 
Cami's Decision

A Crossroads Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Valenciya Lyons

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Valenciya Lyons

Smashwords Edition

Cover Design by Asha of SelfPubBookCovers.com

All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I would like to thank God Almighty for being there for me. This year has been one of the most trying years of my life but with prayer, I've made it. I would also like to thank my grandmother, Rosa Lyons, for always being by my side and supporting me no matter what. To all my family and friends, I love you all.

Author Biography

The Mississippi native's love for writing began around the age of ten. During this time, she wrote short stories and poems and was encouraged by her grandmother to pursue a career in writing. She attended The University of Southern Mississippi and received a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Studies. She currently resides in Meridian, Mississippi. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading fashion magazines, shopping, and hanging out with friends and family.

Coming Soon

Life After Natalie (A Crossroads Trilogy Novel, Book 2)

Connect With Me On:

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

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Chapter 1

As a young sixteen-year-old girl, Camila "Cami" Alderson should have been worrying about finding the right dress for the junior prom and goofing off with her friends. The possibility of being pregnant should have been the last thing on her mind, but the scary thought was there, instead.

She cried quietly to herself in bed at the thought of being pregnant. She was six weeks late, and she'd been vomiting nonstop for two weeks. She wanted to take a pregnancy test, but her hands shook and her breathing grew heavy just at the thought of it. Her stomach was in knots. She didn't want to share her news with her mother, sister, or even her best friend for fear of what they would think of her, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered her. She'd always been known as "the good girl" in school, and she wondered what the other students would think of her if she really was pregnant. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she already knew what people would think and say about her. She'd be the new pregnant slut at Crossroads High walking down the halls, all eyes upon her. It was a harsh reality...but it was true.

Cami feared that her ex-boyfriend, River, had bragged about having sex with her to all of his new college friends. (He'd recently graduated from high school this past May.) The thought of her good girl image already being in shambles made her pull the zebra print comforter over her head. She let out a muffled groan. She wished that she would've stopped her make-out session with him before it went too far, but she hadn't. He edged his face closer to hers until their lips touched. Their tongues danced wildly as the desire began to build in her. She pulled back but only to feel his wet tongue on her neck and shoulders. She was now crying harder as she tried to push the memory of her first time to the back of her mind. The idea of becoming a mother at sixteen was the scariest thing that she'd ever thought of.

"Girls, breakfast is ready!" she heard her mother shout from downstairs. She slowly got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face while feeling a hunger pang along the way. She considered eating breakfast at school instead of home, but then she'd have to answer a million questions from her mother on why she wasn't hungry, and she feared that she'd crack under the pressure.

While standing in the doorway of her bedroom, she saw that her fifteen-year-old sister, Kaci, was still getting dressed, so with agility and ease, she quickly made her way downstairs and entered the kitchen. Her goal was to eat as quickly as possible so that she wouldn't have to sit in the kitchen with Kaci once she arrived.

She watched as her mother carefully laid a breakfast buffet of pancakes, bacon, and eggs onto the kitchen table in front of her. Just looking at her mother made Cami think about how having another mouth to feed in the house would be a huge burden. Her mother was working her butt off at two jobs already as a registered nurse and a waitress. With a mortgage payment, student loan debt, credit card debt, and loads of other bills that she once did not think about twice, her mother was forced to work longer hours after her children's father abandoned his family for another woman.

Despite the stress that she'd endured after the divorce by being forced to work a second job and care for her two daughters alone, Diane was still a graceful, beautiful woman. Her beautiful jet black hair hung loosely over her shoulders and complemented her glowing, caramel-colored skin. She had beautiful brown eyes that were weary—not from age, but from worry. Cami continued to watch her mother run back and forth from the kitchen table to the stove to add more bacon onto everyone's plate.

The taste of the pancakes overflowing with warm maple syrup made her feel as if she was in food heaven. She had always had a sweet tooth, and these pancakes were definitely hitting the spot.

A light breeze tickled her left cheek. She didn't turn to see who had rushed into the kitchen because she knew that it could only be one person.

"I'm starving," Kaci declared, as she eyed the breakfast buffet spread out on the table. "I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday."

Diane eyed her youngest daughter suspiciously as she seated herself at the head of the kitchen table. "Why didn't you eat something last night?"

Kaci held up one finger to let her mother know to give her a minute as she gulped down most of her orange juice. Then she wiped her mouth with a paper towel and said, "I didn't feel good yesterday, and when I'm sick, I lose my appetite completely."

"Honey, are you sick now?" Diane asked, as she reached over and put her hand against Kaci's forehead. She worried terribly whenever one of her girls was sick. Even though she needed extra cash to pay the bills, she'd take time off from work just to care for them whenever they were ill.

"Mom, I'm fine," Kaci answered while swatting her mother's hand away. "I think I almost caught a cold or something, but I fought it off, and now I feel much better."

Without saying a word, Diane reached over onto Kaci's plate and used her fork to take two pancakes off her plate and put onto hers.

"Hey! I was going to eat that," she said, still stunned that her mother actually had taken some of her food away.

"No sweets or dairy products. It'll help you get better faster."

Cami steadily ate her meal while her mother lectured Kaci on the importance of hand washing. As long as they were chatting with each other, they probably wouldn't notice how sad she really felt, and that suited her just fine. She looked over at her younger sister, who seemed annoyed with their mother's lecture.

Sometimes Cami found herself wishing that she could actually be Kaci. She was smart, stylish, always spoke her mind, and was just all around brilliant in Cami's eyes. She always got straight As and Bs, and in spite of being a sophomore, she'd already taken the SAT and ACT and had one of the highest scores in the school. She was smart and beautiful, and Cami knew that Kaci wouldn't have ever gotten herself into the current situation that she'd gotten herself into.

Kaci had a bright future, but Cami wasn't sure if she could say the same thing for herself. She wondered if she'd even be able to graduate high school and attend college. She'd witnessed at least fifteen of her classmates drop out of school after becoming pregnant. In the southern town of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Crossroads High wasn't the only high school that was seeing a growing number of teen pregnancies. Across the city, other schools were seeing their numbers increase as well, prompting the school nurses to give more abstinence talks and distribute pamphlets about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, asking students to take them home. Despite the schools' attempts, a growing number of teenage girls were still becoming pregnant, and Cami feared that she may be one of them.

On the way to school, Cami and Kaci stopped at a convenience store to pick up a few snacks. Kaci made a beeline for the banana nut muffin and cappuccino, while Cami settled for chips, dip, candy bars, cookies, and pickles. Kaci eyed her sister's purchases but decided against saying anything.

Once the girls had arrived at school, Cami saw her best friend, Marissa Benson, waiting by her locker as usual. They had been best friends since they were four years old. Their mothers attended nursing school together and became very good friends, and thanks to the many play dates arranged for them by their mothers, the two girls had become inseparable.

"What took you so long to get here?" Marissa asked Cami. "I could've left to get something to eat since my mom didn't have time to fix breakfast."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Kaci and I stopped at a store on the way to school, and I brought your favorite chips," Cami responded, as she pulled the chips out of her tote bag and handed it over to Marissa.

She turned around just in time to see Kaci smile and her eyes light up with happiness as a young man approached her. "Well, look at who's almost late this morning," she said to him with a smile.

"My mother's alarm clock didn't go off this morning, so she was late preparing breakfast," he said, beaming.

Kaci turned around to face Cami and Marissa and said, "I'll see you guys later."

"Okay," both girls said in unison.

"You guys are the total opposite of each other," Marissa said once Kaci was out of earshot.

"Yeah, I know," Cami said. That wasn't news to her. She and Kaci were as different as day was from night. She was sensitive while Kaci was more thick-skinned; she was passive while Kaci was more assertive. She hated to think of herself that way, but she knew that it was true.

