BooksBarbecue
Back The Companion Project
Chapters (89)
  1. Dedication
  2. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  3. ONE
  4. HENRY
  5. TWO
  6. EMMA
  7. THREE
  8. HENRY
  9. FOUR
  10. EMMA
  11. FIVE
  12. EMMA
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. HENRY
  16. EIGHT
  17. NINE
  18. TEN
  19. HENRY
  20. ELEVEN
  21. TWELVE
  22. EMMA
  23. THIRTEEN
  24. HENRY
  25. FOURTEEN
  26. HENRY
  27. FIFTEEN
  28. SIXTEEN
  29. EMMA
  30. SEVENTEEN
  31. HENRY
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. HENRY
  34. NINETEEN
  35. HENRY
  36. TWENTY
  37. TWENTY-ONE
  38. EMMA
  39. TWENTY-TWO
  40. EMMA
  41. TWENTY-THREE
  42. HENRY
  43. TWENTY-FOUR
  44. EMMA
  45. TWENTY-FIVE
  46. EMMA
  47. TWENTY-SIX
  48. EMMA
  49. TWENTY-SEVEN
  50. HENRY
  51. TWENTY-EIGHT
  52. EMMA
  53. TWENTY-NINE
  54. HENRY
  55. THIRTY
  56. HENRY
  57. THIRTY-ONE
  58. HENRY
  59. THIRTY-TWO
  60. EMMA
  61. THIRTY-THREE
  62. HENRY
  63. THIRTY-FOUR
  64. EMMA
  65. THIRTY-FIVE
  66. EMMA
  67. THIRTY-SIX
  68. HENRY
  69. THIRTY-SEVEN
  70. EMMA
  71. THIRTY-EIGHT
  72. HENRY
  73. THIRTY-NINE
  74. HENRY
  75. FORTY
  76. EMMA
  77. FORTY-ONE
  78. HENRY
  79. FORTY-TWO
  80. FORTY-THREE
  81. EMMA
  82. FORTY-FOUR
  83. EMMA
  84. FORTY-FIVE
  85. HENRY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ALSO BY CHELSEA CURTO
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Whoa. Wait a minute,” Henry interrupts. “You can’t give me this tidbit of knowledge and bypass a story I need to know. How does an accident like that even happen?”

“I don’t want to tell you because your opinion of me will change! I like you thinking I’m smart!”

“Emma Burns, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me the story, I’m withholding any and all cookies of tonight and the future from you. Don’t think I won’t hold them above your head and use our height difference to my advantage.”

“Fine! Only in the name of sweets. I was twelve at the time of the incident,” I begin, speaking as if I’m being questioned for murder. “I guess the last hoorah before our teenage years was rough for both of us. I went into my mom’s bedroom to look for my summer homework. I picked up the staple gun, not knowing what it was, then pressed down on said staple gun, thus lodging a nice piece of steel wire into my finger. I went to my grandmother who was babysitting me and showed her my pinky. She almost fainted. There was no pain, only disappointment. I was supposed to see the new Hey Arnold! movie in theaters that afternoon. We spent five hours in the emergency room. Four days later, I ended up back in the same ER after cutting my foot open on the 4th of July at Nicole’s house. I needed eight stitches.”

Henry tips his head back, low, rumbly laughter filling the kitchen. “You’re really freaking incredible. That might be the best story I’ve ever heard.”

I busy myself with a patch of crumbs on the counter, wiping them into the sink. His praise notches its way into my bones while a rush of satisfaction zooms up my spine. “Incredible? Hardly.”

“Unfortunately for you, it’s not up for debate. Did you eventually get to see the movie?”

“I did! Three times.”

“Good. If you hadn’t, I would download an illegal version from somewhere off the dark web so we could watch it right now.”

“You’d do that for me?”

He shrugs casually, like the words have no significance, hold zero weight, and it’s no big deal to hunt down an animated movie from 2002, added to the grocery list below tomatoes and above butter.

“Of course I would. Do you have a scar on your pinky? Any memorabilia left behind from the incident?”

I hold up the previously injured finger. “No. It’s kind of bent. Still functions fine.”

“Please tell me you haven’t picked up a staple gun again?”