So why can’t she also be a decent person? Is that so much to ask? Mom always talks about how Afton and I (and Abby, eventually) need to be strong and good, as people but also as women. She likes to say we need to be the change the world needs—something ripped off from Gandhi, I think. She expects us to do our best, and we do. We get straight As. We participate in the requisite extracurricular activities, and we excel in those, too. We have been model children.

And all this time, Mom has been screwing around.

I really, really want to hate her.

“Ada?” Afton prompts quietly.

“Why is sex such a big deal?” I ask, more to myself than to my sister.

“Oh. Right. I used to think it wasn’t a big deal,” Afton says. “I used to see sex as a purely physical thing, something programed into our animal brain, or whatever. I didn’t think it had to mean anything. I was pretty eager to cash in my V-Card. But now—”

“I guess I couldn’t possibly understand,” I snap, “because I’m a naive little virgin.”

She cocks her head, confused at my sudden attitude. “What couldn’t you possibly understand?”

“Why everyone around me feels like sex is the thing to do.”

Her cheeks get pink. “Everyone?”

“Well, you told me I need to find some cute boy to sleep with so I could get over Leo.”

And just like that, we’re back to fighting. And it’s my fault.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” Afton says, her eyes dropping like I’ve embarrassed her somehow. “I was just—”

“I think you did mean it. Otherwise you wouldn’t have said it. Because that’s exactly what you would do.”

Afton’s mouth snaps closed so hard her teeth click. “Hey. Don’t be a bitch.”

Oh, so now she’s calling me a bitch. “Who, me?” I pretend to look around. “I guess it’s better than me being a fucking square, though, right?”

Afton’s eyes narrow. She stares at me silently for a minute. Then she says, “Where is your new boyfriend, anyway?”

I bristle. “Nick is not my boyfriend. We’re just hanging out.”

“You’ve been hanging out all day.”

“It’s nothing. He was nice to me last night when I was sick.”