A few days ago Cami and Kaci stopped by a department store and ran into the school bullies, Leena and Kelly. "Loser," Leena said as she walked by Cami, who said nothing. She didn't consider herself one, but she didn't refute Leena's claim either.

"Moron," Kaci retorted, stopping in the middle of an aisle.

Leena seemed surprised. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. No one talks to my sister that way."

Leena smirked at Cami. She had something slick to say, but she wasn't fast enough.

"I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone calling Kelly a loser, even if it is true." Kaci got this look on her face that rivaled Leena's, letting her know that she wasn't backing down. Cami glanced at Kelly, who frowned.

Kaci won that round.

Cami and Kaci walked away leaving Leena and Kelly to mumble under their breaths.

"You shouldn't let her talk to you that way," Kaci said to her once they were a good distance away from those girls. "You're not a loser. You're smart, so start acting like it when that idiot disrespects you."

She yearned to be more like her younger sister, but she just wasn't sure if she had it in her.

"That Skylar Caldarelli just keeps getting hotter as his years go by," Marissa said. "Did you notice how buff he's gotten?"

"He hasn't gotten that buff," Cami replied. "Did you want any dip to go with those chips?"

Marissa nodded.

Cami reached into her tote and pulled out Marissa's dip and handed it to her, and then pulled out a pickle, dipped it into the ranch dip, and ate it. She closed her eyes as the taste of the pickle and ranch dip flooded her senses. It was the most delicious thing that she'd ever tasted. When she opened her eyes, she found Marissa staring at her with a serious expression on her face. She grabbed the dip and pickles away from Cami, and set them inside her locker which was coincidently beside her best friend's. Then she slammed her locker shut and shoved Cami into the girls' restroom. She looked underneath each stall to make sure that no one was in there, and then she got down to business.

"What's going on?" she demanded to know, with her hands on her hips.

"What do you mean?" Cami asked, beginning to feel a little nauseated. A foul odor coming from one of the stalls didn't help, either.

"You're dipping a pickle in ranch dip. Tammy dips her pickles in mustard and red dirt and everyone knows why," she whispered, as if someone might overhear.

"Why?"

"Because she's pregnant."

A look of shock settled onto Cami's face. She'd always thought that Tammy was smarter than that. She had gotten straight As her entire life, and she was an honor roll student. She could only imagine what Tammy's mother was going through. She was a high school teacher, and female teachers gossip just as much as their younger counterparts (though most will not admit it).

Unannounced, Cami ran into a stall, pulled her hair back, and began to vomit in the toilet.

"Cami, are you sick?" Marissa said worriedly. But no matter how worried she may sound, Cami didn't want to tell her about what she had done with River.

"Yeah, I think I have a stomach virus," Cami lied. Deep down, her heart lurched. She was six (soon to be seven) weeks late. She was craving foods that she normally hates, and she worried all the time.

"Ewwww."

"Yeah, I know," Cami said, feeling ill with the feeling of the vomit aftertaste in her mouth. She came out of the stall, still feeling like trash. She was beginning to think that she really was pregnant. It was either that, or she was just worrying too much. She needed to know whether or not she was pregnant, but she couldn't buy a pregnancy test. She didn't want to take the chance of someone recognizing her and telling her mother. It was a good thing that she had Marissa.

Marissa, however, was standing near the door, her eyes to the floor, and her arms crossed.

"What's wrong?" Cami inquired.

"Do you really have the stomach bug?"

Cami walked over to the sink and began to wash her hands. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"

She grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands while avoiding eye contact with Marissa.

"Are you pregnant?"

Why is she asking me this? Cami wondered. She hadn't told anyone. Damn it! She probably found out that Cami had slept with River.

"Keep your voice down...and I don't know," she whispered. She couldn't believe that she had just sort of admitted to being pregnant.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Cami's gaze immediately fell to the floor. She couldn't believe that she was about to say this, but... "I..."

Marissa's eyes widened in shock. "You had sex with him, didn't you?"

She nodded.

Then Marissa got an "I know something you don't know" look on her face. Cami was almost too scared to ask, but decided to anyway. "What?"

"Are you and River still...?"

"No. Why?"

She sighed and then dropped a bombshell on her best friend. "He proposed to some girl earlier this week." Cami's mouth fell open. River was getting married? She had been dating him for almost two years, until he suddenly broke up with her over a text that said: IT'S OVER.

Ouch.

He had never even told her why he'd ended it. She'd tried calling and texting him countless times, but he never responded. She was not in love with River (or so she told herself), but she did love him. Hearing that he was supposed to be marrying someone else broke her heart into pieces. But even if he'd proposed to her, there was no way they could get married since she was sixteen, and he was eighteen.

Suddenly, her legs felt numb and weak, as if they might give way underneath her. Marissa put her arms around her in a gentle hug, and she collapsed into her arms and began to sob.

"It'll be okay. We'll figure out something," Marissa said soothingly. "You're better off without that jerk anyway."

"Wh-what am I go-going t-to do? I'm not ready to be a-a-a mom," Cami sobbed.

"Neither is Tammy. Maybe you guys should talk. I mean, you're in the same situation and you're going through the same things. In the meantime, I'll get you a pregnancy test, and I'll drop by your place this afternoon."

During the rest of the school day, Cami was a wreck. She couldn't focus in any of her classes. She hardly ate anything at lunch, except for a few chips. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and there was a huge knot in her throat that just wouldn't seem to go away. This just wasn't her day.

Later that day, as she held the pregnancy test in her hands, she wondered what the results would be. Somehow she just knew that she was pregnant. It was just a bad feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to believe it, but she didn't know what else to believe. All the signs were there. Her period was late. She vomited every morning and night. She craved food that she normally hated. What other explanation could there be?

She glanced down at the pregnancy test. Two red lines stared back at her. Her worst fear has become her new reality.

Chapter 2

Cami did not sleep well at all last night. All she could think about was the positive result of the pregnancy test and how she was supposed to tell her mother. Questions began to flood her mind. What am I going to do? How can I tell my mom? How am I supposed to take care of this baby? What will people think of me? What will Mom think of me? Will she hate me when I tell her?

Her mother had high hopes for her. She practically had the same goals for Cami that she had for herself. Diane wanted her to graduate high school and college, and make something out of herself. Cami wanted the same thing, but she didn't know if she would be able to do that anymore. She may have been only sixteen years old, but there was a new life growing inside of her. She fought back tears that she could feel forming in her eyes. She hated to admit it, but she was scared since she wasn't even old enough to take care herself, forget a baby. She was just a kid who lived at home with her mother, and this kid was not ready to become a mother.

She found herself wandering out of bed and near her window to gaze at the stars. She opened the window to feel a gentle breeze, and thought about the girl she used to be, and how the girl whose teachers always bragged to her mother about her excellent behavior and grades (although not as good as Kaci in the grades department) was pregnant. The girl who no one else thought would ever become a teenage mother was pregnant. The girl who would hang out with her best friend for hours on end on weekends at the mall and pull her into a photo booth was pregnant. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the good girl image of her that was once painted inside her head was gone. She felt as if she had shredded it into tiny, little pieces the night that she had sex with River. How was she going to tell him that she was pregnant with his baby? Although he was engaged, she didn't want to cause any problems for him in his new relationship, but she did want to tell him that she was expecting their first child. It was just going to be harder than she had expected.

