This diary entry is part 24 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I’m… well… confused.

Beth seemed very depressed today.

I don’t understand!  I mean, she had such a good day yesterday!  We threw her a huge gala, like the Oscars!  We gave her a (okay, not the most expensive, but nice) award!  She got a car of her own!  She had everyone show up, and even some people she didn’t really know!  She had food and chocolate and even got asked out by her boy friend (not boyfriend, it’s different!)  She got everything she wanted!

And… this morning, she was just kind of moping around.  She didn’t want to do anything, and she was even a little snippy.  Not rude, but she clearly didn’t want to be bothered.  She ate breakfast, went to church (where the pastor actually made a sermon up based on that ceremony, which was nice but really silly), and that just seemed to depress her more.  We came home and she just went up to her room, and I haven’t seen her much since.

I knocked on her door and asked her if she was okay, and she said yes, but she wanted to be alone.

Sigh.

I asked Sabby if she knew what was going on, and she didn’t really.  But she told me that sometimes it’s when you get everything you want that you feel the worst, and, well…  I don’t really understand that, but Sabby’s pretty smart about these things, so, she’s probably right.

And then she said that Beth’s sixteen and when you’re sixteen you get moody, and then she looked at me meaningfully.

Dangit, Sabby!!! Hahaha!!!

Maybe it’s because I don’t have everything I want, and I can’t have everything I want, that I don’t understand.  Oh well.

I need to look up the manuals on Beth’s car so we know how to change the oil.  It’s in the driveway now, and we’ve got four cars now, and the neighbors are giving us dirty looks.  I don’t really care, but Sabby’s a little peeved.  If we can fit four cars in our driveway, it’s none of their business how many we have!

David’s a bit jealous, but he’s ten.  He’s not driving for a while, and that’s just how it is.

Maybe I should get Beth a shake.  I haven’t seen the owner in a while anyway (though he did come to the shindig yesterday!)

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 23 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I didn’t write last night!  We had such a busy day!!!  Beth and I had a spa day!!!  We got cucumbers and massages and peels and all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff!!! I sent Jack a picture of me with a mask and he just said “Ewwww!”  But I told him he’d like the results.  He said I’m already beautiful enough!  Aww!!!  But I told him I would be even more beautiful!!!

He said he didn’t think that was possible!!!

Hahaha!!!  Good boyfriend!!!

So anyway, after doing that and some shopping, we got home late, and we were tired, so I just walked Marie and went to bed.

This morning, all of us except for Beth and Sabby went to the place we rented and set up!!!  There were goodies, and a stage, and we even set up a little red carpet!  Sabby was taking beth to get her hair done, and when that was all done, they put on their gowns and went to our space!!!

We even hired paparazzi!!!  They were on each side of the carpet taking pictures, and when she pulled up (in a limo!) she came out and they immediately started taking pictures of her!!!

The funny thing is – we didn’t tell her!  So she was surprised!!!  Hahaha!!!

All the men were wearing tuxes, and all the women gowns!!!  Even David and Allison!!!  Some couldn’t afford anything really fancy, but they wore their best anyway!!!  EVERYONE was there because we needed a lot of people for the ambience, and they love Beth, too!  Even Emiko and her family!  Even some people from church!

So Beth came in, and we all sat down, and the prerecorded music came up.  I had gotten some clips from one of those services where celebrities can give little 30 second blurbs!!!  So she got a greeting from Elon Musk1!  From Steve Wozniak!  From Neil DeGrasse Tyson!  From lots of people she liked and respected!  And then after all that, Sabby and I got up and presented her with an award!!!  It was the “Most Likely to have a Sixteenth Birthday and be Loved by Everyone” award!

Everyone started clapping, and we had easily 50 people there!!!

So she comes up, blushing, and accepted the award, which was a nice piece of glass shaped like a number 16.  But we told her to turn it over.

She did, started jumping up and down and squealing, and ran out of the building, jumping all the way!!!!

There were car keys!!!

We got her a car!!!

It wasn’t a new one, but, it was kind of like mine.  Reasonably nice and pretty reliable, if a little older.  But she didn’t care!  She got a car!!!  We had put a huge bow on it, and by the time we caught up with her, she was already outside and inside the car just squealing and… and crying!!!

