Kels Barnholdt - Against All Odds

AGAINST ALL ODDS

BY KELS BARNHOLDT

Copyright 2013 Kels Barnholdt, all rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without written consent of the author. This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

NOTE: This book is for a mature YA audience only, due to language and sexual situations.

Chapter One

So, heres the thing. Ive kind of been stalking my stepbrother before Ive even met him.

I know that makes me sound a little bit crazy, but Im really not. I swear. And Im not sorry for doing it. Because from the first second I see Nathan Daley, I know my life will never be the same.

Its only been seven months since my mothers death. My dad has started seeing someone new, which Ive had trouble understanding. I guess I always assumed that when someones husband or wife dies it takes years and years to get over whats happened.

But apparently not for my dad. Its only taken him a few months.

I notice the changes in him right away. He comes home later, leaves earlier in the morning, sings in the shower. I know Im supposed to be happy for him but inside Im screaming at the top of my lungs, waiting for him to realize what a jerk hes being.

Only he never does.

And although theyve only been dating for a few months, he decides nows the time to bring Missy home to meet me. Shes a small woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears way too much self-tanner and everything about her screams trophy wife.

So, it doesnt surprise me at all when my dad says she doesnt have a job. She seems to be used to people taking care of her. My dad loves that about her. And I hate it.

During our first few dinners together Missy begins talking about her son, whos my age. At first she does it casually, a little comment here and there. Then it turns into constantly. About how Nathan is captain of the soccer team. About how Nathan has received an award from the mayor for outstanding citizenship. About how Nathan already has college coaches coming to watch him play basketball and hes only a junior.

At first, all this talk about her son is annoying. But then it becomes kind of an obsession for me. I find myself wanting to know more about him. I want to hear about his life, who he really is. So I begin asking Missy about him.

All it usually takes is one question. Something small, seemingly insignificant on my part, and Missy is off on some rant about what hes doing now, about how perfect his life is.

I cant figure out how Ive suddenly become so fascinated with this kid simply from hearing stories about him. But somehow, without my permission, its happening. I think its because he seems so normal to me. He seems to have this perfect life. Like hes so put together, when Im anything but.

I keep telling myself that if I could only get my life together like him Ill feel okay again.

***

I know my dad wants to marry Missy even before I find the ring in his jacket pocket. I figure hell tell me about it first, but apparently he doesnt feel like he owes me that consideration.

I know its coming soon, which means I know Ill also be meeting Nathan soon.

Only thats not good enough. I dont just want to meet him. I want to know him. I want to put a face with the stories, a personality with the godlike image his mother makes him out to be.

So, one day I type his name into Google. And literally, hundreds of links pop up.

Pictures, sports articles, Facebook pages, various game schedules. The Internet is like a never-ending source of information. I spend hours researching him, days trying to figure him out. But after a while all that research becomes unsatisfying to me, so I decide to print out a basketball schedule and go to one of his games.

Its an away game. And since I know his mother is out with my dad tonight I figure its the perfect time to go. I wont be recognized.

Now before you jump to conclusions about how weird and creepy this all is, I need to point out that Im not obsessed with him in the way you might think. Im not interested in him in a sexual way at all. Its more a curiosity about who he is as a person.

A curiosity I cant seem to drop. I need to see him in person, to study him in person.

So, I get in the car and drive two and a half hours in the pouring rain to watch my soon to be stepbrother play basketball for the very first time. I dress in all black and walk into the gym with my hood up. I want more than anything to blend in and not be seen.

From the second the team steps out onto the court I know which one is him.

Dont ask me how. Ive seen pictures of him online, but even if I hadnt, Id still know.

He walks with an untouchable confidence, one that tells you he thinks hes more special than youll ever be. His arms are toned and tan, his hair a dark black, and his eyes a deep blue.

From the minute the ref blows the whistle Nathan takes command of the game.

He has more than half the teams points by the time the final minutes tick away.

From all I had heard I knew he would be a great athlete, but in other ways hes not what I expected at all. His mother made him sound modest, well rounded. But he obviously knows how special he is. And he makes sure everyone else knows too.

His team, of course, wins the game by like thirty points. And on his way out of the gym and into the locker room he smacks some blonde cheerleader on the ass. I feel my stomach drop.

I had spent days thinking this kid might be able to save me from myself, but now I realize that Nathan isnt anything like what I thought hed be. Hes just like every other guy in my school whos a little too popular for his own good. He isnt together and well rounded like the picture his mother paints of him. He just thinks hes better than everyone else in the world. I feel embarrassed and disgusted with myself for believing anything else.

And as everyone piles out of the gym after the game I just continue to sit there in the bleachers feeling sorry for myself. I allow the tears to flow freely down my face, placing my head in my hands and quietly sobbing. After a few minutes of this Im able to pull myself together enough to get the fuck out of here.

But just as I reach the bottom of the stands I spot Nathan. Hes walking across the gym floor with a shorter kid, laughing loudly about something. And theyre headed directly toward me.

I completely and totally panic. No way in hell can I let him see me. I pull my hood up over my head and sit down, turning my back to them. I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and pretend to be texting someone.

Dude, I hear a voice say as they get closer, Im helping you look for five minutes and them Im out of here. I cant believe you lost your phone again. What the fuck man.

Nate, chill out, the shorter guy says walking up the row of bleachers next to me.

Ashley will still be waiting for you after we find my phone.

Nathan lets out a cocky laugh. Oh, trust me, I know. That girl would wait on me forever.

The shorter kid laughs. So tonights the last night youre hanging out with her, right?

Nathan walks across a row of bleachers a few ahead of me and nods. Fuck yeah.

You know my rule, hit it three times then get the hell out of there. Right before they get all clingy and shit, wanting a fucking relationship. His friend laughs loudly as I roll my eyes. So classy these guys are.

Just as Im about to slowly get up and sneak out without attracting any attention, the kid looking for his phone says something to Nathan that stops me in my tracks.

So have you met the new guy your moms seeing yet?

Nathan shrugs. He came over for dinner the other night.

And? his friend presses him.

Fucking tool, Nathan says smirking. Just like all the others. But I think shes serious about this one.