Hating, Hurting: A Stepbrother Bully Story

and found him looking at me, his eyes black and furious, sending me reeling. Why was the guy so angry all the time?
After all the morning’s incidents, I found my appetite gone. Quickly grabbing a small carton of yogurt to tide me over, I excused myself and headed for the library to organize my notes and my thoughts.
***
After the last class ended, I headed for the school gym for cheerleading tryouts. I was eager to have some semblance of normalcy and to meet people who enjoyed the same things I did. There were several girls with me, and from their conversation, I gathered they were a mix of freshmen and sophomores. I was the only senior. They were friendly enough, but kept to themselves more.
After changing into a white t-shirt and black shorts I did some warmups and watched as a handful of girls in the black Gray Lake cheerleading uniform filed into the gym. One of them was Cole’s girlfriend – or was she now his ex? – who now stepped forward.
“Okay, girls. Listen up. I’m Monica, squad captain. We’re here to see if we can find some talents for this year’s team. I’ve got several spots to fill, so how about you show me your best moves?”
Captain. Of course. Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly when she spotted me but she said nothing. Our names were called alphabetically and I felt the thrill of doing something I loved rush through my veins. Soon, it was my turn. I showed them a few of my favorite cheers and several jumps and moves. I felt a bit rusty as I hadn’t practiced at all in the past three weeks, but my body remembered exactly what to do. I landed in a split with a flourish, and felt the exhilaration of doing what I did best rush through me. It seemed the small audience liked what they saw because I got a couple of cheers and catcalls from some girls and a couple of guys from the football team who had come by to watch. Monica didn't seem pleased, however, merely giving me a tight-lipped nod. I didn’t care. It was the most fun I had had in a while. I missed home, my friends and just being myself. I was a goofball sometimes, and had too much energy that needed an outlet - cheerleading was just that.
"Hey, those were some great moves! I couldn’t do a backflip if my life depended on it!" Jules said as she jogged towards me, a camera in her hand.
I laughed. “Yeah, it took me a few weeks to learn that, so I wouldn’t expect anyone to be able to do that if they hadn’t learned to before.” Eyeing her camera, I asked, “You’re here for the school paper?”
She nodded. “And, of course, for the eye candy.” She glanced towards the group of sweaty guys, and I noticed Hans amongst them. At least, I assumed it was Hans because he gave me a small smile and waved.
“Oh, crap,” I mumbled as I waved back. I had just remembered that I hadn’t asked my mom if she could pick me up from school. I hoped she was okay to leave work today, otherwise I was going to have to catch the bus. Not that I was a stranger to the public transport system or anything. I didn’t have a car back home, often hitching rides with Melissa or Tony or my mom, whenever she was free.
“What’s wrong?” Jules asked me as she glanced up from the viewfinder. Monica and a few of the senior cheerleaders were demonstrating a move for the next girl trying out.
“Just remembered my wonderful brother wants me to find a ride home.” I couldn’t help the bitterness seeping into my voice, but then immediately felt bad for revealing to Jules the less-than-pleasant side of the surly Isaac twin, who I really shouldn’t be judging based on a few encounters.
But it seemed Jules didn’t notice my tone, or maybe she didn’t care. “Oh, I can drop you off! It’s on my way home anyway.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose on you.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t be. I’ve always wanted to see the twins’ house up close.”
I glanced at her – her eyes were shining with excitement. I hadn’t pegged Jules for a groupie. “Ok, um, thanks. Let me just grab some stuff from my locker.”
Once we got to her car, a shiny red Prius, she moved the stuff taking up the front seat to the back and ushered me in.
“You take care of your car well. Is it new?”
She nodded. “I just moved here early last year. Managed to save enough for a down payment – I basically owe my dad for the next, oh, decade or so.” She laughed. “But it’s worth it. I don’t have to hitch a ride with my little brother and his beat-up truck every day.”
I gave her a half-smile. No, that’ll be me with mine, every day. I sighed inwardly. I guess there were worse problems in life.
"Last year, huh? How'd you find fitting in?"
She shrugged. "As tough as you'd expect. Tough as in, having no one to sit with at lunch, and not being invited to parties and stuff. But it was okay after a while. Even better now that I'm working for the school paper. Not that I’m invited to too many parties yet, but that’s ok."
The look she had on her face told me it wasn’t ok. She looked at me thoughtfully. "You'll do fine. Having super popular stepbrothers will do you wonders."
What was it about them that made people talk about them so much? Normally I wouldn't mind the association, but now, being the twins’ stepsister was becoming cumbersome and annoying. It made me an even more attractive target for the likes of Hank and his stooges, made Monica dislike me on sight, and looking at Jules, might just make people befriend me not for me but for who my family was.
“We’ll see about that,”