She hopped out and hugged all of us, sniffling.  “you really love me,” she said.

“Of course we do,” I said,  “Let’s go inside and have some snacks.”

So, we did.  And the afterparty was great!!!  We had hors d’ouevres, and lots of chocolatey stuff (I wouldn’t have had it any other way), and fancy non-alcoholic drinks – baker really outdid herself!  The whole thing was expensive so we couldn’t afford a full catered dinner, but everyone was happy.  My tech friend even volunteered to be a DJ and everyone danced!!!

David and Allison even danced!  It was cute!  Grace was just kind of wibbling around, not caring about anything.  And Jack and I, well, we danced a lot too.  He told me that I really was even more beautiful.  Suddenly it was really hot in that room!

We even invited her boy interest, and he asked her out on a date!!!  She said yes, and gave him a big hug!!!

When we came home, Beth hugged all of us.  She said “I don’t know how I’ll ever top this in my whole life!”

I said “Well, let’s see how your date goes.”

Sabby smacked me and Beth blushed prettily.  “No grandkids yet,” she said, sternly.

Beth blushed harder.  I’ll have to have a little more, er, practical talk with her at some point.  You know, about things Sabby won’t.

She doesn’t have her license yet, but neither did I.  I mean, she just turned 16 today.  She’s got a few more months to go before she hits the six month requirement with her permit.  Still… at least now she has her own car to crash.

Hahaha!!!

We sent pictures to the group chat and Rebecca and her friends thought it was a great idea!  Unfortunately, Robert maybe not so much, because I have a feeling Rebecca’s going to try to top that next birthday!  Well, Robert’s okay, but he deserves it a little!!!

Okay!

Love you all!!! And especially Beth!!! ❤


  1. This is a work of serial fiction, and no mentioned celebrities had anything to do with this post, and their names are used without permission.

This diary entry is part 22 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

We bought Beth her dress today!!!

And she’s really really pretty in it!!! It’s a little like mine, but a little more sheer and sparkly black.  It’s a very grown up dress, and Beth loves it!!!  She’s looking forward to wearing it!!!

We also had to get the guys some special clothes too, but I ain’t telling!!! Hahaah!!!

Okay, short entry tonight, but it was busy today.  Tomorrow is a spa day!!!  And then Saturday, well… it’s the big day!!!

Beth’s really looking forward to it!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 21 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And after all the fun and frolicking, it’s been a pretty boring day.  Beth and I are going back to school – I’m taking some more advanced business classes, and Beth is taking science classes.  She’s a bit frustrated because the science classes aren’t all that good at teaching science anymore, but she just kind of keeps to herself.  She’s really interested in theoretical physics, but…  she also says they’re really just guesses about how things work by using math and hoping for the best.  Apparently when things get that small or… well…  immaterial, it’s hard to actually design working tests.

She’s really smart!

We’re still planning for Beth’s birthday.  She keeps whining about wanting to know, but we refuse to tell her.  Why should we?  That’s the point of a birthday!  We get to celebrate her, she doesn’t get to decide how we celebrate her!  But we know she’ll love it.  We’re even… ummm…  no.  Not telling!

Tomorrow we’re taking her dress shopping though, and she’s getting a dress nearly as nice as the one they bought me for the Oscars!  She’s going to look like a supermodel when we’re done with her!  Well, honestly… she already does.

I’m glad I left LA when I did!  They had TORNADOES today!!!  Aww!!! Rebecca was telling us all about it on the group chat!

Well, gotta go, I guess.  Tomorrow’s a busy day.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 20 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Beth’s birthday is on the 25th!!!  That’s in four days!!!  And we’re going all out!!!  We’ve got Baker baking a really nice cake, we’ve got ice cream and all sorts of other sweet stuff.  I’m not going to say everything here, obviously, but we’ve got some PLANS.  Good news is that’s on a Saturday, so…

You wanna know what kinda plans we got?  We rented a place!!!

But no more about that.  Ssssssssshhhh!!!!

I had chocolate! Can you tell???

Anyway, I’ve had all sorts of long posts lately, so how about a short one?  This will be a short one!  But I hear Allison had a trip to Enchanted Rock!  I hope she had a good time!!!  We’ll see her Saturday!!!

