Chapter Text
Chapter 1
She could feel her frustration growing with every bead of sweat accumulating on her forehead. The second she felt one roll down her spine, she was done.
“I’m grabbing my stuff and I’ll be in the car!” Cami shouted behind her as she stomped over to her mothers (mostly working) sedan. Before getting her suitcase in the trunk, she slammed the key in the ignition and turned the AC up to max. She would have hoped that after two years in Florida, she would have adapted at least a little, but nooooo, of course it wouldn’t work that way.
She knew she was in a foul mood, could practically feel storm clouds materializing above her head. Grabbing her earbuds out of her backpack, she desperately hoped she could get her shit together by the time they landed in Washington.
26 agonizing minutes after they were supposed to leave, Renee finally stumbled through the front door, her purse and one bag in her arms and leaving Phil to wrangle the 4 huge suitcases on his own. What she could possibly need 4 suitcases for, Cami didn’t know. Renee insisted on getting anything and everything she could think of for Bella, Bella’s wedding, Bella’s fiancé, and Bella’s new in-laws.
She still could not understand how Bella, her quiet, pragmatic, skeptical older sister became someone who got engaged before she could even drink. After being raised by Renee, who was flighty at best and dangerously irresponsible at worst, Bella had always been determined to be the opposite.
But, that was before Bella moved to Forks and Cami was dragged to the Swamp. She clearly didn’t know anything about her sister anymore, and worse, she wasn't even sure if Bella would care if she realized that. She couldn't stop turning over the conversation she had heard between her mom and Bella last month.
Her mother had been gushing over wedding plans, phone in one hand and making some concoction in a pitcher with the other. Cami slouched on the couch staring at the pages of a book she stopped reading at least ten minutes ago in favor of eavesdropping. It was in that moment that she understood her place.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe she’s done all of that! It sounds like she’s taking her maid of honor duties very seriously.... Who else are you having in the wedding party? His other sister? What about your other friends, Jenna and Angie?…. Oh, just her, that will be nice and intimate! That reminds me of your Aunt Shellie's wedding, it was very small, very chic…. You know, I wanted to ask if Esme preferred lavender or….” Renee couldn’t see the way her daughter's lips parted and her body froze, too preoccupied with making sure she made the perfect impression on Edward’s perfect parents.
It only took one strategically placed question later to confirm. Her mom was already spilling every wedding detail to her coworkers over sangrias on the back deck.
“And Edward’s sister is her bridesmaid, right, she's not having anyone else?” Leaning over the table to match the Renee's enthusiasm. Cami put fake stars in her eyes and her mother happily nodded along without even pausing to consider how Cami might feel. She was too busy rambling on about the wedding wardrobe.
Apparently it didn’t matter that she was her only sister, the only person who could understand their parents' specific dysfunction and its lasting consequences. No one, but the little sister who distracted their over-controlling babysitter every time they had gotten mad at Bella for being too quiet (it was unsettling, they said). No. Edward’s sister, Alice, who probably didn’t even know the name of Bella’s first crush or where she hid her favorite snacks, is the person she chose.
So now, Cami, Renee, and Phil puttered through rush hour towards the airport. Soon, Cami would plaster on a smile and she would diffuse the tension between her parents. She would pretend that she was overflowing with joy as she watched her big sister marry some guy that she had never even met yet. But until their plane landed in Seattle, she gave herself permission to stew in her hurt and anger. To be the angsty little teenager she usually wasn’t.