Page 53 of If My Wishes Came True
She laughs. “Yeah, but how long will you actually be living there…”
She’s not asking, so much as telling me she wouldn’t uproot her life and follow me to Chicago, when there’s no guarantee I’ll be here long-term. I get it—I’m “Runaway Jenna,” after all.
Or, Iwas.
“Something feels different here, in Chicago,” I say. “For the first time in my life, I’m starting to put down roots. I have a great therapist, and I’m painting again, and making new friends, and I’m even?—”
My heart flutters thinking about Charlie, and our plans to hang out again today.
“What?” my sister asks. The excitement in her voice is unmistakable, and it fills me with pure joy. She knows where I’m going with this.
I smile. “I’m dating someone. His name is Charlie. He’s my new neighbor, actually. I literally crashed right into him when I was walking out of the elevator.”
“Sounds like the perfect meet-cute,” Christy says.
“It definitely felt like a scene from a movie,” I tell her. “When our eyes met, something sparked between us. I know it sounds crazy. Maybe it was just lust, but…sometimes I wonder if it was love at first sight.”
“Oh my god.” She sounds choked up. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say something like this.”
“Thanks,” I tell her, on the verge of tears again, myself. “But don’t get your hopes up too high, yet. Charlie and I have only been out a few times.”
“Just knowing that you’re open to loving someone again…it’s the best news I could wish for,” she says.
I wipe my eyes. “You’re the sweetest sister in the world. And I know you’re going to find someone special. So, don’t worry, okay? If things don’t work out in New York, just come here, and I’ll be your matchmaker.”
“You’d really want me to move to Chicago?” she asks after a beat.
I nod. “We haven’t lived in the same place since I went away to college. It’d be nice, wouldn’t it?”
“I’ve always wanted us to be closer,” Christy says. “Not just geographically, but…”
“I know you have,” I tell her when she trails off. “And I feel terrible that I spent the last eight years pushing you away. It’s only because you could see right through my act. You knew that I wasn’t okay, but I didn’t have the strength to face it yet. But all that’s changed now. And I promise to do everything I can to fix what I broke between us.”
“You didn’t break anything,” my sister says. “Maybe just a small dent, but nothing’s broken. Our relationship is stronger than that. I need it to be, Jenna. Because Mom and Dad…”
“What about Mom and Dad?” I ask, my curiosity piqued. As far as I know, Christy gets along great with both our parents. Oras well as one can, given their personalities.
“They kinda suck,” she says.
I throw my head back, laughing. “I had no idea you felt that way, too! I mean, Mom is Mom…she’s not super involved in either of our lives. But I always thought you and Dad got along.”
Christy sighs. “He’s less of a jerk to me, I guess…but I’ve never been a fan of the way he treats you. He never supported you in anything you wanted to do, whether it was art, or cheer. He snubbed his nose at it, because he didn’t think it was impressive enough to brag about to his friends at the country club. Meanwhile, he boasted about my academic achievements like they were his own, even thoughIwas the one who did all the hard work. Well…fuck him.”
I lift my hand to my mouth, overcome with an unfamiliar sense of validation. Also, I’m stunned, because I’ve never heard Christy say “fuck.” We Andersen girls don’t swear much.
“I’m sorry I never spoke up to Dad about it,” she continues. “I should have told him he was being unfair to you. It’s selfish, but I was afraid he would turn on me, too. And then I’d have no one. Because you’d go away to college, and Mom would keep being Mom. Dad was actually engaged in my life, since he was Dean of my school. It wasn’t the father-daughter relationship I dreamed of having…but it was something.”
“I understand,” I tell her. “And it doesn’t matter. You were a kid, for one thing. You shouldn’t have to teach your dad how to parent. Besides, he never would’ve listened to you, anyway. He’s far too stubborn.”
Christy lets out a little laugh. “That’s true.”
I pause for a beat. “Do you think Mom would consider therapy if I told her how much I’m benefiting from it?”
Maybe all my mom needs is someone who cares enough to find her help—the way Vanessa did for me.
“It’s worth a shot,” my sister says. “I don’t think Mom is beyond hope, the way Dad is.”
“I’ll talk to her about it. I’d rather do it in person, though…so maybe over Thanksgiving. Are you going to come home?”
