To my surprise, the moment Kathleen heard this, her eyes went red.
As if she'd just steeled herself for some great sacrifice, she looked at Elliot with the most reluctant expression:
"Elliot, I've decided not to go abroad with you after all. Our family company's been struggling lately, and we can only afford to send one person overseas. My sister didn't test well, so she needs this chance to polish her credentials more than I do..."
"And about the celebration banquet, if my sister doesn't want one, then I won't have one either. Every little bit we save helps the family!"
Her thoughtfulness and consideration earned her instant looks of approval from Elliot and my parents.
Only in Elliot's eyes there was also obvious heartache.
"Then why isn't she the one cutting costs? She's the one booking the best hotel to treat the entire faculty to dinner! I'd bet it's all to snatch the spot abroad away from you!"
He grabbed Kathleen's hand and marched up to me, demanding:
"You're always targeting Kathleen like this. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"
The word always baffled me:
"Didn't I just say I'd let her go abroad? I even told Mom and Dad to throw her a separate banquet. What more do you want?"
Elliot stared at me for a long moment before saying coldly:
"Thanks to you, everyone now knows Kathleen is the Gilberts' adopted daughter. If we only throw a banquet for her and not for you, isn't that just another way to make people laugh at her?"
My parents quickly asked me what was going on.
After all, we'd always told outsiders that Kathleen was my real sister.
I shook my head, completely at a loss:
"How would I know why?"
Right then Kathleen plopped down on the couch, buried her face between her knees, and burst into loud sobs.
"Dad, Mom, if my sister isn't having one, then I won't either!"
Elliot's heart ached for her, and he rushed to soothe her in a gentle voice.
When nothing he said could calm her, he turned and demanded coldly of me:
"Trudy, why do you always use your status as the precious Gilbert heiress to bully your own adopted sister?"
Kathleen hurriedly tugged at his arm:
"Elliot, you promised me you wouldn't say anything about my sister!"
Elliot forced himself silent.
For all the world like someone who'd been bullied by me but didn't dare say so.
My parents had always doted on Kathleen, and they immediately ordered him to explain what had happened.
But he only left one parting line as he pulled Kathleen away.
"Kathleen won't let me say it, so I won't! Anyway, as long as Kathleen comes abroad with me, no one will be able to bully her!"
It was an exquisitely crafted line.
It left far too much room for people's imagination.
My father pulled a long face and interrogated me.
"Trudy, why did you tell people Kathleen was the adopted daughter? Why did you bully her?"
"Dad, I didn't..."
My father slammed the table, his voice cold as ice:
"Elliot always sides with what's right, not with who's family. If you hadn't gone too far, he never would have said something that harsh!"
"You'd better come clean yourself!"
A bitter laugh escaped me, and with it, tears.
Ever since junior year, when Elliot fell through the ice and I pulled him out, he'd grown noticeably distant from me.
Instead, the way he looked at Kathleen, who'd fallen into the water that same time, had changed entirely.
I'd just assumed the two of them shared a bond from the shared ordeal, and thought nothing of it.
Later, one morning Kathleen was dragging her feet too long, and I was in a hurry to get to school, so I had the driver take me first.
Somehow a rumor sprang up that I'd deliberately refused to let the driver give Kathleen a ride.
From then on Elliot took up the role of her devoted protector, picking her up and dropping her off morning and night.
When I asked him why he was suddenly so good to Kathleen, why he'd stopped picking me up, his explanation at the time was:
"Trudy, Kathleen is your adopted sister after all. If outsiders found out you two don't get along, it's the Gilbert name that gets dragged through the mud."
"Me helping you look after her is for your own good."
Kathleen had just transferred to his school, and since they were on the same route, going together worked out nicely. It saved him the detour of picking me up.
