Happy Thursday, my lovelies! I've been feeling better both physically and emotionally, so hopefully I can get back on track. I don't really have much to say about this chapter. I hope you lovelies have an amazing day and I'll maybe see you on Saturday! ~Shaymie
Lorin's POV
"I can't believe Lorin Haywood is skipping class." I rolled my eyes at John as I helped him organize the bandages in the nurse's office. It wasn't really skipping if I had permission to be here. Mr. Conway was gone on vacation, which left my class with a substitute. She took attendance and blatantly said that she didn't care about what we did as long as we didn't get caught. I'm pretty sure everyone left class. Even Alex, star student of the year, decided to leave for the library instead of staying in the classroom.
"In the eyes of the school system, I'm present and accounted for." I stuck my tongue out and ruffled John's hair. He huffed and put the bandages in a shelf. "So what do you have planned for Darcy?"
"Can I be honest Lori? I have no idea what I'm doing. Darcy's my first girlfriend and this is my first time actually having to do something for Valentine's Day. Everything's been going great and everything, but I'm just… nervous, I guess. We haven't had sex since that first time and I know she's used to having it… a lot. I feel like I'm disappointing her."
"You don't need to have sex to be happy in a relationship. Believe me, sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth. My relationship with James was just centered on us sleeping together almost every night, and when I told him I didn't feel like it, he'd… get mad. Things are different now. Alex doesn't pressure me to do anything if I don't feel like it. I guess my point is that I'm sure you're not disappointing Darcy. She understands if you're not ready to have sex again, John. There's no rush."
I started organizing the nurse's excuses as I spoke, rolling my eyes at some of them. People had the most ridiculous excuses for coming to the nurse. I realized that I had never even met her. On the rare occasions that I had to come here, John or some other student aide was here to help. Did our school even have a nurse? Or were they cutting corners by just having students taking turns being the nurse? Ice packs and naps couldn't fix everything, and Google was only so much help/ Hopefully nothing too serious happened to anyone here.
"...Why did you stay with him? If he hurt you, I don't understand why you would stay."
"I was in a bad place back then. Everyone was treating me like a kid and then I met James and he told me he loved me and nobody had told me that in a long time. I was desperate for someone to love me, and look where that got me." I shoved one of Thomas' poorly written excuses into a drawer and took a deep breath. My hands were shaking. I was getting myself worked up again. "It's in the past, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. I do enough of that in therapy."
"Sorry, Lori," John murmured. I shrugged halfheartedly and loosened my grip on the drawer handle. I was the one who had brought up James in the first place. It made sense for him to ask more. I hadn't really told anyone about the awful things James and Maria had done to me. Even Alex was still in the dark about most of it. I knew it was ridiculous, but I was scared they'd think less of me if they knew about everything.
I looked down at my phone when it started vibrating. John caught it before it fell off the desk and handed it to me. I frowned when I saw that Mama was calling. She knew that I was at school. This had to be an emergency. I excused myself to the back of the nurse's office and took the call.
"What's wrong, Mama? You never call-"
"The baby's coming. Well, he's been coming for awhile now. This is just the first time I've been able to call you." I stumbled slightly and sat down on one of the cots. I could hear Christopher talking anxiously in the background. How long had she been in labor? Why hadn't she called as soon as her water broke?
"Wasn't he due in April? Will he be healthy?"
"At my last appointment, the doctor said that my old one got the due date wrong. He's due in March, but he's still at least a month early. I'm sure that he'll be fine. You were born early, after- shit!" Mama hissed in pain as, I assumed, another contraction happened. "I'll be fine, darling. I just wanted to let you know. I tried calling your sister, but she didn't answer."
"Darcy always sleeps in." I paused and twirled a bit of hair around my finger. "Mama, are you sure you're alright? Do you need me to go to the hospital with you? I can get Darcy to sign me out of school since she's eighteen and we can go over-"
"No no, just stay where you are. I'll be fine with Christopher. We'll call you later. I love you, Lorin."
"Love you too, Mama."
"Darcy's at the hospital with Mama. S-She said she would call to keep me updated." I squeezed Alex's hand as we went on our third cycle around the park. Despite what I had told him earlier, he had gotten at least a little dressed up. He was wearing a nice button down shirt with a suit jacket. He still had on jeans and sneakers, though. Like I said, only a little dressed up.
"I'm sure everything's fine, Lo. Your mother's already had two kids. I'm sure a third is no big deal."
"I guess," I sighed, letting Alex lead me over to the pond. He sat down in the grass and pulled me into his lap. I leaned my head against his chest and smiled as he started playing with my hair. I checked the time. It was half past six. The dance started in an hour, but we were planning on showing up a bit late, since I didn't really care about it anyway.
"Got somewhere to be?" Alex chuckled as he braided my hair. "If you're nervous about the dance, we don't have to go. It's fine if you don't want to. We can just stay here."
"I'm just checking to make sure that we have time to get to the dance. Gil and Peggy are showing up on time, so we can't get a ride from them. I don't want to be out here when it gets dark…" I looked back at Alex as he tied the end of my braid off with his hairtie. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he helped me up, kissing my hand as we started walking. My face flushed. I would never get used to his shows of affection.
"We'll start heading to the school after I show you something. I've been practicing and I still don't think I'm anywhere near as good as you. I love you a lot, Lo. I love you so much, I don't know what to do with myself. You talk about how you think you don't deserve me, but I think it's the other way around. Let's face it, I'm a… a… Is there a guy term for 'slut'? Either way, I've slept with far too many people in the past. I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to your feelings. It's a miracle you haven't broken up with me."
I stayed quiet during Alex's ramble and blinked when we found ourselves underneath the shade of a tree. I realized that it was the same tree we'd had our first date. Alex squeezed my hands and smiled nervously as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I rested my head on his chest as we started dancing in a circle. I closed my eyes and smiled. He was so warm… It felt like I was always cold nowadays, and it wasn't just because New York was freezing.
He started singing. It was quiet at first, like he was nervous, and gradually got louder. Ed Sheeran. He was singing Perfect, which was my favorite Ed Sheeran song. Probably my favorite song of all time. I looked up at him and smiled encouragingly. The only other time I'd ever heard him sing was on John's birthday when he came up to my room before we went down to the party.
"...I don't deserve this. You look perfect tonight." Alex kissed my forehead as he finished singing. My eyes filled with tears as I looked into his. I buried my face into his jacket and laughed happily. His arms tightened around me.
"I loved it, Alex," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Your voice is amazing. And that was so… romantic. I don't know why I'm crying when I'm happy."
"It's nice to know that you liked it, Lo. I thought I would forget the lyrics or pass out." Alex tucked a bit of my hair behind my ear and grinned. "Let's go to the dance, love. I'm sure Laf and Peggy will be excited to see us."