My Jealous Stepbrother
NO MORE OBSTACLES

I couldn't take my eyes off the bedroom floor as my father continued to nag us relentlessly. Ryan and I were sitting on the bed, heads down and a considerable distance between us. There was nowhere else to sit, and the floor wasn't exactly clean enough to be considered an option. Why did a college student's room have to be so dirty? Finally, my father seemed to have finished his sermon, but just when I thought I was safe, there was a knock at the door. An officer I had not seen before introduced himself before entering.

"Good morning, I'm Officer Smith. I'm here to take the young lady into custody," the policeman said.

"Excuse me? On what charge?" my father asked seriously, his arms folded.

"Vehicle theft, reckless driving, evading traffic signals and fleeing when stopped by an officer, plus disrespecting her," the officer replied.

"That's a lie, I didn't disrespect him!" I exclaimed anxiously, getting out of bed, everything else if true but I was never disrespectful. The officer looked at me, and I shrank back and hid behind my father. Was I going to jail? Didn't they just give you a traffic ticket for that kind of thing?

"Samantha!" he shouted angrily.

"I'm sorry, Dad," I mumbled, unable to look him in the eye.

"The car is mine, and I'm not filing a report," my father replied to the police officer.

"Still, my partner already filed the report, so I'll have to take it with me," he added, he must have been referring to the police who chased me around campus.

I felt a knot in my stomach as the officer nodded and prepared to take me away. I looked into Ryan's eyes, seeking support and strength in his gaze.

"I promise everything will be okay," he whispered, taking my hand tenderly.

In disbelief, I looked at my father, expecting him to help me, but to my surprise, he said nothing more to the officer. Was he leaving me to my own devices? I couldn't believe it. He had always been overprotective and now, when I needed his support the most, he didn't seem to want to get involved.

The officer nodded and asked me to follow him to the exit. I felt a lump in my throat as I walked beside him.

Ryan's voice echoed urgently in the middle of the hallway. I turned around to meet him, and his eyes implored me to stop. "Samantha, please wait!" he shouted, running toward me.

"I'll leave you alone for a moment," the officer expressed, "but don't try anything."

I stopped, my heart pounding, waiting for him to catch up. Officer Smith was right behind him, watching the scene with a serious countenance.

"I'm sorry, but I have to," I whispered.

Ryan hugged me in surprise, and my mind was boggled not knowing what to respond. However, I didn't need to. Ryan leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Listen, the cop is distracted. When I stop hugging you, we'll make a run for it."

I couldn't believe what he was suggesting, running away from a police officer? Again? But before I could take it in, Ryan let go of me and yelled, "Now!" Without hesitation, he grabbed my hand and together we started running at full speed. We ran without looking back, feeling the wind on our faces, until we reached the soccer field where my car was parked, unattended. Wasn't that weird?

My heart was pounding as we quickly got into the car and Ryan took the wheel. I couldn't help but feel excited and scared at the same time. What were we doing? What if we got caught? Jail for sure!

"Come on, quick!" exclaimed Ryan, speeding the car up and leaving the college campus behind.

"Damn it Ryan, what are we getting ourselves into!!! if they chase us we're finished, the punishment will be even worse!!!" I said, horrified at what I had just done, sitting in the car I felt the weight of what I had done fall on my shoulders. "Easy, Sam, they won't follow us," he said calmly.

"How do you know? I'll have a criminal record! I'm supposed to be a good kid!" Why was he so calm?

"Because I saw your father wink at the officer, so I'm sure he planned it to scare you. Besides, do you really think your dad would leave you alone at a time like this? He's probably an acquaintance and asked him for the favor. That thing just now wasn't real."

"Damn it, Ryan, what are we getting ourselves into? If we're being chased, we're done for, the punishment will be even worse!" I said, horrified at what we had just done, sitting in the car, feeling the weight of what I had done fall on my shoulders.

Ryan sighed and looked at me seriously.

"Wait, if you knew none of that was true, then why did we run?"

"Because your dad won't leave us alone again after what happened," Ryan answered truthfully. "I knew that if we stayed, we would have to face an intense argument with him and that we would be under strict surveillance. I wanted you to have time to talk to me."

"This is so crazy," I sighed.

"The craziest thing will be if you don't tell me right now about those messages. God knows if I don't hear it from you, I'll replace out on my own, Samantha, and it won't be pleasant," Ryan said plainly, still angry with me about what happened. "I get it," I said, "I'll give you a quick explanation, okay?" Ryan nodded. After telling Ryan everything that had happened these past few days, his face didn't change one bit. Had he heard me or not?

"Ryan..." I said, looking for an answer.

"That damn lunatic won't get away from me this time. I told you to stay away from him," he exclaimed, visibly angry.

I worried about his reaction and tried to calm him down. "I'm sorry, Ryan. I didn't mean to get you in trouble. I just tried to work it out on my own but it didn't go the way I expected."

Ryan sighed and looked at me with a mixture of frustration and concern. "I'll figure it out," he said resolutely.

"Oh, you have a plan, what is it, what do I have to do?" I asked excitedly.

"You won't do anything," Ryan said.

Excuse me? What did he mean, nothing?