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But when a sliver of light appeared, she knew her sister was coming in. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her to leave and that she didn’t want to talk, but…she couldn’t do it. Being mean or spiteful to Chloe was something she never did.
Ever.
The mattress dipped and Chloe snuggled up behind her and hugged her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Sometimes I forget that even though you come off like nothing bothers you to the rest of the world, that you have a soft heart and things do hurt you. And I’m sorry that I’m the one that did it.”
Ashlynn took a moment to collect her thoughts and try to stop the tears from falling. “I hate that you think those things about me,” she said quietly. “I didn’t realize…”
“Hey, don’t, okay? I love who you are. You’re fierce and strong and flawed.” She hugged her a little tighter. “And it’s okay to be flawed, Ash. We all are.”
“I know I’m flawed, but it was the look on your face that got me. Like…like you looked at me as if you really didn’t…well…like me. And it hurt.”
Behind her, Chloe nodded. “In that moment, I didn’t. Sometimes I don’t get why you react the way you do, but sometimes you accuse me of the same thing. We don’t have to be the same or have the same emotions, but we do have to love and respect each other. I’m sorry if it didn’t come across that way.”
Shifting slightly, Ashlynn rolled over so she could face her sister. They used to do this sort of thing when they were growing up. At night, when they were supposed to be sleeping, Chloe would come and crawl into her bed and they’d talk under the blankets, especially when one of them was upset. It was something that started after their father left, and apparently it never stopped.
“I’m glad we’re not doing this under a blanket tent,” she said with a small smile. “Thank you for being the bigger person and coming in to check on me.”
“Always, Ash.” They both grew quiet.
“Are you going to tell me what you meant before? You know, the whole ‘according to me’ comment?”
Chloe’s lips twitched. “I just meant that sometimes you don’t always look at situations the way they really happen. You react, normally with anger or some other strong emotion, and you refuse to look at it in any other way.”
“Right…” she said slowly.
“And I think that maybe that’s what happened all those years ago. I don’t think what Reid did was malicious or…”
“He basically told the entire school that I wore kiddie underwear, Chloe! He said, and I quote, that my panties had Olaf from Frozen on them!”
“Okay, but…they did.” She shrugged. “That movie was huge for us and I remember us buying anything and everything with the characters on it. We used to think it was funny.” Another shrug. “Basically, he was just stating a fact.”
With a huff, she sat up. “That wasn’t what pissed me off,” she explained, trying to stay calm. “It was the fact that he told everyone! I didn’t realize my skirt was going to blow up in the wind! He asked me to go for a walk with him and I agreed. Then we stepped outside and it was windy and…” Her arms gestured wildly. “My skirt goes up, he sees my underwear, I shriek and run inside, and he tells everyone!”
“Maybe they asked?”
This was the reason her go-to reaction was rage—questions like this.
“No one would have specifically asked what kind of underwear I wore.”
At least, she always told herself that.
“And besides, he could have said a hundred different things. He could have said I tripped. He could have said it was too windy. But instead, he came in and announced that he had seen my underwear and Olaf the snowman was on them! Do you remember how many Olaf stuffed animals I got after that? And stickers and drawings and…gah! It was ridiculous! All because Reid did a terrible thing!”
“And yet you’re with him now,” Chloe said simply. “So you’re okay with it and you’ve moved on.”
“Yes!”
“And you don’t think this is going to be an issue down the line? Like something you’re going to throw back in his face when you’re mad at him for something?”
“I’m a lot of things, Chlo, but I’m not psychic. I can’t see into the future. And what are you getting at?”
“The whole sabotage thing, remember? I just don’t want you falling back on one silly thing…”
“It wasn’t silly. It was awful, and I’m moving on. But if you keep reminding me…”
“Okay, okay, you’re right. Just…” She let out a long breath. “I don’t want to see you ruining something that could be really good. Reid’s a nice guy and he seems to really like you. So…just be happy. That’s all I’m saying.”
“I’m working on it,” Ashlynn admitted. “I really am.”
