Infectious

ch. 48

Chapter Forty Eight;;- That Fateful Night

[name] fiddled with the strap of her duffel bag as she watched the hoard of new graduates begin to shift into clumps, talking among themselves happily at their success. They grinned widely and clutched their diplomas in one hand and their caps in the other, all looking glowing in their gowns.

The familiar grinning face of Elmer came trotting over to the silent group of their family. Their parents were looking around disdainfully at some of the other graduating members of Elmer's class, sneering rudely at the older graduates and frowning disapprovingly when they saw one girl kiss her girlfriend in celebration. Aaron merely looked bored, shifting his tie as he checked his watch again.

Still, when [name] laid eyes on Elmer, she couldn't help but be taken with a wave of pride for her little brother. Well, he wasn't so little anymore, but he would still always be her baby brother.

[name] smiled at Elmer, meeting him halfway to drop her duffel and wrap her arms around his neck. "Good job, Elmy," She praised as she pulled back.

Elmer struggled to contain his own happiness at the praise, blinking back tears of joy before he turned his head to his father-- he would never approve of crying in public (or at all). He stepped forward to receive the half-praise that would come from his parents and the condescending almost-compliment that would come from Aaron.

Their mother sniffed and sighed. "Well, you've finally done it, Elmer," She said, clasping her hands together and folding them over the stomach of her pristine eggshell blue dress.

"A college degree is certainly the first step to becoming successful," their father agreed with a nod.

Aaron rolled his eyes discreetly and ran a hand through his hair, looking miffed. "You may not be able to do anything in the family business, but at least you'll be making some money." Aaron emphasized the 'some' as he glanced over at [name], who looked clearly out of place in her cheaper clothes.

[name] wanted to punch him and tell him that she was making good money now as Patient Zero, brag about her success in climbing the ranks and how she was doing more for the town than Aaron and their shitty family business ever would anyway. But she knew she couldn't, so instead [name] tucked her hands in her pockets and pretended she didn't see his obvious jab.

Their parents made more idle chatter that bordered on compliments, but didn't quite make it there. Listening to them made [name] feel upset deep in her belly, knowing that Elmer deserved so much more praise than they were giving him.

Not much time managed to pass, their father was talking to Elmer and Aaron about a time when he was in college when their mother leaned over to [name] and whispered, "[name], sweetie, your bra strap is showing. You need to go to the bathroom and fix it."

[name] wanted to barf at the sickly sweet fake kindness that their mother had dripping from her tone. She hated how their mother acted like showing a bra strap was like stripping down naked in front of someone. Knowing better than to argue, [name] sighed and nodded. "Yes mother," She answered, setting down her duffel bag by Elmer's feet and stepping out of their family's circle.

She got a few feet away, going behind a wall out of her mother's sight to adjust her bra strap before checking her phone messages and notifications for another minute or so before she decided it was long enough to say she really gone to the bathroom to fix it.

[name] began to wander back to her family, weaving between groups of people and their own families, laughing and smiling and taking pictures. She wondered vaguely if maybe Elmer would want to take a picture later.