OUTCAST: A Stepbrother Romance (20 page)

E
nglish Lit went by peacefully
, though some of the students turned their head towards my direction for God knows what reason. They wanted to look at me. It was something I wasn’t comfortable with, as I’ve never generated that much attention before.

A
fter the subject was over
, Mr. Schumeister summoned me and I approached his table.

“
W
hat you did
there was a brave thing, Andrea,” he said. “You’re right... it was a stupid editorial piece that shouldn’t have seen the light of day.”

“
T
hank you
, Sir... I guess,” was the only reply I could come up with.

C
ome lunchtime
, I fell in line at the cafeteria to redeem my meal stub. Martha May, the usually nice girl who had a propensity of overcomplicating the simplest of things, was behind me.

“
H
ey girl
!” she greeted. “Guess who’s Miss Popular all of a sudden?”

“
H
uh
?” I responded.

S
he showed me her cellphone
. Her Twitter feed was on. I saw line after line after line of tweets from people I know, people who attended the same school, people who never even talked to me before.

I
didn’t get
to read each tweet, but all of them - as in ALL of them - shared one thing in common.

A
hashtag
.

A
lump formed
in my throat. Nervousness suddenly took over me. Somehow, the world around me seemed to have expanded, and I felt so lost in how big it has become.

“
I
guess
Jaynie Martell’s gonna have some tough competition this year,” Martha May added with a wry smile.

A
black tubed
dress that extended to my knees. A pair of elegant long gloves matching the color of my outfit. A pair of silver heeled shoes just to break the monotony of color. My hair, curled at the edges, flowing over my shoulders. Accessories here and there (fake ones, though, I couldn’t afford real jewelry).

I
was all set
.

I
planned
on wearing a tiara to complete the ensemble, but with the series of tweets and Facebook posts (and an Instagram video from someone who actually recorded the confrontation) after that incident with Martin made me question if it was proper to display it on my head.

A
tiara
. It looked like a crown. A crown for a queen.

I
didn’t want
to be a Homecoming queen.

I
never wanted
to be a Homecoming queen.

I
have always been
proud of the simple life I lived. I never planned on becoming the most popular girl in school. Popularity scared me stiff. Lots of prying eyes and wandering ears waiting for me to make a mistake... the smallest misstep would be magnified into something short of cataclysmic. That thought alone made me feel restive.

M
y social skills
were terribly lacking, too... an aptitude that was required by the title. Jaynie Martell can act friendly and be nice to everyone she met, with the hidden agenda of trying to win their votes. Last year, Dyna Barrymore - Jaynie’s closest rival for the crown - tried the same approach, and she failed. Jaynie was the master of the art of consorting, in exchange for acceptance.

I
didn’t have
that skill, and I never ever intended to develop it. Not then, Not now. Not ever.

B
ut I must admit
that a part of me... well,
a very small
part of me... was actually excited about the thought of being a Homecoming queen. To be venerated like royalty, to win the respect of my peers, to be -
at least once in my life
- the center of attraction for one single night...

A
month ago
, I would’ve relished that thought even more. To be the queen would mean that I’d have Finn as my escort. But with everything that has happened... with everything that I was expecting to happen... with my heart yearning for someone else... the thought of being hailed as a royal couple actually caused a lot of apprehension.

I
looked
at the mirror once more and took a deep breath.

O
kay
, Andrea... you can do this.

I
grabbed
my purse and went downstairs. I knew they’d be there to greet me... my family. They’d shower me with compliments about how nice I looked, though most of those praises would be greatly exaggerated. Dad would remind me to come home early, as usual, even if I was attending a school-sanctioned party. Aunt Susan would approach me and help me fix my dress to remove the creases I may have missed. And Nash... well, Nash... I wouldn’t know what he’d do. I wasn’t used to him being around that much.

T
o my surprise
, though, no one was downstairs. It was seven in the evening. They should be home. My stepmom should’ve finished preparing dinner by now, and the delicious smell of her cooking should’ve strewn all over the house. My dad should be on his Lazy Boy, reading a book or a magazine.

B
ut they weren’t there
.

I
looked
around just to make sure that they weren’t hiding anywhere... that it wasn’t a setup for a prank they wanted to pull off.

“
M
ovie date
,” someone said from behind me.

I
t was Nash
. He just entered the front door.

“
H
uh
?” I asked, puzzled by his greeting.

“
T
hey went on a movie date
,” he clarified. “They left around thirty minutes ago. They wanted to inform you of their plan, but they figured that you were too busy... you know... prettifying yourself...”

H
e avoided my eyes
, his lips curled in a peculiar manner that revealed how edgy he was feeling. He dreaded this night. He didn’t want me with Finn.

I
found
his expression rather cute, though. Much like a very young teenaged boy, in love for the first time in his life, unsure about the parameters of a relationship, inexperienced in the ways of dating.

N
ash was wearing
a plaid buttoned shirt and a white tee underneath. A simple attire, one that brought out the ruggedly masculine profile of his face and hinted at the boyish charm that was hidden underneath those layers rough virility.

F
inally
, he got rid of that damn hoodie!

“
I
t’s just
for one night,” I tried to reassure him. “We’ve talked about this. It’s just something I have to do, something I owe him.”

I
held
his hand and he started to look at me.

