Five years later …
I helped Mrs. Crane put on her jacket, the old lady tottering and cute.
“Kyleigh, you are just so sweet. You’re the nicest nurse I’ve ever had,” she said while struggling to get one arm into a sleeve.
“Thank you, Mrs. Crane, that really means a lot to me,” I said genuinely. I work as a nurse practitioner in a doctor’s office, specializing in ob/gyn consultations. You’re probably wondering what an older lady is doing at the office, but believe it or not, gynecology isn’t restricted to maternal health. We see a range of women, and Mrs. Crane has been a patient for thirty years.
Plus, I’ve really hit my stride as a nurse. After graduating from Evergreen, I went on to get a master’s, and was picked up immediately by an elite medical practice in Manhattan. It’s my job to serve as a first-stop for patients. I’m the person who takes medical histories and screens for any obvious red flags before passing them onto the doctor.
And I love my work. Nursing is the right profession for me, and it’s kept me busy to the point where I haven’t seen my brothers since high school. After what happened that fateful day in the living room, I couldn’t go back to our local New Jersey high school. Instead, I’d finished the semester on independent study, holing myself up in my room and refusing to come out except for the most basic needs.
Of course, my mom had been flabbergasted on the phone.
“But honey, you’re a good student! Why do you need independent study for your last semester of high school? Don’t you want to finish and graduate with your friends?”
I couldn’t tell her it was because my brothers had been banging prostitutes in the living room, and I’d been caught masturbating in front of their friends.
“Ma, please,” I begged. “Just try to understand okay?” I pleaded. “Just for a few months and then I leave for California.”
“Fine honey, fine, but if there’s something wrong, call me immediately okay? I know I’ve been traveling a lot with George, but you’re still my number one priority,” my mom replied.
“Sure Mom, of course I will,” I sighed, relieved. Of course I wouldn’t be calling her. My mom was so clueless when it came to my brothers’ debauchery, but what can you do? I was a teenage girl with limited means and influence.
And of course, I hadn’t been able to avoid Ryder and Roman completely. We still lived in the same house, and even though I was a virtual hermit in my room, it was impossible to ignore them altogether.
One morning, after I’d heard them leave for school, I crept downstairs to pour myself some cereal.
Unexpectedly, Roman and Ryder were there, casually leaning against the breakfast bar, cocky and assured, as if they’d been waiting for me to come down.
“Hey Kyleigh,” remarked Roman. “Long time no see.”
“Yeah, you’ve made yourself scarce recently,” said Ryder, “with good reason I guess.”
Oh god. My face flushed with shame. I could feel the red heat creeping up my chest, no doubt making me look like a tomato. But oddly, my steps weren’t smirking or laughing at me for once. The look on their faces was actually empathetic, as if they understood what I was going through.
Roman cleared his throat.
“Listen Ky, what happened was … bad, I admit,” he said. “You caught us at a bad time, and we caught you at a bad time too.”
“Bad time?” I said, my voice going almost an octave higher. “You call that a ‘bad time’? It was more like you were in the midst of making love to two whores and I got caught masturbating myself!” I cried.
“Yeah, it was pretty depraved,” said Ryder. “Plus, the fact that it happened in front of our friends … not great,” he concluded.
“You think?” I sputtered. I was reliving the embarrassment, not even able to look into my brothers’ eyes without cringing. Plus, I was fully aware that I was dressed in nothing but a short nightie which barely covered my ass, my legs long and bare. Was it my imagination, or had my brothers’ eyes widened when I appeared in the kitchen? Well, whatever it was, the moment was gone and I was burning with humiliation again.
“Kyleigh, we understand if you’re on independent study now,” said Ryder. “Heck, I would be too if I were a girl,” he added. “But seriously, it’s not so bad.”
“Not so bad?” I almost shrieked. “What isn’t so bad about what happened? Really, what?” I asked. I was on the verge of hysteria now.
“Well,” said Roman slowly. “It helps a lot that you’re cute. I mean, guys always like to see a cute girl touch herself.”
That made me shut up. I was cute? They’d only ever made fun of my body, never praising or complimenting my clothes nor the fact that I tried to work out.
“Yeah, you’re cute,” said Ryder, nodding slowly, “and trust me, pretty girls get away with everything. You won’t even remember this a year from now,” he winked.
By now, I was breathless. My brothers had humiliated me in front of their friends, forcing me to drop out of high school, and now they were telling me that I was attractive? No way was I believing a word they were saying.
“Listen,” I said slowly. “I know you never wanted me to move in. Trust me, I know that. But I’ll be gone in a couple months and so will you. So let’s just try to stay out of each other’s hair until then, okay?”
There was silence while my brothers gave me a long look.
“Sure, whatever you say,” said Roman.
“Yeah, absolutely no problem,” said Ryder.
“Thanks,” I huffed before marching back upstairs with as much dignity as I could muster. I could have sworn there were male eyes glued to my ass and legs as I made my retreat, but maybe it was my imagination.
But that’s how our relationship ended. I went off to California and they stayed in New Jersey, our paths rarely to cross again. I avoided coming home because their house had never really been my home. Instead, I stayed at school for vacations and breaks, burying myself in my studies.
But I’m twenty-three now and ready to face my past. You see, it’s our five-year high school reunion, and I’m looking forward to it. The invitation’s been burning up in my mailbox, and I have a new dress picked out that highlights my curves, skimming over my new womanly shape. Plus, I hear Ryder and Roman are going to be there, and I can’t wait to see my gorgeous, lustworthy stepbrothers again as the new Kyleigh. I want to stun them with my elegance and grace, and show them that the awkward gangly girl of my past is long gone. Hopefully, everything will go off without a hitch … so long as I keep my cool.