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She glared “That’s not what I’ about”

“Then what are you saying?”

She let out a huff and looked back at the ceiling “I ain, but does that even matter?”

“Not to me, it doesn’t”

“Good” She squeezed her eyes shut “You have thisme off balance”

“Tell me what you want to say”

“My mother is not my mother I’m Penny’s half-sister, not her full sister”

I leaned back in surprise “I didn’t know”

“Nobody does, aside fros knew, but Penny said they didn’t” She squeezed her eyes shut “All this ti like they kneasn’t really their sister Like they understood I was an outsider What if that was allthem away?”

“You can’t blame yourself for that”

“But it would be my fault” She shook her head “I felt like a freak my whole life, then I learnedan to tell myself that they hated me, that I was an outsider and they all knew it, and that made it easy to—” She stopped, her voice choked Tears welled up in her eyes

I stayed quiet I had to let her work this out for herself Interrupting noould only et out, but she was still for the words

“I sold ly and painful and I wanted to reach out so desperately, but she kept talking “It was a terrible thing to do, but I kept telling myself I had to do it She wasn’t really my sister, after all She kneas an outsider and a freak, and she would’ve done the sa, Red She had no idea, and I treated her like a game piece”

I touched her hip gently “I’m so sorry”

“I hate ives me She’s a better person than I’ll ever be, because if I were her, I’d try to cut my throat I don’t deserve her”

“I don’t think anyone deserves anything Penny’s your sister, whether you like it or not She ether forever, and you can hate each other or try to be fao away”