Part 19 (2/2)

Robed, a towel twisted over her wet hair, she had swollen eyes, too. Crazy as it seemed, I couldn't help thinking that was the fastest shower on record. There was no way she'd used conditioner.

”I'm the one,” she choked out, looking at me.

I shook my head.

”You know, Kylie and the digital picture.” She swallowed hard. ”That day you went to your dad's. Kylie saw you leaving and came up to me. Wanting to know if you two were a couple, what the story was.” Wincing, she continued. ”I told her he was just taking you to your dad's, no big deal. She started saying all this stuff about how you'd been using me all these years to get close to my brother. How you don't care about girls' feelings, only guys', which is why you tried to steal her boyfriend.”

”That's not true!” I wailed.

She nodded, her movement slow and strained. ”I got mad. At her. At you, for putting me in that situation, and mad at myself for buying into it. Next thing I knew, I was telling her about the beer picture, and how I'd use it against you if I had to. Which was just stupid, just something to say. I mean, you and I know it was to keep you away from Rascal, not Jared, but she didn't, right? Anyway, I'd already deleted it. She never had a copy. The nerve to try to blackmail you.”

I s.h.i.+fted my weight, swimming through a wave of thoughts and emotions. Alison had betrayed me. Sort of. I wanted to be mad. Ticked off. Irate.

Unfortunately, I wasn't always the Great Seer of the Big Picture, either. I'd blurted out dumb things. Who was I to judge?

”I'm sorry,” Alison said, and teared up herself. ”I never thought I'd be the kind of friend who'd backstab.”

”You didn't,” I said gently, and smiled. ”Not really. It just goes to show that neither one of us is perfect.” I leaned in for a hug, and pulled back to see her trying to smile.

”Some friend I am, huh, Nic? I rat you out, then tell you to choose between Jared and me. I was so sure you'd choose him. So I could just be mad, and I wouldn't have to feel guilty anymore.”

I took a moment to let her words register. ”You don't have to feel guilty. I should have been more sensitive to what you were going through, too.”

Her gaze swept from me to Jared and back again. ”You guys are probably perfect for each other. But can you understand how this feels to me? It's like I'm losing my best friend.”

I patted her arm. ”Could you give this a try, Alison? I promise you I'll have time for a boyfriend and a best friend. And if I do something stupid,” I said, and dropped my voice to a low whisper, as if Jared couldn't hear, ”like start to tell you how great your brother is, you have my full permission to whack me upside the head.”

She sniffed and smiled.

He smirked.

Relief did a volcano thing inside me. ... I half expected hot air and confetti to blow out the top of my head.

And can I tell you how much I wanted to put this whole thing behind us and just go to the mall?

Jared played chauffeur. But on the way home, he dropped Alison off first. She didn't seem to mind, just said she'd call me later. And I was glad for time alone with Jared.

The best thing about having a sucky life was how sweet it was when it suddenly improved.

I floated inside the house, intending to update my mom on the newest developments. But Mom wasn't alone. Dad was there. With Autumn. And some strange suitcases, clogging up the hallway.

Was I hallucinating-or did Mom have the bigger update?

”Your dad and Autumn are going to spend a couple of nights with us while looking for their own place near here.”

Say what?

”I was offered a job in L.A.,” Dad said from the couch. ”Your mom's been nice enough to let me crash here,” he added, and patted a seat cus.h.i.+on. ”And we thought maybe you could make s.p.a.ce for Autumn in your room?”

Thoughts clashed like cymbals in my head. ”Yeah, I guess, but what about Caffeine? Uh, Cathleen?”

”We've separated,” Dad said. He glanced toward his other daughter, who was happily shredding one of Mom's old Martha Stewart Living magazines. ”Cathleen agreed it was best that Autumn go with me.”

I stared at the black-haired toddler. The baby who'd been born to infuriate me. To replace me. If my dad was the best parent she had-well, she didn't have much, did she?

Poor thing.

My mom took a couple of steps closer. ”Your dad and I worked out an arrangement. Until I'm reinstated at work, or decide what it is I'm going to do, I'm going to be Autumn's day-care provider. In turn, he'll cover our mortgage.”

That was the goofiest thing I'd ever heard. Mom and Autumn?

My face must have given me away, because Mom excused the two of us and pulled me into the kitchen. ”This is a financial arrangement, Nicolette. It allows me to stay home and rea.s.sess my career. I'm not looking at Autumn as my ex-husband's daughter, but as your half sister, who has had a tough break, and needs some help.”

Her gaze sharpened. ”But that's it, you understand? In a few days, they'll move out. She'll come and go here at the house. But your dad and I will never get back together.”

I nodded. I'd let that dream go ages ago. I was just glad Mom was making strides toward putting her life back together.

Meanwhile, I supposed I could try to be nice.

”Come on, Autumn,” I said, moving back into the living room and offering my hand. ”I've got even better magazines to rip up in my room. Magazines full of cute guys.”

To my surprise, she slipped her tiny hand inside mine and came with me. It was sort of sweet. Her footsteps barely made any noise as we padded down the hallway and into my room.

”What that?” she asked, turning and pointing at the garment bag on the back of my door.

Ha! She sure was my sister. She could feel the pull of The Dress even through the plastic.

”Only the most beautiful prom dress-uh, homecoming dress-in the entire world.”

”I see! I see!”

I twisted my ring. She was one of the last people in the world I felt deserved that treat. But hey, things weren't always as they seemed. Mom and Dad were friends. Alison and I were best friends again. Jared and I were more than friends.

Guess there was room for an upgrade in my sister relations.h.i.+p, too.

I got down on one knee. ”Okay, kiddo, but first we wash your hands.” A closer look showed a peanut b.u.t.ter-colored smear on her s.h.i.+rt, and what looked like blue marker on her arm. ”Better make it a full bath.”

”I wear it!”

”It's a gazillion sizes too big for you, Autumn.”

But it's just right for me, I thought, steering her toward the bathroom. I knew that for a fact-I'd tried it on enough. I'd danced in it, sung ballads in it, cried in it. The Dress molded to my body like a second skin, like someone had made it exclusively for me.

And for a dance that I hoped wasn't just about homecoming, but about new beginnings, too.

THREE WEEKS LATER.

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