, I clarify, "I'm my mom's maid of honour, so we'll be walking down the aisle together at their wedding."
He lets out a sigh. He sounds relieved? What did he think I meant? Again, I'm probably being paranoid. He likely didn't know I was the maid of honor and figured he'd have to walk down with one of my mom's older friends. "Sorry, I'm slow today - didn't get much sleep last night."
"Oh yeah, is everything okay with the emergency?"
He smirks, nodding. "Yeah, I think everything's going to work out just fine." Standing up from the table, he places his dishes in the sink. "Well, I'll start putting the bigger decorations away. Feel free to join when you're done eating."
"I'll just be a couple minutes," I assure him, finishing up my cereal.
After I finish up eating, I quickly do Paul and I's dishes before joining him in the living room. He's taking down some ceiling decorations by the fireplace, but tosses me over an empty box to put the tree ornaments in. I'm pleased to notice that half the ornaments are from my mom and I's old house.
"So, Cassandra," Paul begins.
"Cassie," I interrupt, stretching to my tip toes trying to reach a bulb near the top of tree. "Please call me Cassie. My mom is the only person who calls me Cassandra, and she only does it when she's excited or really mad."
Paul chuckles, walking over from the fireplace to reach the ornament for me. Must be nice to be over six feet tall. "So Cassie, excited to start school Monday?"
Grabbing the ornament from his outstretched hand, I shoot him a dubious look. "Did you really just ask me if I'm excited to go back to school?"
Smirking, he shrugs and returns to the ceiling decorations. "You never know. It's your first day at a new school, after all."
"Yeah, I guess. I wouldn't say excited, though. Maybe nervous, since I won't really know anyone, but I'm glad it's my junior year and not senior year," I admit. Starting your last semester of high school with no friends would not be ideal.
He gasps I mock offense. "You know me!"
I roll my eyes, but can't stifle my giggle.
"I wouldn't worry too much. It's a small school, and since we're in the same grade, we'll probably have a few classes together. Either way I can show you around."
I nod, slightly relieved. Although I'm sure I can't hide behind Paul all day, at least I can rely on him to show me where I'm supposed to go. "Thanks."
He shrugs. "It's no problem."
"So, am I going to be the only blonde in the school?" I joke.
Chuckling, he answers, "Well, you'll definitely be the only natural blonde."
It doesn't take us that long to get all of the decorations packed into boxes and taken down to the basement. I offer to help Paul take out the tree; he assures me he doesn't need help. Although his muscles probably shouldn't be underestimated, I'm still surprised when he's able to discard it by himself. It's a big tree!
Regardless, it was a fun morning, and I'm feeling a lot more confident that my soon-to-be step-brother doesn't hate me than I was last night. At least enough to actually add him on Facebook once he leaves for work.
Nonetheless, I'm going to stick to my promise, and not give Erica my new assessment of him for another few days.
…
The next few days go by rather quickly. Paul accepted my friend request when he got home Thursday night. We had breakfast together again Friday, getting to know each other while he eats a disgusting amount of toaster strudels. Since I didn't really have anywhere to go – and it is cold outside – I stay in and finish unpacking.
Before I know it, it's Sunday evening. I've already packed what I'll need for school tomorrow, so I know it's going to be a slack night.
Right now, I'm searching the fridge for something to eat for supper. My mom and Peter went to Port Angeles for a date night, so I have to fend for myself.
"Hey," Paul greets, entering the kitchen as he finishes putting on a sweater. From what I've noticed, he never wears sweaters inside, so he must be going out.
I nod in return, inspecting some lettuce to see if it's still any good. It's not. I close the fridge and check the freezer. "Did you have supper yet?"
He shakes his head. "Actually, I'm about to go to Sam and Emily's for supper. Wanna come? There will be plenty of food."
Although from what I've heard of Paul's friends, I must admit I'm somewhat curious to meet them. However, I'm not feeling overly social, and I haven't showered today. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass." I notice a frozen pizza in the freezer. "I think I'll just stay in. Grab a shower, maybe cook a pizza, and watch some Netflix."
He seems slightly disappointed. "Are you sure? Most of the people that will be there go to school with us. You'll get to meet some people before you start."
