Everyone’s Favorite
Everyone's Favorite
Delaney
The sound of Tessa's voice hit me so hard, I nearly forgot to breathe.
How was this even possible?
I yanked the phone from my ear and studied the display, half convinced I'd somehow called the wrong number. It would make sense, after all, since I'd been calling Tessa non-stop.
But it wasn't the wrong number, which left me completely baffled.
Why was Tessa answering Maisie's phone?
Sounding just as surprised, Tessa said, "Delaney?"
In that moment, I wasn't even sure what I felt. Relief that I'd found her? Confusion about where she was? Fear that Sierra had been telling the truth?
I gripped the phone tighter. "What are you doing there?"
"It's a long story. But where are you?"
This was absolutely surreal. I was where Tessa belonged – inside Tessa's apartment, in Tessa's favorite city, surrounded by all of Tessa's things.
And Tessa?
She was with Maisie.
This, of course, assumed that Maisie was even home. And if she wasn't? Well, people didn't answer someone else's phone unless they'd settled in.
My stomach clenched. Was that why Tessa hadn't been answering my calls? Because even she knew how bad this would look? I mean, it was one thing to borrow someone's cocktail dress and quite another to swipe a best friend.
And now she was asking where I was?
I was literally shaking. "I asked you first. So you're stealing my friends, now?"
I hated how I sounded – hurt and jealous. But it was exactly how I felt. And after spending the last couple of hours crying on Tessa's couch, I didn't have the energy to take it back.
And besides, Tessa was already saying, "No. For your information, I came here looking for you." She sounded snippy, like this was none of my business.
I couldn't help but scoff. "And you just happen to show up on the exact day I call?"
When Tessa went quiet, it confirmed everything I feared.
Obviously, she'd been there a lot longer than a day. Had she been with Maisie the whole time?
Dodging my question, she said, "I'm glad you called. I've been really worried."
I snorted. "Yeah, I can tell. I've only called you a million times in the past two weeks."
She hesitated. "Wait…you have?"
As if she didn't know. "Yes, actually." Under my breath, I mumbled, "And thanks for calling me back."
With a little groan, she said, "Oh, my God. My phone."
"What about it?"
"I don't have it. I haven't for a while."
It sounded like quite a story. Tessa was glued to her phone. She was always working, always posting something or other, and always had her finger on the pulse of everything.
Every face, every name, every piece of gossip that mattered – Tessa knew it before anyone else. This made her story ridiculous. She'd probably die without her phone.
And yet, if I were being fair – not that I felt like it, mind you – her social media page had been oddly inactive. Even so, I had to work hard to keep my voice level as I asked, "What are you saying? You lost it?"
"Not exactly."
Talk about shifty. "Not exactly? What does that mean?"
"It's in storage – another long story. But how are you?"
Storage?
Who puts a cellphone in storage?
And why was she changing the subject?
My grip on my own phone tightened. "Five minutes ago, I was fine." This wasn't quite true, but I still tried to laugh. "And do you seriously expect me to believe that you've been away from your phone for two whole weeks?"
"More like two whole months."
Months? As in multiple? Once again, I tried to be fair. I had been trying to reach her for a couple of months now, but it wasn't until the past two weeks that I'd started getting obnoxious about it.
Still, I couldn't quite hide my hurt as I asked, "Wait…you've been at Maisie's for months?"
Tessa sighed. "You did hear me say I came looking for you, right?"
That wasn't exactly a no. "And then what? You just moved in?"
Between Sierra's comments, the funeral I'd missed, and the fact that Tessa was apparently answering Maisie's phone, the evidence was piling up.
When she didn't reply, I just laid it out there. "So Maisie is what now? Your best friend?"
Sounding annoyed, she asked, "A best friend you haven't spoken to in months?" But then, more softly, she added, "She really misses you."
The words hit hard, and I wanted to believe her. But all I could think about was everything I'd missed, filtered through Sierra's snide commentary. "Well, it's a good thing she's got you then, huh?"
Part of me actually meant it. I loved my sister. And I loved Maisie. Sure, Tessa and I hadn't always gotten along, but she was good in a crisis.
She was good at everything. If Maisie had to have somebody helping her cope, Tessa would do a stellar job.
It was nice they had each other.
Honest, it was.
Still, my voice wobbled as I softly added, "But I'm glad you're both okay."
"Hey, it's not like I replaced you." She sounded a little desperate. "Trust me, she'd take you over me, any day."
It was such a nice thing to say.
Then again, Tessa was almost always nice. Was it any wonder that she was everyone's favorite choice?
Suddenly, I felt so very alone. "Yeah, right. Just like Mom, huh?"
To Tessa's credit, she didn't deny it. Still, even I could hear the doubt in her voice as she said, "Mom does love you, you know. Maybe she's not good at showing it, but I know she does."
No. Tessa didn't.
And neither did I.
With a bitter laugh, I said, "Yeah, I can tell." A lifetime of memories came flooding back. "Even when she buys us matching earrings, she goes on and on about how pretty they are, because they match your eyes."
