New Step Brother, New Family, New Life? Thanks for Nothing, Dad

"No! You don't want to wake her up! She'll smite you!" exclaimed a voice in a hushed whisper. I squished my eyes closed, hopefully trying to block them out and keep myself asleep.

"Psh... so what? I bet I'm a faster runner than her," said another voice. It sounded male, but I couldn't tell who.

"You're going to be sorry," said a third voice, also male. I groaned, creating a nervous but satisfying silence. Finally, after a few minutes hesitation, something ice cold splashed on to my face.

I immediately sprung into a sitting position, the water dripping down on to the clothes I had never changed from yesterday. Trent was kneeling next to me, a smirk playing on his lips. He held a paper cup in his hands. Tyler and Ethan were not far off, a few feet away while Smokey lounged on the couch.

"Trent, you have about three seconds head start. I'd get going if I were you," Smokey said. Trent looked up at her, shrugged, and took off running.

But I had the advantage. This was my playing field. I took a short cut through the kitchen, grabbing the cool whipped cream that comes from the can, and followed Trent out the back door.

Sprinting was easy and I loved doing it, but Trent had longer legs. I sped up and slowly but surely closed in on Trent. Once I was in reaching distance, I jumped forward and tackled Trent to the ground.

We rolled for a bit before I ended up on top, pinning him to the ground by straddling his waist. We were by the stables now. I smirked and held up the can of whipped cream, shaking it teasingly.

"Oh, God, no. Anything but whipped cream!" Trent exclaimed, a look of pure horror written across his face. I laughed and stared down at him evilly.

"Oh, yes." With that, I popped the top from the whipped cream can and began spraying him. The thing was, I was dumb enough not to hold down his arms and hands as well. He grabbed the can, pushing me on to my back and pinned me on my back.

Trent took the opportunity to splatter me with the whipped cream. I got free, however, which started what would be known as the Whipped Cream Revolution. By the time the others joined us, both Trent and I were covered in whipped cream and laughing hysterically.

"Aww!" Smokey complained loudly, "I missed all the fun!" She crossed her arms over her chest and cutely pouted. Ethan glanced at Smokey with a smirk. He grabbed the can from Trent.

Ethan than turned to her and said, "No you didn't." And so the whipped cream war started over again between those two. It was pretty funny to watch.

Tyler was standing off to the side, just watching. I, being the crazy person I am, ran over to him and hugged him tightly. He struggled against my grasp so he wouldn't get whipped cream all over him. That plan failed. It just mostly spread the whipped cream around more.

In the end, he was laughing right along with me. "McCartney!" Tyler whined (which was pretty adorable), "You getting me all messy!" I smirked and let go, stepping back and observing the damage I had done to his clothes.

"Perfect," I said with a smile. He smirked down at me, a devious plan-having smirk. Oh no.

Tyler picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He took off towards the pond right around the corner from the stables. I began to hit his back and struggle, but he just held me tighter to his shoulder. We were gaining on the dock and cool water.

"Not this againnnnnnnn!" I shouted just before we plunged into the water. Tyler held on to me and pulled me to the surface. I guess he was afraid I would disappear again. Oops. Hehe. I took in a deep breath and laughed. Smokey, Ethan and Trent had run down the dock, staring down at us.

"Tyler threw me in the pond and now my clothes are all soaked," I complained in a sarcastic whiny voice.

Smokey chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Hey, at least you are not covered in whipped cream anymore," she pointed out. I looked down at my clothes then to Tyler's.

"Hey! You're right! You should come in and get cleaned up too!" I said with a smile, splashing water at them.

"No, thanks. I prefer a hot shower," Ethan said, turning and heading to the house. I shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Smokey? Trent?" Tyler said, slowly treading water. Smokey shrugged and sprinted towards the end of the dock, gracefully diving in. Trent smirked slightly. Then he too took off into the water.

We spent the rest of the day swimming, splashing and laying out in the sun. I talked a lot to Trent about sports and such. Turns out his uncle owns a ranch and he used to spend every summer there.

"That's cool! We should totally go riding together! I could show you some trails out here that are awesome. Plenty of tough spots, jumps, inclines," I exclaimed, turning on my side to face Trent. My still slightly damp clothes clung to my body. Trent chuckled and I saw his eyes quickly trace the curves of my form.

Awkward...

Realizing what he was doing, Trent returned his gaze to my face. His cheeks flared in a light pink blush. "Sure," he said, "I'd like that a lot. How about tomorrow at sunset when it isn't so hot?"

I chuckled and nodded. "Sure, sounds great. It's a date." I felt Tyler tense on the other side of me. Trent only looked to the sky again and smiled.

Something tells me those weren't the right choice of words.