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To make matters worse, there was no willing valet to watch my car, so I’m drenched from head to toe.
Discouraged, I finish off my cigarette and spray myself with perfume to mask the smell before heading inside.
Once I close the front door, I see my grandparents eating dinner at the table, setting a place for me as usual.
“Hey hun!” My grandmother beams. “How’d it go today?”
“Not good.”
“Ohhhh, Emerald!” She pulls out a chair for me. “You’ll find something one day, hun. Don’t look so depressed.”
“I look depressed?”
My grandfather nods. “Why don’t you just work part-time at the church for a little while?”
“Yes!” My grandmother holds her hand over her chest and gasps. “I don’t know why I didn’t already think of that! We could always use more people to spread the lord’s word! Working for Jesus would definitely make you feel better!”
I try not to groan. I’ve only known them for a couple of years, but I swear they think Jesus is the cure for everything.
My grandparents are Henry Lee and Virginia Marsh, and they are the perfect example of what happens when you’ve lived too much of your life in the Bible Belt of America: They take their Bibles everywhere, are prone to say “Praise Jesus” at any given second, and spend more time in church than they do anywhere else.
“Thanks for the offer,” I say as I pop open a can of Coke, “but no thanks.”
“That’s probably why you can’t find a job.” She points her fork at me. “You haven’t been to church with us in a long time.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Mary Fine’s son started coming to church two weeks ago and he got himself a job at McDonald’s...And he’s an ex-con.”
“Jesus...”
“Praise him!” They shout in unison.
I sigh. “If I don’t find anything in two weeks, I might be forced to take you up on that offer.”
But I really hope not...
Virginia claps and smiles. “You would love it! We would have so much fun together bonding! Saving souls is exhilarating!”
I pull the mashed potato bowl closer and change the subject.
For the next hour or so, I sit and listen as they give a full recap of their days: more sick children at Virginia’s hospital, another good recruit at the fire department for Henry. Another lost day of yard-work for their favorite neighbors due to the rain, another “exciting” cow birth at the farm down the street.
The second they start to debate who should bake the brownies for the church’s upcoming bake sale, I excuse myself from the table and go upstairs to my room.
Hitting the lights, I sigh when I see the same miserable sight I’ve seen for the past few months: My walls are covered in rejection letters from almost every big name publisher and literary magazine.
My window pane is framed with copies of my former college transcripts and I’m actually proud of myself for making all the D’s and F’s line up on one side. The highest grade I ever made, an “A+” in Art Design, is hanging high above my mirror.
It’s the one thing that always makes me smile, the one thing that makes me feel like no matter how many things I’ve fucked up in my life—school, jobs, relationships, friends, that I’m not a complete and utter failure...
Chapter 2
Fall 2011
“Harder...” I whisper. “Harder...” I reach up and thread my fingers through Parker Dalton’s dark brown hair, begging him to give it to me.
He presses his lips against my neck—softly biting it, as he slides into me again and again. “You feel so fucking good, Emerald...So fucking good...”
I shut my eyes and scrape my nails across his back, moaning as he speeds up his thrusts. As he trails his tongue between my breasts, I wrap my legs around him even tighter.
The sound of our skin slapping against each other echoes off the walls of his room, and before this can become pleasurable for me, he slows down.
“Fuckkkk....” He slides inside of me one last time and cums, leaving me without a release. Again.
Shaking, he collapses onto my chest and places a light kiss on my forehead.
I hide my disappointment by smiling, thankful that I have Art Design in an hour so we won’t have to cuddle afterwards.
Although Parker Dalton claims to “really like me” and insists on having me on his arm as much as possible, he isn’t my boyfriend—not even close. He’s a carefully chosen sponsor.
He’s the senior president of Omega Chi—the most respected fraternity at New York University, and the current president of the Student Government Board. He’s already taken the LSATs and scored a nearly perfect score, making him a shoe-in for Harvard Law School. He also comes from an established family of wealth.