He was her first. She loved him, and she honestly thought that they would spend the rest of their lives together. She had to tell him that she was pregnant. He needed to be a part of their child's life, so she picked up her cell phone and went into the menu settings to hide her number so River wouldn't know she was the one calling him. Cami's heart began to beat faster once she pressed the call button. She heard a familiar voice yawn and say, "Hello?" She didn't know what to say. It was as if her mind went blank. It seemed like forever since she had heard his voice. "Hello?" he repeated. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out her mouth, so she hung up. She hung up on the father of her baby.

Afterward, she cried for a while. Then she got up and ran to the bathroom to vomit. She felt so sick and terrible inside. She felt as if there was no one who would understand her. She was sixteen years old and pregnant. She feared that people would think that she was a slut. River probably already thought that. Soon the entire school would think that. Good little me had sex and got pregnant. Guess I'm not so good after all, she thought to herself.

The next morning, instead of eating breakfast, she stayed in her bedroom. She was hungry, but she was also too upset to eat with her mother and Kaci. She may be able to hide this from her mom for a short period of time, but not Kaci. She could see right through her. If she walked into the kitchen and tried to hide how upset or irritable she was, Kaci would instantly know that something was wrong.

Cami definitely didn't want to go to school. She knew that Marissa would question her about the pregnancy, and she was not in the mood to talk about that. When she arrived at her locker, Marissa was waiting for her as usual. "Did you tell your mom that you're—you know?" she asked, with a fixated gaze on Cami's stomach.

Cami opened her locker and pulled out a career guidance book that her mom had given her when she was a freshman. "No," she simply replied. "And try to keep your voice down. I don't want anyone to find out about this."

"Fine, but you're going to have to tell her eventually," Marissa said in a low voice.

"Don't remind me," Cami mumbled.

"Cami," she began, "pregnant women need prenatal care." Cami looked at her questionably. She didn't know anything about babies or what they needed. She had taken an elective class on child care during her sophomore year, but she couldn't remember anything from that class. It was such an easy A for her that most of the time while she was in class, she would read gossip magazines. Then she would return home to do the homework and study for the tests, which were based on the homework assignments. Now she found herself wishing she'd paid more attention.

"You need to tell your mother. You need help," Marissa said.

"I told you," Cami stated.

"And I'm telling you to tell your mother."

Cami sighed. This was the last thing that she wanted to talk about today.

"Cami, she can help you."

"I can't tell her," she said, and her voice quavered as she said it.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't tell her what I did. She gave me birth control pills, and I was supposed to be taking them, but I missed a few days." She felt tears form in her eyes, but she tried to fight to keep them from falling onto her cheeks. "She wanted me to graduate from high school and go to college, but I don't think I'll be able to do that anymore," she continued.

Marissa put her arms around her. "Just because you're—you know—doesn't mean that your life is over. It just means that now you will have to work harder," she said reassuringly.

She sniffled while she looked up at her best friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you should keep your grades up, and continue to set and make goals for yourself," she suggested. "What is it that you want to be again?"

"I don't know. That's why my mom gave me this career book."

"Then you can still put it to use." She could tell that Marissa was trying to be helpful, but she didn't think anything or anyone could help her now.

"Yeah, right," she mumbled.

"After you have the baby, you could hire a babysitter."

"How am I supposed to hire a babysitter? My mom doesn't have the money to pay for it. We're stretched thin."

"Then get a part-time job. Half the kids at this school work anyway."

"Yeah, well, that sounds great and all, but that's a higher gas bill for my car."

Marissa paused for a moment before continuing, "Cami, let's be reasonable. You could pay fifty to one hundred bucks a week for babysitting and twenty bucks a week for gas." If only gas were that cheap.

"So basically, my entire life is going to change," Cami said.

"Yeah, it is," Marissa agreed.

"Marissa," Cami began, "what babysitter will work for such a low amount of money?"

"You said that you were stretched thin, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we'll figure something out."

"No, I'll figure something out. This isn't your problem. It's mine, and I'm going to deal with it, but I do want to thank you for being such a good friend. This is my life, and I'm going to deal with my problem in my own way."

Marissa crossed her arms. "Does your way include telling your mother?" Cami could tell that she was getting angry and agitated.

"No," she replied.

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to go on and pretend that this never happened?"

"I love you to death, but back off! I said that I'm going to deal with it and I will," Cami said a little louder than she intended. Some students turned to look at them, and she began to feel embarrassed.

"I sure hope that you make the right decision because you won't be the only person affected by it," Marissa retorted, and then stormed off.

I'll deal with her later, Cami thought. Right now she needed to go to the girls' restroom to find a toilet. So, of course, she ran into the restroom, picked a stall, and puked in the toilet. She didn't know if she could deal with this for nine months, but she was pregnant, so she didn't have a choice. She wasn't getting an abortion. That wasn't even an option, and the thought had never crossed her mind. Even if it did, she didn't think that she could go through with it knowing that it would end her unborn baby's life. However, Cami didn't really see how she could keep the baby because she didn't have the money to take care of it.

She wiped her mouth with toilet tissue, tossed it into the toilet, and flushed it. She put her hands on her face. What am I going to do? she thought. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone walk into the restroom. She looked underneath the stall and saw two girls primping in the mirror.

"I cannot believe that she did that with my boyfriend!" she heard one of the girls shout.

Hey, she knew that voice. She peeped underneath the stall once again. It was Leena and her younger sister, Kelly. They were the most popular girls in school whom everyone loved to hate. Both girls had an enviable tall model-like physique with matching dark blue eyes and gorgeous hair. Leena's platinum, blonde hair cascaded down her back, while Kelly's was a cute, asymmetrical brown bob with blonde highlights. Half of the girls at school had copied her hairstyle.

"Why are you so surprised? This is what sluts do. They steal other girls' boyfriends instead of finding their own. Low self-esteem issues, or something like that," Cami heard Leena say to comfort her younger sister.

"Out of all the guys to choose from, why did Tammy sleep with Lucas? Why did she have to ge-get pregnant by h-him?" Kelly sobbed. Leena handed her a Kleenex. Kelly graciously took it and wiped her nose. "He and I were supposed to go to college together. He was going to be a movie director, and I was supposed to be the beautiful model..."

It was obvious to Cami that Kelly was hurt by her boyfriend's betrayal. Although the two were not friends, it hurt her to hear the sound of her crying. She hated hearing other people cry. This especially bothered her because it was about something that was so near and dear to her heart. It made her think about River and what she knew he was doing—having sex with his fiancée while she was carrying their child. The guy that she'd loved had dumped her and found comfort in someone else's arms.

Leena was now holding her little sister in her arms. "Leena, I just want this to all go away," Kelly said.

"Forget about him. He's just a loser, anyway."

Kelly continued to sob. "Don't worry, Kelly. Tammy and that sorry ex-boyfriend of yours will pay for what they've done to you. Your big sis will make sure of that. Dry your eyes, and come on," Leena ordered, her voice vindictive. "I've got work to do."

I sure hope that she's not planning to hurt a pregnant girl, Cami thought.
Chapter 3

Leena and Kelly Davidson had always lived a comfortable life. Neither girl had ever held a job nor did they intend to get one. All they wanted was to live off their parents' money for their rest of their lives, and it was certainly something within their reach. What could be better than that?

By the time they were eight years old, they had started receiving monthly allowances that were more than enough to pay a mortgage on a home. After reaching their ninth birthday, both girls received diamond-encrusted cell phones, courtesy of their mother (without their father's knowledge), and that was only the beginning. Exotic vacations around the world, jet-setting on private planes, and endless shopping sprees filled Leena and Kelly's lives. After returning from trips that many people could never afford to see in a lifetime, they would come to school to brag about their latest adventures.

