“Her idiot best friend.”
“She’s not an idiot.” I turn to Billy. “She went to MIT.” Sure, she only went a year then transferred to a college closer to home, but isn’t it enough she was accepted to MIT? Yeah, I think so.
“For a year, barely,” my sister hisses. “She flunked out.”
“No. She didn’t.” She did. Gizzy is right, but there was a very good reason for that, but I’m not about to share that with my bitch of a sister.
“Yo!” I hear her before I even see the kitchen door swing open.
“Clancy!” I shout right back. I’m about to rush her to push her back out, but I’m too slow.
“Billy? What are you doing here?” She smirks. “She must have had quite the impact on you to get you over here for The Annual Foster Family Christmas Eve Breakfast.”
She has always called it that, like it deserves a title or something.
“Billy?” My sister is staring at Clancy.
“No!” I shout just as Clancy speaks.
“Sure, we met him at the bar last night. Your sister must have made quite the impression.” She then uses her elbow to nudge my sister, adding several winks to the mix. “Know what I mean?”
“No.” Gisele isn’t smiling. I’d call it more of a snarl. Turning to me, she snaps. “What is she talking about?”
I shrug. “I’ve no idea. I think she’s drunk.”
“I am not.” Clancy laughs. “You went home with that hot piece of you-know-what and now you’re saying I’m drunk?”
“I….” I can’t think of anything else to say right now. I’m just going to wait to let the dust settle. Hell, maybe the asshole to blame for all of this will step in.
“You slut,” my sister spits.
“What?” I screech. I turn to Billy, who is rubbing his face with both hands. Turning back to my sister, I watch, like it’s in slow motion, as she charges for me, her long fingers and nails are up in the air like panther claws. I take a step back and end up bumping into the man himself.
Just as I’m about to run, Billy steps in front of me. With his hands up in the universal stopping gesture, he says, “Gisele. Stop.”
She doesn’t. When she gets to him, her body stops, but her arms don’t. Reaching behind him, she swipes at me and makes direct contact with my face. She scratches me starting at my eye down my cheek. It hurts. A lot. So much so I scream.
A second later, my dad flies through the swinging kitchen door looking like the house is on fire. When he sees the scene before him, his eyes look wild. “What the hell is going on here?”
I hold my face with my palm to keep her from getting another swipe at me. Billy stands his ground in front of me.
“Sh-she fucked him.” Gisele is pointing at me and panting like she just ran a marathon.
“Who? Who, uh, did that?” asks my dad.
“Jo.” She grits her teeth. “Jo fucked William.”
“Just now? In the kitchen?” Dad’s voice has gone up an octave. “We’ve only just finished breakfast.”
I giggle. I can’t help it. Leave it to my dad to say something funny without intending to. Stepping out from behind Billy, I avoid my sister and quickly move over to Dad. “Last night. I met him at the bar. I didn’t know he washerWilliam.” I point right back at her. “He told me his name was Billy.”
Dad is staring down at me. I can practically see the wheels turning in his head. Then, slowly, so slowly it’s almost eerie, his eyes move up until they meet Williams. “You cheated on my daughter?”
“No, sir—”
“Don’t ‘sir’ me, young man. Did you or did you not step out on my daughter.”
Just as William says “No,” Gisele says, “Yes.” But she keeps going. “But it’s Jo’s fault, Daddy. She tricked him.”
