The next day around lunch time, my sister arrives and she immediately steals the show.

"Oh my gosh, Alice! You're here!" she greeted me before she did anyone else, which kind of shocked me. She hugs me like her life depends on it, but before she can ask any questions, Mom steals her away and begins showering her with questions.

From that, I learn she's moved to Germany with her husband in the time I was gone and she reveals they're pregnant, which Mom goes nuts for. Meanwhile, Dad is talking to her husband, Daniel, about who knows what.

He still hasn't said a word to me yet.

After a while of them talking in the living room with me sitting there and not being included in the conversation, I can't take anymore, so I leave and head outside to the backyard.

I see it hasn't changed much since I left, the pool is still as perfect and big as ever, the grass is a vibrant green, and Mom still keeps a very well maintained garden.

I sit on one of the chairs near the pool and just listen to the water and the birds. It takes me back to when I used to come out here to get away from all of the pressure I was under by my parents to make perfect grades and get into an ivy league school. Which I did. Multiple, actually.

I guess the worst part of it all for me was that I did everything they wanted me to do, and they never acknowledged me for it. Alex goes to Florida State and she gets all the praise, all the attention, all the credit.

"So this is where you ran off to," Alex makes herself present with her statement. I look back at her and she sends me a soft smile. I return it and she sits in the chair next to me, "how are you?"

"I'm great, you?" I guess I sounded more bitter than I thought because her response reveals that.

"Alice, please."

"Seriously, I'm graduating from Colombia in May, not that anyone cares. I've got a good job right now, it's all good."

"I've been worried about you, you know? You never contacted us after you left. We had no idea how you were," she continued, seeming to ignore what I said.

"So you're going to blame this all on me? You guys are the ones who basically shunned me from the family. I left long before I stopped coming back home in between semesters." I leave it at that and go back inside the house and straight up to my bedroom.

And I really don't get why she says I never made an effort to contact her after I left when I never received a peep from them until Mom began calling me a couple of weeks ago.

I guess if that's what helps them sleep at night, by all means, blame me.

All I ever did was try.