Most students, especially girls, did not like them, but the ones who did tried hard to impress them. Those girls who so desperately wanted to be like them would buy what they thought were legitimate fashion pieces from sellers on street corners, and some had even stooped to the low of stealing their parents credit cards and money just to have the latest designer handbags or shoes. Leena and Kelly found delight in knowing that the wannabes would go through so much trouble just to be like them. The parents didn't find their children's behavior so amusing. Those two little Davidson devils had somehow caused their straight A honor roll daughters to become thieves and unruly, disobedient children, and this was only middle school!

As the girls got older, they became known around the school for wearing the latest designer fashions. Juicy Couture, Dolce & Gabbana, and Roberto Cavalli were just a few of their favorites, and having lawyers for parents definitely helped. Even their home was as massive as their wardrobe. The place that they call home was a Mediterranean style six-thousand-square-foot estate. Their parents' room, as well as their own, each had a balcony surrounded by arching iron gates that overlooked the swimming pool, lake, and a fountain in the backyard.

The girls' mother, Kathy, always made sure that their closets were stocked with the latest designer fashion. When the girls were younger, she would take them to the mall and tell them which stores to shop in and which to avoid. She also introduced them to the hair salon and spa. Their father, Ridge, on the other hand, was simpler. He enjoyed fishing and watching football in his spare time.

After returning home from work to one too many half-cooked chickens and burned carrots, Ridge decided that he was going to hire a chef. He knew that his daughters would appreciate eating something other than hot dogs and chips.

Although Leena and Kelly enjoyed eating the meals the chef prepared, they did not like him. Brody was a short, chubby, jolly fellow who prided himself on his work. Although Ridge insisted that he live in the guest house, Brody politely declined. Instead, he arrived at the house at five-thirty each morning to prepare breakfast for the family. His days were long, so he wouldn't leave until around seven each night, with the exception of weekends. He was never late nor did he miss a day. Cooking was his life. It was how he made his living, and he loved to prepare food for others. It was his love for his craft and determination that led him to work for some of the most prominent families in the Hattiesburg area. Some of his past clients included plastic surgeons, musicians, doctors, and politicians.

Late one afternoon, during a casual conversation at Denny's, he mentioned to some of his past colleagues and friends that he was now working for Ridge and Kathy Davidson. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes upon hearing the name "Davidson" and warned him that the children were little monsters just like their mother. He had been working for the family for two weeks, and the children hadn't given him any trouble, so he figured that they were over exaggerating. Besides, he had dealt with snobby and rude children before, so this wouldn't be anything that he couldn't handle. But he didn't know how wrong he was.

The teasing began several weeks after Brody started working. Leena had made up a song to ridicule him. "Fatty McPatty's too ugly and fat to be my daddy," she would sing. Hearing her say this about him made the chef want to call her every name in the book aloud, but he was on the job, so he opted to only think such thoughts instead.

Although he didn't show it, it greatly affected Brody because he had battled weight issues as a child. The summer before he began high school, he cut out all soda and fast food from his diet and lost forty pounds. After entering high school, he was teased about his weight occasionally, but had gained more self-esteem and confidence, and silenced anyone who would dare mock his past pain.

Next Kelly started to bother him about how much money he made. She told him that he was poor and that she didn't like poor people. Of course, Leena would always add her Fatty McPatty rhyme into the mix. Brody did not want to alert Ridge of these happenings, because from past experiences, he knew that this would only make things worse. The parents would always take their children's side because they were always right even when they were wrong. Sometimes Kathy would be within earshot, but she wouldn't intervene. Brody figured that she must be the one who taught Leena and Kelly how to be rude and disrespectful. Whenever their father was around, they were perfect little angels. Brody would not hear a peep out of them. Despite that, he knew that the girls were sneaky and devilish just like their mother.

The final straw for him was when Leena and Kelly put butter on the floor in the dining room and kitchen. He was carrying one pack of bacon and was about to get breakfast started when he suddenly felt his feet slip from beneath him. He slid from the dining room to the kitchen. While in the kitchen, he tried to grasp onto the counter so that he could lift himself up, but this time he fell onto his back, and then a bucket of pancake batter fell on top of him. He let out a loud shriek of pain while the girls laughed so hard that they held their sides. He was so full of anger that he cursed at the girls and Kathy. He was very respectful of women and children, but Kathy, Leena, and Kelly did not deserve respect. They made him miserable, and he was the one who was providing a tasty service that he gave his heart and soul to! A part of him wished that Ridge was there so that he could have seen what his so-called precious little angels had done, but he figured that it would be of no use to try to prove to the man that his children were the cause of his injuries. There was one thing that Brody was certain of: he didn't want to step foot into the Davidson household ever again. He didn't return to work the next day. He sued and settled for an undisclosed amount of money.

Unbeknownst to Kathy, Leena, and Kelly, Ridge had video surveillance cameras installed inside and outside the home. One of the cameras inside the home showed Leena and Kelly's treatment of the chef. It also showed every little detail that had occurred the morning the girls played their horrible prank on him. Their father was disgusted with what he saw. His wife was worse than he had previously thought, and she was ruining their daughters. As punishment for their treatment of Brody, Ridge made Leena and Kelly apologize to him. They also had to wash the dishes for six months, and he took away their allowances, and cell phone privileges. He had a long conversation with Kathy and told her that she should apologize for allowing everything to continue, but she refused.

Several years later the Davidson sisters remain unchanged.

The bell had rung. It was time for lunch. Tammy Moore watched her classmates race each other to the door to be first in line for that oh-so-delicious cafeteria food. She slowly put her math book, calculator, and mechanical pencil in her orange and black polka-dotted backpack.

She hated lunch time. Ever since people found out that she had sex with Kelly's ex-boyfriend, Lucas, and was carrying his child, her fellow classmates had turned against her. She was called a slut throughout the day. No one would sit with her during lunch time. With a cafeteria that could hold more than three hundred students, this definitely made her stand out in a bad way.

She was constantly being attacked online. Someone had gone so far as to make a website titled MoreTammyMoore.com. The website featured photos of her in risqué poses and sexual positions with Lucas. A caption such as Fat Slutty Moore's Awake was above a photo in which she was nude and yawning in his bed. Another caption titled Good Girls Like Moore Too was above another photo in which she and Lucas were having sex. But some of the worst photos that she hated were the ones with captions about her weight. Tammy had always been on the chubby side. In the past, she had tried to diet and exercise. The truth was that she hated dieting because she loved to eat food, and she hated exercising.

Although she was pregnant, it wasn't going to stop people from making fun of her weight. Knowing all of this made her not want to enter the cafeteria. But she was low on funds, so she couldn't leave campus to eat elsewhere. She looked down at her growing belly and felt intense hunger pangs. When she looked up, she saw her hand reaching for the doorknob.

The school cafeteria was plagued with long lines. Although the food may not have tasted the best, the hungry students were ready to dig in. Many of the rumbling tummies had not even filled up on breakfast that morning.

Amongst all of the hungry faces, there were two who had never bothered to eat the cafeteria food. They were sitting at the third table, which was not their usual spot, so they could be near the front of the cafeteria. Both girls could tell that some of the students were angry that they had taken their seats, but they didn't care. The angry students' names weren't on the seats or the table, so it didn't belong to them. Besides, it was now the property of Leena and Kelly Davidson, and according to them, they could have what they wanted when they wanted, so the table was now theirs.

Kelly Davidson glanced at her phone for the millionth time. Then her eyes scoured the cafeteria for one person, in particular, this person who had still not arrived. She crossed her arms in frustration.

