Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
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"Now the season is over, have they announced the new all-ivy team?"
I look up from the orgasmically good chocolate cake I was scarfing down to study my sister's face. She's put her own fork aside, attention turned to me. She looks genuinely curious.
"Um, yeah, a few weeks ago."
"Okay... So who'd it go?"
I glance over at Cat, watching our conversation, with a soft smile. When our eyes connect, she shrugs almost imperceptibly, and I know what she means by that; Chloé is trying, and it's not her fault that she doesn't know exactly how little I care about that competition.
"I got an honorable mention," I say.
"Oh." She tilts her head. "That's still cool. Congratulation."
Honestly, I haven't given it a second thought since that night, but I give my sister a crooked smile.
We're sitting on the back porch, covered in blankets and enjoying our afternoon snack, just the three of us. Chloé has been downright polite ever since we arrived yesterday, and I'm still playing catch-up. It's like I've forgotten how to act normally around my sister.
I notice the two girls sharing a look, Chloé's brows furrowed like she can discern that something is going unsaid, but she can't figure out what.
Cat shakes her head, patting Chloé's leg under the table, and I return my attention to my plate, trying to give them privacy. I'm learning to read Cat remarkably well, but those two don't need words to communicate.
I'm happy Cat doesn't seem to be giving away my secrets. Maybe I'll be ready to talk to Chloé about this one day, but it's too soon. I don't trust this new truce to survive my sister's entire image of me crumbling. It's too fragile.
"Anyway, you two are coming home for Easter, right?" Chloé asks, clearing her throat.
I nod, resting my arm around Cat's chair as I stuff the last piece of cake into my mouth. "Yeah, wouldn't miss it," I mumble around my food.
Cat rolls her eyes at me affectionately. "Sarah and John are flying in, so we'll get to meet Millie for the first time."
I run my hand up and down her arm, glancing at the plate in front of her. The cake is virtually untouched. I look over at Chloé's plate - she'd taken the biggest piece of any of us - and her's is long gone.
"What's up, Kitty?" I murmur. "You've barely touched your cake."
She smiles at me. "Just not hungry."
"You haven't eaten all day. You want me to get you something else?"
Cat is already shaking her head when Chloé's cup clatters loudly against the saucer as she sets it down forcibly.
