I knocked on Trace’s bedroom door when I got upstairs. I waited patiently as I heard shuffling inside his room as he came to the door.

                He unlocked it and opened it a crack, peeking out at me and glaring. “What do you want?” he growled, not opening the door any wider.

                “I, uh, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for whatever it is that I did to piss you off,” I said sincerely. I didn’t want to fight with my new stepbrother.

                “You’re annoying. Get away from me. Don’t talk to me,” he snapped. I stuck my foot in the door before he could shut it.

                “I’ll break your foot if you do that again,” he said flatly.

                I shrugged and pulled my foot away, placing my hand on the door in case he tried to shut again. I looked into his eyes with a deep frown.

                “Look, I’m sorry for whatever I did that was so annoying. But we’re stepbrothers and we’re going to be living together now so I think we should at least try to get along,” I said. “At least for the sake of our parents!”

                “I don’t care. Now go back in your room and pretend we’re not stepbrothers. I don’t like you,” he hissed and slammed the door. I didn’t even try to hold it open this time.

                Dropping my hand away from the door in defeat, I went into my bedroom and quietly shut the door. Maybe unpacking would help me clear my mind and figure out what to do.

                I dug around until I found my speakers. I put on my iPod, playing some Linkin Park as I began to go through the boxes to unpack all my stuff.

                I began to sing along with my music as I started putting away my clothes. I looked down at myself and realized I was still wearing my jeans from yesterday and no shirt. Maybe that made Trace uncomfortable…?

                But, no. Why would it? Besides, Trace didn’t even know I was gay. Did he? Had Brandon told him? Hell, had my mom told Brandon? Of course she must have. If Brandon wasn’t accepting of my being gay, my mom wouldn’t have married him, no matter how in love they were.

                It was something I loved, and at the same time, hated, about my mom. I was her only child and I was her prized possession. She did whatever she could to protect me, especially against homophobes since I was openly gay.

                She had cut off ties with friends of hers when they had insulted the fact that I was a homosexual. That was the part I didn’t like. When she cut off ties with people just because they didn’t like me for my sexuality. It hurt my mom, and I knew it. I could suck it up when it came to homophobes. I didn’t like them, obviously, but I could live with it.

                I hated seeing my mom upset. She was like my best friend. I hated when my being gay caused problems for her. But I couldn’t help who I was, and my mom understood that.

                “I bet she can’t move it like that with a dick in her, with a dick in her, with a dick in her!” I sang, bobbing my head with the music as I put away my last pair of jeans.

                “I bet she can’t either.”

                I jumped and nearly smacked my head as I turned to face an amused looking Brandon. He laughed and shook his head as he leaned in the doorway.

                “The door has a lock if you don’t want anyone listening to your concerts, Kory,” he said, stepping into the room and flicking the lock on the door handle.

                I blushed before grinning and shrugging innocently. I stood up after shutting the drawer and looked around my room with a sigh.

                “Do you mind if I put some pictures and posters up on the wall?” I asked and Brandon shook his head. “Nah, do you want to make it feel homier. If the tape peels the wallpaper, we can just repaint it,” he said with a shrug.

                I smiled. “Thanks Brandon!” I said appreciatively. Having pictures of my friends up would make me feel a lot better. I missed them so much already.

                He sat down on my bed and sighed. “Look, I’m really sorry about the way Trace has been treating you. I’ll talk to him,” he said, giving me an apologetic look.

                I shrugged and shook my head. “Don’t worry about it Brandon! It’s okay, really. I just don’t want to cause any problems,” I said.

                “Kory, you’re not causing any problems! It’s all on Trace right now. But listen, we’re going to go out to dinner tonight at 5. So if you want, you can explore the house or the neighborhood until then. Just be dressed up and ready to go by 4.45, okay? There’s an ice cream shop up that big hill and down the street a little ways, if you want to have a snack. I can try to get Trace to go with you?”

                I shook my head at Brandon again and offered him a smile. “Nah, it’s okay Brandon! I’ll let him calm down a little,” I said with a laugh. Brandon stood up and handed me $10, patting me on the back.

                “This is me making up for my son’s rude behavior. If you want ice cream, use that,” he said and ruffled my hair. I thanked him and we left my bedroom together.

                “Bye mom. I’m going walking around the neighborhood!” I said with a bright smile.

                Mom smiled back and nodded as Brandon sat next to her on the couch and hugged her, kissing her gently. “Be safe please Kory. That means if someone in a van offers you free drugs, say thank you because drugs are expensive,” she said, her voice serious.

