She confirms it with a smile. “Hi.”
Vicky had the biggest crush on her. I still remember how she used to rush to my room to tell me about all the little things that happened between them. Our parents were never open-minded, so Victoria kept it a secret. She lived in fear that they might figure out that she preferred women because they would have made her life hell for it.
“Hey, hi,” I say, standing from the bed and walking up to her. “It’s so good to see a friendly face.”
“Sorry I didn’t come and talk to you down there.”
“It’s alright. I was so out of it I didn’t even see you.” I give her a quick hug, genuinely happy to see her.
When we release each other, she says, “I think your mom invited everyone who was at the funeral. And then some.”
“Looks like it, yeah. You’re probably the only person Vicky would have wanted here.”
“Your sister would have hated it,” Penelope says with a wince. “Even that foundation. She always preferred animals to humans.”
I’m surprised to see how well she knew my twin. They were both on the cheerleading squad and had a couple of school projects together, but I never realized they were close enough to know such details about one another.
“How have you been?” I ask.
“Good. Great, actually. The small business I started is booming. I’m married,” she proudly explains, showing me her wedding and engagement rings. “And my wife and I are looking to adopt, so it’s all perfect.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
“And you,” Penelope asks, “how have you been doing?”
“Uh, good. Surviving.”
“Aren’t we all?” she laughs.
“I actually got dumped a few months ago,” I confess. “But that’s okay because I’ve been having the time of my life since.”
“Have you met someone new?”
Just like that, I feel like a gossipy teenager again. “Actually, I have. It’s been fantastic, even if we’re not anything serious.”
“My wife and I weren’t anything serious either,” she explains with a wink.
“Oh no, it’s not like that, I promise. I’m too busy for that, and Jake isn’t the kind to settle down.”
“Well, flings can also be fun in their own way. But with the way you’re blushing just talking about him, I’d say you have a solid crush on that man.”
“I have a cursed complexion, don’t I? Vicky was the same, so she must have blushed all the time around you.” My blunt admission, which stems from God-knows-where, surprises her as much as it does me. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. That is not something I should have said.”
“No, it’s fine. I knew she had a crush on me. And I had one on her.”
“I noticed.” The following moment is a little awkward, so I look around to find another topic. When my eyes land on the nightstand, something clicks. “Would you—I’m so sorry, but would you help me elucidate a mystery that’s been in the back of my head for a decade?”
“Uh, yes, sure.”
A little shaky, I go to the nightstand and take Vicky’s diary out of its drawer. It’s her very last one, and the unfinished words inked in it have been driving me mad with curiosity ever since I read them. I return to Penelope with it, seeking the last written page.
“So, Victoria had this diary, and the night she… the night it happened, she was writing an entry. It’s unfinished, but I thought you might know something about it because she mentioned you.”
“She did?” Pen asks, both troubled and sentimental.
“Yes. But under a code name because our mother used to sneak in and read our journals. I stopped writing in mine because of it, but Vicky used a different approach.” I finally find the page, so I show it to her. “You were Odysseus.”
Pen smiles at that, and then her eyes scan the delicate cursive letters my sister wrote on the pinkish page ten long years ago. I don’t even need to read it to know exactly what’s written on it.
