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EMILIA
Emilia would be forever thankful for her girlfriends. She had sent out an SOS on Saturday while she was storming home and they had all come through for her, bringing her favorite snacks, parking out in the lounge room, and watching her favorite movies.
None of it worked. She was miserable. Talking about the fight she’d had with Cam had helped a bit, though Emilia didn’t miss the skeptical looks that had passed between them all when she’d asked if she’d overreacted, and they all said no.
She dragged herself to work, and she dragged herself back home. And that was it. She didn’t have the patience with herself for yoga. Emilia felt like she had a permanent lump in her throat, and her heart was heavy in her chest.
Pulling out her phone for the hundredth time to call Cam, the scene flashed once more before her eyes, and she all but threw her phone on her desk. Maybe one day, she’d stop feeling angry, but she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to cope with this awful feeling she was carrying around with her like a chain around her ankle.
“Hey,” Mia interrupted her wallowing. “Wanna go to lunch?”
Emilia looked up at her, studying her carefully. “What are you hiding?”
“What? I’m not hiding anything!”
“I know that look, and that voice, you definitely are. Omg!” Emilia stood suddenly, realization dawning on her as she pushed her cousin into her own office, closing the door firmly behind her. “Mia, are you pregnant?”
“Huh? No! Why would I tell you that over lunch while we’re at work? What do you take me for?”
“Well, come on. You’re all—” Emilia gestured with her hand. “Glowy.”
“I’m in love. No, I do want to talk to you about something, but not anything to do with me. Like, at all. And also not anything we can discuss here at work cause of prying ears.”
“Can ears pry, actually?”
Mia laughed. “I have no idea. Do you want to go or not?”
“Of course! You’re being all mysterious and we haven’t done lunch since like, forever.”
“Yeah, it’s been a whole two weeks,” Mia said drily, picking up her handbag and walking towards the door. Emilia noticed her gait, she walked with so much more confidence since getting with Jack. It was amazing what being properly loved could do for a person and Emilia was happy to see it.
Ten minutes later, they took their seats at the diner across town. Emilia quickly grew impatient as Mia chatted with Brayden after they ordered their lunch. Finally, they were alone and Mia leaned forward on her elbows, her green eyes alight. “Okay, so I was in the management meeting this morning, right?”
“Right,” Emilia found herself leaning forward too.
“And the IT manager, who Jack dislikes, by the way, was bragging about how his daughter got into art school.”
Of all the things Emilia thought her cousin was going to say, it wasn’t that. Mia didn’t have a cruel bone in her body, but the still-fresh wound inside her from the rejection opened just a little bit more.
“Okay? Why are you telling me?”
“Because she got into Appalachian State. On a full scholarship.”
“Okay, Mia, you’re going to have to tell me why this is so interesting cause right now, it’s just a little mean.” She tried to keep her voice even, but she was really at a loss as to why Mia would tell her about the person who got the spot at the school Emilia was rejected from.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m terrible at telling this, but I just couldn’t believe it and had to tell you right away. So, he was talking about how she’s basically mediocre—my words, obviously—but they always knew she would get in because her uncle is on the applications board.”
“What?” Emilia’s breath was suddenly rugged. Appalachian only took one scholarship student per arts course per year. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” Mia reached her hand across the table and took Emilia’s, “You didn’t get rejected, Em. Not the way you think you did. You didn’t have a chance.”
“Because of nepotism.”
“Because of nepotism,” Mia nodded. “And I thought that was something you should definitely know. You can try again. You should try again. I’ve seen your work, it’s vibrant and evocative, just like you.”
“I wasn’t rejected outright? They didn’t reject me because I’m an untalented loser?”
“No, and I knew you were feeling that way last week when you told us at our girls’ night. And I know that’s why you reacted to Cameron the way you did, and now I need you to know this. You didn’t have a chance.”
