Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 38(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 38(@300wpm)
Her eyes search mine. “Okay,” she drags out. “Are you in trouble?”
“No,” I lie, and I know I’m not, but I wasn’t playing when I said I would support Cameron. “I need to take care of something, and please don’t be offended that I’m not telling you what that is.”
She holds my gaze, and then to my surprise, she asks, “Is she pregnant?”
I almost choke on my tongue. “Who?”
“The girl who was waiting for you. I saw her crying outside the rink, and I heard her say on the phone, ‘I don’t know how I am going to tell him.’”
My heart speeds up. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” she promises, and I believe her. “Is she keeping it?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“A lot of things,” I admit. “I’m scared because she’s scared about going to the clinic, but I want to be there for her.”
“Can I ask something, and will you tell me the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask her to get the abortion?”
“No, she told me she wasn’t keeping it.”
She lets out a long breath. “I see.”
“She didn’t want my approval, just my support.”
After a moment, she asks, “Did you want her to keep it?”
“I don’t think so. We aren’t even together, just fooling around.” When I realize what I’ve said, I correct myself. “She was on antibiotics, and it messed with her birth control. I used a—”
“Benson, it doesn’t matter,” she says, cutting me off. “What matters is that you support what she wants to do. Since it’s her body, not yours.”
I nod. “That’s what I said. My life doesn’t change, but hers does.”
“Exactly—and completely.” She reaches over, taking my hand in hers. “I’m very proud of you, and I’ll figure out your flights.”
I swallow past the emotion in my throat. “Thank you, Mrs. Elli.”
She squeezes my hand, and as I get out of the car, I feel much better. This isn’t how I expected my freshman year to end, but it doesn’t matter.
I’ll be there for the girl I care for.
The one I lay with.
The one I didn’t realize had left a mark on my heart.
Chapter Four
Cameron
When I get back to my room, Evan, Callie’s boyfriend, is leaving.
“Hey, Cam.”
“Hey,” I mutter as I move past him. I cried the whole way here, and I don’t want him seeing my splotchy red face. Not only is Evan a dreamboat, but I don’t want him asking what’s wrong. Before he can say anything back, I walk past him into my room, shutting the door. Callie looks back at me and holds out her phone.
“Did you see the text?”
I furrow my brow and bring my purse around to find my phone. It’s at the bottom of my bag, of course. When I look at the screen, I see some missed calls from my parents, a text from Benny, and one from our RA, Molly. I ignore my parents to read Benny’s first.
Benson: Hey, send me info for Monday. I’m doing everything I can to be there.
My heart squeezes in my chest, and I swear, in another life, I would date that guy. It’s just not the right time for us, and that’s okay. Maybe one day in the future. Maybe when the pain and guilt of the abortion aren’t lingering between us. He’s a good dude, but it’s just not the time.
When I go to the text from Molly, I’m utterly confused.
“Team meeting?” I ask, looking up at Callie. She shrugs. “Not everyone is here.”
She nods. “Yeah, someone probably left some trash out or something stupid. I am ready to head to South Carolina, and I know you’re ready to go home at this point.”
“Sure,” I say offhandedly since that’s the last place I want to go. “Maybe I’ll come home with you for a bit.”
She nods. “Yeah, you’re more than welcome.”
I don’t commit, though. More than likely, I’ll go home. Face the music and be bitched at because I chose my life over this fetus. Maybe I need to be bitched at. Maybe I am an awful person. Who the fuck knows? I just want to be done with all this. I throw my bag down, all up in my feelings, and follow Callie out of the room. I don’t say much as I send the address to Benny. He says everything is still up in the air, but he’s going to try his best to be there. I appreciate him immensely. I’m so distracted by our text thread that when I sit down and look up to find Coach in the living room, I’m completely caught off guard.
What. The. Fuck.
I can’t breathe, and I feel a full-blown panic attack coming. Coach doesn’t look happy or even his usual unwelcoming self. He just looks pissed. He has his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes dark as he stands beside Molly, eyeing the eight of us that are still here after the third day of finals. Since we have such high GPAs, most don’t need to take their exams, and some even do it virtually. A lot of the girls went to Alaska to take summer jobs, which are mainly the girls who left right after the season ended.