Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
She glances at me, taking a sip of her boba tea.
“Ugh, this is gross,” she says, throwing it in the trash. “How can they charge eight-fifty for this?”
Then, she turns to look at me again, and shakes her head when she sees what I’m eating.
“You know, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are all sugar and fat. I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”
Her offhand comment snaps me from my reverie. My sister is a bitch, and I’d forgotten because of her angelic appearance.
“Thanks for telling me,” I say tightly. “But PB&J is comfort food for me.”
My sister merely shrugs.
“You know, Cat, there is a reason why you’re overweight. If I were you, I’d start watching what I put in my mouth,” Angela says as she moves to cupboard to pull out a mug.
“Angela,” I begin, pulling in a deep breath as my eyes dart to the table. I want to scream at her, but this isn’t the time to lose my cool. I have important information to impart, and I need to deliver it in a calm, deliberate tone.
Go on. Tell her. It’s the only way you’re going to be released from this guilt.
Pain stabbed my heart. It was swift and sharp like an arrow piercing the very core of me. The air around me seemed to be too thin for my lungs.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” I manage to say in a strangled voice. Chewing my lower lip, I pull in a long deep breath, ready to blurt the truth. But my sister cuts me off.
“Cat, you know how much I hate when you mumble,” Angela says as she takes a sip of water. “Mumbling is low class. Can’t you tell how well I e-nun-ciate? It’s because I’m going to be a newscaster, so I have to be very aware of my diction. You should too.”
I nod.
“Okay, sure.”
But Angela’s already lost interest. She’s strolling off to the living room with her phone in hand.
“By the way, did I tell you about last night? Oh my god, so hilarious!”
Kill me. Kill me. I don’t need to hear about your night out. I need to tell you something, Angela.
But instead, I put a false smile on my face.
“Fun night?” I ask, trying not to allow my voice to give away the pain in my chest. My eyes dart to the white plate before me with the gooey peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’d been picking at.
Suddenly, my sister swivels around.
“Catherine,” Angela’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Is there something going on with you? You seem off today.”
Oh shit, she knows! Maybe Hunter already told her. Of course there’s no way to hide what I did.
My throat goes as dry and my stomach heaves. With each moment, my heart pounds in my ears, and I can barely hear over the din. Pressing my lips together, I think frantically about what to say.
I slept with Hunter.
Right, like that will go over well with her.
“Cath-er-rine,” Angela’s voice pierces my fog. She’s enunciating carefully, obviously practicing her newscaster diction. I look up.
“Yes?”
“Nothing,” she says coyly. “Why, what’s going on with you? Normally you don’t look so frazzled. Did you meet a boy?” she asks. Then, a peal of laughter exploded from her lips as she shook her head. Angela’s face scrunched as she cracked up, tears practically spilling from her eyes.
“No, I didn’t meet a boy,” I say tightly while lying through my teeth.
She nods, still laughing.
“I know you didn’t.”
Oh, if only my dear sister knew.
But then Angela gets a sneaky look on her face.
“Yeah, so about my night last night. Did I tell you? I was with Duane and he’s sooooo virile. We were doing …”
But the rest of her voice blurs in my head because I can’t believe my ears.
“Wait, who’s Duane?” I ask.
She stops and looks at me.
“The guy I’m seeing of course.”
I stare at her.
“But what happened to Hunter?”
Angela waves her hand in the air carelessly.
“Hunter? Seriously? That boy is last season.”
My heart pounds and I can barely hear myself over the rush in my ears.
“What? Since when?”
Angela looks unconcerned.
“Since a few days ago. Or a week ago. I don’t know, it’s old news. Like I said, I’ve been seeing Duane, who’s about a thousand times hotter. He’s a real man, not a college boy.”
“Wait, back up, back up,” I say. I lifted my hand up and shook my head. “You and Hunter were like the hottest item on campus and now you’re not. So what happened? Why the change of heart? Did you catch him cheating on you or something?”
“Oh nothing like that,” Angela says, while flipping her hair. “He told me he was moving, that’s all. Something about playing in the NFL. Of course, this whole NFL thing was just bullshit for the longest time. After all, Hunter’s good but he’s not that good, and I never believed that the scouts were serious. But, whatever. I guess dreams do come true. Let him focus on his rookie year in the NFL. Chances are,” Angela leaned in and pulled her lips into a wicked little smile. “He’ll be cut before the year is out.”