Stepbrother: Impossible Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

chair, honing in on it like sitting down would suddenly make me invisible to him.
    “Hey sis, come and sit with us over here,” he invited, shouting out to the whole class while his friends laughed loudly next to him. I could see every pair of eyes in the room on me.
    “No, thanks, I’m not a fan of douchebags,” I replied with a tone that was luckily way more confident than how I felt.
    His friends all “oooooooed” in mock outrage, and Jack laughed. 
    “Too good for us? Oh well, I can promise you the view is better from up here, little sister,” he told me before bursting out into another fit of laughter and going back to his friends and whatever they were doing.
    I sat down in my chair and focused on the table in front of me, trying not to cry. Did he really have to embarrass me in front of everyone by calling me his ‘sis’? It made me sound so young. Sure, he was older than me, but only by a couple of years. I wondered what he was doing in this class. Maybe he’d failed it before.
    When the professor came in, my brother and his douchey friends were still acting out. The professor finally warned them that he’d have them removed from the class if they couldn’t control themselves, and after that things continued smoothly enough.
    As soon as we were let out I grabbed my bag and put my laptop under my arm and rushed out of the class. I didn’t want any post-class interactions with my brother. I couldn’t believe he was in one of my classes! Of all the people in this country, one of the five or so that I knew, and the only one that I hated. What were the odds?
    I made my way to a quiet corner of the cafeteria to finish up some reading before my next class, an hour and a half later. I had promised Annie I’d meet her there, and sure enough, she was waiting for me at “our” table, which was far enough out of the way that it was usually empty,  an empty smoothie cup next to her.
    “Hey, que pasa?” she asked as she put away her Spanish textbook. “Something wrong?”
    I told her the entire sordid story, about the awkward dinner, about seeing Jack in class, about him making fun of me in front of everyone.
    “I feel like I’m going to cry, Annie. I’m so humiliated. Everyone else in the class saw, how can I even go back there again? I could just drop the class, take it another time.”
    “And let him win? Let me guess, you don’t have any brothers, other than Jack. None that you grew up with?”
    “No. It’s just him. I’m an only child.”
    “Well I have four brothers. And a sister. Let me tell you, that’s just how brothers are. They tease you and they torment you, but deep down they love you.”
    “I’m pretty sure Jack doesn’t love me. After all, we’ve only seen each other twice.”
    “Well, either way, the tormenting and the teasing is totally normal. You’ll get used to it. Don’t react to his taunts and he’ll get bored of bothering you pretty quickly, don’t worry. If you quit the class, he’ll know he got to you, and he’ll double down on the teasing.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Four brothers, remember? Three of them are older than me. I’m experienced. Now go get a frozen yogurt, it’ll make you feel better and they have a cake batter flavour that I had the other day which is divine .”
    I liked Annie. She was exactly what I needed in a friend. I got the frozen yogurt and decided to treat myself to a bit of caramel sauce on top. Sure enough, delicious. The treat, plus the conversation with Annie, quickly made me stop feeling quite as sorry for myself, and I found my happiness level rising back to its normal state. I knew Annie was going to be a great friend.
    “How was your day, sweetie?” my mom asked as I entered the house again. She looked like she was ready to go out, all done up and putting some heels on.
    “It was fine, mom, thanks.” I didn’t want to tell her about Jack, because I knew she’d tell John, and I didn’t want him worrying. I didn’t see him