Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to everyone, this weekend has been hugely busy. I promise to write back to everyone from here on in.
The ending for this story has already been written, I'm just writing the guts of it all now. I know there's definitely people out there hoping for specific things to happen or a specific ending and it may not go your way, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Say Your Prayers
Edward hit a nerve. It's not the topic of abortion as such, (it's not like I haven't thought about it myself) but the fact that he is determined to forget that anything between us ever happened, really makes my chest ache. How could he deny what we'd done? Especially now that the consequences of our actions is growing inside me … and making me chunder like nobody's business.
I spend the rest of lunch in the girls' toilets revisiting what I'd managed to get down during the baby news debacle. After I've given up everything I've eaten in the past twenty four hours, and some, I make my way to English with my head down and an ache in my head that, thankfully, prevents me from hearing, or caring, about what's going on around me. Unfortunately it also prevents me from hearing Angela call my name and I jump when she taps me on the shoulder.
"Sorry," she says. "I have been calling out to you for ages."
"Sorry, I'm in my own world," I mumble.
Angela is from the chess club that I sometimes sat with during lunch. She's normally a pretty shy girl and I'm surprised that she's approached me at all. Especially since I'm now a social pariah.
"How are you, Izzy?" she asks with genuine sympathy.
"Uh, I'm okay, thanks," I lie.
"I've been praying for you." She puts a hand on my shoulder and looks at me sternly. "Everything is going to work out. Of that I am certain. God doesn't give us more than we can handle, but I'm here if you ever need to talk, okay?"
I'm reminded that she's the pastor's daughter, but I'm certain that her words are genuine and I'm so floored by her kindness that tears well up in my eyes. I blink them away.
"That's really sweet, thank you, Angela."
She smiles at me and I instinctively smile back. "You're welcome," she says before walking off toward her class.
Feeling rather dazed, I watch her for a moment when she turns slightly and waves at me, her smile still broad and encouraging. I give her a small wave in return and then walk into my class.
"Is that the thirteen year old girl that got pregnant by the teacher? What's she doing in this class?"
*cough* "slut" *cough*
"She doesn't even look pregnant. What a lying attention whore."
I am slammed back into the depths of hell before I even make it to my seat.
...
Three o'clock takes about a week to arrive and I'm finally about to escape this hell hole when I feel someone behind me while I'm waiting for my mum. I turn to see Jasper Hale standing with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Hey, Bella."
"No one calls me Bella," I deadpan.
"Alice called you Bella."
My heart catches in my throat at the mention of her name, and, in that one sentence, he has my undivided attention. "You knew my sister?"
"Yeah, I knew your sister." His smile holds a secret that I'm pretty sure I don't want to know, and I scrunch up my nose at him. He chuckles, but then suddenly his face is serious and he looks at me imploringly. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you that Edward's kind of in shock right now and I need you to know that he's not usually –"
"Such an asshole?" I interrupt.
Jasper reels back a little. "Woah! Little, mumma!" I cringe at his name for me and he apologises. "But you are, right? The rumours are true?"
I nod, but then decide I may need to point out which rumour is true. "Yes, I'm pregnant. No, I didn't have a threesome, an affair with a teacher, or an ape or whatever else they're saying now."
"An ape?" he chuckles. I shrug and he goes to continue, but my mother's car slows to a stop in front of us. "Just go easy on Edward, yeah? He just needs some time to let it sink in." He walks off before I get a chance to respond.
"Was that boy him?" My mother asks, the second I'm in the car.
"No," I assure her.
"He looks familiar…"
"His name is Jasper, he says he knew Alice."
Mum pulls out of the parking lot and is silent for a full minute before she whispers "I remember now." She swallows hard and I know she's trying not to cry. "He came to the house during her wake and gave me a necklace that he said belonged to her. He gave his condolences and walked off before I could ask who he was. I had never seen the necklace before, but I put it in her jewellery box and left it at that."
"Which one?"
I had been through Alice's things a few times in the last couple of years, and had asked if I could borrow clothes and jewelry. Even though she was no longer here to give me permission, it felt wrong to just take the things that belonged to her. Of course, in my mind, she always says yes. Apart from my careful borrowing, her room has remained untouched since she passed two years ago from an aggressive brain tumour. This year she would have been turning nineteen.
"It's the gold one with the diamond 'A' pendant. It's beautiful, I don't know why she never wore it, or who gave it to her."
I smile secretly to myself. Alice was too alternative to wear something so flashy, but I'm pretty sure I know who gave it to her. It seems that there's more to Jasper Hale than the popular jock and heart breaker he claims to be.
"So if he isn't the father, who is?"
My mother's words crash into the open space my mind was happily floating about in. Suddenly reality comes flooding back and I feel my body tense up.
"Can't this wait until we get home?" I ask, stalling.
"We are home," Mum points out as she pulls into our driveway and puts the car in park.
Mum, one, Izzy, zero.
"Inside, kitchen table, now," she says sternly.
I grab my bag, give a heavy sigh and make my way inside. I'm surprised to see my dad in the kitchen, I half expected him to be at work. I slump into a chair at the table and wait until my parents have join me before opening my mouth, but my throat is dry and I can't find the words I want to say. It should be simple. Edward Cullen is the father. But nothing comes.
"Did you tell him?" Mum asks to break the silence.
I nod.
"And?"
"And he … didn't take it very well," I elaborate.
"And?" Mum coerces.
"And?" I repeat.
"His name!" She exasperates.
"Oh!" I look to my dad to see him shaking his head. I glance back at my mum to see her waiting, not so patiently. "Well … um … do you remember the doctor from the hospital?" I wait for a reply but get none, so I carry on. "Remember the one that did the ultrasound thingy –"
"Yes we remember, you silly girl, just spit it out!"
"Oh, well, um, it's his son. Edward. Edward Cullen."
Silence. Silence that seems to go on for an eternity. I start to wonder if time has actually frozen, when my mother finally makes a move. She rises from her seat and grabs her phone from the kitchen bench. I dare a glance at my father but he is staring down at the table with his head in his hands.
Mum settles back in her chair with her phone and a familiar looking business card. I ask her what she's doing.
"Calling Doctor Cullen."
Shit.