Deadly Design - Emarsan Page 0,9
today is May fifteenth. In approximately fourteen days, the love birds will be graduating from high school. They will continue to reside in their current homes throughout the summer months before moving to dormitories in Manhattan, where they will continue their educational endeavors at Kansas State University.”
I nod, my expression stern because she sounds like a secret agent imparting classified information.
“Do you know what this means?” she asks.
My eyes narrow. I look around suspiciously and shake my head only slightly.
“Think of Connor and Emma as the people who arrange 2 7
Copyright © 2015 by Debra Dockter.
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your social calendar. When they’re gone, who’s going to come drag you out of the house? Make sure you get a little vitamin D once in a while?”
Wow. Like I don’t get enough grief from Connor and my parents about hanging out too much in the basement. Now I’m going to get it from her too?
“I’m concerned,” Cami says. “I’m afraid one of these days your parents are going to be looking for you and they won’t find you because you’ll have been sucked into one of your games.”
I lean back against the chair. Doesn’t sound too bad, actually. Especially if I could be sucked into the gaming system, instead of just one single game. I could battle aliens, kill zombies, and there’s a hot blonde on one of my Borderland maps I wouldn’t mind getting to know better.
She kicks me under the table to get my attention. “You need a life.”
“You need a boyfriend,” I say. “Then you can lecture him instead of me.”
“Why do guys always think that girls need a boyfriend? My life is quite fulfilling as it is.”
I pick up my glass of water and take a drink. “Then how did you get sucked into coming to this?”
She sighs. “Have you ever tried to say no to Emma? And she knows my dad doesn’t work this weekend, so I can’t use Josh as an excuse.”
“What does your dad do anyway?”
“He’s a news producer for channel five. He makes sure 2 8
Copyright © 2015 by Debra Dockter.
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stories are edited and ready to go and nobody cusses on the air. They’re always switching his schedule around, so it’s hard to know my schedule sometimes, since I have to take care of Josh.”
“Do you ever resent your brother?”
She shakes her head, surprised, I think, by the question.
“No. I don’t mind. It’s not my dad’s fault that he fell for a pretty blond reporter. And it’s not Josh’s fault that she bailed on both of them when she got a chance to move to a bigger net-work. I was seven when my mom died. At least I got to know her, and I know she didn’t want to leave me. Josh doesn’t have a single memory of his mom. For him to know she doesn’t want him—I can’t imagine. I don’t ever want him to feel like a burden. I want him to feel loved.”
I look at Cami. She’s simple. She never wears makeup, but she actually looks good without it. I mean, some girls . . . face it. They need the stuff and lots of it. But Cami doesn’t. Her eyes are large and brown and deep set. Her skin could be in an ad for Proactiv—the after picture, of course. She’s pretty, not glamorous, but pretty. And she’s a good person.
“Thanks.” I lift my glass, motion for Cami to pick up hers, and we tap them together.
Her eyes narrow. “For what?”
“For not wanting me to become one of those people who never leaves the house or throws anything away and ends up eating old discarded food and peeing in plastic buckets.”
“You’re welcome.”
I look over at Connor and Emma, their shoulders constantly 2 9
Copyright © 2015 by Debra Dockter.
FOR REVIEWING PURPOSES ONLY--NOT FOR SALE
touching as they lean into each other. Cami looks over at the golden couple too. Emma is gorgeous. She’s wearing a dress with inch-wide straps instead of sleeves. Her tan skin glows in the candlelight, and the low-cut fabric of the neckline gapes just above her breasts.
“Keep your eyes above her neck,” Cami says, giving me another little kick under the table. “You should try being a little less obvious.”
My face heats up. I am obvious, and pathetic. And the worst part is I think Emma likes it. It’s like Connor’s the first-string boyfriend and I’m eagerly waiting on the bench. That’s why she smiles at me the way she