All Chapters of Dear Stepbrother: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *T E N Y E A R S A G ONEW YORK CITY* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *[ K A R A ]“Mom! I’m home!” I exclaimed as I pushed the door open and raced towards the kitchen. Grandma followed right behind me, and she was carrying my backpack and my third grade report card.Today was a big day. It was the last day of school before summer vacation starts, so I was absolutely energetic. Not to mention, my eighth birthday was tomorrow, and mom had promised a very special present, a trip to Disneyworld.My mom just recently got a job as an air stewardess for American Airlines. As a perk for working for the airlines, mom was given travel credits and she said we could use it to go to Disney. I thought that was the best thing ever created since sliced bread. For years, I was a huge Disney nerd, and going to Disney was my lifelong dream.“Hey, kiddo,” said a man dressed in a pilot’s uniform, standing in the middle of our kitchen.“

[ K A R A ]"So, this is your first time in Hawaii, right Kara?"Peter was making small talk as the four of us sat together for lunch later that day. It was supposed to be a friendly get-to-know-you kind of event."Yes," I replied shortly. I was always awkward with these kinds of things."Well, you're gonna have so much fun, what do you like to do?""I don't know,” I shrugged. “Read books, watch movies, maybe do some writing…""Oh, Kara is a fantastic writer, she got a full ride to study writing in Columbia," Lacey exclaimed proudly."That's fantastic, good for you," Peter said, and I smiled politely back at him.As all of this was happening, Ryder was sitting in front of me, not giving much thought to this conversation. He was busily typing on his phone."What about you Ryder? Are you going to college in the state or…?" Lacey turned to Ryder but he did not respond, still busy on his phone.Peter kicked Ryder's feet under the table. He looked up in shock, and I found it amusing."Ry h

[ K A R A ]And right at that moment when our lips barely touched..."RJ! My man!" we heard a loud yell coming from behind us. We instantly pulled apart.A few guys and girls were coming towards us. Thankfully, we were somewhat hidden behind Ryder's car, so they couldn't possibly saw what was happening."We saw your car when we passed by, thought we'd see you here," said a guy in a white t-shirt and jeans. His smile was kind of cute, especially with them dimples."Oh hey, you guys, how's it going?" Ryder nodded at the group of people. These people looked like they came out straight out of an episode of The O.C."Who's this?" The dimple guy turned to me, totally checking me out. And of course, I blushed immediately."This is Kara, my uh, step-sister. Kara, these are my friends." before Ryder could say their names, Dimple Guy moved up and gave his hand out to me."Cameron, nice to meet you," he smiled that mega-watt smile again."Nice to meet you too," I replied politely and took his ha

[ K A R A ]Cameron and I were already in the car, driving on our way home when I saw Ryder's number calling me."Hey Ry," I picked up, somewhat slurring."Where the hell are you!?" he shouted at me furiously."I'm on my way home, I left you a text,""I'll take you home, don't get in the car with Cameron! Do you hear me? I said—""Psssh, why you yelling so loud-eh? My ears are hurtin'! I'm almost home ok, I'll see you later," Without giving him a chance to say anything else, I turned off the call.He tried to call again, and I simply rejected it. My head was pounding and I didn’t feel like getting yelled at some more. What was wrong with him anyway, first he ditched me and now he wanted to find me?"Everything ok?" Cameron asked."Yeah, it was just Ryder being a weirdo, whatever," I shrugged and leaned my head against the window.I must have blacked out for a bit, maybe for a few minutes, because when I woke up next, I saw that we weren’t on our way home. I had memorized the streets t

[ K A R A ]A couple of days had passed since the whole bonfire fiasco and I was feeling much better. A few days ago, I got to see Ryder's surfing match for the first time with mom and Peter. I didn’t quite know the rules of surfing matches, but I knew that Ryder did very well. I was told that he scored enough points to compete in the next round.Though I didn’t understand the rules, I now understood why girls would want to date surfer guys. I mean, just look at how cool and passionate Ryder was when he was competing. There was something about all that passion that just drew you in. And don’t get me started on that moment when he returned to the shore after his surf. Shaking his wet hair from side to side, he would get up from the waters below with his board shorts hanging low, his toned body all wet and tan and that gorgeous smile on his face...Holy cabbage! Stop thinking about that— you're not helping yourself, woman!Anyway, things were great for us. Mom and Peter seemed really ha