House of Night 09 - Destined

was fine until this daddy crap came up with Rephaim and now we’re suddenly not BFFs anymore.”
    “Wait, I get how Rephaim’s feeling and you don’t, that’s all. I never said we weren’t BFFs anymore.”
    “Yeah, well, you’re right. I don’t get it.” Erin crossed her arms. “What exactly is the issue?”
    Shaunee felt like the world was pressing down on her shoulders and her best friend had suddenly become a stranger. “Erin, I miss my dad sometimes. That’s all.”
    “Your dad? He didn’t give a shit about you years before you were Marked. How can you miss him?”
    Shaunee hesitated. She looked deep and truly saw Erin. “Wow. You really don’t care, do you?”
    “About what? About the cool crap I got for our room totally not on sale at Pier One and charged to Aphrodikey’s gold card? Hell, yes. About the new stuff I just snagged from Miss Jackson’s afterhours? Double hell yes I care! Alice + Olivia is the shit for the spring. I even got you a fox-lined red cashmere wrap thing that is To Die For. Oh, and I got me one, too, totally to match only in blue. We are gonna look awesome in this stuff. Perfect. We’re perfect. That’s what I care about. And you, too, Twin. I care about you and you care about our stuff. You always have.” Erin’s tirade ran out, leaving her looking kinda sad and confused. She wiped her eyes and her MAC Wonder Woman blue mascara smeared.
    “No,” Shaunee said slowly. “None of that’s real. And, Twin, nobody’s perfect. Especially not you and me.”
    “What the hell is it? How could Rephaim’s dad change everything?” Erin shouted.
    “It’s been bothering me for a while, but I didn’t say anything.”
    “Rephaim’s dad or your dad?” Erin said.
    “Neither, Erin. I’m not talking about either one. I’m talking about stuff in general. Like Jack dying.” Shaunee felt, really, really tired.
    “I cared about Jack dying! We cried and stuff.”
    “No, we cried, and then you got an e-mail from Danielle that had a link to Rue La La and we shopped,” Shaunee said.
    “So? I bought black shoes. Wait, no. We bought black shoes. Platforms. With pink bows and Swarovski crystals on the heels. We said it was appropriate mourning attire and that Jack would appreciate it. Then we cried some more. We did it. Both of us. How are you so much better than me if you did the same thing?”
    Shaunee wondered how Erin could look like she was pleading and pissed at the same time.
    “I’m not better than you. I didn’t say that. Actually, you’re better than me ’cause you’re fine and I’m not. That’s the bottom line. I’m not fine anymore. Not with myself and I think that means not with us, either, but I don’t really know—”
    “I’ll tell you what, Twin ,” Erin butted in, wiping angrily at the tears that were smearing blue across her cheeks. “When you’re fine again come see me. Until then find your own room and your own stuff. I don’t want a roommate, or a twin, who’s not fine with me.” Crying silently and ignoring the things that kept spilling from her shopping bags, Erin stomped down the tunnel, leaving Shaunee standing in a pile of glittery pillows and velvet tights.
    Someone cleared her throat and Shaunee jumped. It was only when Zoey handed her a wad of semi-used Kleenexes that she realized she was bawling.
    “Do ya wanta talk about it?”
    “Not really,” Shaunee said.
    “Okay, you want to be by yourself?” Zoey asked.
    “I’m not sure. But I do know one thing and it’s gonna sound really bad,” Shaunee said with a little hiccupy sob.
    “Well, then say it fast ’cause when you say it fast it gets over with and it doesn’t seem so bad.”
    “I want to go live back at the House of Night.”
    There was a heavy silence, and then Zoey asked, “Does Erin want to go with you?”
    “No,” Shaunee said, wiping away the last of her tears. “I’m going by myself.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    Zoey
    Sunday sucked as bad as Saturday had. Later I looked back and realized that when Erin and Shaunee split was when the whole thing started to unravel. It was weird what the two of them not speaking did to the rest of us. It was like them being pissed at each other unbalanced everyone.
    “I don’t know about you, but the brain-sharers are driving me crazy.”
    Aphrodite plopped down beside me where I was sitting on the curb that edged the old circle driveway entrance to the depot. I sighed and thought so much for taking a second and trying to be