“Would you please get up from that chair? You’ve been sitting there ever since you got home. You haven’t even looked at your beloved goldfish,” Elizabeth pointed out, referring to Heather’s two fish, Sam and Mikey.
“So? It’s not like they really care, as long as they get fed,” Heather answered.
“You will not be moping around this house. You have a hell of a lot of makeup work for school. It’s your senior year, and I don’t think you really wanna repeat it, do you?”
“I missed a whole three weeks, Beth. How am I supposed to make up all that stuff? That’s a lot of work!”
v “So you’re not even gonna pull your routine from when Mom and Dad died? You’re not gonna throw yourself into your schoolwork to distract yourself?” Heather didn’t reply. “Come on, get up right now. You have two essays to write, you know.”
“Beth, I don’t need you ordering me around anymore. I’m an adult.”
“Well, you’re sure as hell not acting like one.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do? I lose my parents in a car wreck. Two years later, I lose my best friend in a car wreck. Then I meet the asshole that did it, and I fall in love with him. Then I find out he has feelings for me, too, and I let the love of my life walk out the door because I’m too much of a wuss to take the risk of getting hurt.” She burst into tears and recited a quote she had heard from somewhere or other. “What do you do when the only one who can make you stop crying is the one who’s making you cry?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Quit feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it!”
“What can I do? I don’t have his phone number or address or anything, and if I go to the hospital to find out, they’re never gonna believe Nick and I were friends. Yeah, one of the Backstreet Boys came to visit me every day, honest!”
“Then you’re going to have to get over him because you taught me that crying doesn’t do any good.”
“I know, I know, so why am I acting like this?” she demanded, not to her sister, but to herself. “That’s it, I’m done. I’m gonna forget about him.”