Emma's POV
I screamed so loud, I allegedly fell back and fainted.
He was literally the last person I wanted to see. I woke to my mom's face hovering over mine.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" I asked, feeling my head for the occurrence of any bumps, as I hit it.
"He's still here." I heard his voice.
I went red on the cheeks.
It didn't help that I was indulging in all those dirty thoughts and imaginations before he knocked. I felt so ashamed of myself.
I didn't want a Kevin situation to happen anymore, but from that day, I knew it was going to be a hard promise to keep.
"Who are you?" I squinted in his direction. The light was too much for my eyes, but I could still make him out.
He had changed into something really casual, and he looked like a freaking god. I was salivating like a dog who had seen bones.
"I met your mom earlier. She's kinda cool. I think she'd be able to handle my dog of a father." He said.
I never saw my mom give a faster reaction. I stared wide at him in disbelief. I knew who he was to me. My Stepbrother!
"I'm Emma." I said, for the sake of my mom who kept nudging me to be nice and introduce myself.
"I knew that. Name's Chase. Nice to meet you, Linda." He said and walked out of my room.
If Mark was a dick, Chase was a bag of dicks.
He was so nasty, the thought of him had me gathering saliva in my mouth.
I couldn't believe someone could be that…rude.
Rude to me? I could take it. I had never really been respected my whole life. But to my mom, that was a whole different ball game.
The battle line was drawn between us.
My mom told me he came to introduce himself and invite me for dinner.
Mark was already waiting for us down stairs, so I threw something more fancy on and made my way down, behind my mom.
It was as silent as a graveyard. Both father and son were engrossed in their own different lives. None minding the other.
Seeing them together, they really did look alike. Chase' mom must've been a pretty woman too.
"Hey Queens." Mark said as we both had our seats.
Chase didn't bother himself with looking up and just kept his eye on his food.
Mark dropped the papers in his hand and held my mom's. She blushed like a schoolgirl, to which I turned away instantly. I wasn't ready to puke from an overdose of some middle aged love.
I ate as quietly as I could, still thinking about how Lily would react when she found out that I was Chase' stepsister.
"...and don't bother telling anyone we are related. Cause we're not." I heard him say. Why was he such a prick? It couldn't have been more obvious that he did not like me.
I looked at Mark and my mom who were actively pretending to have not heard what he said.
I was really truly on my own. I nodded and went back to eating. At least he couldn't take that away from me.
Instead of storming to the bedrooms upstairs, Chase took a key and went out, slamming the door behind him.
We heard a motorcycle leave the compound about a minute after.
The air in the room was tense, but not for Mark. It was apparently something he was used to.
He started a little chat with my mom, during which they talked about wedding decorations and stuff, transforming the backyard and how it was going to be a good scenery.
They were getting on my last nerves, and so I decided I had had enough of the cheap talk and the food. It wasn't going down well anyways.
Like Chase, I went outside, but to sit and catch my breath.
The house had various hammocks that varied in material and sizes.
I got on one, enjoying the cover the night blessed me with.
I swung left to right, thinking of all the funny ways life found to fuck me up.
Lily was fortunate at least, she does not get to be bullied at home.
The old Emma would have cried her eyes out, and probably even contemplated running away, but I could not keep running from my problems, I knew better than that.
My phone chimed in my pocket, reminding me that I took it out with me.
I checked the notification and saw that it was Lily.
She collected my number, but somehow, I forgot to get hers.
"How do you feel now?" I asked her.
"Better. Thanks for earlier." She replied.
"You're welcome." I said. I wasn't really good at sustaining conversations, it kinda accounted for my poor social life.
"I just wanted to check if you didn't give me a fake number." She said, "I'm about to sleep. Goodnight."
I was dumbfounded. Why would I even do that? I was hurt, so I didn't reply.
Best to ask her what she meant when I saw her the next day…
I had strict instructions from Chase to not "run your big ass mouth, telling people you're my dad's new thing".
He put things in the worst possible way.
I hated him already, just less than a day after knowing him.
Mark no longer drove me to school, he put one of his chauffeurs in charge. It felt nice to live like a celebrity.
I got to school early, and I was a little excited.
Lily arrived just about the same time, but with a more sullen look on her face.
"Hey. Good morning." I greeted her first, even though I was a bit mad at her.
"Good morning. About last night, girls always gave me fake phone numbers. I almost didn't text you in fact." She explained without me asking.
At that moment I felt a deeper connection with her, like she was my soul sister.
"Why do you look so down anyway?" I asked her, having gotten an explanation for how she sounded the night before.
"Long story short, my parents are getting a divorce." She said, My eyes flew wide open. Not just because of what she said, but because I didn't see Jessica already behind her.