My Life as the Ugly Stepsister (6 page)

“What are your plans for your freshman year? You start at the high school right? Will it be any different?”

I nodded. “Two other schools feed in, so there will finally be some kids I haven’t known since kindergarten. I’m thinking about going out for soccer. I’m not that good, but the junior varsity team is pretty desperate. Two of my friends play.”

“That sounds fun. I never tried soccer. Mom always put me in gymnastics and cheerleading.”

“You like them though, right?”

“Yeah.” Her face lit up. “Guess what else I like. I met this guy today at the pool. His name’s Liam, and he’s a junior at my school. Have you met him?”

I shook my head. I’d never met anyone named Liam. “I doubt it. I don’t know many people at Plum High.”

“He is so hot,” she said with a dreamy expression. “I’m going to try to find out more about him. Leslie thinks her brother knows him. Of course, he’s a junior and I’m just a freshman.”

If any freshman could snag a junior, it would be my stepsister. “So how’d you meet him?”

She shrugged. “He just came over and we started talking. Then, he challenged me to a diving competition.” With a grin, she said, “Of course, I won.”

She could dive really well. All that gymnastics paid off on the springboard.

“I promised him a rematch tomorrow. Will you come?”

What else could I say? I had no plans at all. “Sure. I’d like to meet him.” I’d rather run a marathon than meet a seventeen-year-old guy while wearing my bathing suit. But whatever.

We ordered three movies in a row on pay-per-view. My dad would probably kill Caroline and me. Between us we drank six Diet Cokes and ate two bags of popcorn. And a couple of mini Snickers bars. Then, I drifted off somewhere around two, halfway through the third movie.

When Caroline woke me, we hurried upstairs to slip on our bathing suits. Diane had apparently recovered from her headache. She was spraying some kind of toxic stuff on one of her paintings to preserve it or to make it even uglier. I wasn’t sure.

I coughed as I followed Caroline down the stairs. My stepmother couldn’t handle some dog hair, but she didn’t mind breathing those fumes. Yeah, her asthma was really bad. I was so sure.

By the time we trooped to the pool, there were six of us. Four of Caroline’s friends had come to view the hot guy. Having them around didn’t make Caroline nervous. I doubted anything did. She must have been born with a talk-to-guys gene.

After we claimed some chairs, Caroline hit the pool. She executed a double flip and dove into the water. I’d have been afraid the teeny bikini top would come off. She wasn’t. And it wasn’t that she secretly wanted to lose her top. She didn’t need to pull stunts like that to get guys to drool over her.

Liam couldn’t take his eyes off her. Neither could his two friends, or for that matter, any of the men at the pool. And it didn’t freak her out. She just kept diving, talking, flirting, and having fun.

I sat in a chair surrounded by Caroline’s friends, Chelsea, Kelsey, Haley, and Barbara. I know, Barbara’s mother clearly hadn’t gotten the memo. Kelsey and Haley were big flirts, but Barbara and Chelsea were more down to earth. They were all pretty and popular and going out for cheerleading. Chelsea and Haley were blonde. Barbara had dark brown hair and wore an orange bikini that looked great against her dark skin.

“So, Ally,” Kelsey said. “Are there any hot guys at your school we should meet?”

I thought for a second. “Probably. And there will be a bunch of new guys this year because St. Frances and St. Luke feed into St. Mary’s too.”

“Oh, not freshman,” Kelsey said with exaggerated horror. “If I’m dipping into private school, he has to be at least a sophomore.”

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” I said, imagining prying out my eyeballs and throwing them at Kelsey.

Barbara gave me a commiserating smile. I decided right then that she was my favorite.

Haley turned her attention away from the guys for a minute. “Kelsey? Didn’t you say you were going after Caleb?”

“I’m keeping my options open,” she said.

“It’s never good to date Caroline’s exes,” Haley agreed. “I’ve done it twice, and they just go on and on about her.”

I laughed at that. Kelsey deserved Caleb if that was the case.

If I did meet a guy who was decent, I’d introduce him to Barbara. It wasn’t likely, since I’d never actually established any kind of friendship with a boy. I’d spent more time with Jonathan than anybody else. How sad was I?

“Ooh!” Haley squealed. “There’s Jonathan and he has his little brother with him.”

