“So why’d you drag our asses over here anyway? Just to tell us you’re scared shitless your girl is knocked up with your baby?” Tristan asks.
“Yeah, I just…I needed to hear you guys tell me that it’s going to be all right.” Fuck, I’ve been stressed and I have no one else to talk to. Not like I can tell Lucy all this because it might make her mad or worse, hurt her feelings.
And she’s the last person I want to hurt.
“If it were me, I’d be losing my mind,” Tristan says softly. “So we’re here for you.”
That Tristan actually allowed me a glimpse of his feelings is major. The guy is never serious. Grumpy and a pain in the ass, always. Kind and thoughtful Tristan makes rare appearances so I appreciate his words.
“Thanks man,” I tell him.
I don’t even need advice, not necessarily. Just my friends telling me that I’ll survive this. That yes, I’m probably overreacting, and though it pissed me off that Tristan said that, he’s probably right. There’s no proof yet. Lucy could get her period tomorrow and this will all be a funny story we can laugh over years from now.
Remember those couple of weeks when I thought I might’ve gotten a girl pregnant? That was so fucking hilarious!
Not really. I doubt I’ll think it was hilarious years from now either.
“Whatever happens, we’ll help you,” Shep says, his words, his expression, everything about him utterly sincere. “Don’t stress. It’s out of your control now. Either she is or she isn’t.”
“I’d prefer she isn’t,” I say.
“I get it,” Tristan says. “I’d prefer that too.”
“Me too,” Shep agrees.
We remain quiet like that for almost an hour, the three of us lost in thought, consuming doughnuts until the box is empty and only occasionally muttering a few words here and there. My mind is too full of all the potential scenarios to focus on much else.
I can’t make up my mind if I’m happy or sad about the possible outcome. I’m starting to feel like I could be fucked for life.
And there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Lucy? Is that you?”
I freeze at hearing that familiar voice, dread slithering down my spine and I close my eyes, breathe deep and prepare to come up with a quick-thinking lie.
But how I can fudge around the fact that I’m in line for my appointment with my financial aid counselor? My mind is a complete blank. There’s no getting around this.
Slowly I turn to find freaking Jade standing behind me, her eyes wide, her mouth formed in this little perfect O. Her vibrant hair is caught back into a long, thick braid and she doesn’t have any makeup on so all I can see is a face full of freckles. She’s adorable. I’m not feeling so adorable. More like I’m feeling trapped. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
I give her a smile but say nothing. How can I answer? I can’t tell her the truth. She’ll run and tell Shep and he’ll tell Gabe and Gabe will be angry at me because I kept this from him all this time. I’ve kept pretty much everything from him and I hate that so much. My lies are just that. Lies. Big, fat one. Gabe has been nothing but honest with me from the very beginning.
I’m the one everyone has to start singing Liar, liar pants on fire at whenever they see me.
Jade clears her throat, her mouth clamping shut for a moment, like she doesn’t want to say what she’s about to say. I mentally steel myself. “Listen, I know we’re not that close—yet—and I don’t mean to get in your business but I thought you were like, rich or something? At least, that’s what Gabe and Shep told me.”
I remain quiet, my mind scrambling. I have no idea what to say.
“So.” She clears her throat. “What are you doing in the financial aid line? Do you need help? Do you have an appointment?”
The lady at the window yells next and without saying anything to Jade I walk away, approaching the window and letting the woman know my name and that I had a ten o’clock appointment. She glances over her schedule, checks me in and I leave the window to wait for my name to be called.
I can’t sit still. I’m freaking pacing back and forth as I watch Jade speak to the woman next, saying she has a ten o’clock appointment as well.
What are the odds that we’d run into each other here? I swear I have terrible luck. Or maybe just really bad karma. I must’ve done something to someone in another life and now I’m paying the price. Shit hasn’t been good for weeks.
This is just the crap icing to slather on top of my shit cake.
Jade approaches me the moment she’s done checking in for her appointment. She holds her hands up in front of her. “You don’t have to explain anything,” she says. “It’s absolutely none of my business. I just thought…well I assumed you were wealthy like the boys.”
I frown. “The boys?”
“Shep, Gabe and Tristan. They’re all three filthy rich and when Gabe told us he met you over the summer in Santa Barbara, that you were his neighbor…” She shrugs. “I automatically assumed. So did everyone else, especially Gabe.”
Because I never denied it. I let Gabe make up that entire scenario for me and I went along with it. I’m a total bitch. A chicken shit bitch—and that’s even worse.
“So you’re not loaded,” Jade states when I still haven’t said anything.
I neither confirm nor deny. “Please don’t tell Gabe you saw me here,” I say, the words rushing out of me as I reach for her arm and give it a squeeze. “I don’t want him to find out this way.”