going on over at the OBA house in terms of his “feeding aggression,”
but Rodrick and Camila never brought it up again, so I figured he’d
finally mellowed out.
I followed Camila’s advice and flat out ignored Samantha. I
wasn’t mean to her or anything, but I stayed away from unnecessary
small talk, and I never mentioned Camila in front of her. Camila
was that special to me. If someone couldn’t respect what we had,
then they had no right to hear any of the amazing things I had to say
about her. Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t the real problem.
As the weeks passed, more people started to openly—in that
sneaky gossipy sort of way—speculate about what exactly was
going on between Camila and me. I’d been in such a love-induced
sex haze when we first started dating I hadn’t noticed the shifty
looks I was getting from some other members of Alpha Beta Omega.
Girls gossip. I know. I get it. It didn’t make the shit talking any less
annoying, and it didn’t make their logic any less backward.
Anna-Jade had heard from Mel, who heard from Julia that the
general opinion among some of Omi’s and Faeth’s feeders was that
I was using Camila. Supposedly, I played the cool brainiac who
was trying to sleep her way to the top and could care less about
the sorority, which wasn’t true at all. I never backed out on any of
our activities and responsibilities, no matter how much I wanted to
spend that time with her.
If I was so obviously using her, how would that help me win the
popularity of the group and convince them to one day vote me in as
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Better Off red
chapter president? I didn’t even want to be chapter president, but I
had made a commitment to the sisterhood, and I had every intention
of sticking by that pledge and every extracurricular activity that
came along with it.
I would have spent every moment of my life with Camila, but I
never sulked about having to be away from her because she always
made up for our separation the moment we were back together. Still,
according to Amy, a few of the girls actually believed that I was with
the queen for the sex and the status and the bragging rights. I never
had a serious conversation with anyone about my relationship with
anyone but Amy. That may have been the problem. You don’t give
up the dirt and people make up their own.
And soon the rumors started to include Amy and Danni. Our
foursomes during Camila’s feedings became standard. We never
brought it up to the other girls, but we couldn’t keep it a secret. All
the sister-queens had their own feeding schedules, schedules they
stuck to. It didn’t take long for a few people to notice that Amy and
Danni were heading to the pantry twice a week, at the same time.
I’ll admit that it was a little scandalous that the four of us had
our arrangement, but what the hell. Every other sister-queen was
screwing all of their feeders. Camila was the only one who was
sleeping with just one person—me. I never touched Amy or Danni.
Other than the biting, Camila never touched them either, but that
didn’t matter. The lie was way juicier than the truth, and trying to
defend ourselves would only make things worse.
❖
The overall mood on campus was that Thanksgiving vacation
couldn’t come soon enough. We had a couple long weekends
between August and November, but none of them long enough to
justify a trip back home or time away from Camila.
I had to go home at least for the carving of the turkey, but I did
book a flight back a day early. Finals were going to be brutal and I
wanted just one day with Camila, uninterrupted.
• 239 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
I left for the airport early Tuesday morning. We were only
going to be apart for four days, but I cried when Camila kissed me
good-bye. It was pathetic. I knew it was. We hadn’t spent a full night
away from each other in months. She reminded me that I was finally
going to see my family. That perked me up a little, but didn’t stop
me from pouting as I rode the elevator away from her. It wasn’t until
I actually saw Dad waiting for me at baggage claim in Logan that I
smiled again. He’d come back from South America just a few days
before.
Dad looked older and tired, but a familiar smile lit up his face
as I walked over to him. I’d settled comfortably into being Camila’s
girlfriend, but it felt good to be his daughter again. It felt great to
hear his voice. He told me about Brazil, some of the people he’d
met, a few of the patients he’d helped. Like always, he edited out
the most grisly parts of his work, but the proof of the heartbreaking
things he’d seen was clear in the weight he’d lost and the exhaustion
that had settled on his shoulders. I thought of what Camila would
have done in my shoes and told him that I loved him and I was glad
he was home. That seemed to help.
Of course, then he asked me about school and Camila or Mila,
the name Todd had passed on to my parents. I told him more about
my classes, and our upcoming elections for ABO and Types for
Hope. Camila’s name worked its way into the mix, but I was afraid
to say something that would even hint at the fact that she wasn’t
exactly human. He didn’t seem to mind, or press me for details,
so I just went on and on about school. We were still sitting in the
garage when I looked up to see the patient smile on my dad’s face. I
blushed, feeling a little silly for rambling on.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Let’s go see Linda.”
He unbuckled his seat belt and went to open his door. “Don’t
apologize, Ginge. I missed you. That’s all.”
