Callie and Lexi's Kiss List | ✓

4: Lexi

Storming back into my room, I slammed my bedroom door behind me before collapsing onto my bed, eyes turning towards the ceiling.

Callie is being absolutely ridiculous, I thought to myself. She doesn't get to say who I do and do not consider family, especially when she's been trying so hard to not consider me her sister anymore by always avoiding me whenever I've visited. Sure, I started it by leaving. But she has to stop blaming me for—

It didn't take long for my bedroom door to open once more, interrupting my thought spiral.

I expected it to be mum, but when I looked up, a familiar pair of blue eyes on a girl with black hair was approaching me.

"Your mum has gone to talk to Callie about whatever that was and I'm here to talk to you," she said.

But I ignored her statement, instead whispering, "Looking at you makes me miss him, Aunt Jojo." Then I turned my gaze back to the ceiling as Jojo laid down on my bed next to me, her shoulder bumping against mine.

"Yeah. I miss my brother too," she breathed, hand reaching down to grab mine. "But life is too short to fight with your siblings, Lex," she then said.

Jaw locked tight, I finally bit into the conversation, mumbling back, "She started it."

"If she did, then she will need to apologise. But so will you. Both of you are upset, which means both of you have said or done something to trigger each other. As unreasonable either of you may think that trigger is, it doesn't negate the other's feelings. You both will need to find common ground."

"We don't have anything in common."

"Well that's not true. You have me. Your mum—"

"Nothing other than family. But even family is a topic we might fight about. Because heaven forbid I ever say I acknowledged Jessica as my mother. And of course mum did nothing wrong in her relationship with dad." I shook my head, hand coming out of Jojo's as I tugged at my face in despair. "I was trying to extend an olive branch."

"You two had a crazy connection, probably because you were womb mates and also just because you are sisters. But sometimes big things test us and try to split us up. You did at the time what you had to do for you. Your mum, dad, me, even Jessica knew that it was better for your health to be away from Callie. But what you also need to remember, Lex, is that you've been thinking about fixing your relationship with your sister for... what—"

"Five months at least," I muttered back. It was when the prognosis came and I realised that eventually I would move back here.

"Exactly. Callie, though, has always just assumed you two had grown apart. Then you show up wanting to fix it, expecting it to be easy because you've had so long to think about it. Right now, her system is just shocked. Take some time. Unpack your things a bit more," Jojo said, glancing around at my suitcase opened in the middle of my floor, still yet to be worked through, "Get used to the routines in the house. As Callie begins to see you around every day and not someone who is going to up and leave, she will come around. In her defence, she is lovely to most people. Just not those who caused her pain—not that it wasn't justified what you did."

I nodded slightly.

"She's just using you as a punching bag, Lex. Because she knows you love her enough to tolerate it. Eventually she will stop throwing the punches and let you in."

"Okay," I breathed, though I still wasn't sure.

She gave my hand a gentle squeeze and sat up.

"Hey Jojo?" I said, stopping her in her tracks before she got too far.

"Yeah?"

"Do people really treat her different just because—"