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“If you only learn one thing from your big sister, then let it be that. Treasure your uniqueness, Sky. You are one of a kind. There is no one in this world quite like you. And there never will be,” she adds the last part with such affection and certainty, that she almost has me believing it.
Again, I can’t help but envy my sister. She is her true self twenty-four seven, while I’m still grasping at straws trying to figure out who I am.
It’s easier for Daisy.
She is a glorious force of nature while I’m a mild bitter wind.
“Okay, let’s go,” she urges, giving me a nudge to get out of my seat. “The night awaits.”
“Great,” I grumble under my breath, already dreading going to this party.
Of course, it’s only when we arrive on the other side of the island twenty minutes later where this so-called last summer bash is being held, that my true panic sets in.
"Daisy, whose house is this?" I ask as we drive through an iron gate with the letter M on it.
"Hmm, I forget,” she replies aloofly.
“You’re lying! I can tell,” I shout.
“Fine,” she says exasperated. “It’s the Monroes.”
Shit on a stick.
"The Monroes’? As in Stacy Monroe’s house? Noah's girlfriend? Jesus H. Christ, Daisy! Why didn’t you tell me this was Stacy’s party?!”
“Why would it matter?”
“Hello? Because last time I was at a party with her, she made sure to embarrass me in front of the whole school!”
“That’s last year’s news. No one remembers that shit anymore.”
I remember, I think to myself.
“It’s just a party, Sky. Besides, there will be so many people here, I’m sure you won’t even run into her anyway. Chillax, will ya?”
It’s not her I don’t want to run into.
It’s Noah.
But I keep that comment to myself too.
I’ve done my best to not put myself in my stepbrother’s path all summer. It hadn’t been as hard as I thought it would be either, since he worked with his father for most of it. Like most fishermen in Thatcher’s Bay, they would leave the house in the early hours of the morning before anyone else was up and only returned home late mid-afternoon. Like clockwork, the minute Noah came home, he would grab a shower and be out the door again to go God knows where until all hours of the night. The only days that I had to be extra cautious to stick to my room were on the weekends, and even then, he would spend most of his time in the garage fiddling with his bike.
I know when school starts back up again next week, this peaceful reprieve between us is going to end. I just thought I’d still have one last weekend where I could pretend he didn’t exist. But now that Daisy has forced me to walk into this lion’s den, aka his girlfriend’s party, all those hopes are tossed out the window.
Completely oblivious to my troubles, Daisy parks our car among a slew of others and jumps out of it, eager to get her party on. I stew in my seat, wondering if she would even notice if I ran home right now.
As if reading my thoughts, Daisy presses her palms flat on the hood of the car and stares at me.
“Don’t even think about it, squirt. Get your ass out of the car. Now, before I drag you out.”
I throw her my meanest glower, but it doesn’t affect her resolve in the slightest. Instead, she just hikes up her brow, crosses her arms over her chest, and taps her foot on the concrete.
“Don’t make me haul your ass out myself.”
Shit.
She’s not bluffing.
