“Sure seems like it,” Amber chirps, happily twirling her squash noodles like they’re actual pasta.
“Oh my God, shut up, Amber.”
“Alysander,” Mom says sternly. “Don’t speak to your sister that way.”
“But she’s antagonizing me on purpose,” I say. “Hayes and I are fine.”
Except we’re not.
For the first time in years, I genuinely don’t know where I stand with him. The silence between us no longer feels like just a pause. I’m starting to wonder if it might be an end.
“Did you say something to upset him?” Mom asks gently, her voice cautious.
I cross my arms, jaw tight.
“Mom, no.”
“Well, maybe?—”
“Can you not?” I push my chair back, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fine,” she says, likeI’mthe one being difficult. “It would just be nice if you and your sister could get along for once. I love Hayden like he’s my own son, but it feels like he’s always coming between you two.”
“Oh, this isn’t Hayes’s fault,” Amber cuts in, all wide-eyed innocence. “He’s still talking to me. Ally’s the one he’s ignoring.”
“For the last time, we’re fine!” I yell.
They exchange a look—tight-lipped, patronizing, as if I’m being dramatic.
Maybe I am.
But I’ve hit my limit, and right now, it’s easier to blow up at them than at Hayes. At least they’re here. He’s not. To unload on him, he’d have to actually show up.
“Thanks for dinner,” I grit out. “Can I please be excused? I’ve lost my appetite.”
Mom nods, and I scrape my plate into the sink, rinse it, and shove it into the dishwasher. While they’re still whispering about me and distracted, I grab a few leftover sweet potato brownies off the counter and stuff them into my hoodie pocket.
Okay, so I lied about that too.
I’m still hungry, but I can’t sit at that table another second.
“She’s just so sensitive,” Amber says loud enough to make sure I hear as I walk past them. “You can’t even say his name without her losing it.”
Once I’m inside the safety of my bedroom, I throw on my headphones and crank my music until it drowns out everything else. It’s not like I even care about stupid parties or staying in alone on a Saturday night, but it’s always been my decision. Hayes has never purposely excluded me from anything before.
Well, maybe excluded isn’t the right word.
It’s not as if he banned me from the frat party or told me not to come. He just… didn’t invite me.
Maybe I’m reading too much into things. He’s under a lot of pressure. Maybe he just needs space.Except… why doesn’t he need space from Amber, too?
Sometime after 8 p.m., there’s a knock at my door. For once, Amber actually waits to be invited in, peeking her head through the crack like she expects to get it bitten off.
She’s fully dressed now in a tight white dress, matching thigh-high boots, fluffy wings, and a shiny halo headband. An angel costume. Irony at its finest.
I rip off my headphones.
“Get out.”
