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“Who are you texting?” Mom asks.
I lift my eyes from the screen, wanting to say, “None of your business.” But as per my new This Is Winter’s Week, Let’s Not Ruin It policy, I go with, “Lana. I’m checking if she has everything sorted for tomorrow, or if she needs help with any last-minute details.”
“Oh, what are you girls doing?”
I smile a little viciously, staring at the groom. “It’s top secret; I can’t divulge that information.”
Logan groans. “If it involves male nudity, I’d prefer not to know.”
My grin widens. “Sorry, pal, but the day is going to be filled with studs.”
The professor shakes his head. “Now I really don’t want to know.”
I don’t tell him the studs are actual horses, and that we’ve planned to spend most of the day at a riding ground.
My sister narrows her eyes at me. “I told you I didn’t want a stripper.”
“Hey, don’t look at me,” I snap. “I’m not in charge of the event; the maid of honor is.”
Okay, that came out snarkier than I intended, bringing to the surface more touchy-feely emotions than I cared to reveal.
“Summer,” Winter says, “I didn’t pick Lana as maid of honor to punish you for what happened.”
I shrug. “Whatever.”
Now that the topic is out there, I can no longer pretend it didn’t sting that my sister didn’t ask me to be her maid of honor.
My phone pings with Lana’s answer.
From Lana
Sure, come up whenever you want
I flip the screen toward the table. “Speaking of the devil,” I say, getting up. “I’d better go before it gets too late.” I nod at my parents. “Thank you for dinner.” And then I wave at my sister. “See you tomorrow.”
I don’t wait for anyone’s reply and practically flee the restaurant. I know I’m acting like an ass, but sometimes I really can’t stand the way my family looks at me. I know I’ve let them down, that I went from perfect child to problem child in a blink, and that none of them will ever be able to look at me the same after what I did. But couldn’t they let me forget it at least for an hour or two?
Yet maybe I don’t deserve to forget, not even for a minute.
When I knock on Lana’s door ten minutes later, I’m still rattled by the dinner and the dark thoughts it has stirred up.
“Hey.” She opens the door with her usual warm smile, takes me in once, then does a double take.
Wow, do I look that horrible?
But she surprises me by saying, “You look great.”
“Really?” I enter her room, and she shuts the door behind me. “Because I feel awful.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I semi-argued with my mom at dinner about you-know-what.” I plonk on a chair. “And then I got mad at my sister for picking you as maid of honor over me.”
Lana sits on the bed opposite me. “Summer, you do know why she picked me, right?”
“Because I’m the undesirable twin number one?”
“No, because being maid of honor means you have to deal with a lot of the guests to organize stuff, and she didn’t want you to be uncomfortable with… certain people?”
