Chapter 3 – The Race
"But, Dad…"
"I don't want to hear it Lorenzo. You're going to participate in the Race whether you like it or not."
"But why Chet? Seriously, you could have picked anybody else!" Lorenzo complained.
"Lorenzo, it's already done. Now please leave, I'm quite busy." His father stated coldly.
Lorenzo fumed and stormed out of his dad's office, going down the hallway to his room to sulk. He slammed the door shut behind him. How could his dad just do that? Lorenzo was his son. How could he be so cold and uncaring? He pulled himself up onto the top bunk and stared at the ceiling. His mom would never do this to him.
Because she doesn't care, replied a voice in his head. She wouldn't do anything for you.
Lorenzo sighed.
There was no way they were going to be friends. Chet and Lorenzo spent every waking moment either fighting or glaring at each other, and everyone quickly learned not to get in their way unless they wanted to be severely injured. If you stood close enough to one of them, you could feel the hate seeping out of their very skin.
However, if you stood next to Lorenzo during the gymnastics challenge in Romania, you'd feel something very different.
Lorenzo just stood there with his mouth hanging open as he watched Chet absolutely nail it on the balance beam with perfect form. Chet was beauty, grace and strength, like Josée. No, better than Josée. No one could even come close to comparing.
So when Jacques walked up to Chet and insulted his performance, Lorenzo flew in and insulted Jacques' face by breaking his nose.
"Jacques!" Josée exclaimed from the other side of the room. She ran over to tend to her partner, while Lorenzo grabbed Chet's hand and they ran to the Chill Zone to snag first place. Lorenzo cheered.
"Let go of my hand, dork!" Chet demanded.
Lorenzo looked at their hands. Their fingers were intertwined so perfectly. He almost didn't want to let go. But one look at Chet's scowl meant he had to. He loosened his grip enough for Chet to yank his hand away and storm off.
At that point, Lorenzo realised that he was in this way over his head and he was drowning.
And he loved it. More importantly, he loved Chet, his stepbrother, and his soul mate.
Then Chet threw his dinner at him and banished those thoughts from his head. Things were back to normal.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Chet asked.
"You wear it. I'm not the girl." Lorenzo stated.
"And I am?"
"You said it, not me!"
There was no way Lorenzo was going to wear the skirt. Not going to happen.
"If I wear it, you have to carry me across hot coals." Chet stated.
"Why do you care?" Lorenzo asked.
"I don't."
"So you wear it."
"But you'd look better in it."
Lorenzo looked at Chet and raised one eyebrow. Oh, so that's what it was about, huh? That gave Lorenzo an idea.
"Oh, really? Why's that?" he asked smugly, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
"Uh…" Chet blushed. He didn't like the look on Lorenzo's face. That was his idea face, and Lorenzo's ideas were bad news. "Well, you… your body is better looking than mine." He blurted out, and his blush darkened.
"You know what I think?" asked Lorenzo. He looked for cameras, of which there were none, before leaning on Chet's shoulder and making sure their faces were very close, before he whispered:
"I think you want to carry me in your big, strong arms so you can show off your soul mate to everyone watching at home, and you want me to just sit there and be your beautiful, blushing bride. I think you want me to wear the skirt and nothing else, so that after the challenge, you can pound me into your mattress until the springs break."
Chet's whole face was redder than a tomato when Lorenzo finished talking. He leaned in, trying to close the distance between their lips. Lorenzo stopped him with his hand covering Chet's mouth.
"After." Lorenzo whispered. "And only if you wear the skirt."
Chet made a noise of frustration and walked off carrying the skirt. Lorenzo chuckled.
"Whoa. What did you say to him?"
Lorenzo turned around to find Kitty standing next to him. She was wearing the maile leaves and no shoes. Or did she wear boots? He couldn't remember.
"Uh… just… actually, it's none of your business." Lorenzo stated, crossing his arms.
She gasped. "Are you two soul mates?" she asked.
Lorenzo's eyes widened with shock. "How do you know?" He asked. "Did Chet tell you? That son of a –"
"No. I can just tell when people are soul mates. So, uh… oh." Her eyes widened as she looked into the camera. "Oops." She stated.
Lorenzo's heart filled with dread. Where the hell did they come from? "Uh… how much of that did you hear?" he asked the camera crew.
"We heard the part about you being soul mates with your stepbrother." Answered the one holding the boom mike.
"Boy… I wonder what your parents are thinking if they're watching this right now." Kitty said.
Lorenzo just looked into the camera. "Hi, dad. And… Alice." He said, timidly.
"Okay, I'm ready." Chet came out from behind a bush wearing not only the skirt, but also a coconut bra. Half of his ass was hanging out of the skirt, meaning that he wasn't wearing any underwear. This would most definitely give Lorenzo nightmares. Lorenzo pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to Kitty.
"Please don't tell anyone." He whispered.
"I won't." She whispered back, before walking away to join her sister.
"What was that about?" Chet asked.
"Nothing." Lorenzo replied. "Let's get this over with."
End Chapter 3