I dropped out.
Yes, it was cowardly, and even worse, I had to lie even to my dad aboutwhyI couldn’t go, claiming I was too scared to go on the trip, that I was having anxiety attacks over the very thought. Not a lie…at least until I said it was because I couldn’t handle being so far away from my family. But since I’m already prone to anxiety, it wasn’t a hard lie to sell. Dad called the school and told them I sprained my ankle while waterskiing and that I wasn’t physically up for traveling.
Sure, I’m more than a little bummed that I don’t get to see Pompeii or the Trevi Fountain or the Colosseum, but being afforded the luxury of flying under Sienna’s radar is well worth the price.
Sadly, Blythe has made it pretty damn clear that I’ve ruined her plans by simply being here.
Derek’s down in Alabama for some football thing until after the Fourth of July, and I was supposed to be four thousand miles overseas right now. It should have just been Blythe, my dad, and Vanessa here. Granted, my sister is still enrolled in a summer ballet program, but it’s only during the day, and it’s from Monday through Thursday, giving them all cushy three-day weekends to “make memories” and have fun.
I’m not surehowmy being here has messed things up—maybe Blythe planned activities with age restrictions or requiring a driver’s license or something—but whatever Blythe had in mind is now apparently a no-go.
So, say hello to the family killjoy. I’m here all week…and year.
I’m able to block out my misery for a whole two minutes before Blythe’s voice cuts through me from downstairs. Thankfully, she’s calling up to my sister and not me, but with allthe muttering and eye rolls I’ve been enduring from her this past week, I find myself cringing at her very presence.
I polish off my bagel, choking on the last of the bread instead of doing what I’d like to do: scream! Because a pair of hands suddenly grapples at my window and shoves the bottom half up.
What the hell?
Only once I’ve managed to free the bagel from my upper airway do I hack out the sentiment, seeing it’s my sister. Vanessa, who had apparently climbed the lattice outside my bedroom, heaves herself through the window and not-so-elegantly tumbles onto the floor headfirst.
Since she’s still wearing the same top and jeans she had when she left last night, it’s more than a safe bet that she’s only now just returning.
I steal a glance at my clock.
9:42 a.m.
Did Vanessa, Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes herself, break curfew by nearly eleven hours?
She looks panicked, and rightly so, as Blythe calls up the stairs from the foyer a second time.
The two of them had planned to go shopping this morning for some new leotards or something, and it appears Vanessa’s running more than a little late.
Without so much as a “hello,” my sister pries me off my bed and pulls me out into the hallway. “I need you to buy me some time. Just go down there and distract her for ten minutes.”
“…W-what?” is all I can manage to sputter out, but Vanessa doesn’t bother explaining anything, peeling off her top before she’s even made it into her own room.
Lovely.
I’d been hoping to play the Avoidance Game with Blythe for the foreseeable future, but I don’t know what else I can do that’s “distracting” and also won’t involve talking to her.
Adding to my mounting pile of lies, I drag my sorry ass downstairs and tell Blythe that I haven’t been feeling well and Vanessa was looking after me this morning. Hence, she’s running a little late now.
Another eye roll. “If you think you’re coming down with something, you shouldn’t be around any of us. Your father has a fundraiser early next week, and Vanessa can’t afford to miss any of her summer sessions.”
Again, lovely.
If someone so much as winds up with a scratchy throat or runny nose from even allergies, it’ll be pinned onme.
I shoot Vanessa a text message explaining the excuse, and to my shock, I actually receive a “thanx!”
Not only that, when she comes downstairs, she tells Blythe that she thinks I have food poisoning from the takeout she brought home for me last night. “Hailey ordered the same thing when I went through the drive-thru, and she’s been really sick too.”
I know it’s silly that the exchange leaves me grinning like an idiot, but I’ve missed this.
Vanessa and I were thick as thieves growing up…
Something I can’t say now.
