"Why are you here?"
Alexis blinked. "Because you invited me."
"No, I mean why are you on Mangrove Island? Why did you come back?"
Alexis's heart began beating harder. "Excuse me?"
"No one has the balls to ask the mighty Alexis why she has fallen so far from grace that she needs to flee Mount Olympus and join us mere mortals on our insignificant land mass." Betsy's angry hands flew to her hips. "Well, I do. So tell me Alexis, why are you really here? I'm finding it hard to believe it's because you missed us when you haven't been in touch in God knows how long."
Too exhausted from the pain-inducing environment to be reasonable, Alexis immediately shifted into bitch mode. "I'm surprised you could make a mythological reference. Where'd you learn about Mount Olympus? In a cartoon?"
"Still a smug little bitch. You haven't changed one iota."
"Changed from what? I've got news for you, Elizabeth," Alexis sneered, using her sister's much-hated given name, "the fact that you and the rest of the family labeled me an apple, doesn't make me an apple."
"Label you?" Betsy roared. "We didn't have to label you. You were all too happy to tell us who you were. Too good to cook, too good to sew, too damned good.
I'm surprised your built-in hoi polloi alarm didn't go off when you set foot in this mall."
"If by cooking you mean tossing iceberg lettuce with string cheese and full fat mayo, then you're absolutely right. I am too good to do that."
Betsy crossed her arms. "Oh, come on. That was a one-time experiment and you know it."
"What are you really worked up about? The fact that I got out in the first place or the fact that I've returned successful?"
Betsy snorted. "You and I clearly have different definitions of success."
Alexis studied her older sister's flushed face and willed her own anger to dissolve. Taking a deep breath, Alexis drew enough strength to walk away from the argument before it escalated further.
"I'm going to get Brian that scooter," she said evenly. "I'll find my own way back to the island."
"Do me a favor," Betsy called after her. "Don't say the scooter's from you because when you disappear again, I don't want him to be reminded of you every freakin' time he rides it."
Betsy snatched up her bags and stalked off in the opposite direction.
Alexis seethed all the way through the shopping center. Hot, angry tears sprang from her eyes and she could barely see where she was going. Tired of fighting the crowds, she took refuge on a bench and closed her eyes to ease her pounding head.