Chapter 119

• VEDA
• "Hi, Dad." My voice broke when I said his name, and I pulled my new phone away from my ear until I could get a grip on myself. Sammy had picked it up for me this morning before she went to class. We decided I should stay away from the stores to minimize the chance of someone seeing me coming and going from her place. At least until I saw my parents and filled them in on everything they needed to know and could decide what I was going to do.
• "Hey, honey! Long time no hear from you." My father laughed at his greeting. The same way he always did every time I called him since I'd moved out of his house when I was eighteen. It didn't matter if it'd been a day or a month since he'd last spoken to me. "What the hell's going on with your sister? We haven't been able to get a hold of her for months, and your mother wanted to talk to her about the upcoming award ceremony." He lowered his voice. "You know she's always bugging me to buy her some fancy gown, even though I keep telling her Nicole won't want to take her mother as her date." Back at normal volume, he said, "I know you two are busy, but the least you can do is give your dad a call once in a while and let me know you're still alive."