Emergency Contact

by Mary H.K. Choi

Sam had resting bitch face until he laughed. Penny had never wanted anything as bad as to make him do it again.

Penny thought again about Mark. Mark, who wore polo shirts on dates and only read self-help books that you could buy at the airport,

His mother used to say you shouldn’t marry anyone you wouldn’t want to divorce,

Sobriety meant a low-level boredom all the time.

she wouldn’t be popular until she was a grown-up and that was fine because life was a long con.

Penny would stop trying. Instead she’d spend time preparing for her future, living in books until the exciting part of her life would begin. Things would matter then. In fact, everything would be different.

Before this talk of houses with pools and good school districts with Mr. Lange, Brandi Rose had known better than to expect anything from the world.

“I already love this story so much. . . .”

Sam didn’t know why he called. Only that he wanted to talk to her, like, actually talk to her, and more importantly, he wanted to hear her.

“If there were an apocalypse tomorrow, she’d be out in the first wave. It wouldn’t matter how fast or strong she was. Her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.”