Sitting across from her at the table in the middle of the cafeteria was her older sister, Leena. She didn't even bother to look at Kelly. She could feel her frustration growing, and she herself was slowly becoming irritable. This time it was her turn to look at the time. It was twelve-fourteen. Leena sighed and tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Tammy was stalling. Most students were usually in the cafeteria by noon. Leena knew that Tammy couldn't be in her mother's classroom because she was teaching freshman English. She could have left school to eat lunch elsewhere, but Leena hadn't received a text that this had occurred from any of the student workers in the school's office. The last possible place that she could've been was the restroom. Leena chuckled to herself at the thought of Tammy laying her eyes upon the beautiful, handcrafted artwork that was waiting for her there.

Kelly was growing more irritable by the minute and began popping her gum. Leena gave her an agitated look. She didn't chew gum anymore because it made her hungry. Pop! She hated the sound of gum popping. Whenever Kelly did it, it sounded like fireworks.

"Stop popping that damn gum!" she demanded.

"What else do you want me to do? I'm sitting here wasting my time waiting for a pregnant slut who's late for lunch," Kelly replied.

Leena rolled her eyes.

"This is the one thing that she's supposed to be early for," Kelly added. Her sister didn't bother disputing her on that one.

It wasn't long before she heard Kelly pop her gum again. Pop! P-P-P-P-Pop! She could no longer take listening to her sister's bubble gum fireworks. "Look, there's Tammy right over there!" Leena said, pointing at a crowd of students who were still waiting in line.

"Where?" Kelly inquired. She stood up and looked around the cafeteria from side to side, but didn't see Tammy anywhere. This provided Leena with just enough time to reach into her sister's purse, grab her pack of gum, and toss it into the trash without leaving her seat. Kelly saw her throw her pack of gum into the trash can out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. She frowned at Leena. "What did you do that for?"

Leena studied her younger sister for a moment before responding. "You need to learn how to be patient," she finally said.

"What does that have to do with my gum?"

"You pop your gum every time you get impatient."

"So what?"

"Learn to be patient. Besides, good things come to those who wait."

"Well, if you would've taught me patience when I was younger, I'd have it by now."

Leena rolled her eyes. "Must I do everything?"

"No, just most things," Kelly answered.

Leena closed her eyes and shook her head.

"What are you doing that for? I can do all the other stuff, you know."

The cafeteria door opened and Tammy stepped inside. She could feel eyes watching her, but after a second or two, those same eyes returned to their plates. She was aware that there were two pairs of eyes that were watching her every move, but she couldn't be worried about that. She needed to eat something, not just for herself, but for the baby. The tacos, corn, and double fudge chocolate cake would definitely do the trick.

To avoid making eye contact with Leena and Kelly, Tammy chose to sit with her back toward them at the first table nearest the exit. Leena wasn't surprised at all, but this angered Kelly. Sensing that her younger sister was about to take a trip to see Tammy, Leena extended her right arm in front of her. "Remember: patience," she stated.

Kelly rolled her eyes. Whoever came up with that word is stupid. She couldn't understand why Leena was making such a big deal about being patient. She had never bothered her with this before, so why start now? Her eyes were literally staring a hole in the back of Tammy's head. Leena could be patient if she wanted to, but Kelly felt as if she had wasted enough time waiting. She felt herself rise to her feet and begin walking in Tammy's direction.

Leena didn't bother to stop her. She had already decided that she was going to stay seated and watch her from afar. She would only intervene if necessary. She watched as Kelly made her way to Tammy's table, and carefully sat down beside her.

Tammy's heart skipped a beat when she felt someone take a seat beside her. She didn't have to turn around to see who it was because she already knew who had finally come to pay her a visit. She didn't want to say anything because she knew that would only make things worse. There really was nothing that she could say except "I'm sorry," and she didn't want to say that.

She wasn't sorry for sleeping with Lucas. She had despised Leena and Kelly for a long time. Why were they the only popular girls at school? She wanted to be popular, too, and the only way to do that was to get some sort of attention. She decided to do something that she knew would hurt Kelly, so she slept with her boyfriend and bragged about it to people who she believed were her friends. But the tables had turned. The people who were supposed to be her friends backstabbed her, and now everyone at school hated her. She was known as "the other woman," and that was never a good thing to be.

Lucas wasn't any better than Kelly was. When she found out that she was pregnant, she called him and met up with him at a local coffee shop. She was nervous the entire time, but she wasn't going to let her nerves get the best of her. She took a deep breath and a sip of her latte.

She began the conversation by asking him general questions such as how he was and how his family was doing, but he didn't seem to be quite interested in having a conversation with her. They had had a one-night stand, and neither really knew the other, so she couldn't blame him for not wanting to be there with her. His suggestion was that they cut out the small talk and go back to his place for more sex. When she declined, she could tell that she had really lost him. It was obvious that he viewed her as only a booty call, but that was not going to be happening anymore, because she didn't want to have sex with him. She just wanted to tell him that she was pregnant, but now the fear of telling him was starting to set in. Lucas was an eighteen-year-old boy and most, if not all of them, were not ready to be fathers. He was going to have to find out sooner or later, and in this case, sooner was the best choice.

"Did you use a condom the night we were together?" She looked away from him as soon as she'd asked the question and stared at the black and white tiled floor.

"No, you didn't tell me to." She put her hand on her face. She knew it. "But I pulled out," he quickly added.

"That's not one hundred percent effective."

"So what? I mean, it's not like you're pregnant or anything, right?" When Tammy didn't answer, he knew what the obvious answer had to be. He sighed and sat back in his chair. This couldn't be happening to him. He was supposed to be graduating in the spring and going out-of-state on a full academic scholarship to a four-year university in the fall.

"Yes, Lucas, I'm pregnant," she finally admitted.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not the father."

Tammy stared at him square in the eye. "Yes, you are."

"Don't ever call me or text me again. Just lose my number." With that, he got up and walked out of the coffee shop with Tammy still trying to bring herself to understand what had just happened. The only reason she had slept with him was to hurt Kelly, but it wasn't worth the trouble that it was causing her now.

Kelly could sense that Tammy was uneasy, and it made her devilishly happy.

She was still eating those disgusting tacos and corn. Kelly couldn't understand why someone would want to put that junk into their bodies. She had always believed that cafeteria food wasn't really food, so eating anything that came from a cafeteria was definitely something she wouldn't be interested in doing. She thought it would probably lead to massive weight gain, and that was something she wasn't willing to find out.

She continued to watch Tammy without saying a word. She was waiting to see if her tongue would be quick to say something but it didn't. So now it would be up to her to break the ice.

A brightly colored orange and black backpack caught her attention. She couldn't imagine carrying such a hideous bag around campus. People probably would have mistaken her for a beautiful flower, and she hated flowers because of her allergies. "Nice bag," she said without looking up. Tammy didn't look; she knew that an insult must be around the corner. "It makes you look like a felon," Kelly added, her eyes now meeting Tammy's. And there it was.

Tammy remained silent.

"I just wanted to let you know that I dumped my boyfriend. So now you can have him," Kelly said.

This pleased Tammy greatly. She had finally defeated a Davidson. "He was already mine," she boldly stated.

Kelly frowned. "He chose me to be his girlfriend, not you. He chose you to be his one-night stand because he knew how easy you were."

Her words stung hard, but Tammy was determined to not let it show. No matter how hard she tried, she could never beat Kelly in a verbal assault. She was just too much. "You can have my sloppy seconds since you like taking men who don't belong to you," she added.

Tammy could feel everyone's eyes on her, and it made her uncomfortable. She already knew what they thought about her. The tears were definitely threatening to spill at this point.

She heard a loud bell. Lunch was over, but that didn't mean that Kelly was finished.

Tammy grabbed her backpack. She wanted to leave and get out of this cafeteria as soon as possible. As she stood up to leave, she heard Kelly's voice. "You should really learn how to keep your legs closed to other girls boyfriends, or else your unborn child may turn out like you—slutty and all." Tammy could feel a lump form in her throat. It was time to make a break for the exit. Kelly watched her hurriedly make her way toward the door. She was in such a big rush that she didn't even put her lunch tray away.