When we stepped into the mudroom, Mom descended on me
with a shrieking frenzy that put Amy’s enthusiasm for lingerie and
Danni to shame. She kissed my face until I thought I would bruise and
asked me a million questions and told me a trillion different things. I
understood “Are you hungry?” and “I bought you new sheets.”
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Better Off red
“Go put your stuff away and I’ll make you some lunch. And I
just baked cookies.”
I dropped my bags in my room and crawled into my New
England winter pj’s: fleece sweats and a hoodie, an ABO one of
course. I was fully prepared to spend the day doing absolutely
nothing. I split my time between the kitchen and the couch, listening
to Mom as she stuffed me with grilled cheese and hot cider and
cookies. A new family had moved in down the street. They had two
kids, but they were four and five years old. She guessed right when
she assumed I wasn’t exactly dying to meet them. I told her about
which finals I was dreading and she thoroughly examined my ruby
necklace.
Then she sat down beside me, her mouth half full of sugar
cookie. “So. How’s Mila?”
“She’s good.” And hunkered down safely underground.
“You miss her already, don’t you?�
��
“A little, but I missed you and Dad too. And Todd sort of.”
“Oh, you love your brother.”
“I guess. He’s okay.” I smiled.
“So tell me about her. If it’s safe. I don’t want to jinx anything.”
“We’re pretty serious now. I think it’s safe to talk about her. I
don’t know. She’s cool. And smart.”
“And pretty. Todd showed me her picture. You two are so cute
together.”
I grimaced at Mom’s ridiculous cooing. “Thanks.”
She took a sip of her cider “Which one of you is the boy?”
“Mom!”
“Isn’t that how it works? One of you gets to be the girl and the
other gets to be the boy and then on off days you switch,” she said
with a faint twitch to her lip.
“You’re hilarious. And neither of us is the boy. We’re both
ladies.”
“Well, I want to meet her. I want to make sure she’s good
enough for my baby.”
“She is, Mom. I promise. She’s great.”
• 241 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
“Good. Come here, honey.” I walked around the table and let
Mom pull me into a big hug. “I’m so proud of you. Even if you’re
not the boy.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Why don’t you go keep your dad company while I get dinner
started.” She kissed my cheeks and kicked me out of the kitchen.
I lay out on the couch and kept Dad company while he watched
football. He’d kept up with the scores online, but still felt slightly
cheated by missing almost the entire NFL season. Todd had set up the
DVR to record every single Pats game. I texted Camila pretty much
non-stop during the season’s recap. The semester and lunch caught
up with me, and some time before dinner, I passed out. I woke up
with Todd sitting on the floor beside me, his face disturbingly close.
“Hey Ginger,” he huffed quietly, blowing his cider breath in
my face.
“Todd, eww. Get away from me.”
“Hug me first. I missed you, punk.”
“Fine,” I groaned, but when I went to sit up, I got caught up
in the blanket. “What the hell?” I looked down to see that Todd had
been nice enough to braid my hair into the tassels on Mom’s afghan.
I sprang up like a jackal and punched my darling brother right
in the arm.
“Ow!”
“It’s not funny, you jerk.”
“Todd!” Mom yelled from the kitchen. “Stop brothering your
sister and come set the table.”
“I’ll be back for you.” He pointed in my face then jumped out
of the way just in time to dodge another punch.
“You really think he should be a doctor?” I asked Dad while I
separated myself from the blanket.
Dad shrugged. “He’ll make an excellent pediatrician.”
Dinner hit the spot. Even though our chapter was small, I still
spent most of my meals in a large group. It was nice to eat some
real home cooked food and actually get a chance to hear everything
that everyone at the table had to say. The four of us ended up back
in front of the TV, vegging out. It was nice to be home, but by nine
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Better Off red
I was going through Camila withdrawal. There was no use in hiding
it, knowing that Todd would make fun of me anyway. I excused
myself to go call her up in my room.
Camila picked up on the first ring and I found myself grinning
like an idiot the second she said my name.
“Hi,” I said, sounding chipper and twelve. “What are you doing?”
“We’re remodeling the dining room at the Fontler. I’m adjusting
the plans.”
“Oh, cool. Show me when I get back.”
“I have a few other things in mind to do when you first get
back. And then I’ll show you the plans. Where are you, baby?”
“My room.”
“Do you have your laptop? I want to send you something.”
I dug into my bag and pulled out my computer. Just to be on the
safe side, I locked my door before I plopped on my bed.
“What are you wearing?” I teased as my laptop fired up.
“I’ll tell you in a second, Red. Check your e-mail first.”
