“There you go—” Margo snapped, “ruining the dinner.”
And that’s when Mary knew shit was about to hit the fan. “You’re such a bitch, Margo.” The room went deathly quiet after Mary spoke those words, but she wasn’t even sorry, and sure as hell wouldn’t take them back.
“Mary—” Her mother’s high-pitched voice couldn’t sway her from continuing.
“No, mom,” she said and held her hand out to her mother, stopping her from saying anything else. “This is a long time coming.” She shook her head and stared at Margo. “It’s always something with her. It’s always about her. Wedding or not, she’s always made me feel less than, and I’ve reached the point where I’m tired of being the gum on the bottom of someone’s shoe.” Then Mary looked at everyone in the room. “I’m sick of the rules, of having to pretend like I’m not good enough to be in this family.”
“Mary, what are you talking about?” Her mother looked genuinely confused, like she was clueless about how they’d always acted and treated her.
They may never have told her she wasn’t good enough, never told her she didn’t belong in the family, but there had been far too many times to count in her life when her parents and sister had made comments about what they expected of her, that she should wear certain things, or talk or act a certain way.
She was always on display, always felt as though she never did anything right. And it had taken her this long to grow comfortable in her skin. It had taken her this long to know what it meant to be cared for the way she deserved, for her to realize that she was worth more than what everyone and anyone gave her credit for.
In the short time she’d been with Alex, he’d made her feel special, like she shouldn’t feel ashamed of who she was, of how she felt or what she wanted in life. He made her feel alive. He may not realize it, but he had helped her so much in such a very short amount of time.
He made her feel free.
The room was still quiet, and she didn’t break her focus from Margo. “I’m tired of you treating me like I’m some charity case. I’m tired of you acting like you’re better than me.”
Her mother gasped in outrage, Margo opened her mouth in shock, and the three men in the room stayed silent.
“You’re not better than anyone else, Margo.” She lowered her voice, and felt that familiar desperation to have a bond—any bond—with her sister rise up. “You’re my sister whether the same blood flows through our veins or not. I’ve always looked up to you, wanted to be close. It doesn’t matter to me where you came from, how much or how little money you have, or who your friends are.” She turned to her mom then. “I don’t care about any of that because I love the three of you so much. You’re my family even if you’ve never made me feel like it.”
Her mother didn’t speak, but Mary watched the way her throat worked as she swallowed, saw the way she twisted her hands in her lap almost nervously.
Then Mary looked at Lance. “And you and I,” she paused to let those words settle in the air between them. “We are never getting back together. We are never going to be friends. In fact, I don’t want you in my life.” She looked at her mom then and felt her chest clench. “You want to know why I will never be with Lance again, why I want nothing to do with him?” Her mother didn’t respond, just swallowed almost painfully. “He cheated on me with Brittany, you know, the girl that I used to be friends with?” Her mother’s eyes grew wide and she looked at Lance. “Yeah, that’s right, mom. I caught him having sex with someone I thought was my friend at one of those posh wine parties you’re always telling me to go to, always wanting me to act fake at.”
Lance cleared his throat, opened his mouth, but Mary’s father shook his head, his expression hard.
“If you’re smart you’ll shut the hell up, Lance.”
Mary snapped her gaze to her father, surprised to hear the anger in his voice.
“Go on, sweetheart.” Her father’s voice was softer, and now it was Mary’s turn to swallow roughly, her emotions rising up. “This isn’t how I saw tonight going. But sometimes people have had enough and it all boils over.”
Her father cleared his throat, her mother shifted on the couch, and Margo and Joe kept their mouths shut as Mary continued.
“Whether you meant to make me feel this way or not, the fact of the matter is you all did. It’s why I picked BMU, because it was far enough away I could stand on my own two feet. I could be away from you and try to remind myself I was strong. I was okay on my own.”