                “Sounds good mom!” I said and she laughed and waved to me. I put my Chucks on before leaving the house, the $10 in my pocket.

                I looked at the giant hill next to the house and frowned. Aw man! This sucked! I should’ve dragged Trace along so that I could make him carry me up it. He looked strong enough.

                Pouting, I began to make my way up the stupid hill, quickly losing my breath as I did. I was panting by the time I reached the top. I glared at the stupid hill.

                “If I was actually in shape, I’d totally kick your hill ass!” I whined, sticking my tongue out at it before continuing on up the road.

                I came to stand outside a small ice cream shop. I let myself in and went up to the counter, eyeing the choices before ordering a vanilla-chocolate twist. I paid them, got my change, and took my ice cream to a lone table.

                I looked around and saw that there were only a few people here. There was an elderly couple, a younger couple with a little kid, and two teens that appeared to be on a date. The lady from the elder couple was yelling at her husband to “stop drooling like you just saw me without my panties on!”

                Ewww. Scarred. For. Life.

                “Hey, can I sit here?”

                I looked up at the voice and took in an incredibly good looking kid. “Why yes, yes you can,” I said with a nod, trying not to drool over the sight of him. Didn’t want that old lady to tell me to stop drooling.

                Giving me a look that told me he thought I was weird, the attractive kid sat down across from me with an ice cream in his hand. He licked it and I tried to fight away the dirty thoughts threatening to rise in my mind.

                “So…what’s your name?” the kid asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between us.

                “I’m Corny. Oh shit. I didn’t just say that, did I?” I groaned and face palmed myself. “I meant Kory. My name is Kory.” Real smooth Kory. Real, real smooth. Corny? Seriously?

                The kid looked amused. He wiped his mouth with a napkin to hide the laugh that nearly escaped from him. He cleared his throat and pulled the napkin away from his mouth once he knew he wouldn’t explode into laughter at my stupidity.

                “Nice to meet you Kory,” he said and coughed to hide a small laugh. “My name is Zeke. What’s your last name? You don’t look familiar.”

                “Arnold-Saunders,” I said.

                Zeke’s eyes widened a little. “Whoa! No way! Are you Trace’s new stepbrother?” he asked eagerly. I nodded and he laughed.

                “Sweet dude! I’m Trace’s best friend. Where is he? He didn’t come with you?” Zeke asked curiously, looking around for any sign of Trace.

                I shook my head and blushed a little. “Nah, he didn’t come. I was just out on my own exploring the neighborhood a little and his dad told me there was an ice cream shop,” I said with a shrug.

                “Hey…is Trace always moody?” I asked, deciding to just figure it out from his apparent best friend.

                Zeke laughed and nodded. “Yea, that’s Trace. If he smiles, it means he just killed someone,” he said and grinned.

                “He, ah, wouldn’t kill his stepbrother, would he?” I asked. Psh. Not that I was scared of him or anything. I had faced much worse than Trace Saunders. I had faced my mom’s car and lived to tell the tale!

                “Maybe,” Zeke said, his grin getting even wider.

                “Okay, when you start to look like a shark, I start to get worried,” I said nervously, scooting my chair away from him a little.

                “I’m just messing with you Kory. He wouldn’t actually kill you. But I take it he was pissy with you?” I nodded and Zeke rolled his eyes. “Typical Trace. You just have to give him some time to warm up to you, I guess. Although Trace gets about as warm as Antarctica.”

                “Great,” I said with a sigh.

                “Look, I’ll convince him to let you hang out with our group, and maybe he’ll warm up to you faster. You seem like a cool guy,” he said and stood up, throwing out the napkin seeing as he had finished his ice cream by this point.

                “Let me see your cell phone,” he said and held out his hand. I handed him my cell phone and he put his number in it and texted himself so that he would have my number. He handed me my cell phone back.

                “Well, I have to get home now. I have things to do today otherwise I’d show you around a little. I’ll text you soon and show you around maybe tomorrow, if you’re not busy. So, see you later Corny,” he said with a wink before strolling out of the ice cream shop.

                Great. It was my first full day here and I had already made a complete fool out of myself.  As I heard the old woman start to talk about how terrible her husband was in the bedroom, I smacked my head on the table and groaned miserably.

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A.N.- Hey! Hey! Hey! Sooo the cover to this is stupid, and I suck at making covers and someone should totally make a cover for me because I'm demanding and I would love them forever and ever and ever<3? :3

In other news...haha! Silly Kory :p Do you guys like him so far? :p