Afterward, Leena approached her younger sister. She was impressed with the way that Kelly had handled herself. She expected her to shout and cause a huge scene, but she had done the complete opposite. She kept her voice steady and didn't let her emotions get the best of her. "Looks like you've learned patience," Leena said with a smirk.

Kelly's eyes were glued to the door as if she expected Tammy to reenter them. A warm hand touched her shoulder. "Are you still not satisfied?" she heard her older sister's voice ask.

Nothing.

Leena tilted her head to the side. The cafeteria was now nearly empty. The only students who remained were the few who were at the end of the line earlier, and she didn't want any of them to overhear anything that would be said to her sister. Although they were sitting several tables away from the girls, she knew that they were straining their ears to hear their conversation. They were the school's celebrities, after all. In a low voice, she said, "If you're not satisfied, then what else is there to do?"

Kelly now turned to face her. "What isn't there to do?"
Chapter 4

Cami watched her mother continuously look through the cabinets and fridge while she stood behind the kitchen counter. Her guess was that she was looking for something to cook for dinner. She was hungry all the time, so she didn't care what her mother cooked—just as long as she cooked something.

She still hadn't told her mother that she was pregnant, and the truth was that she didn't want to—at least not now. What teenage girl would be eager to tell her mother such a thing? It was probably one of the scariest things that any parent feared hearing besides someone telling them that their child had been in some sort of an accident and died. A day would come when her mother would have to hear Cami say the words "I'm pregnant," but today was not going to be that day.

Diane spotted her lingering in the kitchen. She wanted to go to the store and shop for groceries, but her feet were killing her. Since Cami had her driver's license and loved to drive so much, she decided to send her instead. "Cami," her mother began, as she reached into her back pocket, "go to the store and get everything on this list." She handed her daughter the grocery list.

As Kaci made her way into the kitchen, she saw her mother hand Cami something. She knew that she had to be sending her on a grocery shopping excursion, and she loved to accompany Cami on grocery trips so someone else could pay for the loads of junk food she'd throw into the shopping cart. "Mind if I tag along?" she said to her.

"No, I don't mind," Cami answered. Although she could be annoying at times, Cami enjoyed her little sister's company.

Once the girls arrived at the grocery store, Kaci grabbed a shopping cart and asked Cami for the grocery list. She read the list, and then said to her, "I'll get everything but dessert. Do you remember what that was?"

Cami closed her eyes for a moment while trying to remember what dessert her mother had written on the grocery list. She had read the list earlier, but she just couldn't seem to remember.

Her absent-mindedness was quite obvious to Kaci. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was starting to suspect that Cami was hiding something. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, and tried to focus on the task at hand. Besides, if they stayed out too long, their mother would call, and they would never hear the end of it. After all, it was dark out, so she'd be expecting them to get home soon.

"She wants brownie mix and chocolate icing," Kaci said. She gave the list another quick glance before saying, "I'll call you on your cell when I'm done."

Cami soon found herself walking alone around the grocery store. This was typical whenever she and Kaci shopped alone for groceries. Her younger sister would always take charge, and Cami would be the one following her orders.

Although she was older, it seemed as if Kaci were the older one. She had always been more mature, and always took the lead. Many older siblings would hate taking orders from their younger siblings, but Cami didn't mind. This had always suited her just fine because she didn't like being the one to take charge.

Passing the magazine isle made her realize how much she wanted to read a gossip magazine, but she knew that if she didn't get the dessert, she would forget it. It didn't take her long to gather the brownie mix and chocolate icing. Afterward, she found herself wandering into the magazine isle anyway and flipping through a gossip magazine. Maybe reading about someone else's problems will make me feel better about my own, she thought to herself. But it didn't work. About ten minutes later, her phone rang. She figured that it was probably just Kaci letting her know that she had gathered everything on the list. She felt around in her purse until she found her phone, but by this time it had already stopped ringing.

She was gathering the items that she would purchase in her hands, and as she turned around, she found herself nearly collapsing to the floor. River was standing directly behind her. For a moment, neither said a word to each other. She could feel her heart begin to pound in her chest, and an uneasy feeling came over her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Cami didn't answer his question. Instead, she took in his appearance. He hadn't changed a bit. It felt like it had been forever since she had seen his baby blue eyes. He towered over her thanks to his tall frame. His regular visits to the gym hadn't been interrupted; she could tell by his bulging biceps peeking out from under his T-shirt. His curly brown hair neatly framed his face, and she was tempted to tuck a strand behind his ear.

He took a step forward before asking, "Are you okay?" for the second time.

Cami nodded with a small, fake smile.

"How have you been?"

Part of her wanted to tell him the truth, but the other part, which was scared and frightened, didn't. "Okay," she replied nervously. She was shocked that he was even talking to her because she had tried before and was ignored by him.

"You don't look okay," he observed.

She didn't know how to tell him, but she knew that she needed to. So she forced the words to come out of her mouth. "I have to tell you something that will change your life forever." Wait! That wasn't it.

A quizzical look came onto his face. "What?"

Then, out the corner of her eye, she saw Kaci approaching. Damn.

"Hello, River. Nice to see you again," Kaci said with a frown.

She had never liked River, and Cami never understood why. She'd never asked her why she didn't like him; she just assumed that it was because of all the time she'd spent with him while they were dating. It was also possible that she saw something in him that her older sister just couldn't see.

"Hi, uh, Kaci, nice t-to see you too," River stammered. Cami could tell that he was a little nervous and uncomfortable. He was talking to Kaci, so he sort of had a right to be. He knew he'd never been her favorite person.

"Why are you talking to my sister? Don't you have a fiancée?"

River ignored her question, and then turned to Cami and said, "Cami, I'll see you later."

"No, you won't see her later!" Kaci shouted after him.

He turned around, and looked at Kaci with a puzzled look on his face.

"What is wrong with you? You and Cami dated just a few weeks ago. Now you're engaged to some little rich girl?" Kaci continued.

"Kaci, let's go," Cami said, tugging at her arm. Kaci hadn't noticed the looks and stares that they were getting from people. However, Cami had noticed, and it was making her uneasy and uncomfortable.

"No!"

"Look," River began, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, of course, you do, River. That's why you're so anxious to leave. You didn't deserve to date my sister!" Kaci yelled. Cami observed her for a moment in her heated state. If I didn't know better, I'd say fire was about to shoot out of her ears and her head would grow horns that could take him out with one hit. Such thoughts could wait. She wanted to pay for the groceries and leave this place as soon as possible.

"Kaci, we're leaving," she said, while tugging on her arm even harder.

"No, we're not. I'm not finished!"

River ran his hands through his hair and sighed loudly. "What do you want from me?" he demanded to know.

This time it was Kaci's turn to take a step toward him. "The only thing that I want," she began, "is for you to leave Cami alone. You should be taking care of your pregnant fiancée..."

That definitely caught Cami's attention. "Pregnant fiancée? You got her pregnant?!" she exclaimed.

Kaci shot a look at her. "You shouldn't care about him. He's pitiful and pathetic. He's not even worth your time!"

Out of nowhere, a young, pretty, petite blonde walked up to River, and clumsily grabbed ahold of his arm while Cami looked on in disbelief. "Who is she?" the blonde inquired, staring at Cami.

River ignored the girl's question. "Cami," he began.

"No, save it!" she said, suddenly disgusted with him. Her eyes traveled to the blonde's protruding belly.

Kaci's frown deepened. "Now do you see what you're doing?" River put his hands on his face and shook his head, as if he couldn't believe that any of this was happening. "You're hurting her again, and you guys aren't even dating."

