Page 51 of You and Me, For Real
“Why? It’s not that hard. You just delete it. And voilà. Freedom.”
Even as I say this, my mind ticks back to Griffin’s suggestion yesterday about starting a social media account for the sake of my rescue. Maybe I don’t want a personal social account, but I can see the validity in having a business one to promote awareness for the animal community at the very least. Maybe I could start one anonymously using my blog’s name?
The waiter appears and takes our order. My stomach is still in a tizzy, so I keep my order plain and simple—grilled ham and cheese. Cecily orders a salad.
Discussing Mom makes my skin itch, but if I don’t ask, my curiosity will eat at me for the rest of the day. “How is Mom doing?”
Cecily takes a drink of her water and shrugs. “Not sure.”
“I’m sorry? Can you just cut to the chase? What’s going on? Because everything is backward from what I thought.”
“That’s partially why I wanted to see you. I leftBeing the Blakestwo years ago. They canceled the show shortly after I left. I guess it’s hard to be the Blakes when there’s just one Blake left.”
I scoff. I had no doubt Mom would figure out some way to become a one-woman show. “So, what? You don’t talk to Mom anymore?”
“No. I got tired of her drama and scheming. I tried to distance myself slowly, but you know how she is—always meddling. So when I quit the show, I moved out. Cut myself off from her. Zero contact. Just like you did.”
The world has tipped on its axis, and my head is spinning. “Why? I thought you loved being on the show.”
“I did…for a while. But then all that crap went down when we were teenagers, and it changed my perspective. No show or money is worth losing the only family you have.”
This might be a poignant moment for us to reach across the table and hold hands, united in our broken childhood, but I’m not ready to forgive and forget quite so easily. “Mom is family.”
Cecily tilts her head. “Not like we were. She was a dictator. I see that now. Never the mother figure we needed, but we weresisters. Best friends—if you can remember that far back. I just got so preoccupied trying to make Mom happy and I lost sight of you.”
“After that night when I came home crying about Tanner, why didn’t you tell me he was your boyfriend?” The heat in my veins pulses hot at the memory.
“Because I didn’t know?—”
“Oh really? You didn’t know your boyfriend set me up? You weren’t a part of it? I had a moment to shine on the show, and you couldn’t handle not being the center of attention?”
“I had no idea he’d been seeing you!” she fires back at me. “He snuck behind my back! I didn’t know any of it until you came home.”
The waiter brings our plates. Reading the tension between us, he scampers off without a word.
“It was all Mom!”
“What do you mean?”
“She set us up.” My sister’s voice breaks and her eyes well with tears.
The truth of it hits my stomach like a lead weight. All these years, I assumed my sister schemedwithmy mom. The two of them were always in cahoots—arranging coincidental events to increase ratings on the show. On occasion, Mom would even pay someone to cause scenes or scandal on the show. It’s not entertainment unless drama happens, right? I thought she’d helped set me up to embarrass me—make a bigger splash for TV. This whole time, I presumed the two of them had concocted this grand plan together. But I’d never stuck around to ask.
“You really didn’t know?” I whisper, my eyes stinging.
She shakes her head. “You came home crying and I wanted to talk to you, but Mom said to give you space. I saw the pictures on social media, but I didn’t know what to think. The next thing I knew, you were gone. Mom said you’d show up sooner or later. I kept calling your phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Then you filed for emancipation. And that was that. I knew I’d never see you again.”
She takes a sip of water. “Tanner tried convincing me you made the moves on him. But the videos that went viral made it pretty obvious he’d instigated it.”
I scoff. “Well, tell that to the rest of the world. Everyone else believed I was stealing my sister’s boyfriend.”
“ButIknew the truth, because I knowyou. You’d never do such a thing. I broke up with him the minute I knew. I wanted toapologize to you. To fix things. But by then, you’d changed your phone number and your last name.”
My tears spill over.
I had abandoned my sister. And never even tried to stand up for myself. I just ran away.
Like a coward. A foolish, ignorant coward.