“
Y
ou shouldn’t have gone
through all that shit just to get me out of jail,” he uttered, his eyes expressed both remorse and frustration at the same time.

“
N
o
, I should’ve,” I told him. “I don’t want you to miss my pregnancy. I mean... who would I get mad at when I suddenly get one of those mood swings, right?”

I
t was
a joke that wasn’t met with laughter.

I
nstead
, he just kissed my forehead and gave me a tight, albeit short, hug.

“
C
ome
, I’ll drive you to your damn party,” he offered.

“
N
o
,” I answered. “Let me do this alone, Nash. Just for this night. I will need to close things up with Finn.”

“
W
ill
you tell him about your pregnancy?” he asked.

“
P
robably not
,” I said as I scrunched my nose.

“
W
ill
you tell him about us?”

“
E
rrr
... I don’t think he needs to know,” I said. “We’ll just talk and get the closure we need.”

H
e nodded
.

H
e walked
me out the driveway until I reached my beatdown Ford Focus. He opened the door for me - which was kind of a big deal because he never did that for me, nor for anyone, before. Then he told me to enjoy my night, something which I knew he didn’t even mean, judging from the frown he was visibly trying to curtail.

A
few minutes
later and I arrived in school to see a lot of people gathering in the premises. Most of them were paired up, though clustered in groups. I parked my car and started my way towards the entrance.

I
t felt a little awkward
, to walk to a Homecoming party all by myself when everyone around me had dates. I looked around and some of them actually smiled at me. I smiled back. Alicia Thomas was with her boyfriend of two years, some burly college guy who looked like an athlete but was always described as nerdish. Martha May was with a date, as well. She approached me and said hi, before introducing her companion.
Terrence
, she said,
my brother.

I
tried
my best not to giggle.

I
f she could bring
her brother to the event, maybe I could’ve brought mine. It made me wonder... if Finn wasn’t in the equation, would Nash have been a suitable date for that evening? All of the cheerleaders viewed him as a pervert. Many from my batch knew I had a stepbrother, but they haven’t really met him. Nash himself was too antisocial. He wouldn’t even attempt to talk to anyone, and everybody would just think that I brought a weirdo to the dance.

N
o
, Nash was a bad idea for a date.

B
ut somehow
... somehow... I didn’t care. If I was with him, I would be walking towards the entranceway with a wide grin... contented, assured, happy.

J
ust the thought
of it actually made me beam as I approached the main hallway.

A
nd then I saw him
. At the top flight of the steps. Waiting. Waiting for me. With a perfectly satisfied smile that didn’t want to cease.

F
inn looked dashing
in his black tux, his short hair combed perfectly to snap back, his amazingly beautiful features made even more prominent... more swoon-worthy.

“
A
ndrea
... you look so fantastically... gorgeous!” he exclaimed. “And hot.”

“
W
hich is which
?” I asked him, just to be polite, as I knew that neither of those adjectives suited me.

“
G
orgeous and hot
! Both!” he clarified. “You look amazing! I’m so proud to be your date tonight!”

D
ate
?

L
et it go
, Andrea. Let him think that it’s a date. There’s no harm there, for as long as you know it’s nothing more than that.

H
e offered
his arm and I held it. He escorted me towards the gym where the party was being held. He walked as slowly as he could, savoring every second he spent with me. I had no choice but to follow his pace.

“
E
xcited
?” he asked.

“
A
bout
?”

“
W
hat’s going
to happen inside.”

“
I
t’s just a party
, Finn. People will dance, enjoy some punch, get a little tipsy and revel at the fact that it’s the only time the entire year when the school would actually serve them alcohol.”

H
e chuckled
.

“
A
ctually
, the school didn’t allow us to serve alcohol,” he explained. He knew what was going on, as he was part of the organizing committee for the party. “They said we can serve juice.”

“
R
eally
? A lot of people will get disappointed tonight.”

“
H
ardly
.”

“
H
ardly
?”

“
W
e spiked it
,” he revealed with a mischievous grin.

“
A
h
. Well, I can’t say I could be excited about that. I don’t drink. At all.”

E
specially now that
I was pregnant.

“
T
hat’s not
what I meant,” he interposed. “Are you excited about the Homecoming court?”

“
F
or you
, you mean?” I asked him. “I’m happy for you, Finn. You’ll be Homecoming King. People knew that since the first day of school... or earlier even.”

“
N
o
, not about that, Andrea. Are you excited about possibly getting elected as the Homecoming Queen?”

H
is question made me gulp
.

“
O
h shut up
, Finn,” I told him. “Not a million years would I be voted.”

“
R
eally
? You’ve become very popular in school the past two days, Andrea... what with the way you fought against that ridiculous article about pregnant teenagers. Everyone’s talking about you. I got to see it on YouTube. You were very admirable.”

M
e
? On YouTube? In a video I didn’t upload myself?

“
Y
ou know just
as well as I do that it’s not about the things we show,” I said. “It’s about being pretty, being sociable, being charismatic. Like... like...”

I
wanted
to mention Jaynie’s name, but I stopped myself as I didn’t want to ruin our night by having to remember that dreadful weekend when I saw them together in his room.

H
e was
able to read my state of mind, and Finn being Finn, he understood. So he kept his mouth shut until we reached the gymnasium.