Okay!  Gotta go!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 19 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

And back to the grind, I guess!!!

I have it on good authority that Beth is going to have a VERY good birthday this year.  I mean, you only turn sixteen once, right?  Well, except I did twice.  Haha!!  But we shall not say any more about that, because, well, DUH.

So…  well, who saw that coming?  It turns out all my friends want to meet each other.  So I set up a group chat, and everyone’s on it!  Ai, Liz, Beth, Rebecca, her friends, me of course..  It’s one big party!  Well…  I’m sure there will be hurt feelings every now and then, but…  I’ve got so many friends and friends of friends that it only made sense!  Chelsi posted some pictures of her surfing!  She’s really good, and Ai’s a little jealous!!!  But then Ai posted a picture of her in a Japanese garden in kimono, and Yu is a bit jealous!  And then Diana posted photos of her famous tacos, and EVERYONE wants a taste!!!

But I think it’s pretty cool.  Everyone is getting to know each other.

I hope I don’t regret that, for real.

Anyway, so I haven’t posted a shop update lately.  It’s going well.  Katie’s running a pretty tight ship, cat-girl is coordinating outfits and, well, being cat-girl…  The Baker is baking up a storm…  everyone’s getting along pretty well.  There’s still a tiny bit of friction between cat-girl and Katie, but Katie can’t deny how much business cat-girl drums up.  We have a couple more cat-girls and they’re pretty good too, but they have their own style of cosplay.  One of them dresses up in a skintight suit like neon genesis evangelion.  I mean, it’s skintight.  In fact, Sabby had a bit of an issue with it, until she showed Sabby the manga and, well, it really is that tight.  So Sabby begrudgingly said it was okay.  I asked her how she manages to wear that all day!  She said it’s breathable, so it’s actually really comfortable.

I asked her how she keeps underwear lines from showing.

She wouldn’t tell me.

Hahaha!!!  Maybe I don’t want to know anyway!

And then there’s manga girl.  She likes to dress up like characters from Japanese manga.  In practice, that means Japanese schoolgirl outfits.  And, well…  the three of them together?  They, ummm…  I’m actually wondering if we should hire a security guard.  They really attract the business.

Baker kind of got in the spirit.  She dresses a little bit like a 1950s short order cook, except the apron is a lot cleaner.

Sabby refuses to dress up, though, and so does Katie.  They say the uniforms are enough dressing up.  I’ve gone down there a couple of times with my puffy, frilly outfit, and everyone said I was so cute.  Especially when I put bows in my hair and do it up in twintails.  I guess I am!  But mostly, I just leave it to the cat-girls.

And while I was gone, baker made up the order for my “benefactor” – it was a really large order.  It fit on a rather large pallet.  In fact, we had no idea how to get it to them… but a rather large truck showed up with some guys in suits and sunglasses, and they pallet jacked it right on there.  They said “thanks”, and drove off.  I guess they were going to take it down to Austin Bergstrom and fly it out on a freighter.  Who IS my benefactor, anyway???

And, of course, full payment appeared mysteriously in our bank account.  That was quite a tidy sum, let me tell you.

My benefactor sent me a courier a couple of days later saying that everyone wherever he or she works LOVED them.  I’m not going to say they might have greased the wheels a bit between Russia and Ukraine… but they might have!!!! Hahha!!!

Manga-girl told me that one guy came in dressed like a male protagonist and… gave her a headpat!!!

Hahah!!!

Everyone else told me she giggled like a little girl and blushed insanely, and everyone’s been picking on her about that for weeks!  Hahaha!!!

Okay, well, that’s the shop update.  We’re doing well,  Weve been talking about opening another location in South Austin, but…  we’re putting that off for a bit in favor of letting our bank account grow.

I went shopping for Beth’s present today!  And it was hard!  But I found it!  Hahah!!! Yatta!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 18 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Subscriber only content in this post.  You know the drill.

And it was a pretty good day!  But I’ll talk about that later.  I’ve been putting off talking about LA and what I thought about it.  I’m not sure I have a whole lot to say about it, but there are some things.

Mostly, it was just uncomfortable.

