No Best Favorite or Jealousy

I know I haven't published anything in a while. I got stuck rewriting chapter 4 of

My Blue Pill

and starting chapter 2 of

Thom Thom

and

Not Letting Go

. Instead I started a few new stories. But life happens and the weather gets nicer, so writing hasn't been as big of a priority lately.

With that said, here's a new story I hope you like. I'm putting this under Novels and Novellas because it fits too many categories, and I found out that the first three chapters of

My Blue Pill

was about 250 pages if done in a paperback format! Since I wrote almost four chapters of

this

story before I decided to publish any of it and I'm nowhere near done... well you get the idea.

Please comment, like, message, or whatever! I'd be thrilled to hear from you!

In any case... Without further ado, I present...

*****

Chapter 1: The Scarlet Menace

High school is full of ups and downs. Being a lanky kid could have been a down if I wasn't athletically inclined enough to be on the basketball team. I wasn't the star, but I made the team and starting five every year.

But it was basketball. Of course the cheerleaders went for the beefy brawlers on the football team more than anything. It was always a goal for any player to get with one of them, but I didn't have a shot it seemed.

That really started to become evident when in my sophomore year a girl transferred into my class. She wasn't model beautiful, but gave everyone else in school a run for their money!

She made the cheer squad easily. When I saw her on the football field the first time performing her gymnastic moves I was in awe, as was most everyone else. She outshone the others easily!

At 5' 11" she was the tallest on the squad, but not by much. She had a little extra weight on her, but it may have been quite a bit of muscle for the way she performed. She had big tits and a trim ass. Her face was adorned by freckles on her very pale skin. The red hair on her head set her apart from anyone else in the school, making her stand out like a beacon in the sea of pimple faced kids.

I badly wanted to get to know her, and made my move two weeks before the homecoming dance to ask her out.

"Hi, Sarah," I said cautiously approaching her when she was alone at her locker one morning. "How are you?"

She turned her head toward me and her smile turned upside down while she looked slightly up at my 6' 3" frame. "What do you want?" she spat out with a frown.

"I, uh," I started, losing confidence along the way. "I was wondering if you'd want to go to homecoming with me."

Her face soured. "What's your name, dweeb?"

"Bryce. Bryce Sawyer."

"Well, dweeb... No!" she said turning and walking away toward a group of girls.

I stood there for a moment and watched her, seeing her reach the group and watching all of them look at me and laugh. After a moment I heard Sarah say with quite the attitude, "So what? Who'd ever want a bean pole like

that

?" before they all walked away.

I stood there watching them until they were gone, not sure if I was embarrassed or angry.

After that Sarah treated me like garbage if she acknowledged me at all. Even after she saw me in action on the court I still wasn't good enough for her. I kept noticing her, and she kept scowling in my direction. It was typical high school drama.

But the dweeb thing got to me. So what if I was in advanced classes? I started working out more regularly, wanting to be more than a "bean pole". Maybe the next time I asked a girl out she'd be happy to say yes? A boy could dream.

I didn't bother going to prom that year. No one I asked wanted to go with me, and I gave up asking after the third one.

But before prom that year, one day in March, my dad sat me down.

"Son, I have some news and I don't know how to tell you," he started but looked around the room uncomfortably trying to figure out how to continue.

"Just say it, Dad. It can't be that bad!"

"It might be..." He wasn't looking me in the eyes and kept looking toward the door. "Um, you know that your mom was the love of my life, right?" I nodded. "I could never replace her or want to," he paused for a moment. "But..." There was a knock at the door. "Oh thank god!"

My head spun toward the front door while Dad shot up out of his chair and practically ran to open it. I stood and followed him.

There standing outside the door was a woman with red hair and... and

HER

. Dad quickly leapt through the doorway to hug the woman. I was shocked, and so was Sarah.

"Come in!" Dad said.

I noticed that Sarah's face looked angrier than normal.

Shock riddled through me. "What the fuck is going on here, Dad?"

"LANGUAGE!" Dad spat. "Go and sit on the recliner," he said pointing to the living room.

"Why are these

people,

" I said with my own scowl toward Sarah, "here?"

"Mind your manners!" Dad said with an authority he didn't usually need to exude.

