Say My Name by Penelope Wright

Author:Penelope Wright
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

11

I snuck into the house using the silent door method. I could hear my mom tapping on her keyboard in the kitchen area, but the living room was empty. I felt sick. I hoped Phoebe would be asleep when I entered our room, but clearly I didn't make my own luck the way Derek did. Phoebe was perched on the edge of her bed, leaning over and painting her toenails banana yellow. She looked up when I came in, her long hair hanging in blonde strings around her face.

"Mom's in love with your lab partner."

Great. Now I was really going to throw up. "Gross."

"Seriously, she wouldn't shut up about him. I finally had to come in here." She screwed the nail polish brush back into the bottle and fanned her toes a little with her hand. "He was pretty cute though. You think you might hang out with him some more?"

"Definitely not," I said. I lay down on my bed fully dressed in my cheerleading uniform. I had nothing to change into. I rolled onto my side to face the wall, but Phoebe didn't want to give up so easily.

"Is he the same age as you?"

"Yeah."

"So he can't drive yet, right?"

"Yeah." Why can't she just leave me alone?

"That's a bummer. He was really cute. Do you think he'll ever want to hang out with you again? I mean, not for a project?"

I pulled the thin cover over my head. "He won't be back, Phoebe." My voice was only slightly muffled through the fabric.

"Yeah, he didn't seem all that interested in you. I guess you're not really all that. I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up again though. We kind of had a connection."

I threw the covers off myself and sat bolt upright. "Jesus, Phoebe, you're twenty-three. That's disgusting. And probably illegal. Can you please not say anything like that, ever again? I already feel sick to my stomach."

Phoebe's eyes narrowed into tiny little slits. "Fuck you, Baby. I'll send you right back to Rachel's room so you can go back on window duty. Oh yeah." Her mouth pursed into a little button. "I know all about it."

I lay down on my side and faced the wall again, pulling the blanket back over my head. I tried to breathe evenly, but my body trembled. After a good ten minutes, Phoebe finally flicked off the light, because the room went dark. I heard her climb into her bed, the ancient springs squeaking and protesting, even though she wasn't very heavy.

"Fucking cunt," she whispered into the darkness, after the bed had finally quieted down. I didn't respond. Before too much longer, her breathing deepened and she began to snore lightly.

I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about Tim Brewer. How could Derek be related to him?

Derek had said that his step-brother never stuck with anything for very long. But he'd been with Rachel since the summer between my eighth and ninth grade years, so apparently some things lasted longer than others.

For Tim, it was the summer between his sophomore and junior years.

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