I know he has a good point, but I really do just want to stay home. Plus, I'm planning on giving Erica my update on Paul tonight while he's not home. I haven't said anything about him to her since my first night here, and I know she's dying in anticipation. "Next time, I promise."
He laughs. "Alrighty, your loss. Emily makes delicious food."
"So does Delissio!" I quip, ignoring my growling stomach – which Paul laughs at. "Anyway, I'm going to grab a shower."
"Okay, I'll probably be gone by the time you're done, so I'll see you tomorrow!"
I nod, hoping he'll remember that he said we could drive to school together tomorrow. "Sounds good. Have fun!"
After my shower, I throw on some pajamas and my house coat. I have a TV in my room, but the living room one is much bigger. Plus, I have the house to myself, so I may as well take advantage of it. Running down the stairs to the kitchen, I'm so hungry I can literally smell pizza.
Or so I thought.
When I enter the kitchen, I notice the Delissio pizza sitting on the counter, fully cooked. I notice a note in messy handwriting scribbled beside it.
You better save me a slice :)
Embarrassingly, a squealy "aww" escapes my lips. Maybe this is what siblings do for each other, but nonetheless it was just so sweet of him. Especially since he would have had to wait for it to cook before he could leave for his friend's house.
Quickly, I pull out my phone and find the number my mom had given me the other day.
Cassie: Hey, it's Cassie. My mom gave me your number. Thanks so much for the pizza!
He even cut it into slices! Without grabbing a plate, I start eating a slice. My phone buzzes when I'm halfway finished eating.
Paul: Np! You seemed hungry :)
To my disgust, my heart flutters at his concern. What the hell is wrong with me? Once I finish eating, leaving about half the pizza for Paul, I flop onto the couch and pull out my cell.
Netflix can wait. I need to talk to Erica. Now.
The phone rings twice, but as soon as I hear the click of her picking up, I exclaim, "I have a major problem!"
After a moment of silence, she asks in worry, "What's wrong?"
"I'm in love with my step-brother!" I practically scream.
"What?" She must be drinking something because I can hear her spit it out on the other end. "Legit four days ago you thought he hated you!"
"Okay, I'm being dramatic. I'm obviously not actually in love with him. But oh my god, Ricki, he is so attractive and cute and funny and sweet." I pause gushing over him in order to catch my breath before telling her all about Thursday, then the cute or funny things he did over the weekend, and end with the pizza thing.
"Is this guy even real?" she exasperates.
I groan. "Yes, and he's my step-brother. What am I going to do? I have a crush on my brother."
"Step-brother," she corrects, although slightly defeated. "But yeah. I don't even know what to say, Andy. I can't believe you actually like him. Like I was joking about it, but I never really thought it would actually happen."
"You're not helping!" I cry.
"Okay, okay. Just leave your mom a note saying that you've stolen her fiancé's son and that you two are running off to Vegas to get married."
"If I could hit you right now, I would. That's not funny! And it's not like he actually would like me back; he would probably be so appalled that his soon-to-be step-sister is crushing on him."
"Well, I wouldn't say that. He seems to be being awful nice to you."
"Ricki! This isn't like a crush on some boy we work or go to school with. You're not supposed to encourage it and pretend there's a chance. He's the son of my mom's future husband! You're supposed to be telling me I'm crazy and need to get my hormones under control."
She sighs, before apologizing. "I know. I know. But he just seems so perfect; it's unfortunate that your mom had to get to his dad first."
I roll my eyes at her dramatics. This is just a silly crush. It's going to pass once I get to know him better. It has to. After I few minutes, she jokes, "So I guess I should be telling Liam when he asks about you at work that you're moved on?"
I groan. "Oh god, he's asking about me?" She hums in agreement. "I still can't even believe I did that." Erica and I both worked at the movie theatre in Port Angeles – well, she still works there – and one of our co-workers, Liam, had always had a crush on me. He's nice and kind of cute, but not really my type. Apparently though, after a few drinks, let's just say he was a bit more of my type.
"At least he wasn't terrible," she points out, causing me to blush. Oh god, I tell this girl way too much.
"Ugh, alright, whatever. I'm gonna go before you start throwing all my sins in my face. Plus, there's a new season of Once on Netflix and I have some catching up to do."
Laughing, she says her good-byes and lets me go. I don't really feel any better after that conversation, but at least I've finally gotten my confession off my chest.
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