I did as told, walking away to sit on the recliner and crossing my arms in a huff. I hoped I looked as pissed as I felt.

"Fucking dweeb," I heard Sarah mumble as she walked by me.

Dad sat down on the couch next to the woman, with Sarah next to her. She just glared at me like she was plotting to kill me.

"Bryce, Sarah," Dad said taking a deep breath. "No point in putting this off now..." he said with another deep breath. His face screwed up and he couldn't figure out how to continue.

Sarah's mom excitedly saved his consternation. "We're getting married a month from Saturday!" she said with a bright face.

Dad stared into my eyes while she said it. Sarah's mom was doing the same to her.

"You can't be serious!?" Sarah said beating me to the punch.

"What she said," I agreed.

"Articulate as always, dweeb," Sarah groaned at me.

"Do the two of you know each other?" Dad asked, grateful for the break.

"From school, unfortunately," I said rolling my eyes and not even looking at Sarah.

"Ah," Dad said looking at the woman.

"What the hell do you mean you're marrying this woman?" I asked with a little too much venom.

"Bryce, watch your damn mouth!" Dad swore at me. That was unusual and it shocked me enough to stare at him wide eyed. "This woman's name is Loretta Wilcox."

"Letta for short," she said.

"Fine. What the hell do you mean you're marrying Loretta?"

"Shut up, dweeb!" Sarah said angrily. She turned to her mom. "Since when has this been going on? And why

his

dad?" she asked with a sideways nod toward me.

Loretta put her hand on my dad's knee and squeezed. This stopped him from reacting to the both of us and allowed him to think and calm down. "You can't choose who you fall in love with, dear. We met six months ago," she said to Sarah and then turned to me, "about a month after Sarah and I moved to town. We've been dating ever since," she finished looking at the both of us.

"So why am I only hearing about this now?" Sarah said for the us both. "And why

here

?" she sneered with a glance around the room.

"Well, neither of us wanted to involve you kids until we knew for sure how we felt," Dad said with a glance toward Loretta. "We didn't want to hurt either of you."

"And

this

isn't supposed to hurt?" I asked staring daggers at Sarah.

"We aren't trying to hurt you, Bryce. Your dad popped the question last night at dinner and..."

"He 'popped' the question? So romantic!" I retorted.

Loretta looked at my dad and smiled. "It really was, Bryce," she said sweetly looking toward me. Her smile went away and she continued. "But I don't think that you really care about that right now. Your dad and I thought we should get to know each other." Loretta looked at Sarah. "He wants to do the same with you."

They took us into separate rooms and let us ask whatever we wanted of the future step parent. What I really wanted to ask was why couldn't I speak to my dad and find out why this was happening to me?! Why did he have to change what we had?!

Sure, maybe he was lonely. Mom died of an aneurysm five years earlier. It was sudden and, of course, devastating. It took Dad quite a while to recover from the loss, and in some ways I'm not sure he did. I had my friends and my youth to help me recover. Dad shrunk away and concentrated on his work.

It probably didn't help that we stayed in the same house where everything reminded us of her, but that's what happened. Dad's excuse was that he ran his architecture business out of the house and he didn't want to change that. In any case it was only in the last year that he seemed to be coming out of his funk a little.

So getting to know Loretta, no matter what she wanted me to call her, was bittersweet. Sure she seemed to be making Dad feel better. I couldn't hate this woman for what she did for Dad no matter how much I tried.

Loretta's former husband was drunk, abusive, and controlling. Even though Loretta was a pediatrician and very successful, it wasn't enough for him. Nothing was. Her make up skills became Hollywood quality, covering up the litany of bruises and other marks her body was constantly riddled with.

Sarah was his little princess and could do no wrong, where Loretta, it seemed, could do no right. Except for a few incidents, he spoiled Sarah and she quickly learned to manipulate her father to stay on his good side and get whatever she wanted.

Then Loretta got wise, or rather the law did when she couldn't mend one of her own broken bones. A warrant was sworn out for his arrest, but the law never caught up with him since he fled. That was four years ago and he has yet to be heard from. The divorce was done in absentia, and Loretta became a single and untrusting parent... until Dad.

Hearing what she said about Sarah made some sense. Spoiled and stuck up was all I understood about her and that made hating her easy.

