Ana continues to speak, “I had the boyfriend, the popularity, and the body that everyone wanted, including you.”
I shake my head again, surprised that she would bring up high school of all things. Any hope I was holding onto about us moving on from the past dissipates.
“Ana, I’m not afraid to admit that I was jealous of you about certain thingsyears ago,but?—”
“I knew it.” She grins. “You were always around me, wanting me and Cameron’s attention. Mostly Cameron’s, though. I knew you wanted him for yourself.”
My blood feels like it’s about to boil. “All you sound like right now is a pathetic girl who peaked in high school.” My voice is sharp and cold.
That seems to snap something in her because the next thing I know, she’s hovering over me.
“He never would’ve gone for you. You were never his type. Too insecure, no confidence, and way too big. Jordan took pity on you the nights you had together.” I flinch. “Don’t believe for one second I didn’t know how badly you wanted to jump right on his dick?—”
“Enough!” Rafael yells.
How fucking dare she. I slowly rise up from my seat and lower myself close to Ana’s face.
“I would’ve never done anything like that to you. Cameron was my best friend; that line was never crossed. He even told you that himself. I believe he said, and I quote, ‘how dare you question my loyalty to you and my respect towards your sister.’” She looks at me, surprised. “Yeah, I overheard everything, hermanita.” I pull away from her a bit. “Let’s not forget who was there for you to pick up the pieces after the bonfire party, Ana. And I would do it all over again because, unlike you, I care about being a good sister.”
“Both of you sit the hell down!” my mom yells at the top of her lungs. “You are sisters and I will not tolerate this behavior in my house.” Ana attempts to walk away as I sit down, but all Mom has to do is snap her fingers and give her a stare before she lowers herself back to her seat.
I dare a glance over the entirety of the table. Guilt and shame creep in when the reality of what we both said in front of them clicks. I never curse when family’s around, let alone yell at anyone in settings such as this. I apologize to each of them, except Ana, who stares at me with nothing but pure disdain inher eyes. It’s not the first time I’m on the receiving end of it, so I just cast my look towards my mother.
“May Valeria and I be excused from the table? I promised her that we could watch a movie in my room tonight.”
Nancy and Mom both nod. “Only because it’s Thanksgiving. Throw away your paper plates and cups before leaving, we’ll talk about this in the morning.” She points at Ana and I before my sister stalks up the stairs, leaving her mess behind.
Valeria throws our plates in the trash, and I clean up Ana’s mess as usual.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” my cousin asks when we reach my room.
“No.” My response is gentle but final. After fights with my twin, I always need time to process them. This one, however, is one of the harshest we’ve had in a long time. Nothing we can’t fix, but it might take a while.
“We never spend any time together. Let’s just relax tonight, we can talk more tomorrow.” I ruffle Valeria’s short hair.
She nods, and we both focus our eyes on the screen while the opening credits toThe Princess Diariesstart to play. As Anne Hathaway makes an appearance on the small TV, my mind wanders off to what Ana said about Cameron. Even though we were sleeping together not too long ago, we never did anything whiletheywere together. She started the fight out of nowhere for no good reason, and everything she said felt like it had been taken out of a playbook made for high school bullies.
For a moment, I stop feeling guilty over what I’ve done with Cam, making a decision on what I’m going to do once I’m back at Driscoll.
Chapter Thirty-Three
CAMERON
My hands turn the wheels, closing the remaining distance to my parking spot behind Dirk Hall. Driving back during rush hour the Sunday after Thanksgiving weekend was the stupidest thing I’ve done in a while. It’s nine-thirty p.m. and I’m fucking exhausted.
I grab my duffle bag from the back seat and walk to my room. Thanksgiving was uneventful, fortunately. Ethan’s father and mine didn’t argue for the first time in years. That alone was enough to make everyone happy.
The peace the holiday brought allowed me time to process everything from the past couple of months. I refused to speak to Ethan about Kamila anymore and told him I needed to figure things out on my own, which I accomplished.
She’s made her bed, and I’m not going to wait for her. Why should I? She’s obviously moved on, and I have as well. C’est la vie.
Deciding I’ll take care of it tomorrow, I dump my bag on the floor and change into a pair of sweatpants. Most of my old friends were back home, and I decided to hang out with Smith and his group last night. Smith and I hadn’t spoken in a while. We spent the night drinking, getting me drunk enough to almosthook up with an ex-fling, except all I kept thinking about was Kamila and the promise we made, even if we are on abreak.Whatever that means.
This morning, after waking up hungover and very horny, is when I decided to let her go. She’s gotten under my skin, and I was the one who let it happen. I was willing to allow it while we were sleeping together, but things have obviously changed.
My phone chimes as soon as my back hits the soft mattress. I decide to ignore it for now until it buzzes a third time. You’ve got to be fucking joking.
Kamila: We need to talk.
