Stepbrother

“We’re going to be out of here soon,” Chanel smiled as she spun round one more time.

“You guys look beautiful,” Mom said as she took a photo. The thirtieth one she’d taken since she came up the stairs.

“I can’t believe my baby girl’s going to be leaving home. Then you’ll graduate. Have kids and get married,” she stared to move her peroxide hair from her eyes as she cried. Mom had spent a bit too much on her looks ever since she started dating Henry. I wanted to tell her that she was perfect, just being a natural brunette like me. Now, she spent nearly all her time either with him or getting beautiful for him. She would say that she did it for herself, but I knew the truth. Mom was feeling lonely.

Up until now, it had been her and me. Now I was leaving home. She must have realized that she’d been working all this time for her daughter. The one that managed to get into an Ivy-League college based on her grades, with a scholarship. She didn’t have to pay a penny; that was the thing tha