"god save the prom queen,
teenage daydream"
I wanted so badly to be excited to see my sister again. After all, she left for college all the way in Florida, so the last time I got to see her was when she came down for winter break in December. And it wasn't like we were ever the best of friends—she had a way of shutting people out without realizing it.
But now, as the end of the week was approaching, and I had no choice but to turn down Ivy's offer to stay with me while I faced my sister again, I was starting to understand just how nervous I'd really been.
Watching her walk through the door with only a small duffel bag in hand and a forced smile on her face, I began to feel a certain grumble in my stomach. Why was this—something that was supposed to be so simple—so difficult to do? She was my sister, not a stranger. Although, did those two really cancel each other out?
"Annie, baby!" Dad greeted her immediately, nudging Papa and I to join in a group hug. We all threw our arms around her as she squirmed in our grasp with a smile.
"Hey, guys," she greeted us with a grin. "I missed you all. How have things been at the house? Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"
Dad and Papa shared a look with each other before simultaneously glancing back at me, knowing the only thing that's really been happening was my situation with Graham and Ivy. And by situation, I mean, of course, me dumping Graham and then jumping on the Ivy train within a matter of weeks. Totally not complicated at all.
"Well," I started to say, knowing fully well that my dads were not going to let me get away with not telling my sister. "Funny story, actually!"
While Annie watched me with impatience, the nerves really started to work their way up my body. When I was with Graham, the one person he got along with most in my family was Annie. They had much more in common than he and I ever did—not that Annie and I could agree on much either. Plus, she was his date to homecoming last year when I came down with the flu and wasn't able to go (I didn't want to go anyway). I knew nothing went on between them—he may have been a shitty boyfriend, but Graham was never a cheater—but they've always been close because of that. How was I supposed to tell her he was no longer going to be a part of our lives?
"Get on with it, Cam," Annie huffed as I stuttered my way through half a sentence at a time. She wasn't making things any easier by being so... her.
"Nothing huge has really happened," I lied straight to her face. My dads refused to let that one slide.
"Camryn and Graham broke up," Papa blurted out without giving me another chance to come clean. Dad glared at him while I lowered my head in shame.
Suddenly, it was like Annie's world had fallen apart. I watched her eyes pop in shock and her brows fall, leaving her utterly incredulous. Her smile was nowhere to be found now and her duffel bag was one wrong move away from being dropped onto the floor.
"What? When?" As if on cue, she started interrogating me endlessly, throwing out a "Why?" and one more "What?" for good measure.
"If you must know, our relationship tanked after he decided to put his hands on me."
"Graham put his hands on you?" She asked, with a dark anger overtaking her face. I wanted so badly for that anger to be directed at Graham for being an asshole. For once, I wanted my sister to be on my side.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean when I tried ignoring him, he death-gripped my arm and didn't let me leave. And then-"
"Cam, you're being dramatic. It's Graham we're talking about here—he's in love with you. He probably didn't even do it on purpose."
My heart crumbled. My heart crumbled and my cheeks burned and my eyes clenched and—god damn it, I was crying. I wasn't sure how or when it began, but I couldn't deny the warm tears sliding down my cheeks as her words sank into my ears and dug beneath my skin.
"Annabelle Sako, don't you dare say that to your sister," my dad's voice crashed through my heartbroken silence. When I looked over at him, the hair on his arm was standing up and his expression was nothing short of pissed and stern.
But, of course, she just had to talk back. "What did I do wrong? I know Graham better than she does—I know he wouldn't do something like that."
"No matter what his intentions were, it happened," he continued. "And because it happened, we are going to support Camryn because she is our family and family will always come first. I don't give a fuck how you feel about Graham or how close you two were; if you want to stay in this house for the weekend, you're going to apologize to your sister and then you're going to unpack in your room and think about what you just said to her."
With that, we got one more huff from her before she walked off and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. No apology, no admission of wrongdoing, nothing. Just an impatient sigh and an attitude that practically spelled out "fuck you" to all three of us. And still, I couldn't manage to control my tears.
"I'm sorry, honey," Papa apologized for her as he pulled me into a hug. Dad joined, apologizing as well for his potty mouth while telling her off, but I didn't care at all that he cursed. Sure, it was uncharacteristic of him and, honestly, a little scary, but I was just glad he stood up for me. God knows I couldn't do that myself—not to Annie.
"After tonight, you're welcome to leave early for your California trip if you want," Dad offered with a smile. "Neither of us meant for this to happen."
I shrugged. "We'll see. As long as Sofia keeps her distracted enough at dinner to not say something stupid, it should be fine."
"Okay, well the offer stays on the table. Let us know if you need anything."
I smiled. "I will. Thanks."
They scurried to the kitchen to start cooking as the night crept closer and closer. I made my way up to my room to update Ivy on the events that just took place and accidentally riled her up more than I planned to.
"She said what?" Ivy's voice rang out from the phone.
"Shh! I don't want it to become a bigger issue than it already is."
"Camryn, that's ridiculous. You know nothing she said is true, right?"
I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I know. I just— we haven't seen each other in a while, and that was the first conversation we had? It's just kind of sad, you know?"
"I know, baby," Ivy told me with a soft, calming tone. My skin jumped at the sound of her pet name and I smiled knowing it was all mine. Ivy was all mine.
"At least I get to leave with you soon," I grinned over the phone. "I can't wait for California."
