Such a Pretty Face by Annabelle Costa
Chapter 19
It’s obvious Camille is determined to get in touch with me. Tonight she calls me at six o’clock and I let it go to voicemail. Then she calls back at seven o’clock. And then at eight o’clock. At that point, I finally take pity on her and pick up.
“Hi, what’s up?” I say as casually as I can.
“You’ve been avoiding me.” I can hear the pout in her voice. “Don’t deny it.”
“Fine. I just don’t want to hear about how horrible Brody is.”
“So you’re still dating him?”
“Yes. In fact…” I can’t suppress a smile. “We’re… you know, in a relationship. He’s my boyfriend.”
Camille groans. “Seriously?”
“Yes!”
“I’m sorry, Emily,” she sighs. “Don’t take it personally. It’s not you. It’s him. I’m telling you, he’s not a good guy. I went to school with him for four years. And I just can’t imagine the two of you together.”
I chew on my lip. I have to tell her what happened to Brody. Then she might understand why he’s changed. “Listen,” I say, “he’s not… the same as he was in high school.”
“You keep saying that.”
“That’s not what I mean.” I shake my head. “The thing is, he was in an accident. He uses a wheelchair now. He’s, like, a quadriplegic.”
I hear Camille inhale sharply on the other line. “Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Yeah…”
She’s silent for several seconds. “Wow. That’s… terrible for him… It’s hard to imagine.”
My shoulders relax. Brody was right that I needed to tell her. Maybe now she’ll lay off. “Right. So now you know.”
“He looked the same,” she murmurs. “I mean, in the photos on Facebook. He still looked…”
Hot. I finished the sentence in my own head. Camille’s reaction is a bit unsettling. She sounds more rattled than I thought. It makes me wonder if they knew each other more than they both let on.
“A quadriplegic,” she murmurs. “I can’t even imagine it.”
“He’s doing okay,” I say. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
She snorts. “It sounds pretty bad. So is he on welfare now or something?”
“No! He’s a computer programmer. That’s how I met him. We’re in the same night class.”
“I just…” She hesitates. “I’m sorry, Emily, but I still don’t trust him. I don’t know. You should be very careful around this guy.”
I grit my teeth. “Noted.”
“Don’t be mad,” she pleads with me. “You’re my little sister and I’m just looking out for you.”
“Then you should want me to be happy,” I say. “And Brody makes me happy.”
“Okay,” she says. “If you say so.”
But this is far from over.