She glanced at his fiancée, who looked confused and hurt.

There was nothing that he could say to get out of this. "Look, I don't know..."

"No, you look, River! You are hurting, Cami, and I don't like it when people hurt my sister!" Kaci shouted with her right hand in his face.

River's fiancée stared at Kaci in bewilderment. Cami overheard someone in the crowd mention something about getting the store manager. Now she knew it was time to leave.

"So what are you going to do, threaten me for my entire life? The last time I checked, I was dating your sister and not you," she heard River say to Kaci.

"So?" Kaci said.

Do you even know why our relationship didn't work out?" Cami said in a low voice. He looked from Kaci to Cami.

"Because of you," she blurted out. "You're the one who ended our relationship. You dumped me. Then you got her pregnant?"

He shifted from one foot to another. She could tell that he was nervous. "What I do is none of your business," he said, while looking her in the eye.

"Just like what I do is none of your business," she retorted. She grabbed Kaci by the arm, paid for the groceries and magazines, and angrily stormed out of the store.

He was engaged to some rich girl who was pregnant with their first baby. What a happy soon-to-be family.
Chapter 5

Adriana Taylor hadn't said much during the drive home, and River was rather pleased with this. He knew that she was upset, and he didn't want to mess things up any more than he already had by saying something stupid. He didn't want to hurt her, but he knew that he would eventually.

Deep down, he still had feelings for Cami. She was unlike any other girl he had ever dated. He normally dated the girls whom other girls loved to hate—the popular girls. Long blonde hair, whether it belonged to them or came from five-hundred-dollar hair extensions, tanned skin, and legs for days were just some of the attributes he looked for in a girl. Cami, on the other hand, was at another end of the spectrum. She was kind and courteous, shy and unpopular, and didn't crave for materialistic things. In addition to that, Cami didn't come with drama, and he liked that about her.

He knew that she still cared about him, but now was not the right time for them to be together. He missed her and still cared about her, but Adriana was carrying his baby, and he couldn't leave her to raise their child alone. He had to do what was best for her and the baby. Being with Adriana at the moment was what was best.

He was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he was going to be a father. He had used a condom, but when he took it off, there was a huge hole in it. She wasn't taking any type of birth control, so they were almost guaranteed to become parents. Shortly afterward, they found out that she was pregnant.

Eighteen-year-old Adriana glanced at the young man who was driving her car out the corner of her eye. One of her friends had mentioned that he had an ex-girlfriend named Cami, but she had never met her until tonight. He had never once mentioned Cami to her.

What bothered Adriana the most was the way River had looked at Cami. His eyes were caring and loving, yet sorrowful, as if he missed her or longed to be with her. Did he? He had never looked at her in that way. Did he really love her, or was he still in love with Cami?

She sighed as her eyes locked onto her growing stomach. The pregnancy was unplanned. In fact, when Adriana found out she was pregnant, she nearly fainted. She had just begun her first semester at a local university and was majoring in finance. Her dream was to become a real estate agent just like her late father. With a baby on the way, she knew that she would have to work extra hard to make her dream come true. After the birth, her plan was to return to college and her part-time job as a desk assistant at a real estate firm. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about money. Her father died when she was three years old, and left her and her grandmother (who took care of her afterward) financially well off. She never knew her birth mother, and even her grandmother had never met her. Ever since she had found out that she was pregnant, she found herself wanting to find out who her mother was more and more each day.

River could see that something was on Adriana's mind. However, he declined to ask for fear that it might be about what happened earlier at the grocery store.

Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to meet his gaze. Her mind went back to the moment he'd looked at Cami, and she compared it to the way he was looking at her now. Maybe he really didn't love her, but then again, maybe she didn't really love him.

He yawned. He was beyond exhausted. He hadn't slept much last night because he'd had to study for three exams (that his professors were all nice enough to schedule on the same day). In addition to that, he had been in classes all day. All he wanted was to go to sleep, but he knew that would be nearly impossible if Adriana's grandmother was still awake.

Her grandmother resented River, and she was not ashamed to voice it. She blamed him for getting her granddaughter pregnant. Whenever he would come over, she would lecture him on safe sex and how he ruined Adriana's life. If they were not engaged, she wouldn't have allowed him to spend the night in her home. He didn't care for her much, either. She was constantly yelling at him about something. It seemed like no matter what he did, it wasn't good enough. Adriana's grandmother even went as far as to tell him that his major (which was business administration) would not allow him to make enough money and that the engagement ring on Adriana's finger wasn't big enough.

Adriana refused to defend him. Whether her grandmother was right or wrong, she would always side with her. He had considered breaking things off with her, but decided against it. Besides, he didn't want his unborn child to grow up without a father the way he had. However, he didn't know how much more he could take from the old woman. She was really starting to get under his skin.

After he pulled into the circular driveway, he put the car in park and pulled the key out of the ignition. Then he heard a sound. They saw her grandmother walking out of the front door in her cozy white bathrobe. She stood by the door, as if she was waiting for Adriana. As if on cue, she exited the car without saying a word to River, and greeted her grandmother with a hug. With that, they both entered the house, and her grandmother closed the door behind them without throwing a look his way.

He sighed loudly. She was another Kaci. She would hate him and make his life miserable as long as he was dating her granddaughter. Maybe he should just go ahead and break the whole thing off.

Adriana sat in her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her grandmother followed her and took a seat beside her on the bed. It was obvious to her that something or someone upset her granddaughter by the sad look on her face.

"Grandma?" She dropped her gaze from the ceiling and focused on her grandmother.

"What is it, dear?"

"I saw River's ex-girlfriend, Cami, tonight at the store."

"And?" It was no secret that her grandmother despised River.

"He's never mentioned her to me before." She cast her sad eyes down to the floor. "I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like there was something deep between them."

Her grandmother rested her hand on Adriana's shoulder. "Adriana, I don't know what you see in him, but that young man is not good for you." She eyed her granddaughter's growing belly. "I know that you got yourself in a situation, but you could take care of the baby without him. I'd be here to help."

Adriana should have known that trying to talk to her grandmother about River would lead to her trying to convince her to leave him. "Okay, Grandma. I'll consider leaving him." She lifted her head up with a sad smile. "It may be for the best."

"Good." Her grandmother leaned over to kiss her cheek. Then she stood up and left her room.

She only told her that she'd consider ending the relationship with River, so she would leave her room. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

Adriana was tired of people keeping things from her. She was angry at her father for not leaving some clues behind as to who her mother was. In the past, she had tried searching the house for anything that could help her find out, but whenever she did, her grandmother would tell her that it was of no use. She almost acted as if she didn't want Adriana to find her mother. Adriana was so angry at River for not telling her about Cami. He had told her about all of his other exes. So why leave this one out?

She brought herself to a sitting position and called the only person who she knew would listen.

River wanted to go back to his apartment so that he wouldn't have to deal with Adriana's grandmother's eye rolls and attitude. However, the three cans of energy drinks that he had earlier had other plans for him. He needed to release his bladder. He would have hidden behind a tree to do his business, but there were only flowers in the front yard. God only knew what her grandmother would do to him if he messed up her beautiful flowers! She loved those flowers only slightly less than her granddaughter.

His bladder was nearing its breaking point. He hated to do this, but he was going to have to go inside the house. Adriana's bathroom was better because he wouldn't have to pass her grandmother's bedroom.

As he neared Adriana's room, he could hear her voice coming from inside. As he pressed his ear to the door, he heard his name and wanted to hear more.

"...I'm just having a hard time dealing with all of this," he heard her say.

Dealing with what? he thought to himself.

"Afterward, we could get our own place to raise the baby..."

