This was almost electric.
“What’s going on?” Penn asked a moment later as she burst into my bedroom, immediately stopping to scan my bare bedroom walls. “What… happened?”
“Daisy got into NYU!” Mom screeched, and unable to sit still, she launched up from my bed. She thrust my phone into Penn’s face, but she barely gave my sister time to read before Mom turned back to me. “Daisy got into NYU!”
“She did?” Penn’s eyes widened, a smile beginning to build on her lips. “No way!”
“Daisy got into NYU?” Junie appeared in my open bedroom doorway, her blonde hair tucked behind her ears to expose her little expression. “The college you’ve been wanting to go to, Daisy?”
I nodded in disbelief, the words printing themselves over and over again in my mind.You have been admitted to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. It almost felt as if I was dreaming, my siblings pouring into my room to celebrate the success with me. Even Theo hopped up onto my bed and jumped, cheering with Ivy, who came over to push at my shoulder. Despite yelling at them the day before,they were celebrating with me now, because that was our family.
Even without the pictures on my wall, my fall plans flashed through my mind—going to New York, settling into a dorm, living the life I’d been dreaming of for years. My heart twinged then, because the first person I wanted to tell—the person who’d been right beside me all those years as I’d been dreaming—was someone I couldn’t bear to face.
“Daisy’s going to NYU!” Ivy cheered, her words lisping a little through the gaps in her teeth, her smile just as bright without them.
A different thought popped into mind.It’s silly that you talk about NYU like you’ll go,Dalton had said.
“I’m so going,” I said, replying to her and to the voice in my head. Mom let out anotherwhoopof excitement, taking Penn’s hand and giving it a swing. Imagining my ex-boyfriend’s face in my mind’s eye, I thought,Take that, jerk.
CHAPTER 23
That night, Mom and I split tucking the kids in, but instead of asking for Mom, Junie asked for me.
Ivy crawled into bed first, fluffing her covers over her while I held the corner of Junie’s duvet up so she could crawl in. “Did you have fun with Mom home?” I asked her lightly.
After celebrating my NYU acceptance in my bedroom, we ended up taking a short road trip to the beach in Bayview. It was the perfect afternoon by the water, where we swam and soaked up sun—and maybe got a little sunburnt—and went out for dinner after. Theo’s eyes were droopy on the car ride home, but I’drefusedto let him close them for more than three seconds. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Junie avoided my gaze as I settled her blankets over her. “Yeah.”
I glanced over at Ivy, who was already curled on herside. “Mom was saying her work offers a few work-from-home days a month,” I said, reaching to push Junie’s hair off her rosy cheeks. “She’ll have to work during the day, but she’ll be home to pop in and say hi. That’ll be nice.”
A tiny tear suddenly trickled out of Junie’s eye, and she pulled her blankets up higher. “Yeah.” This time, the word was nothing more than a squeak.
“Hey.” I sat down at the top of her bed, combing my fingers through her hair the same way Mom had done to me earlier. “What’s wrong?”
Another tear leaked down her cheek, lashes clustering with wetness. “I just miss having Mom home,” Junie murmured, words muffled by her blanket. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
A tender feeling pressed down on my chest, and I slid my arm around my little sister, squeezing her close to me. “I know. But that’s why we have to think of things a bit more before we say them. We have to think about if they’ll hurt someone’s feelings.”
Junie snuggled herself deeper against my side. “I’m not good at that.”
I snorted.No, you are not. “You get better as you get older.”
“But you’ll never hate me if I hurt your feelings.” I could hear the insecurity in her voice.
And it made me tuck her closer. “Never. We’re sisters. We can fight, but we always apologize.”
She nodded a little. “I’m sorry for throwing the cup at you. And for elbowing you in the face. And for saying you’re old and boring.”
“You know, you don’t have to list everything out like that?—”
“I love you, Daisy.” Junie gave me one final squeeze before tucking her arms to her chest.
Ivy, from her bed, murmured sleepily, “I love you, too, Daisy.”
“And I love you.” I pulled myself up from Junie’s bed to move to Ivy’s, leaning down to drop an obnoxious kiss on her forehead. She giggled, swiping it away. “Get some sleep.”
I shut their bedroom door behind me, but before I went to my room, I stopped by Penn’s. Her door wasn’t fully shut, but I still hesitated in knocking, debating what I wanted to say. A second later, it tugged inward, revealing Penn on the other side of the threshold. “I thought that was your heavy breathing out here.”