Good grief. Why on Earth was I mentioning earrings? I'd never been big into jewelry, so it shouldn't have mattered. And yet, it wasn't lost on me that with my first decent royalty payment, I'd splurged on that pair of genuine emerald earrings because they matched my eyes, not Tessa's.
And those sapphire earrings? The ones that matched Tessa's eyes? I'd hurled them straight into the trash.
Petty?
Yes.
Foolish?
Also yes, but not nearly as much as you'd think.
On the phone, Tessa laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, I had to sell the earrings for rent."
That did it. "You are such a liar."
Her response was immediate. "I'm not lying."
But she was. And I had the receipt to prove it. It was my turn to laugh. "Oh, please. Like you'd pay your own rent."
On the phone, she groaned, like even she knew she was busted.
I couldn't contain my sarcasm. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Delaney—"
"What?" I snapped.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't ask her to do it." Tessa sounded absolutely mortified. "And I'll pay you back, I promise."
I blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"The rent, like you said."
What a load of crap. Just moments ago, Tessa had claimed she'd sold those earrings for rent. But I knew for a fact they were worthless. And besides, she hadn't been paying her rent at all. I scoffed, "Rent for what? A shoebox?"
"Sorry, what?"
Oh, for God's sake. "You do know they were fake, right?"
"The earrings? No, they weren't." She sounded scandalized by the mere suggestion. "I remember Mom telling us—"
"That they were real? Yeah, well, they weren't."
"How do you know?"
"Because the day after Christmas, I tried to sell them."
"You did?"
"Oh, yeah." I laughed without humor. "You should've seen the pawnbroker's face. The guy thought I was trying to swindle him."
"But why would you sell them at all? Were you that desperate for money?"
Forget desperation. I never would've sold them if Mom hadn't spent all of that time gushing about Tessa's eyes while I opened my only Christmas gift – well, from Mom and Dad, anyway.
Meanwhile, they'd gotten Tessa three gifts, not that I was counting.
Okay, yes I was.
I told Tessa, "No, I was desperate to get rid of them."
"But why?"
Unbelievable. "That's your question?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, here I tell you that Mom lied about the earrings being real, and all you can do is ask why I'd sell them?"
"Well maybe I'm confused."
"Yeah, me too," I snapped. "Because your story's impossible – unless you sold those earrings to some poor sap who didn't bother checking."
"Oh, my God." She sounded genuinely horrified. But then, just as I was starting to feel bad for telling her, she asked, "Are you sure both of us got fakes?"
The question stung.
I'd wondered the same thing myself, and the fact that Tessa had wondered it, too, only proved the idea wasn't nearly as ridiculous as I'd been trying to convince myself.
I was still processing it when Tessa blurted out, "Sorry. Stupid question."
"It can't be that stupid," I said. "I asked myself the same thing..." Did I dare tell her? Oh, screw it. I plowed onward, finishing the thought. "Which is why I took yours in later that same day."
"You mean…to sell them?"
I almost flinched. So that's what she thought of me? "I'm no thief," I told her. "I was just curious, that's all."
"And…?"
My mouth tightened. "Yours were fake, too. I was so surprised, I almost fell over." But that wasn't the point. "And as far as your rent, we both know it's paid by someone else."
"If you mean the thing with Mom—"
"Forget Mom." I almost shuddered as I recalled everything I'd done to snag that stupid receipt. "I meant Ryder Vaughn."
"Wait…who?"
"So you're what? Denying you know him?"
"No. I mean…I do know him, but he's not paying my rent." A note of uncertainty crept into her voice. "Why would you even think that?"
I thought it because it was true. And besides, it wasn't even that surprising.
Tessa was the kind of girl that guys loved to buy things for.
Even now, I could remember how much it hurt when the guy I'd been crushing on spent weeks chatting me up in study hall before showing up at our house with a dozen roses.
Not for me.
For Tessa.
Turns out, he hadn't been interested in me at all. He'd only been interested in learning more about my beautiful sister. I should've known. He was captain of the football team, and I was…well, just the sister of the most popular girl in school.
I'd spent the next month avoiding nearly everyone, especially the school's new favorite couple.
I was still lost in the memory when Tessa said, "Sorry, but you're wrong."
I blinked back to the present. "And you're full of it." The tears from earlier were threatening yet again. "Ask me how I know."
She didn't ask.
So I just told her. "Because I have the receipts."
Okay, technically it was just one receipt, but the point remained. I had proof – which was probably why Tessa abruptly changed the subject, saying in a rush, "I just hope you secured your bank account."
I frowned. Was that a threat? A warning? A hint that the whole family was in on it? "Yeah, well…" I couldn't quite contain my sarcasm. "Thanks for the warning." As in, Thanks for telling me to close the barn doors after the horse is long gone.
She had nothing to say after that.
In fact, she went so quiet that I took the hint, said a speedy goodbye, and ended the call feeling worse than when I'd started.
But hey, at least I had my answer.
I had been replaced.
And by my own sister, too.