It took two whole weeks of torture to get to this point, but I've finally done it. I've escaped from the clutches of my step brother and got to my new room unscaved.

A subtle purple covered the walls of the room, my queen bed with zebra print sat in the farthest right corner where my book shelf sat beside it. Across the room was my study area, with a desk and everything, where I mostly sat on my computer and messaged my best friend Sabrina. Two years ago, in seventh grade, we met and have been inseparable ever since. Other friends occasionally got in the way of us hanging out, but she was a popular girl, so I had to deal with it.

Rodney was in the popular crowd as well. He was the only freshman on the football team last year. Usually they were only allowed to be on the freshman team, but Rod was fast and muscular. It almost looked as if he could be a junior or a senior already.

I lied back down on my bed and let out a sigh. In less than an hour I would have to be trapped in a car with Rodney and on my way to school. Sighing, I walked towards my freshly stocked walk-in closet and threw an outfit together.

Gathering my clothing, I made my way to the bathroom. Sadly enough, Rodney and I had to share because our bathroom connected both of our rooms and the guest shower was off limits.

"Rodney you're taking forever!" I yelled, banging my fist against the door. The running water suddenly shut off and seconds later, the door flew open.

Water dripped down off of Rodney's body and I urged myself not to look at how his perfect chest glistened in the lighting. Glancing down for a second and my eyes were wide as saucers. "For the love of-" I slapped my hand over my eyes. "Put some pants on!"

"It's not like-"

"I haven't see it before." I finished his sentence for him. "I know. You don't need to say that every time we get into a . . . situation."

He chuckled. "A situation? Okay." When he finally wrapped a towel around his waste, my heartbeat started to regulate a bit, but that didn't change that fact that his muscles were still shining with glory. Why did he have to make me think like such a girl?

"Cute boy shorts." He pointed towards my underwear that was barely hidden over my oversized t-shirt.

The realization that I forgot to put some pants on over my pajamas finally hit me and I hurriedly dropped my clothes on the floor in an effort to cover myself.

"Would you relax? I can control my hormones when it's just your legs I see. Just don't let me catch you in the shower." He winked.

A part of me thought he was just trying to get on my nerves, but I couldn't help but take his word as I scurried passed him and locked the door. I knew for sure that the lock on this door worked, as well as the lock on my bedroom.

The fact that Rodney hasn't even touched me after what happened before the movies a week and a half ago to calm myself down about what he just said. Again, a part of me knew he wouldn't be so demented as to actually come in here and do anything, but another part was sure he would. He couldn't be that morally unstable right?

After my shower and paranoid feelings of being jumped, I was finally fully ready for the day. Everyone sat around the table and ate breakfast. This happened every morning as a way for our new family to get to know each other. Being here every morning, I realized just how good Rodney and I were taking this whole new living situation. Joey, Rodney's thirteen year old brother wasn't taking this new lifestyle as civilly.

"So Joey, is school going alright for you so far?" My father asked, trying to get a positive response.

"Fine." Joey's expression stayed the same as he continued to push around his eggs around his plate. One worded answers were all Dad and I could get out of him. That and then the occasional 'leave me alone' and a door slamming.

Dad cleared his throat and nodded. "How about you Rodney, are you doing okay in school?"

"Well, you know there was this one class I had a C in, but mostly B's. But if you don't want to talk grades, there's this girl I have my eyes on currently." It was then I realized he was eyeing me carefully as I continued to scoop another mouthful of Cap'n Crunch in my mouth, hoping Dad didn't notice I was the one he was talking about.

"And who is this girl?" Dad asked, suddenly interested. "Would I know her?"

"I guess you could say you've seen her around."

I cleared my throat and stood up from my seat. "Don't you think we should get headed to school?"

"Yes, let's go." Joey made sure there was no room for Rodney to decline my question. He stormed out of the room towards the car garage with his bag in hand. The sound of Rodney's car door slamming was heard by everyone and Rod sighed.

