By Marriage Not Blood

Part 1

Hi, my name is Y/n Nichols, I live with my Dad and my twin brother Josh. My mom left when Josh and I were only 2 years old. I never did understand why. As time went on though my dad, Josh was all I ever needed. That was until I hit "womanhood" and that was when the real struggle began. Neither of them knew what to do. Thankfully my dad started dating this woman. She came just in time. She has 2 kids of her own, a son named Drake and a daughter named Megan. I got to school with Drake and... I kinda like him. Although I have learned to let our parents make their moves before I make my own.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally! The day is over along with the week now I don't have to be back here until Monday morning. I walk to my locker to grab what I need and one the way I see my twin brother Josh talking with his nerdy friends. I hear him say goodbye to them and then he rushes to my side. 

"Hey" he greets with his dorky smile. I say the same and go to my locker. I open it up while Josh talks about the test he had today but I don't tune to into the conversation before I see... him. Drake. Drake Parker. My crush, the coolest guy in school, not the brightest but definitely one of the hottest in my opinion. What I would give to be with him... but that's pretty impossible. He has too many girls already attracted to him and I am nowhere near the level of gorgeous they are. What would he possibly see in me? "Y/n! Are you listening to me?" my attention comes back to Josh and I look at him with a smile of innocence. 

"Yeah! Totally! Let's get out of here" I say closing my locker and rushing down the hall. I walk past Drake and just keep my head down to avoid making accidental eye contact. 

"Hey, Drake!" I hear Josh say all happy and weird and I feel my face turn red. How is it I am so shy and Josh is so... not. I move even quicker out of the school and see our dad's car in the parking lot. I run over to the car and get into the front. It takes a minute or two to walk over to the car and he makes a grumpy face when he realizes I am in the front seat. 

"Hey, guys! How was school?" Dad asks seeming happier than usual. 

"It was great!" Josh says with an eager tone and smile. I don't bother to answer.

The rest of the car ride was silent until we got to my dad's girlfriend's house.

"What are we doing here?" I ask sounding unamused. I like this woman and all. She makes my dad really happy. There is something about her that I don't like. She is Drake's mom. So... I certainly have no chance of being with him.

"I have to discuss some stuff with Helen. But you two can hang around and wait for Drake" Josh gets happy while I get fake happy. I just smile at dad and then lose the smile when I get out of the car.

We enter the house and get greeted by Helen and her daughter and Drake's little sister Megan. Then we go our separate ways. I go out back and find a basketball and start shooting hoops. How is it that I can go from a good mood to a bad one just by looking at Drake. He makes my heart skip a beat, I blush when I see him... but now all I want to do is cry in my room. Isn't because I know I can't have him? Because I know that we can't be together? That we probably won't ever be together? Why?

"Mind if I join?" I hear a familiar voice that I don't hear that often. I turn around quickly and see Drake. He is actually smiling at me. I smile back and pass the ball to him. He dribbles a couple of times and then shoots it in. I grab the ball as it bounces and then after a couple of dribbles I shoot it in. I look at Drake and his eyebrows raise which makes me happy. "You're good! We should play a game sometime" He says as he grabs the ball. I tuck some hair behind my ear and smile.

"I would like that" Imagine me playing basketball with Drake. Would that be considered a date? Geez Y/n! Calm down will yay! 

We head inside together and see our parents making out on the couch. Drake opens his bag and pulls out a whistle. He looks at me with almost like a warning look so I cover my ears. Then he blows the whistle making my Dad and Drake's mom scream. 

"Hey mom, Mr. Nichols" He doesn't sound too eager about seeing my dad and I don't blame him. I don't react that way with his mom but if I did I think Drake would maybe understand. Then Josh comes running out with a mop and swinging it around and yelling. I put a hand to my head in embarrassment. 

"It's okay son, there is nothing to mop here,"  Dad says.

"What is he doing here?" Drake says very unhappily. 

"Tell him..." I get confused. Tell him what? What am I missing out on?

"Wait! Drake go get your sister" Helen tells Drake. He rolls his eyes and faces the direction of Megan's room.

"MEGAN!" he yells and the girl comes out covering her face.

"Are they done sucking face yet?" The little girl complains. I can see how her and Drake are related. Now that we are all gathered in the living room I want to know what it is that needs to be told. 

"Guys, Josh and Y/n's father and I have been together for a while now and well... we have some news" They sound very happy and excited. I swear if Helen is pregnant I am out. I already have an embarrassing twin brother I don't want a half-sibling too. 

"You bought me a dirt bike," Drake says. I don't think that is the answer but that would be extremely awesome. 

"No... WE'RE GETTING MARRIED" I feel my hear shatter nausea fills my throat. 

I have seen my dad married before and he was miserable and that woman was my mom. If this is going to repeat I don't want to be a part of it. I am still scarred from what mom did to us. It's her fault I don't believe I am beautiful! It's her fault I don't feel worthy of love! She destroyed my life! She changed my opinion of myself and no matter how hard I try I can't go back to how I thought of myself. 

But if that doesn't happen... we still have a problem. My crush is going to be my stepbrother that one sentence sounds messed up.  How in the world could that happen?