Page 152 of Someone Like Me
I shake my head, confusion and distress threatening to turn my head inside out “Why two months? What happens in two months?”
Tori goes gimlet eyed, her smug smile still in place. “You owe me two months with a broken heart.”
“What? Why?” Nothing makes sense. I feel like the longer we talk, the more lost I am.
Tori crosses her arms over chest and cocks her chin. “Ask me again why I’m applying to UT.”
I’ve never wondered what it feels like to be a puppet on a string, but now I know. A sigh leaves me, taking with it almost all my strength.
“Why, Tori, why are you applying to UT?”
Her face twists into a vicious scowl. “Because, you idiot. Jason’s there. He moved there this summer.” Tori balls her fists, her shoulders shooting back as she seems to lever toward me. I step back on instinct. “He asked me to go with him. He wantedme.But I was chained here. Tethered to you, you ungrateful, spoiled bitch!”
Even though I shouldn’t let them, the words sting anyway. But their meaning nearly knocks me over.
“Jason Watney?” I hear myself ask. Picturing the tan, sandy-haired software developer who liked outdoor concerts,Riverdale,and, apparently, Tori.
She sneers. “Have I brought any other Jasons home? My God, Evie, how dense could you be?”
I’m guessing pretty dense. I knew they were together. I knew, maybe too late, that Tori had been happy with him, but only because of how unhappy she’d seemed after he stopped coming around.
Because he’d moved. I’d had no idea. I just thought he’d broken it off. I wasn’t even surprised.
He’d asked her to move with him? And she hadn’t — couldn’t — because of me? That’s what all this is about. A good, old fashioned get even. I kept her away from her man. Now it’s her turn.
Except it’s not the same thing. Not at all.
I try to reason with her. “I didn’t know, Tori,” I say, trying to speak softly, still hoping to calm her. “I would have told you to go with him had I known.”
Her scowl only cinches tighter. “It’s not my fault you’re stupid.”
“Tori, I would havewantedyou to go,” I say, a pleading edge in my voice. “Because I want you to be happy.”
She shakes her head with violence. “You just say things like that to make yourself sound better than everybody else,” she hisses, bitterness spiking in her tone.
I’ve heard all this before. Accusations of pretense. Of perfection. Idowant her to be happy. It would be such a relief, finally, to have a sister who is happy. Happy with her life. Happy with her family. Happy for me.
But I won’t win her this way.
“I’m sorry about Jason. Have you been in touch with him? Does he know you’ve applied to UT?” I regret my questions almost as soon as I utter them.
“Oh he knows,” she snaps. “But he’s been seeing other people. Even if I get over there, I might not be able to get back what you took from me.”
I press my lips together and breathe through this new layer. When I can keep my voice even, I try again. “I see that you blame me for this, and I can accept that,” I say with a slow nod. “But Drew is innocent here. He never stole from you. He doesn’t deserve this.”
Her mouth hangs open with disdain. “Like I care what that felon deserves. Thingswerestolen from me.” Her voice climbs with emotion. “And someone’s going to pay for that.”
Then Tori turns and grabs her phone from the coffee table. “And if you won’t, he will.”
“Tori—” I move toward her, but she gives me her back. I step around her to see she has the keypad open. Her thumb presses the nine and the one.
“What are you doing?!” I shriek, slapping the phone out of her hand. It clatters to Mom’s polished wood floors, and Tori gives me a hard shove in the shoulder. I brace my core, years of balance postures keeping me upright.
“What does it look like? I’m turning in that thief, you little shit.” She reaches for the phone, but I snatch it up first and clutch it to me.
“You don’t have to do this,” I plead.
She glares at me, eyes hard. “Break up with him, and I won’t have too.”
