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Part seven — Old Faces Don’t Stay Buried

Penulis: Abby
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-01-27 22:53:38

I don’t notice how late it is until my phone buzzes.

The office is quieter than it should be for a Friday afternoon, the kind of quiet that makes you too aware of your own breathing. I’ve already packed my bag, already shut down my computer, but I’m still sitting there, staring at nothing, replaying a face that has refused to leave me alone all day.

Red hair. Pale skin. Green eyes.

Too familiar. The only difference is Clara hair isn't red but Brown, Isabella face looks exactly like my wrose nig
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  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part thirteen — Daylight Doesn’t Ask Questions

    Someone is shaking my shoulder.“Ethan. Wake up.”I groan and bury my face deeper into my sleeping bag. For half a second I forget where I am again. Then I hear birds. A lot of them. And the soft murmur of kids already outside.Jules pokes me harder.“If I’m awake, you’re awake.”I sit up slowly, hair a mess, hoodie twisted around my neck. My body feels stiff from sleeping on the ground. I stretch and my back cracks.“This is illegal,” I mumble.Jules grins. “You survived your first night in the wild.”I glance at my phone. 7:02 a.m.I rub my face and step outside the tent.The camp is already moving. Teachers are setting up folding tables. A few kids are brushing their teeth near a portable sink station. Someone is complaining loudly about the cold water.I spot Isabella almost immediately.She’s standing near Roxie, holding a toothbrush, hair tied into a loose ponytail. She looks tired but in a soft way, like she didn’t sleep much but didn’t mind it.She looks up and our eyes meet a

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part Twelve — After Everyone Sleeps

    I wake up because the night feels different.Not louder. Not quieter. Just… awake.For a second, I don’t know where I am. The tent ceiling hovers inches above my face, dark and unfamiliar. The air smells like smoke and grass and something damp. Then it all comes back—the bus, the tents, the fire.Jules is asleep beside me, turned toward the tent wall, breathing slow and even. He talks in his sleep sometimes, but tonight he’s quiet.I stare up at the canvas, listening.The woods don’t sleep like the city does. There’s no full silence. Something is always moving. Leaves brushing. A branch snapping somewhere far off. Insects humming like tiny machines. It should be scary.It isn’t.I roll onto my side, careful not to wake Jules, and check my phone under the blanket. No signal, obviously. But the time glows back at me anyway.12:17 a.m.I don’t know why I do it, but I open my messages.Isabella’s name is there, sitting calmly like it belongs. Like it’s always belonged.I type slowly.Are

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part Eleven — Two by Two

    The teachers didn’t waste time.The moment everyone was off the bus and standing around with bags at their feet, trying to act like they weren’t overwhelmed by the trees and the quiet and the fact that there were no buildings anywhere, one of them clapped her hands loud enough to make a few birds scatter.“Okay, listen up,” she said. “We’re setting up camp. You’ll be working in pairs.”Groans. Cheers. Nervous laughter.She kept talking, explaining how everything would work. We were shown how to open the tents, how to slide the poles through without bending them, how to hammer the pegs into the ground at an angle so the wind wouldn’t knock everything over. She demonstrated slowly, like she expected us to mess it up anyway.I tried to pay attention. I really did. But my eyes kept drifting.Isabella stood a few feet away, her backpack on the ground, listening closely, her brow pulled together in that serious way she had when she was concentrating. Roxie was beside her tall, brown hair pu

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part Ten — The Bus Smelled Like Goodbye

    The bus was already there when Mama and I arrived.Big. Yellow. Loud.It looked too excited for how early it was, engine rumbling like it couldn’t wait to leave us behind. Kids were everywhere, dragging bags that looked heavier than they were, parents bending down to give last-minute warnings, teachers holding clipboards like shields.Mama parked slowly, like she wasn’t ready to let the moment happen.“There it is,” she said, even though I could see it.I nodded and adjusted my backpack on my shoulders. It felt heavier than usual, not because of what was inside, but because of what it meant. Three days. No Mama calling my name from the kitchen. No Papa’s late-night voice on the phone. Just me, a bus, the woods, and a lot of people pretending not to be nervous.Mama turned to me. She fixed my collar, smoothed my hair, then stopped herself like she realized she was doing too much.“You have everything?” she asked.“Yes, Mama.”“Socks?”“Yes.”“Your—”“Yes,” I said again, smiling a littl

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part nine — The Woods Don’t Feel Like Stories

    Some mornings it smells like chalk and paper and something dusty that makes my nose itch. Other mornings it smells like perfume and lunch and the floor cleaner the janitor uses that always reminds me of lemons. Today it smelled like rain, even though the sky was clear, like the walls remembered something the weather had forgotten.Mama dropped me off early because she had a meeting. She kissed my cheek twice, told me to behave, told me she loved me, told me not to forget my lunch. I watched her car disappear down the road before I turned toward the building. I don’t know why, but I felt like something was waiting for me inside. Not bad. Just… different.I found Isabella in class before I even sat down.She was already there, like always, sitting straight with her hands folded on her desk, her hair falling neatly down her back like she had brushed it a hundred times. She left the seat beside her empty. For me. That small thing still made my chest feel warm every time.“You’re early,” s

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Part eight

    I was leaning against the kitchen counter when Roman came home, my palms flat on the cool marble like I needed it to hold me upright. The house was quiet in that way it only ever was when Ethan wasn’t running around, when his laughter wasn’t bouncing off the walls. It should’ve felt peaceful but instead, it felt heavy like the air itself knew something I didn’t want to say out loud.Roman’s keys landed in the bowl by the door. I didn’t turn around, but I felt him before I saw him his presence always announced itself like that. Steady. Familiar. Safe he always makes me safe in a way i do not like admitting.“Ari?” I heard him say. The way he said my name told me he’d already noticed. He always did.His arms slipped around my waist from behind, warm and solid, pulling me back against his chest. He pressed a kiss to my neck, slow and lingering, the way he did like without me in his arms something doesn't feel right. When he thought I was slipping somewhere he couldn’t follow without perm

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Chapter 15

    Roman’s POVShe Makes Me Lose ControlShe doesn’t get it.She doesn’t understand what she does to me. What I’ve turned into because of her.And maybe that’s good because if Ariana ever saw the full version of me, the unfiltered, obsessive, jealous, barely-in-control version… she’d run.Or maybe not

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-18

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Chapter 20

    Ariana’s POVThe music thumped through my chest like a second heartbeat. The crowd had doubled in size, and the heat in the house clung to my skin like smoke. Bodies danced, drank, laughed. Lana had disappeared somewhere with Alex, and I was alone for a minute trying not to think about Roman’s mout

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-18

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Chapter 18

    Ariana's POV I woke up sore.Not in a bad way.The kind of ache that lingered deep in my thighs and hips, in the soft stretch of my muscles when I moved. Like my body remembered every inch of him. Every thrust. Every kiss. Every whispered groan in my ear.Roman.His side of the bed was cold. Sheet

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-18

  • STEP CLOSER, MY STEP BROTHER    Chapter 16

    Ariana’s POVIt was Saturday. No school. No excuse to escape into the chaos of campus halls or Lana’s infectious chatter. Just me, Roman, and the ever-growing weight of our silence.Except he wasn’t home. At least, not right now.I walked barefoot through the apartment, letting the cool marble kiss

    last updateTerakhir Diperbarui : 2026-03-18
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