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Ch.24-Return to Insanity

I still wasn't convinced that seeing my sister standing in front of me wasn't just some weird dream. Because how could it be real? She should have left and gone home to Nevada, living her perfect life being praised by our parents.

So what the hell could she be doing here?

"U-um," I stammered. "W-what?"

The smiled didn't leave her face. She was wearing jeans and one of her designer tops, a Gucci handbag slung over her shoulder. She looked ready for the runway, like always. "Hi, Lily."

I was still frozen, in pure disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

She shifted her feet awkwardly, smile faltering the slightest bit. "Am I not welcome?"

"No, of course you are," I muttered, stepping aside, allowing her entrance. I shut the door, head buzzing, still waiting to wake up. "I just don't understand how you're here right now."

"I took a plane."

"What?"

"And a bus. Two, actually. God, they were so disgusting."

That sounded more like her. So maybe this wasn't all some heinous illusion. "Why?"

She set down her bag, and I took that time to really look at her. She was beat, exhausted. Even her sun-kissed skin had a greyish tint to it. "I'm done, Lily."

I strode into the kitchen, hearing her footsteps behind me as she followed. I still needed to do the dishes. "Done with what?"

"Our parents. They're driving me fucking insane."

I snorted. How long had I been waiting for her to say those words? And yet, they weren't nearly as satisfying as I thought they would be. "Go on. This topic I understand."

She fell into a chair with a dramatic sigh. "Mom is going crazy. Even Dad's started "staying over" at the office to avoid her wrath and insanity. She's completely berserk, Lily, and I don't know what to do. It's runway this, fashion show that. And, yeah, I used to love it, but she's kind of sucked the fun out of everything."

I scrubbed furiously at a plate, feeling the blast of warm water hit my hands. "She's a fun-sucker," I agreed.

"Right?" she sighed again. "I just couldn't do it anymore."

"So, what? You thought, 'hey, I'll just go bug Lily in North Carolina' and hopped a plane and two buses? You do realize you are now on the other side of the country, don't you?"

"Yes," she stated, and I could hear the eye roll in her voice. "I'm not stupid. I passed geography class."

"Okay, Jas."

"And I was kind of at my tipping point already," she added, in a quieter tone. "After she yelled at you at Bella Aurora's. I knew then I was done. I really do miss you, Lily."

I paused with a fork in my hand, hunched over the sink. The water still ran, a steady shhr-ing sound that kept my thoughts from wandering too far. "This is weird."

She made some sort of guttural sound of agreement. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"We shouldn't be feeling this awkward."

"And yet . . . we are."

I nodded. It was true. We'd lived lives too drastically different, even as we existed side-by-side. Our mother was the dividing line, deep and significant, keeping us from touching or overlapping. She wanted that distinct division between her greatest prodigy and her greatest mistake.

"I gave up college for this opportunity," Jasmine mentioned. I set the fork down and dried my hands on a towel, deciding the dishes could wait. After all, it wasn't ever night the older sister you never thought you'd see again (or for at least a good five years) makes a surprise visit. "I'm twenty years old, Lily. I could be well on my way to a degree. But no. I listened to our mother, and that stupid little voice inside my head that told me I wanted this-that I really wanted it-and I just don't."