“You’re so pushy. I love you,” I said with a wide smile, as if
she could see me.
“I love you too.” She laughed.
I pulled up my e-mail and opened a RAR file from Camila.
A RAR file filled with a collection of clips from various security
cameras. I opened the first one and saw us making out on her bed.
I remembered the afternoon perfectly. My stats class had been
canceled and Camila had the day free. We screwed for hours.
“Aw, baby,” I cooed. “Did you make me a porno?”
“I did. I miss you. Which one are you watching?”
I looked at the file name at the top of the box. “Ten-oh-six.”
“I watched that one twice this morning,” she told me.
“You did?” I suddenly lost interest in the clip. “What else did
you do this morning?”
“I touched myself, baby,” she said. My pussy throbbed as the
words left her mouth. On my computer screen the two of us were
dry humping at the foot of the bed. I knew in a few minutes she’d
pick me up and take me to the ottoman, but I wanted to hear more
about the touching.
• 243 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
“How was it?” I asked.
“It was good, but not the same without you.”
I leaned back and slid my fingers under the waistband of my
sweats and into my underwear, feeling just how wet any thoughts of
in my room…”
“Gingey! Come look at the snow,” my mom yelled up the stairs.
I pulled my hand out of my underwear. “Ugh, I have to go. My
mom wants to bond over the weather.”
“Gingey!”
“Mom. I’m coming!…I’ll call you back in a little while. She’s
going to keep yelling until I go down. This better be the most
majestic snowfall of the year.”
“Okay, Red,” Camila said. She was sweet enough to let me go
without a fight. I closed my laptop and ran downstairs. My family
was already out on the porch. Mom had left the front door wide
open. I stomped into my boots and followed them outside. It was
gorgeous out. Freezing, but gorgeous. Mom had told me it had
already snowed a few times while I was still at school, but most of it
had turned brown and gray or washed down the gutters. This snow
was sticking and it was beautiful.
But not as beautiful as phone sex with my girlfriend.
“Oh, wow. It is snowing. Good night.” I turned to make a break
for the door.
“Get over here.” Dad grabbed my arm and pinned me, shoulder
to shoulder, between him and Todd.
“Just humor the woman for five minutes and then you can go
back upstairs and talk to Mila,” Dad muttered.
“Thanks. You’re the best. Mom, this really is lovely.”
“And you are a liar, young lady. I think monopoly and hot
chocolate are in order,” she announced.
My head whipped toward Dad and I stared at him in horror.
“Please, no,” I said through my gritted teeth.
“Come on, Ginger. You can be the thimble,” Todd said, slapping
me on the shoulder. I glared at him, ready to tell him just where he
could shove the little piece of metal, when a sudden movement on
• 244 •
Better Off red
the lawn caught my attention. My neighbor, the one I’d kissed, was
walking up our snow-dusted pathway.
“Hi, Kristen. How are you, sweetie?” Mom said cheerfully. It
was getting late to be dropping in on neighbors, but Linda was never
rude.“Hi, Mrs. Carmichael. I’m good.” Kristen stood there for a
moment. And that moment turned into an awkward moment as she
looked nervously at me. Dad tried to save the day.
“Linda, why don’t we get that hot chocolate started? Todd, you
want to dig up the Monopoly?”
“Sure thing,” Todd said, before he whispered to me. “Look at
you, all two for two.” I elbowed him in the side as he tried to slip
into the house. My parents were right behind him and Kristen took
that as her cue to join me on the porch.
I didn’t know what to say. The last time I’d seen her, her tongue
was in my mouth. I hadn’t exchanged even an e-mail or a Facebook
wall post with her all semester. So I asked her about how her soccer
season went. She asked me about school. I told her I’d joined a
sorority and she’d told me she’d thought about rushing, but soccer
took up too much time. We avoided the subject of dating and the
kiss we’d shared.
“I know we’re only home for a few days, but maybe, do you
want to go to the movies or something tomorrow night?”
“Oh, I—” Everyone I actually talked to knew I had a girlfriend,
but how did I tell her without it sounding, well, bitchy?
“My parents are gone all afternoon too, if you wanted to come
over and hang out,” she blurted out.
“I’m going shopping with my mom tomorrow,” I lied.
“Oh. Well.” She started backing toward to stairs. “Come by if
you change your mind.”
“I will,” I lied again.
I watched Kristen walk back to her house and silently, I prayed
her mom and my mom didn’t talk while I was home.
“Red, are you cheating on me?”
I spun around, my heart beating out of my chest. Camila was
standing on my porch in nothing but her underwear and my favorite
• 245 •