"Oh, about that—"
Before Ivy could finish her sentence, I heard my dad's voice calling me downstairs for something and I had to say goodbye. She looked disappointed that she couldn't explain her situation, but I asked her to tell me later when dinner was over.
As soon as I got to the bottom of the staircase, the first thing I noticed was the pair of blondes at the front door. Annie had the taller one clasped in a hug as they both cried and the second one stood by the door awkwardly with her hands behind her back and a forced smile shining politely on her face. After a short double-take, I confirmed to myself that it was no other than Gabby Stafford herself and her older sister, Sofia.
Unlike those two, who looked practically identical minus a few quirks here and there, Annie and I looked nothing alike. Of course, it was because we were both adopted and we're not technically biological sisters, but any time we'd been out in public with each other, people would always assume we were friends, at most. I couldn't blame them, though. From her bright blue eyes and curly brown hair, down to her tan skin and curvy body, we could not have looked more different from each other. But that wasn't the point here.
The point was that these two virtual strangers were about to have dinner with me and my estranged sister and I had zero say in it.
"Ah, welcome girls!" Papa's voice echoed brightly as he opened his arms to take each of the blondes in a hug before he looked back at me. "Camryn, you know Sofia. Her sister goes to your school, and you're the same age, so we invited her over for dinner."
"We've met," I told him, though I suppose it wasn't technically true. I've heard many things about her, and I was sure she knew who I was at the very least, but we never officially shook hands and said nice to meet you. Was that even the proper way to speak to someone of her popularity level? My only experience thus far was making out with one—when it came to the others, I had no clue what I was doing.
"Thank you for inviting me," Gabby told my father, reciprocating his hug warmly as if it was her natural instinct. For a moment, her forced smile seemed authentic and I couldn't help but wonder what made the change.
After introductions were over, my dads instructed all four of us to sit at the table while they finished presenting the food to us. There were plates and silverware lined on the table at every chair and Annie and Sofia took the two seats right next to each other at the opposite end of where I was sitting. Gabby pulled out the chair at the end of the table, not directly next to anyone, though she was certainly closest to me.
"Camryn, you've grown up so much," Sofia told me as my dads finished up and took their seats. "How's school?"
I nodded dismissively. "It's fine. Just looking forward to graduation."
"Are you going to university?"
"Yeah, Texas State. I have scholarships and everything; now I'm just waiting for senior year to be over so that I can go."
She nodded with a smile as everyone started grabbing food from the serving plates and piling it up on our own. As soon as everyone finished up, Sofia continued again.
"Annie told me you broke up with Graham; I'm sorry."
I looked up at Annie, whose face was dusted in pink blush and whose fork was shoveling food into her mouth faster than I could ever imagine.
"It's whatever," I told her. "He's a shitty person anyway."
"Language," Dad's voice cut me off. I bowed my head as an apology before Sofia continued.
"Well, you're a pretty girl. I'm sure you'll find someone you have a better connection with. Are there any new guys you're seeing?"
I almost giggled at her question. As if I would ever date another man again.
But then she continued. "Or girls?"
Then, I almost choked on my rice.
Surely, it had caught everyone's attention, which was never the plan. I made wary eye contact with Annie, whose face was shocked and almost disgusted. And my dads, who already knew about Ivy, were struggling to hold back a knowing chuckle as Annie looked over at them. And then when I finally looked at Gabby for the first time all night, her expression was almost sympathetic.
"Okay, I get it," Sofia said with a sickly sweet smile. "I won't pressure you. Let's talk later, though."
I wasn't sure if it was her plan to disturb dinner with such an invasive question, but her devilish grin wanted to convince me that it was fully intentional.
Annie didn't speak a word to me the rest of the night and dinner was wildly awkward after that. Gabby kept sneaking me concerned glances as Sofia and Annie shared unreadable looks with each other across from me. Dad tried assuring me nothing was wrong after dinner, though there wasn't an ounce of me that believed him.
Later, as I kept to myself in my room to avoid any more tension, I heard a knock at my door.
"Hey, Camryn," an unfamiliar voice called out to me. "Can I come in?"
I stepped off my bed out of pure curiosity, not recognizing the voice at all. But when I opened the door, Gabby's curled blonde hair and lightly made-up face greeted me warmly at the entrance.
"Um, yeah," I answered instinctually, not sure what else to say. "Come in."
She nodded and walked inside as I shut the door behind her. "Your room is so neat. Makes sense."
"Thanks, I think."
"I'm sorry about Sofia," Gabby told me. "She's just a retired mean girl wanting to start some drama. You don't have to tell her anything."
"I wasn't planning on it, but thanks." My voice came out sharper than I intended, and when I saw Gabby's expression shift, my best idea to remedy it was by forcing out a cough.
"Um, well, Ivy told me about you guys," she revealed. I wanted to roll my eyes and be upset with Ivy, but it would've been stupid considering Gabby was one of her best friends. It was unfair for me to expect her not to tell her friends, especially when it was such a big deal between us to not keep each other some big secret.
"She said she's bringing you on the trip," Gabby continued.
I nodded. "Is that okay?"
"Of course it is. None of us have anything against you, so it's completely fair for her to invite you. It's just..."
"What?"
"I don't know if she told you yet, but Ingrid invited someone too."
"Who?" Please don't let it be him, please don't let it be him—
"Graham."