My heart froze. I was not ready for socializing in a bathing suit. Not with him! I actually kind of liked him.

The girls next to me waved and across the pool, Jonathan waved back. He had Ben by the hand and was carrying towels and a beach bag.

“He’s such a sweet guy,” Barbara said.

“Yeah,” Kelsey agreed. “But he’s a freshman.”

My heart must have started beating again at some point because I didn’t pass out, but I gripped the sides of the chair and prayed that he’d stay far away.

He did. Luckily Ben insisted on getting straight into the pool. Jonathan set his burdens by the fence, kicked off his shoes, pulled off his t-shirt, yum, and helped Ben shed his shoes and shirt. Then they jumped into the shallow end which was thankfully far enough away that I could pretend he didn’t really see me in my bathing suit.

Caroline and Liam were splashing around in the water, and she squealed as he picked her up and tossed her. Everyone turned that way. Caroline splashed at him, then climbed from the pool for another dive.

My eyes darted to Jonathan who had one hand on Ben, but his eyes were glued to Caroline. His mouth was open as if in awe. He kept staring until Ben splashed him in the face.

Here was the familiar pain of the crush. Jonathan was hot for my stepsister just like everyone else. My heart felt like it had been run through the cheese grater.

I pulled on my t-shirt and gathered my things. “I’m heading out,” I said to Caroline’s friends. “See you guys later.”

“Bye,” they said.

I slipped my shorts on and jammed my feet in my slides. Without another glance toward the pool, I made my way out the gate.

Chapter Six

Seeing your stepmother naked is even worse than seeing your mother naked.

–Ally’s Brutal Teen Truths

I walked four blocks to my dad’s house with the sun beating down on me. By the time I got there, I had worked up a sweat and really could have used a dip in the pool.

The air conditioning hit me in the face when I opened the door. Much better.

I took the stairs two at a time and turned the corner to head for my room. Then I saw something so horrible, so undeniably grotesque that I knew I’d never have a good night’s sleep again.

Diane stood in the hall butt naked. She was pulling a towel from the hall closet, and I had the full side view of the droopy breasts, tummy sliding down an inch or two, and saggy buttocks.

Bile rose in my throat, and I made some sort of whimpering noise.

“Oh. Hi, Ally,” Diane said, turning to me as if this weren’t the worst experience ever. She held the towel, folded in a neat square, but didn’t bother to open it. “Back so soon.”

I looked at the floor, my feet, my hands, anything to clear my head of the images. Diane stood her ground. Almost as if she were proud of herself.

Surely she didn’t think she looked good? Surely she wasn’t trying to hit on me.

“I, uh, yeah.”

She held the towel at her waist and I was grateful for the six square inches it concealed. “I was just thinking of heading that way.”

“I, uh, yeah.” Not hitting on me. Just proud of her ugly body.

She had me trapped. Should I run screaming for the front door? She was blocking my room. Should I just bolt past her?

She was walking closer to me. “I was going to look down in the laundry room for my suit. I think it’s hanging down on the rack.”

“Okay,” I said averting my eyes and holding my breath as she walked right past me to go down the stairs.

She pranced right down as if there weren’t windows around the door. As if I weren’t standing right there. As if she weren’t butt naked.

I shuddered. I thought seeing my mother naked had been bad, but this was much worse. Mom would have covered herself. Anyone would have covered themselves! I had to live here for four months with a wicked stepmonster who was some kind of wrinkled, saggy streaker? I ran for my room. Was she one of those nudists? Did she belong to a club where they all got together and sat around naked? Screw this. I was going to Seattle with my mother.

“Ally,” my mother said a few minutes later. “I can’t talk right now. I’m training my replacement and I have all kinds of loose ends to tie up.”

“Mom, this is life or death.” Seeing something that shocking and ugly could kill someone. If I were older, I’d probably have had a heart attack. Or a stroke. As it was, I had post-traumatic stress disorder. “Help me.”

“I can’t believe she’d really just parade around like that, Ally. Surely you’re exaggerating.”

I lay on my back on the twin bed with my pillow over my eyes. “I’m not!”