"Even though I haven't even finished my sunny side up, sure." Taking his plate to the kitchen, Abigail told him to have a great day and me too once she saw I was following behind.

Joey sat in the back seat, obviously fuming from anger. For a thirteen year old boy, he had the same effect as Rodney had. He was seen a lot older than his behavior. Even for him being almost two years younger than me, he looked older than I did. He was attractive, just like Rodney, but had a rougher edge. While Rodney would be showing off a sports car and a letterman jacket, Joey would have his motorcycle and a leather jacket. Joey's hair was a dark black, possibly from his father, because Rodney had his mothers light brown hair color.

The rest of the ride was pretty awkward, but then again, most of the morning and after school car rides were. Joey usually sat there grumbling or cussing and Rodney didn't say anything as he drove. I wasn't sure if it was because he was mad or annoyed or if he just didn't like to talk while driving.

When Joey was dropped off at the middle school, it was only me and Rodney. The silence was still there, but it was less intense with a constant downer kicking the back of my seat whenever he felt like annoying me. Relief flooded through me as Rodney finally parked the car, letting me out shortly after.

"You can't keep ignoring me, Amber." Rodney chased after me in the parking lot. "And you definitely can't ignore what has happened between us. You can play it however you want with our parents, but the truth will come out sometime."

I scoffed and continued walking. "You want to keep this under wraps as much as I do and the only way I see that's possible is if we forget anything ever happened. We never kissed, we never had sex, we never did anything."

"Keep telling yourself that, Am."

He was so infuriating! There was no end to his annoying comebacks with everything I said. My life is and always will be ruined due to Rodney never letting things go. I wanted to move on while he continued to bring up our past whenever he could -which was a lot. For some reason, he just couldn't let our limited sexual encounters go. It was almost as if nothing else was on his mind!

"Hey Am!" Sabrina waved at me from across the hall and engulfed me in a hug when she finally got to me. "Can you believe that in less than a few months we're going to be sophomores?"

When I didn't answer, only started stuffing things in my locker, Sabrina asked, "What's wrong?"

I was about to answer but was cut off by the one and only Austin Griffin hugging Sabrina from behind, making her completely forget about her best friend's problems.

"Oh hey, Amber." Austin winked at me when Sabrina wasn't looking. Man, did that player never take a break? Just last week I was sharing his bed and now he's dating my best friend. The guy had some nerve. He always got away with everything, of course. There was nothing that ever went wrong for him: good grades, the girls, money, popularity, everything he could ever want, including my best friend.

I let out a weak hey and tried not to get distracted by his perfect smile. It wasn't always so perfect though, braces used to cover his crooked teeth, but somehow, even then he looked perfect. Austin wasn't exactly a Rodney, but he was still attractive.

"How's living with Rodney?" Austin's brow was raised knowingly.

Clearing my throat, I shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"Just fine?" he asked. "He told me things were going a little better than fine." He let out a chuckle as Sabrina game him a confused look.

My cheeks started to heat up as Austin looked at me, expecting some form of reaction. My asshole of a stepbrother was telling people! "We're getting along if that's what you mean. He's kind of annoying to live with. I was trying to watch Titanic and I could barely hear the movie through his bawling."

Skepticism crossed Austin's face before he started laughing. "Seriously? Now that I had to see." Removing his arm from Sabrina, he took a step closer to me. "Hot Rod's invited to my pool party tonight at my mansion. You should definitely come."

I thought it over for a moment. If Austin could practically tell me to go to a part where I would have to show up half naked, he would totally cheat on Sabrina while at his party. Sabrina never went to parties so Plan A on proving to that Austin was a bad guy was now in action. Griffin totally didn't deserve a girl as amazing as Sabrina, especially after sleeping with me and then finding out the next day that he and my best friend were dating, leaving me thinking what I did wrong.

