Call Me Ghost ✔️

Chapter Four

    I wake up the next morning with a bruise on my back and a flood of apology texts from Brody.

    I scroll through the messages with a tight frown before disregarding them and getting up to get ready for the day. When I enter the kitchen I find Annie sitting at the table, munching on avocado toast as she watches a YouTube video on her phone. When she hears me enter she glances up with a small nod of acknowledgment.

    "You were out late last night." She comments, her eyes still glued to her screen.

    "Yeah, I was with Brody." I remark, passing her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, did I wake you? I tried to be quiet when I got in."

    "Nah, I was up." She brushes it off, "I was just surprised. You never go out at night."

    I hum in agreement before pouring a cup of coffee into a thermos mug. I decide that I'm going to walk to campus today to study, knowing that it will be nice and peaceful since there aren't any classes today. I need to be able to focus, and it's not that Annie is a bad roommate, but she has a tendency to invite friends over to watch movies at a very loud volume while they laugh and talk over one another.

    The walk to campus is only five minutes from the dorms. The library is always open and they even have designated study cubicles for peace and quiet, but I've always preferred to be outside. It's less claustrophobic.

    I find a nice shady spot under a large oak tree on the lawn and settle in with my books and highlighters. I start out diligently motivated but as the time passes I feel my mind begin to wander back to last night.

    Not about Brody. I don't want to think about him right now. But about my necklace. My anxiety creeps back over me as I worry about what I'm going to do. I know I have to tell my mom, and the longer I put it off the more stressed out I will be.

    May as well do it now.

    I pull my phone out to call her, and after a few rings she picks up, "Hello?"

    "Hi, mom." I squeak, my voice already shaky and weak just knowing what's about to come, "Are you busy?"

    "Not at the moment." She remarks, her voice clipped and serious as always. She can tell something is up, judging by the caution in her tone, "Why?"

    "I just... I have something to tell you." I hesitate to continue, but I know nothing annoys her more than beating around the bush.

    "Jesus, Emerson, what did you do now?" She sighs, already sounding disappointed, "I swear to god if you're pregnant and you're telling me over the phone—"

    "It's not that." I quickly assure her. At least there's something worse in her eyes that I could've done. Maybe by comparison this won't be so bad.

    "Then spit it out."

    "I... I went out last night with Brody." I slowly begin, figuring out how most delicately to put this, "And I wore the necklace you gave me. The one that used to be grandma's. And..."

    "Go on." She urges, but the sneaking suspicion in her tone hints that she already knows what I'm going to say next. She's just waiting for me to actually own up to it.

    "And I don't know how it happened, but it's gone. I lost it." I quickly utter, squeezing my eyes shut as I wait for her to say something.

    There's a long, gut-wrenching pause. All I can do is imagine the look she must have on her face right now. Flared nostrils, narrowed eyes, pursed lips that are slightly down-turned.