Lo’s head appeared around the door. ‘Want to talk?’ Her manner was still frosty, but there was genuine concern in her eyes.
I so wanted to say yes, to pat the bed so she’d come and sit at the end, as she always used to do when we’d had a good gossiping session. We’d both been too stubborn to pick up the phone to make the first move since our falling-out almost four weeks ago, but it was time to make amends. ‘I’d like to put that stupid fight behind us,’ I said.
‘Me too.’ She slid inside and perched on the end of my bed. ‘So, what’s up? You weren’t yourself tonight.’
Unsure of what to say, I made a face, rehearsed and then discarded a few opening phrases in my head.
She looked me in the eye. ‘Is it Justin?’
I swallowed. ‘I … I overreacted to something he did. We had a fight.’
‘You overreacted?’ Lo gave me a suspicious look. ‘Are you sure that’s what happened? You can tell me, Lil. I—’
‘Yes, I’m sure that’s what happened,’ I snapped back. Even though she’d hit the nail on the head, I didn’t like the fact she’d been so quick to think badly of Justin.She hadn’t even heard the whole story.
Lo stared at me for a couple of seconds, her expression pinched. ‘You’re lying.’
‘I’m not!’
‘Yes. You are.’ She pushed herself up from the end of the bed. ‘If you’re not going to have an honest conversation with me, there’s no point.’
‘Lo!’ I called out in a hoarse whisper as she headed for the door, but she didn’t stop, didn’t turn round. She just closed the door firmly behind her. Seconds later, I heard her bedroom door shut. I sank back onto my pillows and stopped trying to hold back the tears.
I couldn’t deal with both herandJustin tonight. My sister would just have to wait until I’d untangled the mess I’d made of the other important relationship in my life.
I crept past my parents’ bedroom, avoiding the creaky floorboard at the top of the stairs, then tiptoed down them and made my way into the kitchen. The overhead light would have been too jarring, so I turned on the strip light under the top cabinets and pressed the button on the kettle. I’d slept for about two hours before waking up, and the events of the previous day played in my head on a loop as I sat there, blearily sipping herbal tea.
About five minutes later, the kitchen door opened, and Mum peered round it. ‘Oh, it’s you! Can’t sleep?’
I shook my head.
She pulled a mug from the cupboard and set about making herself a hot drink, then sat down opposite me, cupping it in her hands. ‘Justin’s not really ill, is he?’
‘How did you …?’
She gave me a knowing smile. ‘I could tell you were stressed all evening, and your phone was going off almost constantly, and you normally jump to attention every time Justin texts or calls, yet you didn’t once pick it up and look at it.’
Busted.
‘We had a fight …’ I frowned. ‘Do you think Dad noticed?
I didn’t want to ruin his night.’
Mum laughed softly. ‘You could have worn a flashing neon sign broadcasting the news, and your dad still might only have a vague inkling something was up.’
I laughed too, just a little bit. It felt good.
‘You had a fight?’
I sighed. ‘Well, not even really a fight.’ I’d been the one doing all the shouting, after all. ‘More of a difference of opinion over how something happened.’
‘Relationships aren’t easy,’ Mum said, looking back at me with a mixture of love and concern clouding her eyes. ‘But I can tell he adores you.’
I nodded. I knew he did.
‘No person is perfect. I know it can all seem like a fairy tale in the beginning, but that’s not how real life – real love – works. Me and your dad have had our share of ups and downs over the years, but you work on stuff. You pull through together.’
This was exactly how I felt, that some of the glitter had been rubbed off my fairy tale. Was I being unfair to Justin,expecting him to be perfect when I so clearly wasn’t? ‘What do you do when someone does something that really hurts you, something unexpected?’
