Page 78 of Come As You Are

But whatisthe worst that could happen? I have nothing to do with her going to rehab. I have nothing to do with whatever punishments my parents have meted out. I already know she hasn’t successfully brought Claire over to the dark side,and if shehastaken Craig, well, I can’t imagine something I’d care less about at this point.

So I guess there’s not a whole lot to worry about.

Maybe.

I make the call.

But the voice that picks up on the other end isn’t hers.

“Evie?” Mom sounds puzzled. “You’re trying to reach Sierra?”

“I figured maybe we should talk before I see her tomorrow, but that’s okay. I can definitely wait.” I pause. “Why do you have her phone?”

She sighs. “Sierra’s phone privileges have been restricted. But I think we can make an exception in this case. Hold on, I’ll get her.”

So much for that out. I mutter a “thanks” and wait for a full two minutes before I finally hear the voice I’ve been avoiding for six months.

“Finally decided to acknowledge my existence, huh?” is a hell of an opening line.

“Are youfuckingkidding me?”

On the other end of the line, Sierra whistles. “Wow. Somebody got a spine up at fancy boarding school. Maybe Mom and Dad taking out a second mortgage so you could get away from your loser boyfriend was worth it after all.”

“Apparently it’s more than you learned in rehab,” I snap back. “And was that free because it was court-ordered, or…”

“Fuck you.”

“Right back atcha, sis.” I can’t believe I bothered calling.I can’t believe I let Salem convince me there was even an ounce of merit to this. I want to hang up on her, run upstairs, and yell at him for even suggesting it, but then I remember that’s exactly what he wanted to enable me doing today, and it cools my temper, just a little. “Anyway, thought maybe we should connect before seeing each other tomorrow, but turns out I haven’t missed a thing—you’re exactly the person I left behind.”

“How could I possibly be anything else? Perfect Everett Riley’s screwup sister. God, you hadeverythingand it still wasn’t enough for you.”

Ihad everything.Ihad everything? My jaw drops to the floor.

Last fall, Claire was experimenting with lenticular prints, and I remember her going on about how fascinating it was that one piece of art could have completely different sides never seen at the exact same time.

Clearly, my sister and I are a lenticular print, because I have no idea what the hell she’s imagining if she’s thinking about the Evie of a few months ago.

“You thinkIhad everything? No, I had two things you didn’t in the entire world: a boyfriend and a best friend. And you, who had friends and parties and apparently a boatload of drugs, took them both without even really wanting either one. I came here without anything or anyone, because ofyou.”

She snorts. “Yeah, great friends I had. No one’s even talking to me anymore.”

“That certainly isn’tmyfault.”

“Of course not. Everything’s my fault. Everything is always my fault. Craig hit onme,you know.”

“You’re aware that just because a guy hits on you doesn’t mean you need to reciprocate, right? I feel like ‘Hard pass, you’re my sister’s boyfriend’ is a pretty solid rejection.”

“Okay, this was like a million years ago. How can you possibly still be hung up on that guy? He’s pathetic.”

“I’m not hung up on Craig; I’m hung up on how you hurt me, and how I can’t trust you, and how shitty that is.”

“Yeah, well.”

I wait for a follow-up, but nothing comes. “Is that seriously all you have to say about it?”

She lets out an aggravated sigh. “What do you want from me, Evie? It happened. It’s over. Neither of us cares about him anymore. And as for Claire, I assure you, no one’s trying to steal your boring friends. My life is shit. Your life is great. Tomorrow you can gloat about it in person. We all set?”

God, I knew this conversation was gonna be bad, but I truly didn’t know it would bethisbad.

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