Page 3 of Forced to Share
When Leah and I got older, Mom finally let us join in on the eggnog. We were sixteen that year, and we ended up sticking our fingers with needles so many times that a lot of the popcorn became unusable after becoming soaked in blood. It was a mess, but year after year, memory after memory, it was all worth it. I lived for all the silly traditions. They were traditions I hadn’t gotten to enjoy since I’d left for college.
I visited Chicago each year, but Leah wasn’t so fortunate. Weather sometimes worked against us. I was flying in from California, while she was coming from New York.
Leah and I had always shared that special bond, being twins and all. When she announced that she’d applied to NYU and didn’t want to attend the same school as me? It sucked. We’d been joined at the hip, doing everything together since birth. Having her on the other side of the country felt like losing half of my soul.
Things hadn’t been bad at first. There had been a new sense of freedom in being on my own. Not that dating had been hard, but I could meet people and have them focus on me and not on the twin factor. There was a weirdly large amount of people out there who were into twins. Even when they were opposite genders. Not that I had anything against bisexuality. You do you and like what you like, but damn, I’d never share someone with my sister.
My phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts. When I saw Leah’s name, a smile lit up my face. It was as if she knew I’d been thinking about her.
“Hey, sis. What’s up?”
She laughed. “Austin, what day does your flight get in?”
I stood from the couch, and the bowl of popcorn hit the floor, sending little white balls of fluff all over my floor. I blew out a frustrated breath before wandering over to my fridge, where I’d hung the printed flight itinerary.
“What was that noise?” Leah asked.
“I was trying to make my gift for mom. It was a dumb idea. It probably won’t survive the flight. Hell, if you’re going to be home this year, maybe we can do it together again. For old times’ sake.”
The sound of her giggle made me warm. “That’s a sweet idea. That seems like something you would think up. Ihaven’t thought about sitting around making garland in years.”
I frowned. There was no way she didn’t live for the memories like I did. That had been one of the best parts of growing up, and I looked forward to it year after year.
I yanked the printout from under the magnet, sending the little Golden Gate Bridge flying across my kitchen. It ricocheted off my garbage can before breaking in half on the floor. Maybe I was a little too on edge?
“It looks like I’m flying in the week before. Not like an entire week. Five days. I’ll be there on the twentieth. It’s cutting it close in case Mother Nature wants to be a bitch again.”
There was that laugh again. Listening to my happy sister made me feel so much better.
“Good. Jer and I fly in on the twenty-first. So you’ll only be there one day without us.”
“Jer?” Something constricted in my chest before my heart started pounding a million miles a minute.
“Surprise, baby bro! Are you ready to have a brother-in-law?”
I blinked rapidly, looking at the analog clock on my microwave. The blue numbers faded in and out of focus as I processed what Leah was saying.
“You’re—you’re engaged?”
“Surprise!”
Her saying it a second time didn’t make it any better. That little seed of panic dug itself into my stomach and took root, rapidly growing and spreading throughout my body. How had I missed this? We did everything together, and even when I had dated on my own and inevitably had my heart broken, she’d been there through every step of the way. Through video calls... but, you catch my drift.
Not only had Leah been dating someone and hadn’t told me, she was getting married to the guy? What planet did I live on? Surely, it wasn’t earth anymore. No. I didn’t live in the same place where my sister hid something that big from me.
We used to be close, oversharing everything. We’d even told each other when we’d lost our virginity.
“Austin?”
I still couldn’t speak. The blue numbers changed over and over again. Maybe she’d hang up when she realized that she’d shocked me into silence.
“Austin, I should have told you. I’m sorry. But I really wanted to surprise everyone. Haven’t you ever wanted to do that? Have something special and only for yourself?”
She’d said the same thing when she left for NYU. I’d been selfish thinking that I’d have her to myself for the rest of my life. We had to live for ourselves at one pointor another. It stung more that we’d become that distant. Or she had. I’d done my best to keep her up to date on everything.
Instead of wallowing and continuing to be a poor sport, I swallowed thickly and forced a smile onto my face. “Jer?”
“Yeah. He’s great. I think you will absolutely love him.”
