Last year, Angelina Meyer was my best friend. Even when Lourdes and Evie couldn't understand me, she always did. I always felt bad for her, knowing the least of what she's been through. When she moved in with Ben and Grace, it seemed a bit odd since they're my siblings, but she needed help and they were helping her. Why shouldn't I be happy for my best friend? Well, she changed. It all started with her always wanting to hang out with me, but then trying to include this guy that I vaguely recognize in on our conversations and everything. I assume that this must be Zeke, the guy that wrote letters to her, but she was constantly finding ways to bring him to hang out with us. It never worked, but it felt weird. Then, she started telling me stories about babysitting the now 3-year-old Olive and Cal, and going out for fun day trips with the twins, Ben, and Grace. Those trips were definitely family trips, the kind I used to tag along to but started not being invited. I used to be Olive and Cal's babysitter, but now that's Angelina's job and she's even getting paid. At least I still had family dinners, but that didn't last long. Angelina used to be awkward when the family came over for dinner, and she usually stayed away and even took her food up to her room sometimes, but she soon became very comfortable at her new seat at the table. They even got her a chair so she could sit with us. As anxious as she is, she soon became the kind, sweet, innocent girl that everyone loves taking to, and I became the troubled outcast of dinners with my own family. After I dropped out of college, I started babysitting the twins during the day, I finally felt like an aunt again, but they kept talking about their "auntie Lili". I knew exactly who they were talking about: Angelina. I kept correcting them, but only Cal stopped. When we did arts and crafts, I made a family picture since Cal asked me to draw one. He asked where Lili was.
I know that it's been months since I was told to step back from the kids, but I'm still just as angry and I miss spending time with them so much. The night that Grace and I got into that fight, the dinner was being prepared as usual. Before the dinners were my time to hang out with the kids. Jared didn't want me to visit them much, so other than days when he was taking classes, the only time I was able to spend time with my niece and nephew were those dinners. I had already had a hard day since I got yelled at by Jared for wanting to go to dinner with my siblings more than once a week, because Ben and Grace didn't like him much or want him around the kids more than necessary. It all was mostly normal, with Angelina coming down from studying with a friend to help Grace with the beef stew, Ben getting the table ready since our parents weren't feeling well and so couldn't make it, and me trying to bond more with Olive. Olive and I have always been close, but that night, she was a naughty and curious kid who decided to go through my purse and pull out my journal. Jared goes through my room, my phone, all the time. He doesn't usually like it when I hang out with people without involving him, so the journal is my one thing that belongs to just me. Jared doesn't know, so it's my only sense of privacy. Olive thought it was a book, and she loves having books read to her. She once told me that whenever Angelina puts them down for a nap, she reads them a book, so I knew what Olive was going to do. After all that Angelina had done, I didn't want to even risk her reading my journal. I felt so helpless as Olive started walking over to where Angelina was with my life's secrets in her hand. They were written just to be written, not for Angelina to read in front of everyone. There had always been a tension between Grace and I because Cal told her about my views on Angelina, and also because I still asked if Jared can come over with me sometimes, since I wanted to come over more often. I needed to stop Olive, so I ran over to her, stood in front of her, and yelled at her to give my journal back. Grace and Ben soon intervened, but Angelina never stood up for me. She was supposed to be my friend, but after trying one time to step between Grace and I as we were yelling at each other, she was shooed off and then she backed away. She just crouched to the floor, hiding her face, probably crying, instead of helping me. Olive accidentally ripped out a page from almost the very front while Grace took it back from her. Once I got it back, I exploded at Grace. I never look back at my old entries, so I just folded it up and stuffed it in a pocket at the back of it.
Grace had been in my life since I was 11 years old. She always made the effort to be a sister to me, but she is very protective of her family. I guess that my outburst was her breaking point, so she chose to protect her kids from her own sister, just for yelling at them. Grace gave up on me, and Ben tried to be the mediator and help calm her down, but it didn't work.
Things between Angelina and I haven't been the same since. We still talk and hang out sometimes, but most of her time is spent with either MY family, or her boyfriend, Pete, who she's having a baby with. She wants to be close to me, but it's like she doesn't realize that she is practically stealing my family from me.
Anyways, she invited both Jared and I to her baby shower. I was surprised that Grace not only let me come back to their house, but let Jared come too. We brought Angelina and Pete a gift card to Walmart since they didn't want expensive gifts, and the day went well overall with no drama. After I got back home, I realized that I had lost my journal. I searched everywhere, but soon, Angelina came to my door and gave it back to me. Before she left, she said that she's sorry, and I think that now she finally understands me. I can tell that she's been putting in the effort, since soon after, Ben called me and told me that I could stay with them once our parents move. He did mention that Angelina was moving out, so I think that maybe she convinced Grace to help me once she's gone. I really appreciate her efforts to bring the family back together. It'll take a lot more than that to get us to the place we were before, but I'm glad that maybe Angelina is learning and we can be friends again. I miss the way things were with everyone, and I'm hoping that we can rebuild those bonds and be a family again.