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41. The Bitter Truth
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Dear Stepbrother 42. The Lost Stars
[ R Y D E R ]I kept my fists on the guy's collar, glaring daggers at him, but he wasn't backing down."What are you gonna do, Ryder? Hit me on the nose like that kid Gabe?" he said and my fists gripped his shirt tighter in response."How'd you know that?""When she told me about him, I actually felt bad for the guy. Clearly, he was the better man, don't you think?""Look man, I don't know who you think you are—""I'm her friend. And I love her," he cut me off again, and I swallowed at his words. "If you really care for her, Ryder, you wouldn't have put her through all that,""And if you're really her friend, Cole, you'd have supported her decision no matter what," I spat back. "Kara and I love each other. As her friend, you should just accept that,"I thought I made myself clear,
Dear Stepbrother 43. The Never Enough
[ R Y D E R ]As if Kara knew exactly what I was going to say, she quickly pulled away. She was breathing heavily, and her eyes were suddenly glassy."Kara," I said."No!" she yelled back, not wanting to be touched."No..." she said again, meekly this time.I stepped closer and wrapped her in my arms again. She buried her face in my chest and I kissed the top of her head.Damn, she smells like roses."I know what you're gonna say, Ry. Don't say it," she said to my chest.How did she do that? She could just read me like a book. Actually, we could read each other like a book. It was weird, I never understood it. But somehow, we always knew what the other person was thinking about, even when we didn't say it out loud."Kar, I think we both know where this is going..." I said as I held her tightly still."You can't do this to me, Ryder. Don't do this to me!" her voice cracked.Is she crying?I peeled her from my chest so I could take a better look at her face. She was crying. But she was
Dear Stepbrother 44. The Unsung Hero
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *O N E Y E A R L A T E RSOMEWHERE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ R Y D E R ] I heard somewhere that before you die, you would see your whole life flash before your eyes.I think I just saw that.There were bits and pieces of everything in my life. I saw flashes of memories of playing with my mother when I was young. I saw the first day of elementary school, the day when we found out my mom got sick, the day I won my first surf championship, that night I went drinking cheap beers with my buddies at the beach, and then there was Kara.I remembered seeing her smile. We were sitting at our secret beach, watching the stars, and she gave me this smile that was so perfect, I swear she had melted my brains out.Then I remembered the first time we met, she was standing in front of my garage. Her chocolate brown hair was blowing gently in the wind, and she just looked at me, not saying a word. But h
Dear Stepbrother 45. The Fallen Angel
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *NEW YORK CITY* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ K A R A ]You would not remember much from school. I certainly didn't.I had been in school for as long as I could remember. And finally, after 4 years of higher education, I was officially a permanent resident of what they called, the real world.What had I learned from all these years of studying? I had no idea.Today was my graduation day. Lacey and Peter actually flew out from Hawaii for the ceremony. Just the two of them though, no Ryder, just in case you were wondering.After he left New York last year, I heard from my mom that he went back to Hawaii for a bit, before leaving again to God knows where. Ryder hadn't been home since and he never told anyone where he was going. Sometimes he'd sent postcards to Peter, but that was about it. Lacey said the last postcard from Ryder was about a month ago, and he was somewhere in Mexico.So as Ryder had decided to become a wandering nomad, I h
Dear Stepbrother 46. The Ornate Cage
[ K A R A ]"Shit!" I heard that voice again.Then I felt two strong arms grabbed my body and I was quickly being pulled up into the cold, dry air. I jerked my eyes open and I saw… Cole, holding onto me. He looked so distraught."Cole..." I murmured."Shit!" he cursed again as he frantically reached for a towel and wrapped my body with it. I looked down at the water below and it was dark red. I just realized what I had done.In a matter of seconds, Cole swiftly carried me out of the bathroom. He laid me down on the bed, grabbing whatever cloth he saw on the floor and tying them unto my wrist for added pressure. When he was done, he lifted my hand up above my heart and quickly ran off to the living room to get the first aid kit. He was scrambling like crazy. Then he came back almost instantly and sat right next to me on the bed.
Dear Stepbrother 47. The Infinite Distance
[ K A R A ]My mind was lost as soon as I read those words, and suddenly I felt so lightheaded. Did something happen to Ryder? My stomach twisted at the thought and I was having trouble breathing. With trembling hands, I dialed my mom's number, and she picked up after the first ring."Mom?" I said quickly."Honey, I've been trying to reach you—" I could sense the distress in her voice, that riled me up even more."Mom, where are you? What's going on?""I'm taking Peter to the airport. Honey, Ryder's been in an accident,""What?""He's been reported missing off the coast of Mexico, they said it was a surfing accident. They've been searching for him for hours now. Peter's gonna fly out there tonight—""I'm coming!" I didn't even know how my brain had processed all that.
Dear Stepbrother 48. The Wronged Rights
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *OAXACA, MEXICO* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ R Y D E R ]I never thought that fish tacos would save my life.It was quite the story. It went something like this, once upon a time, there was a man named Pedro Gonzalez who owned a small taco shack by the beach. He made the meanest fish tacos, the best I ever had in my life. Every morning I went out to surf, at around 6 or 7 AM, and I usually came back to the shore at around 12 PM. I would make my way to Pedro's shack and order two plates of fish tacos for lunch. And I did the same thing every day for a month now.Pedro wasn't a man of many words. He didn't speak English well, and my Spanish was... well, I knew ‘hola’ and 'gracias', but that was about it.But Pedro knew me, or at l
Dear Stepbrother 49. The Righted Wrongs
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *NEW YORK CITY* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ R Y D E R ]As soon as we arrived at the hospital, we went straight to find Kara's room. My heart was about to burst right out of my chest. And as we were walking down the halls, I saw Cole and this red-haired girl talking to the nurse."I'm sorry, Ms. Livingston is still in the ICU, only family members are allowed for visitations at the moment," the nurse said to them."We're her family," I interjected, motioning between my dad and me.Cole’s eyes shot open as soon as he saw me. He was glaring at me, clearly, he wasn't too happy to see me."Alright, you two may follow me," said the nurse, nodding her head to dad and me.We followed her to the ICU ro
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