‘No, don’t! We’ll move back,’ Laurel cut in.
‘Yeah, we can run the camp together,’ Hazel said.
Briar shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. What about making the next big video game? You guys have careers ahead of you, you can’t give that up.’
Briar felt close to tears. Telling the twins was always going to be the hardest part. She’d raised them when her mother had been too busy, and then too sick, to do it herself. But her fear of disappointing them was far outweighed by her fear of not providing for them.
‘You dropped out to take care of mom,’ Laurel said. ‘Why can’t we do this?’
‘Because I said so,’ Briar snapped, then immediately felt awful. She never yelled at her siblings. But they didn’t know what they’d be agreeing to give up. Briar had no direction, no plan. For the last six years, she’d been barely a person. Her entire life had been on hold, waiting for her mother to recover, then worrying she’d get sick again. And now she was dead, and Briar had nothing.
She let out a breath slowly. ‘Did you finish your exams yet?’ There was another long pause, and Briar sighed. ‘Is Dad there?’
‘Yeah,’ Hazel said.
‘Put him on.’
Briar listened to the twins locate him and press the phone into his hands.
‘Briar! How are you, my dear?’ His voice boomed.
Her mess of feelings crystallized into anger at him, for not being there when her mom had gotten sick, for not taking care of his children when Briar had struggled for years, for swooping in when it was far too late and taking the twins from her. Part of her wished he’d taken her too, that she could feel like a child with a parent looking out for her.
‘You can’t keep jetting the twins all over England like they’re on some grand tour,’ she hissed. ‘They need to finish their schoolwork. They need to re-enter the real world. And eventually, they need to realize that their mother is dead.’
Briar found it difficult to swallow.
‘Trust me,’ her father’s tone was clipped, ‘they are very aware she’s dead. I’ve got it all sorted.’
That was the final blow for Briar. She hung up and stalked to her bedroom, falling into unmade sheets, grasping a pillow and pulling it tight against her torso. She screamed into it.
It was dark when Alice found her there.
‘Wassup,’ Briar croaked. Alice’s figure was haloed by the glow of the hallway light, and she couldn’t make out her expression.
‘You missed dinner.’ Alice flicked on the bedside lamp, and Briar saw that she was holding a plate of pizza. Her stomach rumbled. ‘Are you alright? You slept for a long time.’
Briar grabbed the plate from her. ‘Just tired,’ she said between bites. ‘And my dad is a dick.’
Alice nodded as if those two thoughts made sense together. ‘I’m sorry.’
Briar finished inhaling her first slice, and she finally had enough energy to process the time. ‘Shit, I’m sorry. What did I miss? I can—’
Alice held up a hand. ‘It’s all good, everything’s done. I’m quite capable, I’ll have you know.’
‘Oh, I know,’ Briar said. She wanted to kiss her, but something inside her felt too raw, like if she kissed Alice now, she’d be confessing something she wasn’t ready to admit.
‘You should come outside,’ Alice said, standing. ‘It rained earlier, so it’s cooler.’
Briar nodded slowly, staring at the remaining slice of pizza. Alice grabbed the plate. ‘This will be waiting for you.’
Briar dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face, letting it wake her. Her hair was a complete mess, and she teased the knots out with her fingers to make it presentable.
When she pulled the shower curtain open, she screamed.
‘What?!’ came Alice’s voice as she raced into the bathroom.
‘Kill it! Kill it!’ Briar shouted, balancing precariously on the toilet seat.
