“She deserved it.”
“No, she didn’t. Get the hell over yourself, Avery. All of this is just as much your fault as it is hers. And I’m not letting you come in here and get my sister all upset, okay? She’s fragile right now.” He drew himself up to his full height—eye-to-eye with his present enemy.
“Fragile? You’re a dork. Get outta my way.” Avery pushed against his chest, but he wouldn’t budge.
“And you’re a cunt,” he replied.
Avery reared back, stunned.
“That’s right. Cunt. A little whiny, bitchy cunt.”
Avery grinned maliciously. “Oooo, look at big bad Oliver. He’s so big and bad calling me a cunt. What? Finally grew a backbone?”
“I’ve always had a backbone, Avery. And I was always there for my sister. Unlike you.”
Silence.
“Dad gave her a black eye! And you were concerned because your cell phone got taken away!” he roared.
“Watch it, you little shit,” Avery warned.
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Oliver said. “You’re the most selfish person I know.”
“I’m done with you. Move so I can talk to Cadence.”
“Fuck off.”
“Move the fuck outta my way!” Avery screamed.
Oliver leaned in, his face inches from Avery’s.
“If you upset her, I’m not responsible for what I’ll do to you. I don’t hit girls. That’s wrong and totally lame. But you’re a different story. Because I don’t even think you are a girl. You’re not even human. You’re an alien from some dark planet that—”
“Shut up, Oliver,” Avery said, pushing him aside and walking into the apartment. She spotted Cadence on the couch. “You just sat there listening to that?”
Cadence burst out laughing. “Yep!”
“God, you’re a bitch. Wouldn’t even come to my defense?” Avery asked. “Your brother threatened me. Freaking Mike Tyson over here. You need to do something about that.”
Cadence kept laughing. She couldn’t contain it. Once she started, she let it consume her. It was infectious. Avery’s laughter came next, followed by Oliver’s.
They laughed until they cried. They laughed until their stomachs hurt. They laughed until the tension vanished.
“I can’t stand you,” Avery grumbled, looking at Oliver. She sank into the armchair. “I think you’re a little punk bitch.”
Cadence shrieked with laughter.
“And I think you’re a lazy slut,” Oliver replied. He plopped onto the couch beside his sister and gently beat her back. “Breathe, Cay.”
“I . . . I’m t-trying!” she choked.
“God, I don’t know how you shared a house with him,” Avery groaned.
“I don’t know how she spent most of her senior year hanging out with you,” Oliver shot back.
“I don’t know how—”
“ENOUGH!” Cadence cried over Avery’s voice. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t know how I can stand either one of you.”
Avery held her breath, waiting. Cadence looked at her, then turned to Oliver.
“Yeah yeah. I already know,” he said. He stood up and pulled his car keys from his pocket.
“Enjoying my ride?” Cadence asked.
“Immensely,” he replied.
“You’re an asshole, and I love you,” she said.
She made it a point to tell her brother she loved him whenever she saw him. She regretted not saying those words the night Oliver helped her escape, and she didn’t want to feel any more regret. That’s not to say she always felt like expressing her love to him. He was still a moron, but she knew he loved her fiercely—would do anything for her—and that warranted the words. Each and every time.
Oliver shot Avery his middle finger before walking out.
“Since when did your brother become so crass?” Avery asked once the door closed.
Cadence shrugged. “He’s going through this weird phase right now. He’s mad at my parents for what happened—” She pointed to her eye. “—and frustrated that he still has to live under their roof.”
Avery nodded.
“He’s really angry with God, too,” Cadence added. “He told me a few weeks ago that he wasn’t sure he still believed in him. I’d take anger any day over indifference.”
Avery rolled her eyes. “Existential crisis at sixteen? Give me a break. He’s a loser.”
“And I love him,” Cadence said softly.
Avery shifted in her seat. “He’s not really a loser. He was there for you when I wasn’t.”
Silence.
“You saw my eye, Avery,” Cadence whispered. “I’m not trying to make it all about me, but you’re my best friend. You saw my eye.” She looked straight at Avery. “And you walked away.”
Avery’s eyes welled. She looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to force back the tears, but they ran down her temples anyway.
“I know.”
“I don’t know what I’ve done to you, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. Whatever your parents have done, I’m sorry.” Cadence wiped her eyes.