Page 101 of Finding Fate

Tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes. “Yes, I should. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Do you really believe that?”

She sobbed. “Stupid hormones. Can’t I get through anything without crying?” “Maybe,” she replied.

Jet shook his head. “Not a single one of us blames you for those things. We all know it was an accident. Tucker especially. There’s no point in feeling guilt over what you can’t control.”

“It’s still true, though. Everything’s ruined.” Tears still ran steadily down her cheeks.

“I’m not going to lie, Izzy. Things are definitely different.”

“Tell me about it,” she sobbed.

He smiled. “But we’ll get through it together. That’s what best friends do. That’s what sisters do. That’s what you do with the person you love with all your heart.”

She smiled a little and leaned against his shoulder. He reached over with his other arm and gave her a squeeze. “You really are a sweetheart, Jet.”

“So they tell me,” he joked.

She hiccupped a laugh, still leaning against him.

“Hey, Izzy?”

“Yeah?”

“Just so you know, Tucker doesn’t think you ruined his future at all. Even though you convinced him to still try to play in college, you know what he said to me on his birthday?” He felt her shake her head. “That basketball is just a game. You’re so much more important than that to him.”

Her tears strengthened, and he wrapped her in a hug. “Talk to your sister, okay? Work through the rest together.”

She nodded her head, and they sat there like that for a while on the side of the road. Izzy crying senselessly as she often did nowadays, and Jet holding his girlfriend’s sister, his best friend, in comfort.

While he waited for her tears to cease, he couldn’t help but wonder, “What does this say about what it will be like when Annie’s pregnant one day if Izzy’s the reserved twin?” He shut the thought out quickly. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

* * *

Isabel stepped inside her house a little later that afternoon. It had been nearly two hours since school had let out, but she still had at least an hour before her mom got home, and Tyler usually caught a ride home with Helen and Chris lately.

She went to the kitchen to grab a snack before going to look for Annie. It was already clean when she went in, so she knew Annie was probably working on one of the bathrooms by now.

She grabbed a strawberry yogurt from the fridge and ate it quickly, making sure to put her spoon in the dishwasher to keep the kitchen clean when she was done.

Realizing she was still pretty hungry, she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the counter and sat down on one of the stools. She ate more slowly this time, absently rubbing circles along her growing stomach and allowing herself time to think about what had happened after school today.

Jet was right. She had screwed up. Annie didn’t deserve what she had done to her. She should have been thrilled to have a sister who cared that much about her. Instead, she stabbed her in the back first chance she got.

“Ugh…I disgust myself.”

And on top of that, Jet was having to tell her to talk to Annie. She used to do that all on her own. What was with her now? It was like being pregnant screwed up everything that was normal about her and her life.

“Or maybe you just depend that much more on Tucker now.”The thought surprised her as she realized it was true. Somehow, that made her just as happy as it did sad.

She shook her head as she popped the last bite of banana into her mouth and threw away the peel. “One issue at a time,” she thought as she headed off to find her sister.

She went to check the Jack and Jill bathroom between Tyler’s bedroom and the small room their father had used for an office. It was currently a weird mix of storage and her father’s sketches and blueprints they hadn’t had the heart to clean out, but that heartrending chore was coming as Destiny drew near.

Isabel found Annie on her knees, leaning over the bathtub, her ponytail dangling over her shoulder while she vigorously scrubbed the dirt and grime from the bottom of the tub. She watched with feelings of remorse. Annie only got that into her cleaning when she was really upset.

“Hey, sis?”

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