Shabby Step-sister

Shabby step sister

It was early morning and almost summer time. Joshua had just graduated high school the previous week and was enjoying not having to wake up on time anymore. He would inevitably spend the majority of the summer applying for colleges, but he wanted to relax for a little bit first.

However, this morning he could not stay in bed, nor did he properly sleep the night before. His restful mind had been plagued with concern after his step mother had given him some interesting news. He was not the only person who had recently graduated in their family. His elder step sister, whom he had never met in person, had finally graduated college and was now flying here to live with her mother while she searched for a job.

Joshua knew what Wendy looked like, and had even seen his step mother on video calls with her before, but he had never really talked to her in person before. His father and her mother had been dating for five years before they finally decided to get married. They claimed it was the right time since Joshua was finally graduating. They had signed the papers but had not had a proper wedding celebration yet, which further explained why Joshua and Wendy had never met.

The most awkward thing about the situation was that since he was 18, Stacy had not actually bothered adopting Joshua when she married his father and the same was true of Wendy. While by circumstance they were technically step siblings, it was not written anywhere by law. He was going to be spending his summer in the same house with a 21 year old woman with no relation to himself.

When Joshua came downstairs, he found his step mother already dressed to go out. “Should I come with you?” he asked nervously. She was about to drive to the airport to pick up Wendy.

“There’s really no point. I’m just going there and back and there will be a lot of traffic. Stay home and relax, or get started applying for college.”

“Should I dress up?” he asked.

Stacy laughed out loud. “You don’t have to impress Wendy. She is an absolute slob. She is the type of person not to bother wearing pants if she does not plan to go out for the day.” Joshua’s cheeks turned red as he pictured one thing about what Stacey said. She just continued laughing at him as she left the house.

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It was over an hour before Joshua heard Stacy’s car pulling into the driveway. He peeked out the living room window as he prepared his fast beating heart for the impending encounter. Though he recognized the woman walking with Stacy from the video calls, there was something not quite the same about her or how Stacy had described her.

Wendy had hair that went past her shoulder and was straight and shiny with a lot of volume. It was brown in color. Her face was slightly round and her cheeks were full. She had red lipstick on and wore a permanent frown as she looked down at her heeled feet on her up the driveway.

She had on a grey skirt suit that looked a little stretched over her shapely hips. Joshua had never seen Stacy’s ex-husband but supposedly he was a burly man. Wendy looked to have inherited some of his girth but only in the best places. Her chest stuck out of her blazer further than any of the girls Joshua knew in high school. What did Stacy mean she was a slob? She looked perfectly presentable. In fact, Joshua felt ashamed greeting her in jeans and a graffiti t-shirt.

He had no time to change though and only just managed to leave the window and hide the fact that he was peeking before the front door opened. “Is the inside any better?” Stacy was in the middle of asking Wendy what she thought of the house. As this was Joshua’s father place, Wendy had never been here before.

“I miss your old flat,” Wendy admitted. Joshua found her voice appealing. It was like Stacy’s but with less of an obnoxious motherly ring to it. Its high pitch suited her full face and perky red lips.

“Well I like not having to pay that horrible woman anymore,” Stacy referred to her old land lord.

Wendy walked past her mother, still staring at her feet as if she had never worn heels before and had to be extremely careful. She barely noticed Joshua standing near the doorway until she nearly bumped into him. “Sorry,” she spoke in a softer tone to him than she did to her mother. She sidestepped and set down her suitcase before heading straight into the kitchen. She had an empty water bottle in hand that she refilled from the tap and began to drink from. She looked extremely warm in her skirt suit as it was almost summer time. Joshua watched as water ran down her chin from her lips and sweat beads rolled off her temple.

“You don’t have to do that,” Stacy groaned. “I told you that this is your home now, dear.” Stacy took a glass out of the cupboard and a carton of juice from the fridge. Wendy reluctantly took them and poured herself cupful to drink.

Joshua chuckled to himself as he realized his new sister was just as nervous as he was. She was moving into a stranger’s home after all; she did not feel comfortable accessing their kitchen like it was her own. “I’ll go shopping tomorrow and get my own things,” she promised her mother.

“You don’t have to. Half of this stuff is mine. Look, don’t you recognize these cups and plates? If you think these men had actual presentable china before I moved in, you’re mistaken,” Stacy laughed.

Joshua laughed as well. He appreciated Stacy’s attempts to make both of them feel more comfortable with each other. Wendy’s lips remained permanently frowning, as if she did not trust her own mother. She was obviously even more nervous than Joshua was. “I know, why don’t you have Josh show you around the upstairs. He helped clean out the extra room that you’ll be using, so you should thank him.”

Wendy walked right up to Joshua before speaking. “Thank you,” her voice was robotic and low.

“No problem,” he was feeling much more relaxed and it was showing. “I’ll show you which room is yours.” He turned and bounded up the stairs excitedly.

Wendy did not follow him and instead turned back to her mother. “Oh my god, you said he was a kid!” she whispered.

“He is,” Stacy responded with a shrug.

“He’s an adult. I’ve seen boys at my college shorter than him. He looks like he works out too.”

“He and his father both go to the gym together once a week,” Stacy explained.

“I’m supposed to be the older sister but I look like a pig in a blazer next to him,” Wendy whined.

“He’s probably fine with what he sees.” Stacy poked her daughter’s bust. Wendy swatted her hand away and then quickly trotted up the stairs so she would not keep Joshua waiting much longer.

She had also seen him during video calls and generally knew what he looked like but a year ago through a laptop screen he seemed shorter and less muscular. She really thought she was going to be living with a boy that she could baby-sit. She felt she had been lied to by her mother and was beyond embarrassed. Silently she promised herself to maintain the façade of a capable older sister while working towards moving out as quickly as possible.

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After two months of living under the same roof, Joshua and Wendy had fallen into a routine of minimal interaction. They did not share the same interests so it was not difficult. Joshua had tried to be enthusiastically friendly at first but when he realized it only exacerbated Wendy’s nervousness, he toned it down. Now they only spoke about their parents to each other and about chores and food and other household matters.

Joshua was not trying to ignore Wendy but the more attention he paid to her the more stressed out she acted, so ignoring her became all he could do to make her more comfortable. She was obsessed with how she appeared to him. She wanted to maintain the image of a mature older woman. She wore only designer blouses or suits in his presence and even though summer was in full swing she never exposed too much skin. She straightened her hair every morning and carried a brush in her purse to use if even a strand came out of place during the day.

She did not particularly dislike Joshua but the days he was not home were a lot easier on her. She skipped the morning routine of doing her hair and just put it up in a pony tail. She also did not bother putting in her contact lenses and just wore her old glasses. She did not wear preppy clothes either. In fact, since it was so hot, she practically wore no clothes at all unless she left her room.

David worked the afternoon shift at his job so he was never home at the same time as Wendy who got home from work after the morning shift. She felt working as a gas station mini-mart clerk with a college degree was demeaning but it was hard to find a job in her field. Joshua and Stacy also had part times jobs but they were at home a lot more than Wendy or David.

On the weekends, David and Stacy often went out together. Joshua usually went to his friends’ houses to hang out. Wendy had not met many people since moving back and usually used her laptop to talk to her college friends instead.