When we all came back together it seemed that Sarah had the same thoughts as me. Our parents were happy together, but why did it have to be

our

parents? I actually saw her stick her nose up in the air at me in disdain. I shook my head and vowed to try to get Dad to see sense.

Then the ten ton weight fell while we ate a meal together.

"Letta and Sarah will be moving in next weekend, son. So I'll need you to..."

"They WHAT? Excuse me?"

"That's what happens when two people marry, you know. They tend to live in the same house," Dad said. The logistics of the house quickly came to mind. There was no open bedroom since Dad's office was in the second one. Dad couldn't... "I need you to move into the basement, Bryce."

Sarah looked at me with an evil grin.

"Now I have to give up

my

bedroom for

her

? Why don't you make

her

live down there?" I scowled thinking about the dank basement.

"Because I'm going to have the basement finished for you. I already have the plans drawn up, the permits filed, and they start working tomorrow."

I looked at Dad and my face turned to hatred when I looked at Sarah. "This isn't fair! This is

our

home!" I said looking at Dad. "I shouldn't be put out because of

her

!" I said quickly pointing my middle finger straight at Sarah. It was really more of a violent jab in the air.

If Dad saw the middle finger he dismissed it. "You're not being put out. I'm just asking that you be more accommodating of your future sister for certain reasons," he said with a knowing look at Loretta. "It won't be so bad, I promise," he finished trying to look sympathetic toward me.

"Hrmpf," I said in defeat, crossing my arms and looking away. "Like I have a choice." I lost my appetite and pushed my plate away. "Can I go to my room while it's still mine?"

"No. Sit and eat with us. We're going to clean up and watch a movie together afterwards," Dad replied.

I looked at him and thought quickly. "I can't, I have a lot of homework to do," I lied since it was done, like always, before I even left school. I looked at Sarah, knowing what a flighty airhead she always seemed to be. "Some of us work for our grades," I spat in her direction.

"Really? I wouldn't know," she giggled maniacally. "I guess it comes easier to some of us! I don't have to study much to get straight A's!"

I never knew she had a brain in her head! She certainly never showed it! Maybe not... "Well, pity grades from teachers who wanna fu..."

I didn't finish because the volume from my dad was deafening. "BRYCE PETER SAWYER! SHUT YOUR MOUTH RIGHT NOW AND GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

I huffed but stood, loudly knocking my chair behind me to the floor. "GLADLY!" I stomped the whole way up the stairs.

Just before I slammed my door, Dad called out after me. "And no electronics at all or I'll trip the breaker for your room!"

How could he do this to me? Things were good lately, he was happy... because of Loretta. But why

her

mom? Gah!

I knew better than to whip out my phone and start texting my friends. If he burst in and caught me or checked later it'd be the end of that privilege. So I pulled out a textbook and started studying ahead. I got lost in the intricacies of trigonometry, trying to let logic rule out that crappy day.

A knock at the door startled me. I looked at the clock seeing that two hours had passed. "Can I come in?" Dad asked opening the door.

"Why ask if you're just gonna do it?" I responded indignantly.

"Listen Bryce, I know you're upset about this..." he said cautiously walking in.

"You don't know the half of it! How could you marry

her

mom?"

"What happened to make you so mad at Sarah?" he asked sitting on my bed.

I told him the story of her snooty rejection when she moved to town and how it made me feel, and how she treated me ever since.

Dad listened to all of it before responding, nodding his head as I went. "Well look at it this way: that's all over now. She'll be your sister."

"You think she'll be any better because she's family?" I asked incredulously.

Dad shook his head. "No. Only time, patience, and teaching by example might cure that. I mean you don't have to worry about wanting to date her anymore since she'll be your sister."

It was a little bit of a load that fell off my mind at that moment. I actually felt a little lighter hearing that, but only a miniscule amount. "She'll still be a stuck up..."

"...Sister. No matter what, you might end up liking that some day." I shot him a funny look. "You know, having a bigger family."

"I can't see how since it's

her

."

"Well, what do you think of Letta? Do you like her?"

I sighed. "She seems nice enough." I took a deep breath. "I like that she makes you happy. You've seemed different in the last year and I didn't know until tonight why that was."

Dad put his hand on my shoulder while his own relaxed a little. "Thanks, son. I appreciate hearing that. I just hope we can work out the rest in time."