“I’ll call you as soon as I get off, honey. Right at five. We’ll talk about it then, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come with me to Seattle. You can put up with Diane for a while to stay with your friends and your school. You’re just not thinking clearly.”

I agreed and hung up. How could anyone think clearly after that nightmare? I couldn’t even close my eyes. I kept seeing it. Over and over. This was how I was spending my last few days of summer?

I powered up my laptop and checked my email. Then I slipped out of my bathing suit and put on shorts and a t-shirt. When I heard the front door slam, I figured the coast was clear of naked old people. I went to the kitchen, grabbed a drink and a sandwich, and headed downstairs for the big TV.

Mom called at five. She agreed to let me come home the next day. “Do you want me to talk to Diane?”

“And say what?”

Mom sighed. “I guess that you’re uncomfortable.”

“What good would that do?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Forget it,” I said. “I’ll live.” My heart was broken. My eyes were burning, and my stomach kept threatening to toss back the sandwich.

I called Madison and MC, short for Mary Catherine. Both of them expressed the appropriate degree of horror. They agreed to come hang out with me at my mother’s tomorrow.

When Caroline asked me later why I was leaving early, I told her that my mother missed me. “She didn’t want to waste any more of our time together.”

“Oh,” Caroline said. “That makes sense.”

“I’ll be back next Friday.” We’d both start school by then. “We can catch up on all the back to school stuff.”

The last week of summer went pretty well. I got to hang out with my friends. We went to Madison’s pool a lot. There was no one around but us, so I wasn’t uncomfortable.

I relaxed on a giant hot pink float next to Madison. “This is way better than being at my dad’s.” I inhaled the scent of coconut sunscreen and soaked up the rays.

“Oh, yeah. You never told us about that guy who’s watching your dog. Is he cute?” MC asked from the side of the pool.

“He’s okay.” I didn’t want to get into it. “He’s like everybody else in the world. He has it bad for Caroline.”

“That sucks,” Madison said, running her fingers through the water. “I thought you guys might end up liking each other.”

“At least you’ll get some practice talking to boys,” MC chimed in. She was treading water beside us. MC swam like a fish.

“You know what else she needs practice with,” Madison said.

“Hello? I’m right here.”

“You need practice standing up to your parents,” MC said.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m totally turning over a new leaf. I’m tired of getting kicked around. I’m tired of taking it. When I get back to the house of shriveled saggy naked people, heads are going to roll.” I had actually worked up something of a tirade.

“Good for you, Ally,” Madison said.

Besides hanging with my friends, I slept in my bed, and got to hang out with my mom. I went shopping and spent a fortune on new clothes. When I heard the total at Anthropologie, I was afraid Mom would pass out. But she just whipped out a credit card.

“You’ll need extra,” Mom had said. “To keep up with Caroline on the weekends. She has more clothes than you do since she doesn’t have the uniform.”

Mom was right. I usually had three pairs of jeans I liked and a few tops. Caroline had a much more impressive wardrobe. I’d spent a good part of the last two years green with envy over her outfits.

So now I flipped through the clothes in my closet wishing I could wear something cool for the first day of school. Instead, it would be the green and Navy plaid skirt and white blouse. At St. Mary’s, the girls wore oxford-style shirts like the boys. Only dweebs wore the girl version of the white blouse. Girls and boys were allowed to wear navy blue pants and red, white, or green polo shirts. Madison had it on good authority that it was considered uncool to wear pants. We didn’t want to start high school on the wrong foot. MC’s sisters had been conflicted on the issue. We went with Gina’s opinion. She said pants were fine if you never wanted a date because nobody looked good in the boy-cut uniform pants.

Of course, the new, pleated skirts fresh from the factory looked a little dweebish themselves. We had to wear knee socks year round. I’d gotten in the habit of wearing shorts under my skirt in kindergarten. I wondered if I should keep that up. If someone noticed, would I be ostracized? No way was I flashing my panties. That was so Lindsay Lohan wannabe.

The week should have been great, but instead I felt like a cloud was hanging over me the whole time. This could be the last week of my life as I knew it. And at the very least, I was headed back to the middle-aged nudist colony. Eeew. The ugliness.

Sure, I’d be seeing a lot of Jonathan, but I’d have to watch him leering at my step-sister. Life so was not fair.