The fact that Dani thought about it at all and thought about
running after Emily mystified her. She’d never really cared
about anyone before. She’d never stayed anywhere long
enough to learn how to get attached.
Right now wasn’t the time to start that. Getting attached.
The roots thing. Caring. It just…wasn’t.
Chapter 7
Emily
Even though Emily told Dani she’d be okay, she knew she
might have stretched the truth. Yes, she’d be fine in the long
run, but the entire rest of the day was spent in agony, pacing
her room and trying to work on what exactly she was going to
say. She’d twisted her ring around her finger so many times
her finger was swollen, and if she’d wanted to tug the ring off,
she doubted that she could.
She’d picked this particular day for the wedding because
she knew her parents were meeting this afternoon so her dad
could do a PR thing. Sandra always went with her husband to
those types of things as a show of support. Emily doubted that
her mom really liked it. She doubted that her mom cared much
about politics. Emily didn’t know how her mom could just put
up with stuff like that. Go to all those boring events and
pretend to be happy.
Maybe that’s what she meant when she said there’s more to
being an artist than just putting paint on a canvas. For the first
time since their argument, it occurred to Emily that maybe her
mom wasn’t trying to be mean and tear down her work.
Maybe she was trying to get Emily to see reality.
It doesn’t have to be my reality. And if I had to sit through
boring shit for my art and paste a fake smile on my face and