Part 1

She went out of the car and stared at the house that will be her house from that day. It was a big house and it was located in a condominium with similar houses. All houses were of some kind of yellow color with some brown details. It seems like a very cozy house… and that made her happy for some reason.
She had been there before… but now… this was going to be her house definitely.

“Give me your suitcase, Kristen, I’ll take to your room” James said to the girl.
“Is everything ok, Kris?” Eileen asked; she was her mother.
“Yeah… don’t worry…” she answered walking to the door with her backpack.

Eileen and James met each other long time ago. James Bass was a distinguish lawyer in the state, in fact, because of his job is how they met. James defend a case in favor of Eileen, those cases were against Kristen's father.
Eileen took care of Kristen since she born, and Kristen's dad never help her, but he recognized her as his daughter… She was practically a single mom. James, on the other hand, was widower since his son was 10.
The rest of their story its deductible…

“Hey Kristen” a blond guy with green eyes said.
“Hi Lance, how are you?”
“Good… I didn’t know you were coming today… my dad told me you still have some stuffs in the house…”
“Yeah… but not too much… so I decided to come today anyway…”
“Oh… cool…”

Kristen looked around… The house was a two-floor house with three rooms. It was well decorated.

“So you’re going to the same school as I” Lance said
“Yeah… Actually I didn’t want to change but… well… it was too far, you know… is another city… so… there’s nothing I could do about it…”
“Uhm… but don’t worry about that… you’ll love the school… besides I’m sure my friends will like you a lot…”
“I hope so”
“They’re upstairs… in my room… wanna meet them?” he asked kindly
“Uhm… sure… just… give me a minute… I’ll leave my backpack on my room”
Kristen left her backpack on her bed and then she followed Lance to his bedroom.
“Hey guys” Lance said, “This is Kristen”

Four pairs of eyes stared at her. She looked each one and then she looked at Lance.

“These are Chris, Joey, Tom and JC” Lance said pointing each of them.
“Hi” Chris and Joey said before they kept playing their video game.
“Hi” she answered

Tom said hello with his hand from Lance bed and Kristen did it too, then he kept watching his friends play.

“Hi Kristen…” JC said standing up from the chair in front of Lance’s computer, “I’m Joshua actually, but you can call me Josh… or JC… both are cool…”
“Okay…” she said smiling.
“Guys, this is Eileen’s daughter… Eileen is my dad new wife… well… not yet, but soon…” Lance explained.
“Wow Lance… why you didn’t tell us you had such a beautiful sister…” JC said without staring at her.

Kristen stared at him and blushed. JC smiled… there was something in her look, in her skin, in her hair… her face… she was beautiful… really beautiful…

“We’re not brother and sister” she said looking at the floor
“She’s right… we don’t have any bows of blood…” Lance said
“Brother and sister… stepbrother… stepsister… is the same…” JC added.
Kristen smiled this time and stared at JC… there was something in him too… his eyes… his lips… he was cute… so handsome…
“Well… I’ll go unpack my stuffs… nice to meet you guys…” she said before she left the room.

After she left the room, Lance sat on the bed to watch how Chris and Joey play the video game. JC watched Kristen on the hallway and she entered her bedroom.

“Lance… How could you have hidden your step-sister so long” JC said sitting in front of Lance’s computer.
“Don’t say step-sister… I hate that… just call her Kristen…” Lance said, “And… she’s not available for any of you guys…”
“What…? JC is the only one who seems interest in her…” Joey said.
“Yeah, Joey’s right… besides… JC had a girlfriend… the only one you should be worried about is Tom… he’s the one who doesn’t have a girl…” Chris added.
“I haven’t said anything about Kristen…” Tom exclaimed.
“Well… don’t worry… it’s not like we’re gonna see her everyday, isn’t it?” JC asked
“Uh… actually… yes… she’s going to our school… last year… same as us…” Lance answered.

A few days later, Kristen’s room was done, all her stuffs were there. Her old house was empty and on sale.

“Kris…” her mother said entering the bedroom, “Are u busy?”
“No…” she replied closing her laptop, “what’s up?”
“I was talking with James, and he has to go to New York to defeat a case… he asked to go with him” she said sitting on the bed, “Is that ok with you…? It is your decision… If you don’t want to stay here with Lance… it’s okay… I’ll stay…”
“It’s ok, mom… Lance and I get along… just go with James… I’ll be fine…”
Eileen smiled.
“Ok… then… I guess I’ll go packing…”

Kristen smiled too and the she opened her laptop again… She will be alone with her stepbrother. It wasn’t a big deal… what could it go wrong…? They had a good relationship, and he always was nice with her.
On the next day, Eileen and James left the house in the morning. After noon, Lance entered Kristen’s bedroom. She was still sleeping.

“Kristen…” Lance said
“Uhm…” she said opening her eyes, “What’s up?”
“I want to tell you something…”
“What…?” she said with a sleepy voice
“Listen, when my dad had cases outside the city… or when he goes to seminaries or congresses… I usually have visits…”
“Alright…”
“I just wanted to let you know… they’re coming tonight…”
“Who’s coming?”
“My school friends…”
“Oh… Ok…”
Later, that night…
“Kristen, are you going downstairs with us?” Lance said entering her room
“Uhm… sure… in a moment…”
“Cool… we’ll be waiting…”

Kristen turned off her laptop, stood up, ordered a little bit her hair and then she went downstairs. She entered the living room.

“You’re just… boys…” she said looking at Lance and the four other guys.
Everyone laughed.
“You don’t have girlfriends?” she asked
“Yeah… we do… but… we usually don’t invite them when we came to Lance’s house… I mean… it’s good to be only men sometimes” Joey said
“A beer?” JC offered to Kristen
“No, thanks… I’m still minor…”
“We all are…” Chris added.

She watched them for a moment… actually… they doesn’t seem comfortable with her there, otherwise, there will be more women in the house. Besides, for some reason, she was feeling a little dizzy…

“I think I’ll make me a sandwich and then I’ll go to my room… I won’t bother you… don’t worry…” she said

Everyone looked at her confused; nobody said anything to bother her, did they…? JC watched her walk to the kitchen.
Kristen entered there and she leaned in front of the sink putting her hands there.
“Can I make a sandwich for me too?” JC asked to Lance
Lance just nodded.