Don’t get me wrong.  Robert and his wife treated me pretty well, Rebecca turned out to be a pretty decent half-sister, and I’m even in touch with her friends!  Yu, in particular, is really interested to talk about Japan, and she wants to talk to Liz about her Chinese heritage too.  I guess there aren’t many Asian people in that part of LA, though there are many, many in the rest of LA.  They’re all a bit… sheltered, I think is a good word.  Rebecca, Britni, Chelsi, Kari, Yu… they have their own insular world where everyone has lots of money and big houses and hobnobs with celebs (though even they didn’t get to go to the Oscars!)  I mean, they go to other parts of LA sometimes, but just the popular or expensive ones.  Probably wouldn’t catch them dead in, say…  Compton?  I hear that’s not the greatest city.

Yu kind of seems to feel… oppressed.  Which to me is rather funny, considering she’s got a far wealthier family than I do, I suspect (and Dave’s no slouch!)  But it is what it is.

LA seems to have nice weather, generally, and I’ll admit the ocean is really pretty and it’s nice to spend time there.  For those reasons, I probably wouldn’t mind LA all that much.  But… everyone just seems so materialistic.  They like things more than people.  Here in Texas, we like things too, but people are important.  I don’t know if I’d like it very much there.

And my thoughts on Robert?  Well…  I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on him.  I certainly can see the frat boy in him who knocked Emiko up and didn’t even notice.  But I can also see the doting father in him who’d do absolutely anything for his daughter.  He’s very materialistic, proud of his accomplishments and his wealth, but…  he’s just a product of his environment, I guess.  He seems okay.  I’d go back.

And Rebecca, well, she is kind of spoiled.  I think she’d even admit that.  But she’s not a bad girl, a lot more, I dunno, normal than I am in some ways.  But then, who isn’t, really?  She might want to go to Japan with us.  I don’t mind, and neither does Sabby – but they have to pay her way.  I mean, it’s not like they can’t afford it.  I bet Robert has tons of miles to burn.

So many people going to Japan…  I think we’re going to need to get a hotel.  Because we certainly can’t all be in bedrolls in a spare room of Emiko’s parents’ house.

Well, we’ll plan, I guess.

Anyway.

So today was alright.  Went to church – it’s still a bit boring, if I’m being honest.  But the pastor was nice.  He came up to me after and asked me how my trip was.  I hadn’t even told him!  But…  I guess knowing things about his flock is his job, right?

Oh, and yesterday, Beth and I drove up to that xtreme jump place in Temple, and had a blast.  Just her and I.  And then we had some pizza at a place in the Temple mall.  Apparently they used to have a good Japanese place but it closed.  Awww.  But the pizza is pretty good.

And today, Jack and I went on a date.  Well, this time, his parents took Grace and Lily to the park, and told us they’d be back in a couple of hours.

We were cuddling on the couch when everyone came back and grace and Lily pounced all over me.  I missed Grace!  I told her all about LA, in kid terms, of course.  She’s got a birthday soon!!!  I need to find her something fun!!!

And, well, that’s my day.  I feel warm inside and relaxed, of course.  Everything turned out okay.  Beth and I are talking, I had a decent time in LA the shop seems to be humming along (I’ll need to update y’all on that too but there’s been so much else to talk about) and all’s well that ends well.  Until the next adventure.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 17 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

You get a rare daytime post.

That’s because today I have a lot to say and I don’t want to be typing until all hours of the night.  I think today is going to be a long post.  Grab some popcorn and chocolate, or maybe chocolate covered popcorn…

So I… was right.  Last night I clicked “Submit”, locked my computer, went over to my bed, laid down in it, and just… cried.  I cried and cried, so hard that I was actually running out of breath and gasping for air between sobs.  I don’t often cry that hard, but last night, I did.  I was crying so hard that at one point Sabby came in and scooped me up, and I don’t even remember her doing it.  I just looked up, and there she was, petting my hair and whispering soothing words to me.

Even Marie was a bit worried, she was snuggled up to me too.

Eventually I dropped off to sleep and Sabby tucked me in.  I didn’t sleep well.

