“I’m not trying to ruin anything for anyone,” I said as quietly and calmly as I could manage, though my hands were shaking at my sides. “I’m just not going to the wedding. That’s all.”
My dad’s face turned an even deeper shade of red, that vein in his temple starting to pulse the way it always did when he was truly angry.
“You’re being incredibly selfish right now, Erica. Do you have any idea how this is going to look to everyone? What are we supposed to tell people when they ask where you are? How are we supposed to explain that you couldn’t be bothered to show up for your own sister’s wedding?”
“Tell them the truth,” I said, my voice growing sharper despite my best efforts to stay calm. “Tell them I had other plans that I couldn’t change.”
My mom’s face twisted into something cold and hard, something ugly that she usually kept hidden beneath her polished exterior.