Sabrina thought that she was helping him become a better person, but even after a couple months he was still the same drug addicted, alcohol addicted, and girl addicted guy he always has been. There was changing a guy so demented, I knew this and that was why I tried so hard not to get attached when I sleep with him. Of course, being a girl made it harder not to feel a connection, but he was too much of a jerk to like. Then again, so was Rodney.

Great, I'm attracted to jerks.

Before a word of acceptance towards his invitation could spill from my mouth, Austin said, "See you there."

That boys confidence and overpowering ego would definitely come back and bite him in the ass. I'm sure there were plenty of people who didn't put up with his self righteous attitude all the time. The urge to slap the guy crossed my mind more than once -in front of Sabrina if I had to. Usually the ones who deserved to get hit the most, didn't. That was just the way the world worked, I guess.

"I'm guessing you're not coming tonight then?" I asked Sabrina, who surprisingly didn't leave with Austin.

She chuckled. "Austin thinks I'm having a family night tonight.

"You could just tell him the truth." I rolled my eyes and grabbed the remaining books from my locker and stuffed them in my bag.

"You and I both know that's not enough for Austin," Sabrina sighed.

"Why do you like him?" I tried to keep a snarl to creep up through my words.

"Excuse me?"

I took a deep breath and spoke my mind. "You can't possibly be that naive, Sabrina. He's not going to change for you."

Sabrina looked offended, but it wasn't my fault her boyfriend wasn't a good guy. "You don't know that." She snapped.

"Not one hundred percent, but I do know this, he's a player, druggie, and if you haven't noticed, he's really stuck up. He's always depended on his rich daddy to fix all his problems." All these accusations were true, but I could tell I wasn't getting through to her. "I just don't want you to be disappointed when he proves you wrong and makes more bad decisions."

"He doesn't do drugs anymore," she argued. "He promised me he was done, and I believe him."

"You think just a couple months of hanging out with him is going to make his drug problems randomly evaporate into thin air? You can't take his word for it! Addictions don't just end because a pretty girl tells them that drugs are bad."

"You know, I didn't think many people would support me on this, but I thought maybe my best friend would understand." Her glare was penetrating, but I didn't back down. "I guess not."

Once she disappeared around the corner, I ran my hand through my hair and leaned my forehead against the lockers.

Why did drama have to follow me around?

***

"I'm not going." Rodney had asked me for maybe the tenth time if I would go to the party with him, but my answer was still no.

"Come on," he nudged. "This is the perfect brother sister bonding time!"

I scoffed, "I think we've had enough 'bonding time'?" I made quotation marks in the air with my fingers at the words 'bonding time'. We had gotten closer than any brother or sister ever should, even though blood relations wasn't an issue.

"You know that I'm not asking anymore, right?" He said, sitting down on the edge of my bed, too close to me for my liking. "I'm telling you that you're coming with me tonight."

"You can't make me do anything I don't want to do." I sounded so sure, but really, I couldn't help but think Rodney had multiple ways of getting me to go with him.

All if a sudden my back lay flat on my bed and Rodney was hovering above me. The annoying look of triumph was shining on his face and I wanted so badly to wipe the victorious smirk off his face.

"You and I both know I have ways of convincing you," he whispered this words in my ear, the sexy vibe making my heart rate increase. Shivers ran down my spine as he brushed his fingers along my collarbone. Soon his fingers traced my jaw line and he directed my line of sight to his eyes. The intensity in them screamed help as they darkened with lust. "You need to stop pretending that you don't feel anything when we're together. I can see right through you, Am. Acting is something you definitely shouldn't go into."

My breath was caught at the back of my throat along with all words, but that didn't stop me from acting. Shoving him away, was easier than I thought, but then I realized it was mostly because he was getting up anyways.

"I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, lil' sissy."

A look of confusion came across my face. "I don't remember agreeing to go."

"You didn't have to. I know you will."

Sadly, he was right.

Not even a half an hour after our 'conversation' I was in the passenger seat of his Porsche, bikini and all. A baggier tee covered my top and a pair of denim shorts were over my bottoms. Rodney wore just hit swim trunks and a shirt for football that had our school name on it- Rosewood.