I woke up this morning bleary-eyed and with all sorts of eye-crusties.  Sabby heard me moving around and brought me some hot chocolate.  She always knows the right thing to do, y’know?  She’s a good mother.  I haven’t gotten her a shake in a while, I probably should.

“Do you want to talk about it now?”, she said as I sipped my chocolate.

“Not really,” I said.  “But I probably should.”

“So what was that about?”

I was quiet for a moment.  “Beth doesn’t understand.”

“She’s fifteen.  She’s lucky if she understands how to brush her teeth in the morning.”

I snorted. “She’s smarter than me,” I said, a little forcefully.  “By a lot, actually.”

“She’s pretty book-smart, yes.  But… between you and me, she’s a bit spoiled.”

“She is?”

“A bit.” I hope she doesn’t read this.  “Not like Rebecca, from what you’ve told me, but.. she’s never wanted for anything, if she needed something, we got it for her.  She’s had a pretty comfortable life.”

I was quiet.

“To her, you’re even more spoiled than she is,” Sabby said sadly.  “You’re the golden child.  Everyone loves you.  You get everything you want, even if you don’t want it.  And worse, you get everything she wants and we can’t or won’t give her.”

“I’m not -“

She shook her head.  “No, I don’t think you are.  But it’s not your opinion we’re talking about, here.”

I shrugged.  “I guess not.”

“And look at it from her point of view.  You take so many trips.  You went to Orlando, to Japan, to LA.  You even go to Houston sometimes to see Emiko.  And you never invite her.”

“Sabby – I”

She held her hand up.  “I know why you didn’t.  They’re you’re family, not hers.  You’re not wrong.  But…  what does that tell her?”

… “She’s not my family.  Not really.”

“You’re a good girl, Lily.  I’m sure you didn’t mean to send that message.  But…  I’m afraid you did.”

She stood up.  “I have things to do.  I’m not sure she’ll make the first move, Lily.  She’s still your sister.  Don’t let this go on too long.”

I sighed, and flopped back onto my bed.  Maybe Sabby’s right.  Of course she’s my sister.  I take her to class all the time, and we brush each others’ hair, and make girl piles with our friends, and…  and I cut her out of everything that’s important to me.  Sometimes I don’t have a choice.  I couldn’t take her to LA, especially because I didn’t know Robert well yet.  I couldn’t take her to Japan, because Emiko was paying for the trip and I couldn’t very well drag her along with me.  Maybe I could have taken her to Orlando, but…  but that would have been imposing on Liz’s family.  I couldn’t have done it any differently, but…  but should I have tried?

Maybe I should have tried.

So after a little while, I knocked on Beth’s door.

“Who is it?”

“Lily.”

“Go away.”

“No.”

“I said go away!”

“Beth, you’re my sister.  If I go away, then…  then you’ll still be mad and I’ll still be sad and tomorrow you’ll be mad more and I’ll be sad more and… and it won’t fix anything.” I sighed and started to walk away.

The door opened.

“What do you want?”

“Just to talk.”

She walked back to her bed and sat down.  Her pajamas were rumpled and she looked like she’d been crying too.  “Well, talk.”

I was quiet for a moment.  Well, might as well throw Sabby under the bus.  “Sabby explained to me a bit about how… you might be feeling.”

“And what did she say?”

“She said I’ve left you out of my life.”

“She’s not wrong.”

“I didn’t mean to.”, I said sadly.

“Of course you didn’t!,” she said, raising her voice a little.  “That’s the worst part.  It didn’t even occur to you.  You just went off and did your thing, and it never even occurred to you to include me.  After all,” she spat, “I’m just your sister.”

Ouch.  That girl really knows how to stab with words.

“Beth =”

“I’m legally your sister, Lily!  And we promised to be sisters, too!  I’m as much your sister as Rebecca is!  And maybe more!  We’ve brushed each others’ hair almost every night!  You take me to class all the time!  We spend so much time together, and when it comes time to meet people who are important to you, I’m.. I’m not your sister anymore!”

“I couldn’t -”

“Maybe you couldn’t take me to LA, but it never even occurred to you to try!  You always just go off and do your own thing, and see your family, and you never stop to think… that… that I’m your…  your family…”  She put her head in her hands and started sobbing.

Awww.

