Such a Pretty Face by Annabelle Costa

Chapter 14

Brody kisses me again before we go our separate ways. Some of the other students from the class are outside the building and see us kiss. I hear them murmuring. But I don’t care. I just hope he doesn’t care either.

When I get home, I lie down in my bed and think about Brody. I can’t wait to see him tomorrow night. I can’t focus on anything else.

I’ve never been this excited about a guy in my entire life, and I’ve had some pretty intense crushes before. Like on Norm. But nothing like this. This is real.

My phone rings, and I see Camille’s name on the screen. Truthfully, I usually dread talking to my sister. We only talk about two things. How I need to get a boyfriend or how I need to lose weight. It’s not fun for me.

Well, to be fair, we used to talk a lot about Camille’s wedding, but now that’s over. If she has a baby, I’m sure we’ll talk about the baby most of the time. So I’m looking forward to that. Anything to take the spotlight off of me.

But anyway, now I’m excited to talk to Camille. Because I’m seeing someone. He’s not quite a boyfriend yet, but there’s real potential there. I finally don’t have to go on any more of her pity dates.

I snatch up the phone. “Hi, Camille.”

“Emily!” She sounds surprised that I picked up. “You sound chipper for this hour.”

I smile to myself. “Yeah, maybe.”

“The reason I’m calling,” she says, “is that I met the absolute best guy for you. His name is David, and he is definitely not gay. I’m like a hundred percent sure.”

“Actually,” I say, “I’ve met someone.”

There’s a long silence on the other line. “You did?”

I grip the phone tighter. “Yeah. I met him in my night class. He’s… really nice. I like him a lot.”

“Oh.” Camille doesn’t seem to know what to make of this new development. “And… have you spoken to him?”

Oh my God, does she think I’m delusional? “Yes. We’ve been out on a date. And we’re going out again tomorrow.”

“Emily, that’s amazing!” Camille squeals. “Tell me everything about him!”

“Well…” I don’t know quite where to begin. I need to tell her about his disability, but I’m scared if I do, she’s going to think that’s the only reason he likes me. “Actually, you might have met him before. He was in your class at Townsend Harris.”

“Really?” She sounds utterly intrigued. “What’s his name?”

“Brody Nolan.”

I don’t know what I expected. I thought maybe she wouldn’t remember him. Or if she did, she would say something neutral like, oh, he’s nice. But what I didn’t expect at all is the way her voice fills with disgust as she spits out the words: “Brody Nolan? Are you serious?”

“Um… yeah…”

“Oh God.” I can almost picture her sneer. “You’re not really going out with Brody Nolan, are you?”

“What’s the big deal?”

“You know,” she says, “he asked me out once.”

I get this sudden horrible sinking feeling in my chest, and I wish I hadn’t told Camille about Brody. “He asked you out?”

“It wasn’t a big deal or anything. The strap on my bookbag broke in math class, and he carried my books for me to my next class—he always had a thing for me. It was sweet. And he was… well, he was really hot. As I’m sure you know. Then he asked me to go with him to a party that night.”

My heart is pounding. Oh no, is this a story about how she had sex with Brody? Please God, let that not be the case. Because nothing would end this relationship quicker. “What did you say?”

“I said no,” Camille says. “Of course I said no.”

Of course she said no? “What does that mean?”

“He was wild,” she says. “Nice girls did not go out with Brody Nolan, that’s for sure.”

I bite my tongue to keep from saying what I’m thinking, which is that Camille wasn’t a nice girl in high school. That’s why she felt the need to reinvent herself in college.

“Listen,” Camille says sharply. “Brody was a mess, okay? I don’t even know how he managed to graduate. He was high at least half the time at school. One time in class, he fell asleep at his desk and fell onto the floor. He got suspended during our junior year for having a fistfight in the hallway.” She shakes her head. “Is that the kind of guy you want to have as a boyfriend?”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. The sweet guy I went to dinner with the other night would never have done any of those things.

“He’s different now,” I tell her. I start to mention the wheelchair, but something stops me. If I tell Camille what happened to him, she’ll assume he got injured because of his own stupidity.

Of course, maybe he did.

“People don’t change,” she says. “Especially not people like that.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” I say. “He seems like a nice guy. We had a great time the other night. It was… nice.”

There’s a long pause on the other line. “Emily, does he know you’re my sister?”

“Yes… why?”

“I just…” Another long pause. “Like I told you, he used to have a thing for me. But I would never go out with him. I wonder if when he met you, he thought maybe it would be a way to get to me…”

I gasp. “What are you saying?”

“I just think it’s suspicious, that’s all,” she says. “I mean, you are not Brody’s type—trust me. And I just remember how much he seemed to like me. It seems like something he might do…”

“There’s no way that’s true,” I hiss at her. “Brody is a great guy. I’m not going to discuss this with you anymore.”

And then before she can try to convince me otherwise, I hang up the phone.

Somehow, over the course of the conversation, I went from feeling on top of the world to wanting to burst into tears. How could she say something like that? This is even worse than being a gay man’s beard. If Brody is dating me just to get to Camille…

I can’t even think about it. He wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t.

Then again, it’s not like I know Brody so well. I’ve known him for two weeks total. That’s not long at all.

I have no idea what he’s really like.