Chapter Four

Christopher Graham

“Your stepsister is stunning." Joshua attempted to whisper to Daniel, however, I heard him as clear as day.

 We all looked at her walking towards us with the bottles of water we had requested. I collected mine meeting her stare, she nervously looked away then proceeded to Daniel and Joshua. He was not lying; she was gorgeous. I could not help but admire her beauty. She had a sculpted figure with a tapered waist and a perfectly glossy complexion. A pair of arched eyebrows looked down on sweeping eyelashes. Her delicate ears accompanied her button nose. A set of dazzling teeth gleamed at me as she did that nervous smile when she had caught me staring. It was a pleasure to see her midnight black hair caught in a bun on top of her head. Her enticing dark brown eyes gazed at me over her plump heart-shaped lips. I was in a committed relationship, but I could not help it. I was amazed by her beauty; I could easily imagine her on the cover of any GQ magazine.

She had such a naïve nature drawing in my attention. Her eyes started to roam as her eyebrows came together displaying tension and discomfort. She slid both hands in the crevice of her knees squeezing them together. With Daniel and Josh caught up in their game of NBA2k, it somehow felt like she and I were the only people here. I slid down more into the couch to get comfortable and rested my interlocked fingers on my chest as I smiled. She looked flushed and I could not help but release a little laugh.

My phone started to ring and a picture of Jayde and I flashed across the screen —It was not until then I remembered that I told her I would call her back from yesterday. Oh no, I just hope she was not calling me to give me one of her you are no good for, men are trash speech.

"Hey babe," I answered. I looked back at Cece whose entire demeanor changed. 

"Hey, why didn't you call back? I'm right around the corner with the girls," she greeted into the receiver as I sat up in the seat. When Josh said the girls were coming, I never thought she would be too since she and Daniel were not too fond of each other. I mean, this is his house.

" I honestly forgot. We'll talk when you get here though, ok?" I responded.

"Okay bye," she said then hung up.

"Jayde is coming over. You cool with that?" Daniel paused the game and looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"I don’t think so" he started, setting down his controller. "She knows not to show up at my crib!"

"Chill out man. Jay doesn't bother you when she comes around," Joshua defended; I nodded in agreement.

"They're here," Daniel mumbled getting up to answer the door. I glanced back at Cyrene who looked bored out of this world.

"Hey guys," Jayde greeted everyone as she made her way over to me. Anna-Lisa and Brittany both went to their men, giving them a quick hug and kiss.

"Okay Lisa, Bree, Jay this is my step-sister, Cyrene, but she prefers to be called Cece. She's new around here so she could use some friends," Daniel introduced. It was clear he was forcing the nice words out.

"Cece, this is my girlfriend Anna-Lisa, but we call her Lisa. This is Brittany, or Bree, Joshua's girlfriend. That is Jayde or Jay, and I do not know what to call her," He joked. I could feel Jay's glare, waiting for me to say something.

"Daniel quit being so petty, this is my girl," I said wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

"You both are so on and off with your relationship I can't keep up." Daniel shrugged.

He had a point. Sometimes I did not know what we were doing. At times I felt like we were just wasting each other's time. We had a long history, so there was too much to hold on to. It felt hard to walk away from that. I loved her but it was hard to focus on that with all that doubt at times. I did not want to face the truth but maybe the only thing that kept us together was history. Although, I am young I was not in the mood to tell someone what my favorite color is. Starting over terrified me because of how comfortable I got.

"Well it's nice to meet you guys," Cece said flashing a smile. 

I could see it was forced just by the look in her eyes and I could tell she would rather be anywhere but here. It was beyond obvious that she was not a people's person. With her mom remarrying, she was just thrown in a new environment that she's forced to adapt to. It might not have been what she wanted but maybe she did not have much of a choice.

"Your legs are so long," Lisa said tilting her head to the side. Cece's smile wavered a bit as she turned her attention towards the curly-haired beauty.

"I'm just playing! Danny told me to say it, but they are for real. Do you model?" She added.

She gave a simple response. "No, I don't."

"Well, Cece, we should have a girl's chat so we can get more acquainted in your room," Bree suggested. 

She was always so bubbly and in a high spirit; it low-key annoyed me. It is good to always be happy and optimistic about life but come on it is okay to show different emotions. A concept she has not quite grasped.

"Sure, why not. “Cyrene complied and stood up to notion everyone toward the staircase.

Lisa and Bree both got up to follow behind her, but for some strange reason, Jayde was still beside me.

"I'll be up in a second," she told them. 

"Chris, we need to talk," she whispered to me. 

I got up and gestured for her to follow me. We ended up on Daniel's backdoor patio. I shut the door and sat on the edge of the table outside, bringing her to stand in between my legs.

"Okay. Speak your mind, baby." I encouraged, holding both her hands into mine. My eyes searched hers and I could see she had a lot to say but did not know where to start.

"I don't mean to sound crazy or anything, but I saw you! You couldn't keep your eyes off Daniel's sister and the way you were looking at her, you've never looked at me like that before Christopher." She finished. I wanted to laugh but I knew that would just start an unnecessary argument.

"I don't know what you are talking about. You’re so cute when you get jealous," I smiled biting my bottom lip a bit which made her blush.

 I playfully used my hand to turn her face back to my direction making her laugh. I pulled her closer letting her wrap her arms around my neck. I placed my finger under her chin, guiding her face to mine and placed a kiss on her lips removing all tension.

"You need to chill out babe. Go upstairs and go be with your girls," I instructed after we pulled away.

"It's always good to get reassurance," she winked as I shook my head at her. I opened the door leading us back inside. 

I sat on my bed as they rummaged through my closet. I hated that, something was going off in my head to just scream however, I sat there quieter than a church rat. They were messing up a closet I spent so much time organizing.

"I'm honestly surprised you have really good taste. I never expected it," Lisa applauded as she looked at my collection of shoes.

"Thanks, I guess?"

Cyrene Parris

I sat on my bed as they rummaged through my closet. I hated that, something was going off in my head to just scream however, I sat there as quiet as a church mouse. They were messing up the closet I spent so much time organizing.

"I'm honestly surprised you have really good taste. I never expected it," Lisa applauded as she looked at my collection of shoes.

"Thanks, I guess?"

"So, what college will you be attending? Lisa and I got into UCLA," Bree asked so far I liked her way more than Lisa and this was just her second sentence directed to me. 

"Oh, that's good. I'll be going to Stanford," I said shyly.

“Congrats," Lisa said putting one of my blouses in front of her.

"Congrats to you boo! That's huge" Bree sounded happier than my mother when she heard the news.

"So, did you have a boyfriend back home?" Bree asked she looked like she was hoping to hear some fairytale romance story.

"She was homeschooled, Brittany it's unlikely. She's probably a virgin too, right Cee?" Lisa said as she placed my blouse back where she got it. That one caught me off guard. I did not appreciate these personal questions. What was wrong with being a virgin? She made it seem as if it was a distasteful attribute.

"So?" Bree pushed. 

Right as I was about to answer Jayde walked in I sighed a breath of relief, I could feel a change in the air at her presence.

"So how did it go, did you tell him?" Lisa asked her as she made her way to take a seat in the chair by my bed. She released a deep sigh as she shook her head and her eyes slowly filled with tears. At this point I was confused. What was she supposed to tell Chris?

"You're going to have to tell him eventually," Lisa shrugged. Bree glared in Lisa's direction as she walked over to hug Jay.