We Regret to Inform You by Ariel Kaplan

Author:Ariel Kaplan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2018-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

Caroline was supposed to be my ride home after the SGA meeting, but I just couldn’t deal with listening to half an hour of conversation about DOC (or COD), so I bolted out the door without looking back. I got out my phone to text Nate, but then I remembered that he has therapy on Thursdays. Tucked into the little pocket of my purse was Emily’s Ophelia Syndicate card, with the little flower in the corner. I ran my fingers over the embossing. Then I texted Emily.

I told myself it was because she lives like a mile from the school and picking me up wouldn’t have been a big deal for her. Are you busy? I texted.

Yes, she texted back after a few seconds. I had to roll my eyes.

Was that your only question? she asked.

If I ask you to pick me up, can you not ask why?

What a strange request. Would I care why?

No, I said, you wouldn’t.

Then please don’t tell me.

Thanks.

I put my phone in my pocket and sank onto a bench that was slightly damp from last night’s rain. A few minutes later my phone buzzed again.

It might help, Emily said, if you told me where you were.

Oh. I’m still at school. I’m outside the side door.

<SIGH>, she typed. If you want me to drop everything to pick you up someplace with no questions asked, you might as well be someplace INTERESTING.

Sorry, I said.

You should be.

I put the phone away again. She was right, though. I was boring. My main interests were school and, oh yeah, more school. I didn’t play in a band. I didn’t speak three languages or know how to disembowel a computer or collect first-edition romance novels. I’d never been anywhere or done anything, because I’d kind of thought those were things you did after high school. Like being interesting was some kind of a payoff. I wondered what Emily had been up to when I called. Probably hacking into a bank or something.

Emily pulled up in her BMW two minutes later.

“You were still at school,” I said. “You could have mentioned that.”

“I was in the computer lab finishing a CS project with Bebe. Did you want to wait longer? I can circle the block a few times.”

“No,” I said. “I’ll get in.”

I went around the front of the car and got in next to her, and she pulled away without asking me where I wanted to go. She turned right at the light like she was heading for the Beltway, so I said, “Where are we going?”

“I was taking you home,” she said. “Was that not what you wanted?”

“No, home is fine,” I said. Then: “If I hadn’t called, what were you going to do?”

She turned and looked at me over the tops of her sunglasses. “I was going to go home and read a book.”

“Really?”

She didn’t answer. A second later I asked, “What book?”

She turned into the next shopping center and pulled on the parking brake. “Mischa,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.