The Right Wrong - FULL STORY

Chapter Two - Missing the signs.

“Come on Honey, it's been three years and Elle really wants to bury the hatchet” Mom pleaded with me over the phone. I'd been back for 11 weeks and had managed to ignore her so far. Agreeing to a family dinner now would undo all that hard work. I wasn't normally one to hold a grudge, okay so maybe I was. I had ignored the friend request Nate had sent me on facebook a year ago when I was in New Zealand solely because of prom night.

Dammit. I wouldn't feel bad for this, Elle had never like me, she'd always looked for subtle ways to torture me.

“Mom, I'm sorry, with school starting I'm really busy” I lied. The truth was I'd been ready for school for an entire week.

“Juni, please. I hate seeing you two fight, it hasn't been the same here since your dad left” her voice wavered. “It feels like our family is broken.”

Her words stung. I'd been away when he'd decided the grass was greener somewhere else two years ago. His actions had left me even more bitter about the opposite sex. The man who I'd trusted my entire life, up and left his wife of 25 years because some younger woman had given him a fraction of her attention. Mom was right, our family was broken.

So much had changed since I'd gone on my gap year. When I'd found out about Dad leaving I'd done the selfish thing and announced I was staying away longer. It had been an amazing adventure and I didn't regret any of it... But now it was my turn to do something for Mom.

“Ugh, fine, but I swear if she says anything insulting I'm leaving.”

“Understood, she really has grown up these past couple of years”

“I'll believe it when I see it” I replied, clearly not holding the same faith in Elle that my mother did.

“Well how does tonight suit? Elle is bringing her new boyfriend so perhaps that would break the tension?” Mom suggested hopefully.

I almost laughed. Boys were what got between Elle and I in the first place. I found it hard to believe she had a boyfriend, she'd never been the committing type.

“Uh, yeah maybe” I replied.

“6:30 tonight then?” I looked over at the clock and frowned. It was already 4:30, I less than two hours to mentally prepare myself for seeing my sister. Great.

“All right Mom. Should I bring anything?”

“Just yourself honey. See you then”

Regret surged through me the minute the call ended. Elle and I had never been close, this 'burying the hatchet' thing just seemed so suspicious. I'd tried to rid myself of my cynical ways while I traveled, but clearly I hadn't been successful.

I mean, if Elle had been around I would probably still be a virgin. Elle would have beguiled any potential lover away, simply by shaking her hips and giving them a “come to bed” look.

As it was, my first time turned out to be a disappointment. Mine on the night as it only last two minutes, and then his the next morning when he attempted to sneak out after muttering something about beer goggles. Sex, was not what my travel buddies Serena and Madeline, had made it out to be. They'd told me how it was like a dance, a soulful one, one that entwines you and builds you to a climatic finish. It had been a stumble, a drunk, sloppy stumble.

But even that poor first time had given me a sense of accomplishment, I'd managed to “do it” with someone. I called it a victory against Elle, even though she had no idea.

I grabbed my black dress from my closet and walked into the bathroom. If I was going to have dinner with my judgmental sister, I was going to look good doing it. I'd bought the dress on a whim. I'd stayed in touch with the dressmaker you see and she'd picked it out for me when I'd returned home. My size had changed a little with all the travel, I'd lost a little, but my curves were still profoundly there. I showered, dressed and then left for my mothers.