Chapter 2

I walk into Kate’s house as if it were my own, like I’ve done almost every day since I moved here seven years ago. Helen looks up at me and smiles.

“How was school, sweetie?” she asks, like she does every single day. Helen has shown me what it’s like to have a real mother. From the start she’s treated me exactly the same way that she treats Kate, and over the years I’ve come to love her just as much as I love Kate. Helen is one of my favorite people in the world.

Years ago my dad asked her to watch me after school while he was at work, and the habits we developed then have remained. Even now, I’m usually at the Clarke’s house after school. I’ll go home to change and to drop my bag, and then I’ll go straight next door. More often than not I’ll have dinner here before going back when my dad finally gets home. It seems like he works more overtime every year, and I can’t help but wonder if it might be because he doesn’t want to spend time with me. When he comes home, he usually goes straight to bed. He barely even looks at me.

“School was good. I aced my math test,” I tell Helen. She gasps and smiles from ear to ear.

Carter rolls his eyes and coughs as he shouts, “Nerd!”

I glare at him and look away, intent on ignoring him. I’m not over that stunt he pulled with Zach a few days ago. Besides, he’s one to talk. Carter is one of those horrible people that are good at everything they do. His grades are top-notch and he’s the school’s quarterback too. I hate him. If only people at school could see past the stupid facade and that stupid smile of his. I’m the only one that sees the devil within. Even Helen and Kate adore him.

“Oh, honey. I’m so proud of you,” Helen says. She walks to the freezer and takes out a tub of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. My mouth waters just looking at the tub of Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

“For you,” she says, pushing it towards me. I grin and reach out to grab it, but Carter gets to it first. He takes the lid off and looks right into my eyes. He grins and then slowly licks the entire top layer.

“Ugh! You’re not twelve anymore. Why are you so freaking childish?” I shout.

I lunge towards him and he jumps up, out of the way. He holds the ice cream right above my head and I jump up in an attempt to reach it. He’s so much taller than me now. I hate it.

“You asshole!” I shout.

Helen clears her throat and looks at us in amusement. “Language, Emilia,” she murmurs. None of Carter and my antics have ever fazed her. If anything, she seems to enjoy them. She rarely interferes with our ongoing feud, no matter how bad it gets. I glare at Carter, blaming him for getting chastised.

“You… you… snickerdoodle!”

He bursts out laughing, and I take that moment to aim. I jam my knee up in an attempt to knee him in the balls, but he’s become a pro at evading me. He grabs my leg and pulls on it, making me lose my balance. I fall down onto my butt and he laughs before dragging his tongue over my ice cream. That disgusting devil.

Kate walks down the stairs and smiles when she finds me sprawled on the floor. “Thought I heard you,” she says. She drops down on the floor beside me, completely ignoring the fact that I’m obviously not sitting here voluntarily.

Carter grabs a spoon and starts eating my ice cream from the tub, his eyes on me with every bite. I’m seething.

“Are you prepared for the mid-year cheering auditions?” Kate asks. I bite down on my lip and shake my head. Kate joined at the start of the year and she’s been trying to get me to join her ever since, but I’m just not sure I’m cheerleader material. I’m far better at studying than I am at jumping and dancing. I didn’t think Kate would enjoy it either, especially because she’s always hated cheerleaders. I guess that changed when the most popular one of them befriended her. Ever since Kate became friends with Gabby, she’s started to change, and I’m not a hundred percent sure I like it.

Carter bursts out laughing. “She’s joining the cheering squad? When hell freezes over, maybe. She’ll break a leg in the first week.”

I cross my arms over my chest and glare up at him. Carter smiles and takes another bite of my ice cream.

“Yes,” I blurt. “I’m ready. I might as well give it a try.”

I know deep down I’m only doing it to prove Carter wrong and that I should be above that, but he brings out the worst in me.

Kate grabs my hands excitedly and grins. “Oh my god, really?” she says. My smile wavers. I can’t get out of this without letting her down now. Kate looks beyond happy, while Carter looks annoyed. I’m not surprised. I’ve heard the rumors about him and the girls in the cheering squad. He’s probably worried I’ll cock block him the way he did to me last week, and I probably will. He deserves it.

Kate pulls me up. She drags me to the staircase and I look back at Carter. He’s staring at me, obviously brooding. His eyes meet mine and for a second I see a glimpse of concern. Surely he isn’t worried that I’ll get injured? I’m a little accident prone, but how hard can cheerleading be?