“I’ve watched you go to Japan and ” – sniff – “see your cousins, and have a great time, and ” – sniff = “Go to Orlando with Liz and meet your boyfriend, and… and…  you never even thought of me!  And the worst thing is, is that you’re not awful!  You’re probably feeling awful right now, and you never even thought of me.” She flopped on her side and sobbed.  “I… I don’t mean anything to you, do I, Lily?”

Well, this is awkward.

So I made a big spoon and pulled her back into me.  She struggled weakly for a bit but the sobs overcame her, and I did what Sabby did last night.  You know, petting her hair, letting her cry it out.  It’s the least I could do.

“Of course you do,” I said when her sobs started receding a little.  I know how it feels to run out of tears.  “You mean everything to me.”

I kissed her forehead, and she hiccuped.

“But they mean a lot to me too.  I have…  I have a lot to catch up with.”

“I don’t want you to stop seeing them.  I just… I just want you to treat me like your real sister.  Not a sister-for-hire who is a sister when you want and a best friend when you want and in the way when you want.”

“You know I can’t always -“

“OF COURSE YOU CAN’T’, she said, and sniffled again.  “But you can at least think of me.”

Dangit.

I hate it when she’s right.

Could I have brought her to LA with me?  Probably not.  But… but I could have asked.

Sabby would have said no, and I wouldn’t blame her.  Robert might have said no, and I might not have blamed him.  She probably wouldn’t have been able to go.  But I could have asked, and I didn’t.  I just assumed.

And… she fell asleep.

I guess…  I guess it’s time to be a sister.

And it started with letting her sleep in my arms.

Obviously, she woke up.  And I think we’re okay now.

But with all this Beth drama, I never got a chance to talk about what I think about LA.  I think..  I think I’ll either do that tonight, or tomorrow night.  right now…  right now I need to do something with Beth.  I don’t know what.  But something.  Tomorrow Jack and I will see each other.  But this afternoon is for Beth.  Her birthday is next week too, and…  well, I think I need to make it special.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 16 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Ummm.  Today is St. Patrick’s day.  It’s supposed to be a day about luck, I guess.  But I don’t really feel all that lucky.

Which is entirely stupid, but it’s how I feel.  Maybe I’m the luckiest girl on the planet, but I don’t feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.  I feel terrible.

Beth still isn’t talking to me.  She’s not chewing me out or being nasty, which I guess is a good sign because, you know, Beth, but she’s not talking to me.  Sabby thinks maybe I was a bit hard on her, and maybe I was, but I’m sick of it! I mean, really sick of it!  I’m so sick and tired of her not being able to be happy for me, of not being able to have anything good happen to me without knowing Beth is going to get a bit snippy about it.  She’s my sister but sometimes…  I guess maybe sisters annoy the snot out of each other sometimes.

And here’s the worst thing:  Sabby asked me today how much I’ve included Beth in any of the good things that have happened to me?  I mean, I know she’s had a part time job at the shop as a cashier or kinda-waiter or whatever, but most of the time she can’t share.  Like when I learned how to drive, she was younger so she couldn’t.  Or when I went to the Oscars, she couldn’t because she, well, wasn’t there.  And when I went to Japan, she couldn’t.  Or even Orlando.  All this stuff I’ve done and haven’t shared any of it with her.  Maybe sometimes she’s right to be jealous.  I’m not a very good sister.  I’ve never been a very good sister.  Not with David, not with Beth.

I couldn’t always control it.  Robert’s my birth father, not hers.  Liz is my best friend, not hers (though she has hers too).  Emiko is my birth mother, not hers.  So I went to LA, to Orlando, to Japan, all because of those people.  But she…  does she know anyone she can visit or go on vacations with or…

She, well, doesn’t.

But if I haven’t been a good sister, she hasn’t been a good sister either.  I mean, she could be happy for me, right?  She could be like “Lily! You got to go to the Oscars! I’m so happy for you!” but instead it’s “Why does she always get the good stuff” or “Why Lily this” or “why Lily that”…  and even though I forgive her, I still remember how she hated me when Dave and Sabby first took me in.  Forgiveness is easier than forgetting, right?

