CHAPTER 8: A SHOCKING REVELATION!

Sarah’s POV:

I wanted to bury myself down there as I looked up at him. I wished I was dead and didn’t have to show my face to him again as he warned me.

“And yet once again…” My evil crush said bitterly and I gulped.

“I – I…” I started and he walked towards me with an intense glare after which I added immediately, “Lis – Listen to me… Please…” I raised my hand up in the air and walked back while he continued to walk towards me.

“Now, I’ll…” He started bitterly.

“Hey kids…” Someone’s voice came for my rescue as he stopped walking and turned around to see Rowen and my mom standing outside the dining room. Thank you, Rowen. Thank you for saving me! I thought while looking at Rowen and my mom. My evil crush turned around and looked at Rowen, rolling his eyes. Once again, I wondered why he was in that house.

“Sarah…” Mom called me out and I immediately walked towards her.

“Mom…” I said as I reached her. “I need to tell you something…” I whispered to her.

“Sarah…” Rowen started and then walked forward towards my evil crush. “Did you meet Zayn…?” Rowen asked while placing his hand around his shoulder.

“Yes, I, actually…” I started and then stopped immediately as I recalled what Rowen just called him. “Um, Zayn…?” I asked him suspiciously and recalled the moment the other day at lunch when Rowen told me about his son named Zayn and my eyes began to get wide.

I gulped and chuckled nervously before adding further, “Um, Za – Zayn…?”

“Yes, Zayn, my son…” Rowen said and they walked towards us while Zayn kept glaring at me. “Your stepbrother” He added, smiling widely and my eyes widened more while my heart skipped a beat and I could feel the ground slipping under my feet.

“St – Stepbrother…?” I whispered to myself and kept looking at him anxiously while mom walked towards Rowen and they began to talk about something. Zayn was still glaring at me and I breathed heavily in shock.

“Sarah…” Mom called me out but I kept looking at Zayn in shock.

“Sarah…” Mom got louder and I blinked my eyes and walked towards her.

“Yes?” I asked her.

“You met Zayn?” Mom asked me.

“Zayn, she is your stepsister. Both of you should bond…” Rowen said to him while we kept looking at each other.

“So she is, the daughter?” Zayn asked Rowen sharply.

“Yes, Zayn…” Rowen replied to him and added, “You should talk to her and…”

Zayn turned to Rowen and started, “I am not interested”

“Zayn…” Rowen got a little angry but Zayn walked away from there and headed outside the house while I couldn’t believe what just happened.

“I am sorry, Sarah… He is a bit arrogant and stubborn…” Rowen said and then added, “He’ll be good to you, don’t worry”

“Ahan…” I said and nodded anxiously.

“Is everything okay, honey?” Mom asked me and I turned anxiously towards her.

“Yeah – yeah everything is okay, mom. I – I need to go” I said to her and began to walk while she held me back.

“Sarah, honey, you should eat something…” She said.

“No, no, mom, I can’t…” I started and took a deep breath to calm myself down before adding, “I have to go…”

As I walked out of the door, I heard mom calling my name out from behind but I couldn’t stop. I wanted to meet my friends. I wanted to vent out all my feelings to them because I couldn’t hold it anymore. I took the road to walk towards the Flynn’s café where we were going to meet. It was a long walk and I could have taken the cab but I didn’t want to as I wanted some fresh air to not think about all that for a moment.

Upon reaching the Flynn’s café, I saw Eloise and Gene already there, getting a table in the corner. I walked briskly towards them and started to the waiter, “Espresso shots, many of them…”

“Woah… Calm down…” Eloise said as I sat down and the waiter left to get my shots.

“I can’t, I just can’t calm down…” I said and took some deep breaths.

“What happened? Why are you so…?” Gene couldn’t complete.

“Depressed? Wrecked? Worried?” I asked her anxiously and then added, “Yes, I am all of that…”

“Sar, calm down, just relax…” Eloise said and dragged her chair close to mine to add, “What happened? Did something happen at the house? With your mom? Or your stepdad?”

