Page 68 of The Fall of Iris Henley
“Dumb questions?”
“You know. Like, why is your sister such a bitch? Did you know your sister was a bitch? When did she start turning into a bitch?” She shrugs. “It’s kind of annoying, actually.”
“I bet.” I stir the pasta into the water. “You want some mac?”
“Depends. It’s not the weird low-fat stuff Mom got last time, is it?”
I snort. “God, no. This is good old Kraft blue-box processed-cheez-with-a-z.”
“Hook me up.”
I fill up two bowls and push one across to her.
“So what’s it like out there?” I ask, blowing steam off my fork. “Are things getting back to normal? Such as they are?”
She shrugs. “No. Not really. I mean, from what I heard, that was the biggest homecoming blowup of all time, so the dust is still settling. Carter’s suspended, I guess. The cheer team’s been circling the wagons around your friends though.”
“Good.” It makes me feel a little better to know that Sophie and Hayden haven’t been cast out. Maybe they’ll be able to get through this, at least.
“Where’d you go Monday, anyway?” Noelle asks.
I set down my fork. I don’t know that I’m ready to talk about being catfished, period, much less to a person that is looking to stab me in the back half the time.
“Max and I thought we might have a lead on who the poster is. But we were wrong,” I finally say. “We still don’t know.”
“Sucks.” She takes a bite of her macaroni and then winces at how hot it is. “This is all so stupid.”
“I would’ve thought you’d be having fun, watching me get torn to bits,” I say.
She looks, oddly enough, a little startled by that.
Then she rolls her eyes.
“Don’t be so sensitive,” she says. “WhenIhate you, it’s a special bond between sisters. When everyoneelsehates you, I have to stand up for you, which is really irritating.”
“Oh really? You’ve been standing up for me?” I smirk.
“Uh, yes? I’m doing the very important marching band PR circuit on your behalf. The brass section’s still got your back.” She kicks against the island. Mom hates when she does that.
“Well, thanks. I guess I assumed you’d be leading the way to the gallows. All things considered.”
“It’s not like that. It’s more like…” She thinks a moment, chewing. “Like Mom and Dad make me actually insane, and you’re just catching stray bullets.”
“They’re hard for me to deal with too, you know,” I say.
“Yeah, but at least you’re more or less the daughter they want.” She doesn’t sound apologetic, exactly, but she looks down at her bowl. “Plus you get to leave soon.”
“Hey, I’ve done my time!” I say.
“I know, I know.” She waves the statement away. “It just gets to me sometimes. Imagining you in some cool college class. Talking to people about something other than football, while I’m still here.”
“Yeah. I get it.” I push pasta around in my bowl. “Believe it or not, that’s all I really want too.”
The doorbell rings. We both go still and listen for a moment. Outside a car starts and then drives away. I go to the foyer just in time to see that it’s a FedEx truck.
The package on the front porch saysCHEER WORLD. It’s addressed to me. I wonder if they’ve sent me a bunch of samples again—last year I was the team secretary, which meant I did a lot of the ordering, but this year it’s supposed to go to Hayden. I look around for a pair of scissors and am just about to slice through the tape when my sister grabs my arm.
“Iris,” she says. “Look.”