"So where does my dad and Abigail think we're going?" I asked Rodney as he started the car.

Before answering, he pulled from the driveway and started towards Austin's house, it was more like a mansion though. "Some study group."

"And they believed you?" I had to say I was surprised. I was big on studying and everything, but Rodney was not as big on education as sports.

"They just think you're tubing off on me." he chuckled. "It's just not in the way they're expecting."

"You have issues."

"The only issue I have is you."

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not sleeping with you. We are step siblings and you have to accept that before you go insane and kidnap me, rape me, and hide my beautiful carcass for no one to find again!"

Rodney raised an eyebrow at my comment. "You think I'd kidnap and rape you? You make it sound like there would be no other way for me to have you."

"I bid you luck on pulling the whole operation off."

Rodney chuckled and turned onto the hidden road that lead to Austin's mansion. "You're a freak."

"Your seduction techniques work wonders," I sarcastically remarked.

"They better." Rodney smirked as he parked the car.

Austin's driveway was overflowing with cars already and the part hasn't even officially started yet. I guess being rich and popular had its perks.

As we made our way to Austin's backyard, we passed through a garden at the side of the mansion that had a little house on the side opposite of it. It was possible that it was a guest house or something like that. The regular size of this home looked tiny when compared to the mansion right next to it.

For maybe the third time already, Rodney threw his at around my shoulder and I had to pry it off again. He chuckled to himself, but I didn't find it very funny. It was more annoying than anything.

When we finally made it to the backyard, the sound of the speakers became more prominent and the smell of chlorine, alcohol, and hormones bounced off my nostrils. The pool was not too crowded, but it was close to it's capacity. Familiar faces from both our high school, and other schools were surrounding me and when I looked to where Rodney just was, he was nowhere to be found. Now not only was I at a party I didn't want to come to, but I was at a party alone.

Out of nowhere, a drink found its way into my hand. I looked at the person who handed it to me and realization of who they were came over me. Almost everyone at school knew him. He was on the freshman football, popular, and he sat with Austin at lunch almost every day, along with Rodney and Whittney Rhodes.

Bradley Stuart was probably one of the nicest guys at school, but he had a bit of an anger issue once he got out on the field. Football usually turned guys into animals, so I didn't hold it against him.

"Thanks." I lifted the drink to show him what I was talking about and smiled.

"Anything for my step-cousin," he said, taking a quick look towards Rodney, who was clearly enjoying himself. A junior girl name Clara was already all over him, feeling his biceps. I couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy, but I reminded myself that our parents recently got married. Sometimes I found myself forgetting.

"Oh, we're related now?" I took a sip of what I guessed was Budweiser and grimaced. I thought beer was alright, but I much rather would have some rum and Coke. "Now I'm not only the stepsister, but also the step-cousin of a football stud? Is someone going to call me up and tell me my real dad is Peyton Manning?"

A grin came across his face as he took a sip from his plastic cup. "A girl who knows football? Where have you been all my life?" He was joking, but I couldn't help but feel he was going to try something with me too. Who knew what went on in that Stuart blood of theirs.

"My dad's obsessed with Manning, that's how I know." My explanation made his smile fade.

"I should have known it was too good to be true." A blonde sophomore caught his eye for a moment and he looked at me apologetically. "If you'd excuse me." he trailed the blonde for a moment and then pounced when he pinched her side and she squealed. When she turned it didn't surprise me much that it was Alice Winters that Brad was after. After a few more seconds of staring, I realized that neither of them were trying to pull any kind of move. Maybe they were just friends? Bitchy sluts like Alice could get friends like Bradley, right?

My gaze soon was no longer on them as I caught thee right person doing the wrong thing. Austin Griffin wasn't going to be taking advantage of Sabrina anytime soon.

Not when he was caught by his girlfriend's best friend sticking his tongue down some other girl's throat.