Shampoo Romance: A Novel

Chapter Four

Hot. Her new step-father was hot. Of course he was. Nothing in her life could be that simple.

She quickly glanced back down at the floor when she realised that she'd been staring for a couple moments. "Hi," she said, and waved slightly.

"Your step-brother should be here any minute now. Let me help you-" Olay started before being interrupted by the clicking sound coming from behind Pan as the door was opened and locked.

Pan peered over her shoulder. A pang of dread rattled her as she saw the familiar face of...

"TRES?!!!?!??!?!?" Her eyes widened. Was this really her step-brother? The guy who was constantly bullying her???????????????

"Well, you recognise my son? I thought you two might've gone to school together," Olay said, smiling earnestly.

Time seemed to stop around them. Tres's face was unreadable until he broke out into an uncharacteristically friendly smile. "Hey, Pan. Nice to see you again." His greeting seemed whole-hearted and warm to the point where it scared Pan. What was she in for?

Her mum continued the clock, suggesting, "Good, since you're here now, Tres, would you be a sweetheart and help Pan with her bags?"

"Yeah, sure. No problem, ma'am." giving Pan's mum a cheeky wink.

Pan's mum seemed flustered, wagging her finger playfully, "Oh please, call me Headandshoulders."

The vast stairs spiralled as Pan dragged one bag up behind her while Tres casually carried five with no struggle in front of her. He turned around smugly at the top of the staircase, looking down at her with his arms crossed as she huffed and attempted to pull the bag up the last few steps.

"Need any help there?" he said smugly.

She just growled and muttered under her breath, passing him and still struggling to drag the bag.

She stopped, letting him guide her to her new room, and Pan glared at him while he sauntered in front of her, carrying all the bags with ease, like they weighed nothing.

"Here we are," he gestured to a door. She shuffled in, sighing a great sigh of relief, dropping the bag on the ground.

He stared at her blankly, arms crossed across his chest before bringing the last bags in. He begins to open a bag before being abruptly stopped by Pan screaming, "Don't touch that!"

"She speaks. Thought mum asked me to help you?"

"Still, you can't just go around touching my stuff!" She shivered at the thought of him finding her old diaries, rifling through her books, albums, clothes.

He blinked slowly a couple of times, before shaking it off. "Alright, princess. Just don't get too comfortable," he said, a cold tone taking over his voice, no longer playful. He exited her room, not even looking back for a second.

When he got into his own room, across from hers, he slammed his door. Pan could faintly hear some music playing.

All of a sudden, she got strangely curious, tiptoeing her way over to the other side of the corridor, pressing her ear against the door and hearing the unmistakable rhythms of The Shampions. She leaned in closer, bopping her head ever so slightly before the door swung open on its hinges.

Before she knew what was happening, she was kneeling at the entrance of Tres's room.

She looked up meekly, expecting him to watch her and laugh; or to be taking photos of her in quick succession as blackmail; or to be doing anything except what he was doing right now. He was sitting at his desk, blatantly unaware of her presence, absorbed in a book.

She scowled, wondering if he really hadn't heard her collapse onto the ground, before quickly scrounging herself up and stepping back out of the room, closing the door slowly and quietly behind her.

She'd found out two new things about him, and she didn't even know where to start with figuring out who or what he was.

Someone else who liked The Shampions? Someone else who could get absorbed into books? Was this some kind of prank? If not, this was an unseen, undiscovered side of Tres, and Pan wasn't sure how she felt about it.