God, I love my sister. Even when I don’t ask for an alibi, she’s always there to have my back.
“What about Mom?”
“What about Mom?” my mother parrots, walking into the kitchen at that exact moment with an empty tea mug in her hand.
I drop my feet to the floor and square my shoulders.
“I was just asking Marcello if you were cross with me for missing dinner.”
“And why would I be upset about that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Mom…maybe because everything I do seems to get on your nerves.”But I don’t say that. No. I just swallow down the acrid words instead.
“She was studying,” Marcello explains quickly as she sets the mug in the sink.
“So your sister told us.” My mother thins her lips, not believing a word of it.
“I was,” I lie again, doubling down.
“If you say so. A text letting us know where you were would have been nice, though. But then again, you’ve always done whatever you wanted. So I guess I have no say in the matter.”
“Funny, since it always feels like you have more than enough to say about everything that has to do with me.”
“Stella,” Marcello warns.
I grind my teeth. Of course he takes her side. He always does. That’s why he’s her favorite. Ugh.
“You know what? I’ve lost my appetite. Good night.” I push back from the table, pick up my jacket and backpack, and bolt out of the kitchen.
Still fuming, I march upstairs and slam my bedroom door behind me, finding Anna stretched across her bed, reading the latest romance novel she downloaded to her Kindle.
“Well, hello to you, too,” she says with a smile.
“Sorry,” I mutter, collapsing onto my bed.
I grab my pillow, shove it over my face, and scream every ounce of frustration into it, throwing the pillow on the floor once I’m done.
“Mom again?” Annamaria asks, setting her Kindle on the nightstand.
I tap my finger against the tip of my nose—my own little signal that she hit the mark.
“It always is.” She sighs, coming to sit beside me. “It feels like lately you two are always fighting.”
“Tell me about it,” I grumble, sitting back up.
“One of you will have to bend, Stella. You two can’t keep going on like this forever.”
“If you’re suggesting I do the bending, then I’m good with this fight lasting forever.”
“She’s our mom, Stella. She loves us.”
“I know that. Don’t you think I know that?” I throw my hands in the air in aggravation. “It’s just… her love is… suffocating.”
Annamaria’s temple wrinkles as she frowns. “That’s an awful thing to say.”
“Well, it’s true. Why can’t she just let me be? What is so wrong with the way I am? I can’t be you, Anna. I just can’t. And it’s about time our mother dealt with that.”
My sister flinches at the blurted-out remark and starts to get off my bed, heading for hers. Seeing the hurt in her eyes, I grab her wrist gently and pull her back down beside me.