“No… That all was perfectly fine until… my stepbrother walks in the house and he…” I started.

“Is he nice to you? What does he look like?” Gene asked excitedly.

“He looks exactly like my crush…” I said in frustration.

“What?” Eloise started and then added, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, do you remember the day of protest, where I saw a guy and…” I started.

“And you developed a crush on him, yes?” Gene completed.

“So that guy turns out to be Rowen’s son… My mother’s stepson and my stepbrother” I completed when the espresso shots came and I began to gulp them down one by one.

Eloise and Gene couldn’t process down this news as well and began to think about it in confusion. “You – you need to calm down…” Eloise added as she saw me taking those shots hastily.

“I am not…” I said and gave up. I bent my face down and threw my head into my hands in frustration.

“Oh god… This is so shocking and – and weird…” Gene said with a disgust look. “You – you have a crush on your stepbrother?” Gene added in confusion while I felt disgusted.

“I know… It’s so creepy and weird and – and not normal…” I cried out.

“This is such a big coincidence” Eloise said while thinking about it.

“I know… And you know what?” I started and restlessly added further, “He is so cruel and mean… And bad… He is not a nice guy at all…”

“Why?” Eloise got restless.

“He treated me so badly…” I said and told them the whole story after which they shook their heads in shock.

“Poor you...” Gene said sympathetically.

“No… Sar, you can’t let him treat you like that” Eloise said and before I could say anything, she continued, “You can’t be scared of him. He is mean and he needs to fix himself. Just be brave and fight for yourself next time you see him or if he treats you badly again…”

“Yeah – yeah you are right… I have to… But I just – just get…” I couldn’t complete and took a deep breath.

"He is my first crush, El..." I started disconsolately and added, "It's so hard to forget that thing. You know I never had a crush on anyone ever before until Zayn came in front of me..." I said helplessly.

"We can understand..." Gene said and then added, "What are you going to do now about this?" 

I began to think about it for a while because I had no idea what I should be doing. Taking a deep breath and with a heavy heart, I started, "I guess, I'll have to forget the fact that I have a crush on him..." 

"How can you forget that?" Gene asked me in shock. 

"I don't know, Gene. I guess I have no other choice than this. I know this is going to be hard for me but I can't continue to have a crush on him, you know... It will be awkward and weird..." I said distressfully. 

"I am sorry..." Eloise said sympathetically and tapped my hand while I bent my face down. I was feeling like someone broke my heart. I didn't confess anything to him nor anything started between us but I could feel my heart aching by just realizing the fact that nothing was ever going to happen between us. 

"I guess... I'll go home. I need to lie down for a while" I said to them and stood up from the chair. 

"Home? So you already accepted Rowen's house as your home?" Eloise asked me. 

"No... I mean, my home. I need to lie down on my bed and give it some time. I’ll be fine then” I said to them and began to walk towards the door when Eloise called my name from behind.

As I turned around to look at her, she walked towards me with Gene following her behind and Eloise started, “Do you want us to come with you?”

“No, El, I want to be alone right now. I just – I just wanted to vent out my feelings and I am feeling a lot better now” I said to them.

“Okay, school is starting from day after tomorrow, remember?” Eloise asked me.

“Yeah… About that. I will need to shift all my stuff to Rowen’s house before that” I said rubbing my forehead.

“Yeah we’ll help you out in that” Gene said and I nodded and smiled at her.

“Thanks guys… I am going to go now, bye” I said and walked out of the door to get on the way to my home. As I began to walk on the road, a car started behind me. Ignoring that, I continued to walk on the road when suddenly I felt the car following me behind slowly. Turning around, I noticed that the car had tinted windshield and so I wasn’t able to see who was driving it. I panicked and began to walk briskly while the car sped up a little, keeping pace with me. At first I thought to run for my life but then realized that the person was driving a car and it would take few seconds for him to catch me but out of anxiety and fear, I began to run any way when suddenly the car screeched and stopped in front of me making me skip a beat. As I began to breathe heavily, the car door swung open and someone stepped out…