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“Hey,” I say, trying to fake happiness.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, almost immediately.
“I just finished trying to convince Claire to stay home, but no luck.” I sigh.
“Maybe it won’t be that bad. Let’s talk about the biggest pro from the whole situation… I live three houses down,” she says.
“I know, and that’s great, but I can’t just live at your house,” I say, throwing clothes into suitcases.
“But you’re welcome here anytime. Plus, I’ll come over as much as you want me to. Let’s try not to focus on the negative and try to remember that this is our last summer before we go to fucking college. Then we can kiss this place goodbye. I’ve missed you, and I’m excited you’re back,” she says.
I feel bad that I’m putting a damper on our summer. We’ve been counting down the days until I came home ever since I was shipped off. Whenever school let us have friends and family visit, Delaney was always there. She’s always been there.
Me, Mallory and Delaney were thick as thieves all throughout grade school. We were inseparable. Sometimes it feels like she’s the only one that understands that loss I feel. The loss that I fear will never go away. It’s just something I’m going to carry with me for the rest of my life.
Losing a twin is something I can’t even describe. It’s like a piece of your soul is gone. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night and I can’t breathe because I miss her so much.
“You there?” she asks, pulling me from my painful memories.
“Yeah, I’m here, just lost in thought.” I plop down on the side of my bed, sighing.
“I know it’s got to be rough being back. You’ve been missed, though, if that means anything to you,” she says.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m a fucking buzzkill. I’m just trying to adjust to what life was like before I left this shit hole,” I tell her.
“Call me when you get to Spencer’s house. I’ll come down as soon as I can.”
“You got it. Love you, bitch.”
“Back at ya,” she says, before hanging up.
It’s times like this that I find myself really pissed at Mallory. What could have possibly led her to do what she did? I hate that I’ll never get the answers I need to move on.
ChapterTwo
MARLEY
It’s been a week since I got back to town, only to find out my life is being uprooted yet again.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Marley.” My mother sighs, tapping her well-manicured fingers on the steering wheel.
I ignore her and continue to stare out the window. It’s raining, which seems on par with my mood for the day.
“It’s only a few months, Marley. You’ll live.”
I continue to ignore her, because, honestly, I have nothing left to say. It doesn’t really feel like airing my feelings to her will do much good. These are the same people that shipped me off when I was in the middle of grieving my dead twin sister. I’ll never forgive them for that.
The car slows down and I look up, coming face to face with my old childhood home. It hasn’t changed at all in the years I’ve been gone.
“Your father won’t be home until later. He has a meeting.”
“Of course he does,” I mutter.
If she hears me, she doesn’t acknowledge me.
When she parks the car, the front door opens and my older brother, Mitchell, steps outside. Whereas Mallory and I were always the spitting image of our mother, Mitchell looks exactly like my father. He has blonde hair and green eyes. If you didn’t know we were siblings, you’d never figure it out.
Mitch is six years older than me. When everything happened with Marley, he had been in college for a while, taking the first opportunity he could to get the hell out of our house. It’s odd to me that he’s back, but I’m sure a lot has happened since I left.