"But really, why do I have to give up

my

room?" I asked throwing my hands in the air to gesture it all. "Why can't she be sent to the dungeon?"

Dad laughed a little at that. "Letta wants to keep a better eye on Sarah. She's still trying to work her ex's influence out of the girl. Besides, I trust you and know you'll behave yourself down there," he said giving my shoulder a squeeze. "It's a bigger space, and to sweeten the pot I've decided to give you the TV from my room."

"The 42 incher?" Dad nodded. I glanced at my PS4 and thought how much more fun I could have on a bigger TV. "I guess that'll be fine," I shrugged indifferently so that I didn't give it away too easily.

"I'm glad you agree." He whispered and put his rigid hand next to his lips like he was telling a secret. "Maybe you'll make her jealous because of it!"

That made me smile. "I could deal with that!"

"Good. One more thing?" He asked and I nodded. "I'd like you to be my best man if you don't mind."

"Really?" I asked to his smile and nod. "Sure, Dad. I'd be happy to."

"Good. Now please make a better impression on the ladies and watch your mouth, ok?"

"I'll do it for Loretta, but don't expect much when it comes to

her

."

"How about you if you at least use her name?" Dad asked. "And please call her mom Letta."

I made a semi-disgusted look while I said, "Fine."

~~~

Dad did a great job outfitting the basement for me and making it livable. Better than livable, it was incredible! He mounted his 42" TV on the wall with a media center built in below it. It was double the size of my old room, and Dad even gave me his queen bed. Loretta's things were replacing the ones he gave me. Even still, I was grateful.

I happily moved in when it was done, apologizing for making such a fuss when the megaton bomb was dropped.

Then the weekend arrived for Loretta and...

Sarah

... to move in. Dad asked me to help. Well, ask is a mild way of putting it. It was either help or I lost the TV and it went in Sarah's room instead. I insisted on helping Loretta with her things while Dad helped the other one.

It didn't take long to move their apartment full of already packed things into our house, even with Sarah's showy tempter tantrum over whatever. Loretta made a wonderful dinner for us all... and I behaved myself. The other one made cupcakes with frosting. The one she gave me had "dweeb" written out on top of it. Dad just laughed and told me not to worry about it.

The rest of the weekend was part letting them unpack and part getting to know each other better. Loretta was starting to grow on me; she really was a wonderful person. Sarah, on the other hand, became even more annoying. She started sucking up to Dad something fierce!

"Oh, Daddy, you're wonderful!" "Oh, Daddy, could you get me this?" "Oh, Daddy, could I have some spending money?" were only some of the things she said or asked.

Dad didn't fall for any of it. "Spending money? Sure. That pile of dishes is part of your responsibility to earn an allowance. Get to it young lady," he said turning away.

I smiled at her disgust. Loretta praised Dad for what he did. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

By the time we reached the wedding day, I'd succumbed and started calling my new step mom Letta. Sarah, on the other hand, kept trying to pull at Dad's heartstrings to get what she wanted. Dad kept batting it down.

They saved the surprise of Sarah being the maid of honor until the day, although I still don't know how. We were the only ones standing up in the party with other friends and family in attendance, including my grandparents from Mom's side. It was a small ceremony on the deck at the house with a little party afterwards in the yard.

I did NOT appreciate having to dance with Sarah and neither did she. We held each other at arm's length and pushed each other away when the song was done.

Soon the school year was over and I got a summer job. Sarah lounged around the house being the little princess she thought she was for the first couple of weeks. When all of the household chores got dumped in her lap she relented and got a job at a restaurant. This meant we spent less time around each other at home. It was great!

Sarah eventually caught on that Dad wasn't another princess enabler and stopped sucking up to him. Her attitude toward me got worse if anything, not that mine improved. She started getting really mean; like washing a pair of her red panties in with my whites, or putting extra raisins in my desert (I hate them!), or anything else she could think of to upset me.

Needless to say I started doing my own laundry and didn't accept anything she gave me after that. I also started to retaliate. I put a small cordless speaker somewhere in her room and randomly sent a beep through it at all hours. It drove her nuts and I had to suppress my laughter. I put itching powder in her baby powder. I maybe went too far when her favorite bra found its way under the lawn mower.