Todos los capítulos de One Accidental Text: Capítulo 11 - Capítulo 20

RhettEmery came back into the kitchen carrying an empty plastic container against her hip.I probably wouldn’t have thought much about it if she hadn’t looked so different from the girl who’d walked in less than an hour ago. She’d arrived smiling at everybody, talking too much, offering cookies like she’d been elected official party baker.Now she was quiet.“I’m heading home,” she said.Bree looked over. “What? Already?”“Yeah.”“You just got here.”Emery glanced at the clock on the microwave. “I’ve been here almost an hour.”Knox laughed. “Collins, this is a party. An hour isn’t socially acceptable.”“I didn’t know parties had minimum attendance requirements.”“Two hours,” Parker said seriously. “Anything under that is basically a drive-by.”Everyone laughed.Usually Emery would’ve laughed louder than anybody.She didn’t.“I’m just tired.”“Oh.” Bree shrugged. “Okay. See you Monday.”Sienna glanced at the container. “Wait. They’re all gone?”Emery looked down. “Yeah.”“Damn. Those

RhettBy the time practice ended, I was exhausted, sweaty, and in absolutely no mood to spend another hour learning about a government that seemed perfectly capable of functioning without my understanding it.Unfortunately, Coach disagreed.“Library,” Knox reminded me as we headed toward the locker room.“I know.”“Don’t sound so excited.”“I’m thrilled. Nothing says living the dream like federalism after two hours of getting hit by three-hundred-pound linemen.”Knox laughed. “At least Collins will do most of the work for you.”I stopped walking.He made it another couple steps before noticing.“What?”“She doesn’t do the work for me.”“Whatever. Explain it, do it, same difference.”“No, it isn’t.”His eyebrows went up.I wasn’t sure why I cared about the distinction either.Maybe because of Friday.Maybe because I’d spent the weekend realizing we’d all been treating Emery like some kind of vending machine. Put in a little attention, get homework, cookies, whatever else you needed.“I

RhettI had a government test sitting facedown on my desk, and I was pretty sure Mr. Wallace was enjoying himself.“Go ahead,” he said.Nobody moved.He smiled.Definitely enjoying himself.Around me, papers started flipping over. I stared at mine for another second before turning it.87%.I blinked.Then checked the name.Rhett Callahan.Huh.Apparently, I was capable of learning.“Dude.”Knox leaned sideways from the next row.“What?”“What’d you get?”“Eighty-seven.”His eyebrows shot up. “No shit?”Mr. Wallace looked over. “Mr. Bennett, would you like to share your grade with everyone?”“No, sir.”“Then perhaps stop discussing Mr. Callahan’s.”Knox faced forward.I looked at the red 87 again.Dad would be happy.Coach would get off my ass.And Emery—That thought came out of nowhere.I folded the test and shoved it into my backpack.⸻I found Emery after class.She was standing at her locker with Piper.“Collins.”She looked over.No giant smile.I was starting to hate that.“What

EmeryI’d imagined standing up to my mother a hundred times.Usually, in those imaginary conversations, I was confident and clever. I said everything I’d been holding inside for years, Mom realized how badly she’d hurt me, and we hugged while she apologized for making me feel like there was something wrong with my body.Apparently, my imagination had forgotten one important detail.My mother wasn’t particularly interested in following the script.“Emery Collins, I don’t appreciate that tone.”Of course she didn’t.I was standing in my bedroom wearing the green dress, my hands trembling even though I was doing everything possible to keep them still.“I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful.”“Then perhaps you should think before speaking.”I looked at her, wondering how she’d managed to turn my asking her to stop criticizing my body into a conversation about my manners.“Mom, all I asked was for you to stop pointing out everything you don’t like about how I look.”She sighed and folded her

RhettI’d made some questionable decisions in my eighteen years.There was the time Knox convinced me to jump off his garage roof into his swimming pool. The time I told Coach his offensive strategy was about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. And, of course, the time I’d decided government wasn’t important because I was going to play football for a living.But calling a girl whose name I didn’t know might’ve been the strangest decision yet.Especially considering I was lying on my bed grinning at the ceiling like an idiot.“So,” I said, “are you always this quiet?”A soft laugh came through the phone.“I’m trying to decide whether hanging up would be considered rude.”“Extremely.”“Good to know.”I smiled.Her voice wasn’t what I’d expected.Not that I’d known what to expect. I’d pictured someone loud and sarcastic, mostly because she had no problem giving me shit through text.Instead, she sounded a little nervous. Her voice was soft, and when she laughed, she seemed to c