Page 3 of Places I've Never Been

Piper and Della sparred like this every now and then over the years, but underneath the bickering was a firm foundation of love and support. Piper and Della weren’t just sisters, they were best friends.

But now Mattie could feel that bedrock crumbling with every word. The pieces of it broke off and dragged her down, down, down with them.

Della lifted her chin in defiance, oblivious to the pain behind the anger in her sister’s eyes. “You’re just jealous that I have the guts to make a big change and you don’t. You’ve always been jealous of me. You can’t stand it that my voice isbetter than yours. I always get the spotlight, and it drives you crazy.”

Mattie gasped. She covered her mouth with both hands, but it didn’t stop the pressure that built in her chest.

“Della!” Lizzie’s voice was sharp and stern. “You don’t mean that. You know you don’t. Both of you take a breath and back off.”

“Yes, she does,” Piper said. Her voice was rough and thick and nothing like her normal rich alto. “Look at her. She means every word. Hell, she’s probably been planning that speech for years. I have news for you,littlesister, I wouldn’t have to fight for a spotlight if you knew how to share. And if your voice is so damn perfect, why do the fans always want to interview me instead of you? If you knew how to make a genuine connection, you wouldn’tneedto go solo.”

“Please…” Mattie clutched her throat. It felt like someone was choking her from the inside out. “Please stop fighting.”

Della breathed like she was in the middle of a difficult dance number. Piper’s dig had struck a deep nerve. “Oh bite me. I don’tneedto go solo, I want to because I’m sick of you constantly dragging me back into the shadows just so you can steal the glory. I’m sick of having to twist into knots so you feel special too.”

Piper’s head jerked back as if she’d been slapped. From the look in her eyes, there would be no coming back from this fight.

“Screw you, Della,” Piper snarled. “Someday you’ll wake the hell up and realize what you did today, and you’ll come crawling back to us, crying about how sorry you are. I’m telling you now. Don’t bother. As far as I’m concerned, we aren’t sisters anymore. I don’t even know who you are. You’re a goddamn stranger.”

Piper snatched a pair of pants and a shirt off the rack and stalked out.

“Piper, wait!” Lizzie reached out, but she was too late. The door slammed shut behind Piper, leaving the three of them staring at it in silence.

Mattie shuddered and gasped, but the pain in her chest wouldn’t let her breathe. Her family was broken, and she wasn’t sure the pieces would ever be mended.

“Bitch.” Della whirled away from the door. “She always has to have the last word. She’ll get over it.”

“You really don’t know what you’ve done, do you?” Lizzie sounded incredibly sad, and the devastation etched lines on her face, making her look older.

Della bit her lip. “I know what I’m doing. I’m not an idiot, and I’m not as naive as you all seem to think I am. Renic has plans for all of us. If she hadn’t been so pigheaded I would have explained the rest of it. This will work out great, you’ll see.”

Mattie couldn’t tell if her sister really believed what she was saying, or if she was trying to convince herself. Something tense and desperate bubbled underneath all that bravado. Della wasn’t as happy as she appeared to be and probably hadn’t been for a long time. Maybe since Dad’s funeral. That was when Della’s sunny disposition had seemed to tarnish, but Mattie hadn’t been able to offer her the support she needed because her own heart had been so devastatingly broken.

The last three years had been rough, but the music pulled them through. At least, she thought it had. Now she wasn’t so sure. All the things they left unsaid had festered and spoiled all the good things.

“I don’t give a crap about what Renic has planned. This thing that you two cooked up just split up ourfamily.” Lizzie’s voice broke on the word family. “We became The Bellamy Sisterstogether. We made music, we toured the country, wegrew uptogether. And now we won’t be together anymore. Do you get that?”

Mattie covered her face. The silent tears converted to sobs she just couldn’t stop. She couldn’t take this. It was her father’s death, all over again, only this time there was no car accident, and no drunk driver to blame. The only thing she could blame was her sister, and she didn’t want to do that.

“This is stupid,” Della said. Her voice was thick now, too. “We’re still sisters. We can’t change that, no matter what Piper says. It’s genetics.”

“If you really believed that, then why didn’t you talk to us about this first?” Lizzie’s arm shook as she put it around Mattie’s shoulders. “I always knew you were a little too focused on yourself, Della. I just never realized you were so…so…cruel. It’s not like you. You can’t go through with this.”

“I already did.” Mattie heard Della move closer. “Mattie…you get it, don’t you?”

Mattie lowered her hands and met Della’s gaze through a haze of tears. “No.”

Della huffed out a breath. Her face was blotchy, and there were tears in her eyes now, too. “Come on. You have loads of songs nobody will ever hear because Dream Works and Omega won’t let us record them. They don’t fit our brand.” Della stretched out the words with the snotty undertone of a spoiled child. “Don’t you think they deserve to be heard? You always say how sad it is, all those words going to waste.”

“I didn’t mean this.” Mattie blinked, but the tears wouldn’t stop. She wasn’t sure they ever would. “I told you, the songs that really matter are the ones we sing together. Without us, they’re just empty words.”

Della pressed her lips together and wrapped her arms around herself. “Renic says this will open doors for all of us. You’ll see.”

“Renic.” Lizzie gripped Mattie’s shoulders so tight she thought they might break. “This is his fault. We’re going over there and fixing this. Now.”

No.” Della dropped her gaze to the floor and sniffed. “There’s nothing to fix. It’s done.”

“No it’s not.” Lizzie glanced at Mattie. “Do you want to come with me?”

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