I keep saying that I’d trade it with her in a moment, if I could.  She can HAVE all of this!  She can have the trips, the birth mother, the birth father, even the semi-bratty sister… she can have all of it!  I’d give it to her!  I’d tell her to take it all and give me the normal life with two parents who love me that I can remember, and her brains, and her beauty…  I’d take it all and give it all, if she wanted it and I could.  But I can’t.  I can’t give it to her.  All I can do is take the cards I’m dealt, which were some really bad cards and some really good cards, and try to turn those lemons into lemonade.  And I keep telling her that.  I would!  She can have it!

But I can’t!!!

I can’t give it to her! I can’t trade!!!

I can’t get my memories back!!!

I…  I have to go.  I’m going to cry.  I’m really going to cry.

This diary entry is part 15 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And…  today is not a good day.

So I flew home today.  Robert took me to the airport.  Before I left, I gave Rebecca and her mother a hug and told Rebecca I’d look forward to seeing her in Texas soon.  She actually cried a little and made me cry too!  Aww!!!  But it’s okay.  I guess I made a new friend, not just a half-sister.  Sisters who are friends are as good as friends who are sisters!!!

A little choppy on the way home but we landed safely and Sabby came to pick me up.  She gave me a big hug, told me she missed me, and then told me Rebecca’s mother called and she and I would chat in the car.

I asked if I was in trouble, and she just said we’d chat in the car.

Uh-oh.

So as we were driving home, she pretty much laid into me about that game of truth-or-dare.  She said that the girls shouldn’t have dared me like that, but I knew better, and whatever possessed me to go to the kitchen dressed in glorified dental floss where my birth father could see?  She said I was lucky that it was his wife that saw me, and that if she had chosen to punish me for that, she would have supported her.  I mean, she went off.  She also said that she thought I was more mature than that, that she couldn’t believe I let them “peer pressure” me into doing that, whatever that means, and that if I ever pulled a stunt like that again, no matter what game I was playing, that she’d take me over her knee herself – BEFORE I put my pajamas back on.

Owwww.

She’s never went off on me like that.

Awwww.

Worse that she’s right.  I remember how she went off on Beth for doing something similar to Crystal, I should have known better.

But, she didn’t ground me or anything.  Truth is there’s not much she could ground me from other than from seeing Jack, and she likes Jack.  But she told me if I ever pull anything like that again, she will.

Honestly…  she’s right.  She really is.  I thought I was more mature than that too.  It’s not like I really wanted to be accepted by them, it’s just… there were four of them and one of me, and all of my friends are younger than me.  I mean, Beth, Diana, Crystal, Especially Allison… well, Liz is a tiny bit older I guess.  But they wanted to play that game, and I didn’t see any real harm in it, and…  and they were a little more, I guess… adventurous than my friends here would be.  I went along with it because I.. well… went along with it.

So, I guess that won’t happen again.

I guess Rebecca didn’t get off unscathed either.  She actually did get grounded.  Awwww.

But I guess it’s a good thing.  It means Robert and his wife can be somewhat trusted.  They might let her wear that “glorified dental floss”, but they’re actually pretty good parents, and…  that’s a good thing, I guess.

Still sucks.

But that’s one of two confrontations I had today.  The second was Beth.  When we finally got home after my reaming and eventual hug, Beth was there.  She gave me a big hug and told me she missed me, and Marie of course jumped all over me like she hadn’t seen me for a year.  That was cute. I told Beth I missed her too, but that we needed to talk.

She had the decency to blush a bit.

I told her that I was sick and tired of her always getting jealous of me, that I’d gladly trade my life for hers, but that she’d have to take all of my life, and that means losing all of her memories, her identity, everything that makes her her, and that I was getting really annoyed with how that seemed to not actually mean anything to her.  Yes, I got to go to the Oscars.  Was she willing to pay the price that I did for the opportunity??

She just turned red, said I didn’t understand, and stomped off to her room.

Well, she’s right.  I don’t understand, and I’m tired of it.

She’s not talking to me right now.  I care, but I don’t care.  I’m tired of her always being jealous every time something good happens to me.

Liz is over tonight.  I missed her.  A lot.

Well, right up until she started fake-gushing and asked for my autograph.  Little jerk.  Hahaha!!!

Love you all!!! ❤