couldn’t have handled his concerned stare.
Lily looked happy. Until Dylan’s death, I’d never thought of her as being unhappy. The depths of her depression had shocked me when I learned about the choices she’d been making. A few weeks ago, I’d never even considered how sad she’d always been. Today though, she was happy. It radiated from her. Her shoulders were thrown back, free of the pain she’d carried for everyone for so long, her skin glowed and, as cheesy as it sounded, there was a little sparkle in her eyes.
Even Phoebe was in a good mood. She and Nathan had plans later, and while I normally would have told her Dad was going to walk in on them just to watch her squirm, I kept the vision to myself. Besides, it would be more fun to have her raging at me for not warning her than listening to her pout all night.
“Are you all right, Chloe?” Lily asked, her eyes squinting to focus in on me. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
It shouldn’t have surprised me that she was the one to notice my lack of appetite. I’m sure she felt the panic that had risen in me again even before we’d sat down.
For a split second, I contemplated telling my sisters about the vision, but as quickly as the thought came to mind it was gone. I couldn’t do that to them. Neither of them deserved to live a life full of fear. Besides, it couldn’t be real.
“I’m fine. I’m just not hungry.”
“You’re such a crappy liar. I don’t even need a voice in my head calling you out to know that.” Phoebe rolled her eyes and tossed a chunk of buttered bread in her mouth. “Please don’t say you’re on some new diet.”
“I don’t do diets.”
“Says she who hasn’t touched bread in a decade.”
“It’s called healthy eating. And not eating bread has to do with not liking the taste, not because I can’t eat it.” To prove my point I picked up the half of the dinner roll she hadn’t finished eating and took a giant bite.
My diet and exercise routine where a constant point of contention between Phoebe and me. I liked to think I was a healthy thin. I worked out and ate well, and even though I wasn’t on the squad anymore, I still had the muscle strength to be a base. Phoebe was more of a skinny fat. She wasn’t overweight and was actually pretty close to my size, but she ate crap food and refused to do anything even remotely resembling physical activity. When she gained a pound, she figured it was somehow my fault for not doing the same. As for muscles, well I was pretty sure Lily, who was almost seven inches shorter, could take her on and win one handed.
“Phoebs, drop it, please.” Lily glanced back and forth between us.
Ah, Lily the peacemaker. It was nice to know that no matter what she’d gone through she would still do anything to end a fight. That constant attitude had solved a lot of my problems with Phoebe over the years. It was also a trait Phoebe and I both admittedly manipulated.
Phoebe shot me a snide look and I barely managed to keep from sticking my tongue out at her. She could be the petty one and I’d act as if I were above such a thing. It would drive her frustration level up much more effectively than retaliating.
As much as I loved her, Phoebe and I never got along. At least not for long. She’d grown up without her truth telling ability and she’d had a lot of jealousy towards Lily and me. Yet, while Lily tried to heal that hurt, I’d shoved it in Phoebe’s face how well my own gift worked. It wasn’t nice of me, but we just rubbed each other the wrong way. Nanna liked to say it was because we were so alike, but I didn’t see it. Phoebe was a loud mouth. I was just loud.
We finished eating without any more arguing and since clean up went along with dinner duty, I carried the dishes through to the kitchen. I was wrapping leftovers when Lily came in. She stood watching me from the doorway, her hip propped against the frame.
“Are you going to tell me what you saw?” she