007

Dona's POV

I woke up the next morning with my head pounding from lack of sleep, and the first thing I heard was August stomping around the house. Heavy steps, doors shutting, his voice on the phone, his feet pounding on the stairs.

Great. The day hadn’t even started and I was already irritated.

I buried my face in the pillow, hoping maybe if I ignored the noise long enough, he’d vanish. No such luck. My alarm buzzed five minutes later, dragging me out of bed.

By the time I got to the bathroom, I’d already decided on one thing: I wasn’t dealing with him. I took my sweet time showering, brushing my teeth and tying my hair back, all while pretending the boy downstairs didn’t exist. It was a good plan. Simple. Stay out of his way.

Except my mom ruined it the second I walked into the kitchen.

“There you are!” She chirped, dropping toast on a plate for me. “You’ll be riding to school with August today.”

I stared at her like she'd developed a horn. “What?”

My mom gave me a shrug. “It is to save gas money. You know how it is. Plus, I don’t like you walking back from campus alone at night.”

I narrowed my eyes. “So basically, babysitting duty. Thanks, Mom.”

“It’s not babysitting,” she said, in that tone she used when she was already done arguing. “It’s called being practical.”

I crossed my arms. “No, it’s called you trying to play matchmaker and make us into some weird little ‘friends’ project. And no, I’m not doing it.”

“You are,” she answered simply, picking up her coffee like I hadn’t spoken at all.

It was like arguing with a brick wall. She didn’t raise her voice, but she stood there in that unshakable mom stance.

"Why don’t you ride with him then? Since you love him so much.” I muttered.

Before she could answer, August appeared at the doorway, keys twirling around his finger. He was dressed the way I expected him to be: white and green hockey jersey, a pair of acid-washed baggy jeans and his absurdly long hair in a man bun. Seriously, I would never understand why he couldn't just get a haircut.

His dark eyes darted between us, and he smiled like he’d been listening the whole time.

"Hello, hello, good morning everyone!" Peter declared as he walked in, dressed in a golf shirt, Jeans and a pair of white sneakers.

"Do everyone in this family dress like clowns?" I grunted under my breath.

Peter didn't hear me. He moved past his son, accidentally (or deliberately) hitting August's shoulder with his body as he did. He moved to my mother, planted a kiss on her cheek, grabbed a piece of toast, patted (and destroyed) my ponytail, before stepping outside again. All within ten seconds.

"Have a nice day, sweetie!" My mom called after him, before turning to August. "You'll be going to school with Dona."

“This should be fun,” August muttered with a wicked grin.

I glared at him. “No one asked you.”

“Didn’t have to. I’ll be outside.” He tossed the words over his shoulder and walked out.

I turned back to Mom. “Do you see that? Do you see what I’m talking about? Both of them, father and son, unbearable!”

“August is trying, considering he is in a new environment. You should be nicer to him.” she said softly, but the look she gave me told me that was the end of the conversation.

“If I mysteriously disappear, just know it was him.” I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the kitchen. My mother hid a smile in her coffee.

When I stepped out of the front door, August was leaning against his car, tapping away at his phone. He glanced up at me and gave me that wicked grin again, and instead of saying a word, he just pushed off the car and pulled the passenger door open for me.

I hated how smug he looked. I hated even more that I had no choice but to get in.

The second I slid into his car, I regretted everything. I smelled smoke mixed with some overpowering cologne; it looked like he’d tried covering one bad habit with another. His father was right; August did have a smoking problem.

My nose wrinkled instantly.

“Seriously?” I coughed out, waving a hand in front of my face. “You couldn’t air this thing out?”

He shrugged and started the engine. “It’s called personality, princess. You should try it sometime.”

I buckled in, crossing my arms tight. “Yeah, well, your personality smells like an ashtray that drowned in cheap perfume.”

That got a low laugh out of him. “You’re welcome.”

Then came the music. He cranked it up, some moody, bass-heavy song that made the windows tremble. It was the kind of soundtrack you’d expect from someone in a permanent bad mood.

“Turn it down!” I snapped.

“Nope!”

I leaned over and pressed the volume button myself.

His hand shot out, catching mine mid-air. “Touch my stereo again and you’re walking to school.”

"Don't touch me again!" I yanked my hand back.

“I will gladly never.” he muttered, turning the volume back up.

So I gave up. I folded my arms tighter and glued my eyes to the window. Usually I’d be on the bus by now, earbuds in and free of this suffocating atmosphere. Or Mom would drop me off if she wasn’t swamped with work. I’d been saving for my own car for forever, and if I needed another reason to save even harder, this was it. Anything to avoid this ride again.

But even as I stared out at the trees flying past, I could feel him glancing over ever so often like he knew I was uncomfortable. And maybe he enjoyed it.

I shifted in my seat. “Do you mind not staring at me?”

“I’m not staring,” he said smoothly.

“Yes, you are.”

“Maybe I’m just checking to make sure you don’t throw yourself out of the window. Which, of course, I would enjoy immensely.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re exhausting.”

“Funny,” I could almost hear him grin, “that’s exactly how I feel about you.”

The rest of the ride stretched out like torture. My knuckles ached from clenching my bag strap, and I counted the seconds until we hit campus.

The second the car rolled into the lot, I unbuckled the seatbelt fast. Before he could even kill the engine, I was out. Probably faster than was humanly possible, but I didn’t care.

Of course, people noticed. A group of classmates near the library stopped mid-conversation. Two girls whispered behind their hands, looking from me to August and back. I could already hear the rumor mill warming up, twisting whatever story they wanted out of this.

Dona the nerd and August the new hot dude stepping out of a car together.

None of them knew we were step-siblings yet. To them, it probably looked like something else entirely.

August stepped out casually, locking the car like he hadn’t just handed me a fresh batch of social hell to deal with. He ignored the whispers around him and walked towards his end of the college campus.

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. “Just what I needed.”