“The second she hangs up, he’ll turn back into a zombie.”
“Well, then we should be happy Stella’s de-zombifying him, yeah?”
“Stella.” I scoffed at her nickname. “You and I are normally on the same page about things.”
Jamie continued writing.
“Why aren’t you as upset with her as I am?”
“What am I supposed to be upset with her about? The fact that she’s an adult living her life?”
I sat back in my chair slowly. “You think I’m being ridiculous.”
His pencil paused, his eyes slipping closed. “No.” He let out a soft breath. “I get it. You feel abandoned?—”
“Wewere. We were the annoying little siblings she left in the dust when her boyfriend hit it big. She never calls. She never comes home.” Folding my arms over my chest, I turned to stare out the window. “Wewereabandoned, Jamie. And I’m the only one who gets that.”
“Jamie, Nellie,” Dad called from the kitchen. “Come say hi to your sister.”
Jamie dropped his pencil and stood, while I watched it roll into the spiral of his notebook. I thought about throwing it across the room so he’d have to hunt for it.
“Hey, Stella,” Jamie greeted cheerfully, as if he hadn’t heard a word I’d just said. Traitor.
I didn’t want to be mad at him for it. I didn’t want to force him to pick a side. But as my twin, the choice should’ve been obvious.
Their conversation didn’t last long, and Jamie’s replies were pretty short. Awkward “yeah, I’m doing good, you?” and “yeah, I’m super excited.” The way you’d talk to a distant aunt, not a sister.
“Nellie.” I lifted my head to find Jamie half in the doorway of the dining room, stretching Dad’s phone out to me. “She… wants to talk to you.”
I stared at him, not moving an inch. “Why?”
“Talk to your sister,” Dad said from the counter, the first order he’d given me in what felt like forever.
Jamie narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, sympathetic.Just do it.
I begrudgingly rose from my seat and rounded the table, taking the phone from Jamie’s outstretched hand. I lifted the phone to my ear, even though every ounce of me wholly did not want to. “Hello.”
“Wow, I haven’t heard your voice in forever.” Destelle’s tone was light, happy, as if there was nothing wrong at all in her beautiful life. “You sound so mature, Nellie.”
Andshesounded so condescending. “I am mature.”
“Sure, sure.” Destelle laughed a little. “I’m planning to bring back a little surprise from Seattle. What size sweatpants does Jamie wear?”
I was silent for a long moment. Unlike Jamie, I didn’t get “hey, how are you?” or “are you excited for graduations?” I didn’t get a single question relating to anything about me. “You want to get him sweatpants?”
“Hey.” She sounded like she was pouting. “Is he still by you? Way to ruin the surprise.”
“That’s thefirst thing you say to me?”
Jamie took a step toward me as Dad lifted his head from his food. “Nellie.”
“You haven’t been home in so long, and you just want to bring him sweatpants?” I gripped Dad’s phone so tightly that I was sure I could’ve made the screen crack just by sheer force. “You’ve missed birthdays, Christmases, but that’s okay because you’ll make it for graduation, and bring sweatpants.”
“If I bring him a T-shirt, will that make it better?”
Her joke boiled my blood further. “It’s not about the stupid sweatpants.” She only saw what she wanted, because only she mattered in that little world of hers. All the irritation that’d been building, mounting the second we’d stepped through the door, reared its head in full glory. “It’s the fact that you can’t evenguesswhat size he wears. You have no idea.”
“You make it sound like I’ve been gone for ages.” Worse than her snapping, Destelle’s voice almost grew gentle, like she was trying to placate a child. And even worse, in that moment with her voice at my ear, I felt like one. “It’s only been a couple of years, Nellie.”
