Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Shh,” she hugs me again.
“She came in today,” I hiccup.
“Who?”
“His wife.”
“Whoa!” She pulled back, furious. “Wait a minute, he’s married?”
“And she’s pregnant.”
Gracie hands me more toilet paper and I blow my nose again. “She knew who I was, yet I had no idea about her. That she even existed,” I sigh.
“Oh, Luci,” she hugs me again. “Come on, let’s sneak out of here and go home.”
Gracie wants to sit with me when we get home, but I tell her I just want to be alone. I change into his oversized MTHS sweatshirt that I never gave back. It still smells like him, and I sit on the floor, rocking myself.
I’m okay as long as this is wrapped around me, like some stupid safety blanket that proves what happened between us was real.
I finally take medicine until I’m asleep.
An unwelcomed brightness hits me. Mom and Dad are in my doorway, and Gracie is lingering behind them. At first, I think she told them, and my waterworks start all over again, but she shakes her hair, letting me she has no idea what this is about.
I do, though. Can this day get any worse?
“Gracie, let us talk to Luci alone,” Dad’s stern voice slaps me.
“What’s going on?” Mom asks me, and I wipe my red and puffy eyes. I don’t say anything as she sits on the bed. Dad is still standing, with his arms crossed, a disappointed and worried look in his eye.
“The jig is up, so you mine as well tell us the truth.” I look at Mom questioningly as she continues, the water still building in my eyes. “Not one single college letter. And I never see you go out with your friends anymore. All you do is sit in your room,” her eyes start watering too. “Are you doing drugs?”
“What?! No!” I shout. “Of course not.”
“The only thing that’s saving you right now is that your grades haven’t slipped,” Dad yells. “What do you plan on doing next year?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
“Do you need to see someone? A therapist?” Mom asks.
“Of course she doesn’t!” Dad retorts.
“Maybe she needs help, Jay.”
“I don’t need to see anyone,” I stop their bickering.
“Then what is it? You need to do better than this. I need answers!” Dad shouts. “Gracie, get in here!”
She pokes her head through the door, clearly listening just outside.
“What’s going on with your sister?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “What’s going on?”
“She hasn’t applied to college! She lied to us. None of her application checks were cashed!” Dad yells and I cower. “Are you ashamed, Luci? Because you should be!”
“Jay, don’t be so harsh!” Mom yells.
“Sue, what else am I supposed to do? She’s been lying to us!”
“Okay,” Mom throws her hands up. “Everyone out!”
Dad and Gracie leave and I take a deep, shaky breath.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“Your father is just upset,” she defends.
“I know,” I wipe my face and she hands me a tissue, registering them all over my floor and bed.
“You’re upset from even before we came in here?”
“Bad day.” I sob. “Very, very bad day.”
“I’m worried.” She wraps her arms around me and my head falls into her lap.
“I messed up,” I confess.
“Does this have to do with a boy?” She asks like she’s afraid to know. “Are you pregnant?”
“No!” I shout. “Why do you always assume the worst? And no,” I lie. “It doesn’t have to do with a boy.”
Because he’s a man. A grown up, 27 year old chemistry teacher.
“So what then?” She brushes her fingers through my hair.
“I don’t even know what I want to do anymore, Mom.” It’s not a lie, because I have no idea. And I know she assumes I’m talking about college.
“It’s okay,” she soothes.
“I need to get away,” I weep.
“We’ll work out something.”
Sometimes, when bad things happen, you wake up and realize it was all a nightmare. On the not so lucky occasions, you register it was real. So the next morning, I’m excited for school, like I usually am, until it hits me all over again. Everything that happened actually happened.
The only thing that was ever real was that there was no possibility for us, because he lied. This entire time was one big lie!
I don’t know what Gracie told Mom, but she leaves me alone and lets me stay home today without question.
The phone rings at lunchtime. I know who it is, but I don’t answer, and the next time I look up I see Gracie.
Shit is it 3:00 already?
“You haven’t moved all day,” she says, and something about seeing me has her frightened. She hesitates before stepping further into my room.
“I almost threw it out,” she sighs. “I wasn’t even going to say anything, but I didn’t know if that would be wrong or not,” she holds up a piece of paper. “What do you want me to do with it?”