Kate drags me up the stairs and into her room. “The cheering thing just reminded me I totally forgot to tell you,” she says. “Look what I bought my mom for Mother’s Day!”

I don’t follow and fail to understand what cheering has to do with Helen’s Mother’s Day present. Kate walks towards her wardrobe and takes out a gorgeous dark blue gown that Helen is definitely going to love. I stare at it, equal parts confused and equal parts stunned. The gown is amazing, but Kate and I have been buying one joint present for Helen for the last three years. Why would she buy something without me?

Each year, Kate and I compete with Carter to give Helen the best Mother’s Day gift. Though she refuses to pick one over the other, we both know that we lose more often than we’d like to admit. The devil can be quite thoughtful sometimes — so thoughtful, that Kate and I have had to join hands to surpass him. I stare at the shimmering blue fabric in awe. I guess Kate is definitely winning this year.

“I went to the shopping center with Gabby yesterday, and she recommended this dress for my mom. She has such amazing taste.” My heart sinks. Gabby again. She moved here from New York right before the start of the school year and quickly became the most popular girl in our grade — scratch that, in our entire school. She took a liking to Kate almost instantly, and they’ve been friends ever since. It’s because of Gabby that Kate insisted on joining the cheering squad, even though she’s always been incredibly introverted. I guess I’m just not used to sharing Kate, and Gabby doesn’t really seem to like me much, so they never include me when they hang out.

“I didn’t realize we were doing separate gifts this year,” I say. Kate’s expression drops and I immediately feel bad for bringing it up at all. Kate shouldn’t have to discuss anything with me before buying a present, yet I still feel left out. I don’t mind it as much when she hangs out with Gabby and doesn’t invite me, but this is different. Besides, we still have a couple of months left until Mother’s Day. I thought we’d plan something out together. Usually it takes us weeks to even decide.

“Oh, well… I saw this and I thought it would be perfect for my mom. I guess we can give it together? Or maybe you can buy her something else,” she says. I hate that I’ve taken away her excitement over the gown and shake my head, trying my best to shrug it off.

“I should buy Helen matching shoes,” I say.

Kate looks at the dress and purses her lips. She’s quiet for a couple of moments and then looks up at me with an expression I can’t quite decipher. “Well, you know, my mom isn’t your mother. You don’t need to get her anything at all,” she says, her eyes flashing.

I freeze, a pang of hurt coursing through me. Recently she’s been making remarks such as this more and more often, and I never know how to respond. I’m always worried about overstepping, and recently she’s been making me feel like I am.

“Anyway, we can go to the shopping center tomorrow if you still wanna get something. She’s going to absolutely love this gown!”

Kate puts the dress away carefully and sits down on the bed next to me. I’m a little thrown. Recently, I’ve started to feel like the way Kate treats me has changed. She’s always been my best friend — the girl that stuck with me when I was the new girl in a close-knit town. She defended me when kids made fun of me for not having a mother, and she’s always done her best to include me in her family, so I’m not sure what I’ve done to cause the recent change in her.

“So, I saw Carter ate your ice cream,” she says. “Mom picked that up especially for you when she bought me some Cookie Dough. It’s so sweet of my mom to get you something too, isn’t it? You know Carter doesn’t even like chocolate. I can’t believe he’s acting like this after ruining your chances with Zach. I saw the photos from the party, and we really missed out.”

I’m enraged instantly. “I know. That dick,” I snap. Kate grins and I’m relieved. I hate it when Kate and I are even remotely at odds with each other.

“What’re you gonna do?” she asks, giggling. She always tries to dissuade me from arguing with Carter in an attempt to be a good sister, but I know she secretly enjoys our feud.

I glance at her bathroom door and grin. “I have an idea.” I walk into her bathroom and emerge with a tube of Nair hair removal cream.

Kate’s smile drops, and she looks at me with wide eyes. “Oh my god, Milly. Carter will actually kill you this time.”

I shrug and walk out of her room, Kate hot on my heels. As always, she keeps an eye out while I sneak into Carter’s room. I giggle and walk into his bathroom, my heart racing. I grab his bottle of shampoo and shake it, happy to find it half empty. I fill it up with Nair and shake vigorously, without an ounce of remorse. Just in the last week, he’s thrown itching powder all over my bed, ruined my chances with Zach and eaten my damn ice cream. I can’t wait to see his face after his next shower. Maybe this’ll finally teach him.