“That sounds fun! I’ll check my schedule and let you know.” I’m trying so hard to sound excited, but my fake smile is making my cheeks hurt. I doubt I’m putting on an award-winning performance.

I leave my hand in hers for a second longer before I pull it away. I tuck it in my lap and ignore the flash of hurt in Daisy’s eyes at the movement.

I don’t want to be like this.

I want to be able to call her sis and invite her to my home. I want to go on vacations with her and know all the little details about her life. I want the easy relationship that sisters have where, sure, they’ll fight on occasion, but it never lasts. I wish we had years of togetherness, whispering secrets in the darkness of the room we shared, giggling while we braided each other’s hair or walked to school together.

But Daisy and I don’t have that foundation.

What I have is hours of sitting in the passenger seat of my mom’s sad little Toyota sedan, which struggled to get up the mountain roads. My mom tried to her best to keep her thoughts to herself, but those trips always ended with her mumbling beneath her breath about my no-good dad, who only cares about his new family. I remember the way her eyes would well with tears that never managed to fall as I waved goodbye and turned to walk up the long cobblestone driveway leading to Dad’s new house. All I have is the disappointed look on my dad’s face when he’d open the front door for me. And the way his entire face would light up with joy when he saw Daisy.

“So when do you start work?” I ask, pulling myself out of those dark thoughts. “Do you have any fun plans before you start?”

“Not for another month. I wanted to spend a few weeks getting to know my new city. Oh my god!” Daisy practically leaps out of her seat and startles the ever-loving crap out of me. “Dad got me tickets to see one of my favorite bands at Red Rocks on Saturday! You should come with.”

Have you ever had a piece of candy, and when you put in it your mouth, at first it’s the best thing your tastebuds have ever encountered—sweet and delicious—but then, after a few seconds, you start to register a different flavor and it’s so god-awful you have to use every single ounce of self-control not to spit it all over the floor? That’s this offer.