Wait a minute! What is she talking about?! She's not raising my kid with someone else!

"I know that I need to tell him that he's not the father, but I have a heart, and I don't want to hurt him."

It's too late for that because you already have.

He couldn't believe that he had just heard all of this with his own two ears. If she had been lying to him about the baby, what else had she lied about? He rolled his eyes.

Overhearing this important information almost made him forget that he needed to use the bathroom. He would just use one of the other bathrooms instead, but not before confronting Adriana. He opened her bedroom door. She didn't even have it locked.

Her eyes widened when she saw him enter her room. "I'll call you back," she said to whomever was on the other end of the phone.

"So all this time you've been lying to me?" His eyes showed the grief his heart felt.

She looked away from him. "I'm sorry, River." Her voice was low.

"I can't believe this," he mumbled, wondering why he hadn't seen any of this before.

Her angry eyes shot up at him. "When were you going to tell me about her?"

His eyes mimicked hers. "Don't change the subject. You were leading me on to believe the baby you were carrying was mine. Do you know how messed up that is?"

"Look, I'm not perfect, and neither are you."

"No, I'm not perfect, but I'd never lie about something like this." He turned his back to her.

"River, where are you going?" Her voice was shaky.

He slightly tilted his head to the side. He didn't even want to look at her. "It's over, Adriana." He walked out of her room and heard the door slam behind him.
Chapter 6

Cami stared blankly at her calculus test. The test looked as if it had been written in a foreign language that she couldn't read. She wanted to focus, but it seemed impossible. All she could think about was River and that girl. Questions flooded her mind. Did he ever love me? Does he really love her? How long have they been dating? Is she the reason why we aren't together anymore? Although she thought she already knew, she didn't think she wanted to know the answer to that last question.

She glanced at the clock. She only had five minutes left to finish the test! She set her pencil down on the desk. She knew that most of her answers would be wrong, but she was hoping that marking all Cs would help. By the time she had bubbled in her last answer, the bell had rung.

As she made her way out of class, she could feel everyone's eyes on her in the hallway. She hadn't told anyone that she was pregnant except for Marissa, so she didn't know what all of the giggling and whispering was about. Her mind was suddenly flooded with thoughts of the events that had occurred last night. This was probably about the argument she'd had with River. It was the only other possibility because she knew that Marissa wouldn't tell anyone.

As she walked further down the hallway, she saw Marissa and waved. She walked toward Cami and asked, "Why is it that I'm always the last person to find out any juicy news around here?"

"I don't know," Cami replied. She knew where Marissa was going with this, and she really didn't want to talk about him right now.

"You know that everyone around here knows what happened, right?"

"Knows what?" Cami asked, trying to pretend as if she didn't know anything.

"Knows what happened last night at the grocery store."

Cami sighed and looked at the ceiling.

Marissa put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It'll be okay. Things will get better."

"Don't do that."

Marissa gave her a weird look. "Do what?"

"Try to shield me from the truth. Things are not going to get better. They're only going to get worse. A lot worse," Cami protested.

"By 'worse', do you mean telling your mom the truth?" she inquired. There's that question again.

"I don't know."

"Cami, what do you know?"

"I just found out that River's fiancée is pregnant by him."

Marissa chuckled. "That's not his baby. That girl was messing around with someone else before she even started dating him."

How did she find out about this, and why hadn't she told me? "Why didn't you tell me?" she finally asked.

"I just found out this morning," Marissa answered.

"So wait, what are you saying?"

Marissa rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "River's not the father of that baby and he knows that."

"Then why is he with her?"

"You tell me."

"I don't know, Marissa. If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you."

"What kind of girl is she?"

"A pretty girl."

"Cami, any girl can be pretty. Beauty comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors. What's unattractive to you may be attractive to someone else."

"Your point?"

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Just come on out and tell me."

Without saying a word, Marissa laced Cami's fingers with hers and led her outside near the old oak tree. When they were freshmen, they would sit underneath the tree and eat lunch. Those were some of the best days of Cami's life. Now it seemed like an old memory that was slowly fading away.

"Cami," she began, "that baby isn't River's baby. He knows it, but doesn't care. The only thing that he cares about is Adriana's money, but she doesn't know that." Cami couldn't believe what she was hearing. He's engaged to her because of her money? Maybe that's why he dumped me. Maybe he started seeing her while we were still dating, and after he found out how much she was worth, he dumped me.

"So he's with her because of what she can give him, but he left me because I couldn't give him anything?" Cami asked, her voice rising. She could feel hot tears come to her eyes once again.

"Cami, don't do that to yourself. It's not your fault. Some guys are just jerks, and River's one of those guys," Marissa said, as she wrapped her arms around her.

She was right. River's a jerk. He is one of those guys, Cami thought. "How did you find this out?"

"River told his friends, and one of them told someone else who told me," Marissa casually answered. "But my source told me that when he found out that he wasn't the father, he was mad as hell. He's still supposed to be going through with the wedding so he can have access to her cash, though."

Cami snorted. "Taking her money is his way of getting revenge?"

Marissa patted her on the back. "You should be glad that you got rid of him. You don't deserve someone like that."

A tear rolled down Cami's cheek. "Don't you mean that he should be glad he got rid of me?"

Later that day, as Cami made her way to her bedroom, all she could think about was River. New fears invaded her mind. What if he didn't want to have anything to do with their unborn child because of Adriana? What if she made him choose between her and his baby with Cami? He would choose to see his baby even if Adriana didn't want him to, right? She shook her head at those thoughts. Although she was aware that they could all be strong possibilities, she shouldn't be thinking about such negative things. She had enough to worry about as it is.

She heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said. Her mother came inside and sat on her bed. She noticed that her mother didn't look too happy, but decided not to ask any questions about it. She had a sinking feeling that she was in trouble. "How was school today?" Diane asked, with her hand resting underneath her chin. That definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Fine," Cami lied.

"Really?"

This time she didn't make eye contact with her mother. "Yeah."

"I find that hard to believe," Diane said harshly.

Oh, no! What does Mom know? It can't be that I'm pregnant. She would be too upset. It's probably about that stupid argument—at least, I hope that's what it's about.

"Your teachers have been calling me. Apparently, your grades have dropped."

She couldn't look at her mother. She knew that her grades had dropped, and she knew why. She couldn't seem to focus on anything anymore. She couldn't go two seconds without being distracted. Her mind was constantly racing, and she was always thinking about how she had ruined her life. She thought about River and how he deserted her. She was constantly thinking about the baby every second, minute, and hour of the day. The one thing that she didn't want to think about was telling her mother that she was pregnant. As the days came and went, she knew that the day was getting closer to her delivering the baby, which meant that she would have to tell her mother sooner rather than later.

"Cami...Cami...Cami!" her mother shouted.

"What?" she asked, startled.

"Why are your grades so low?"

"I...I don't know," she lied once again.

"You do know. Don't tell me that you don't know because you do know. If you don't tell me what you do know, I'm going to tell you what I know, and it's going to get ugly."

Wow. She's serious. Maybe I should just tell her now before she kills me.

Cami sighed. "Well, Mom. I..."

"Mom, telephone!" Kaci called out.

She let out a sigh of relief. She had never been so happy to hear her little sister's voice.

"This conversation isn't over," her mother said over her shoulder before exiting the room.
Chapter 7

Cami slammed her locker shut and dashed into the girls' restroom with Marissa following closely behind her. For the last several weeks, this was something that had become a regular routine for them.

Marissa ran her fingers through her hair a few times before applying more mascara to her thin eyelashes. "How do you feel this morning?"

"Terrible. I can hardly keep anything down," Cami replied while standing over the toilet.

Puke.

After her morning puking session, she noticed that Marissa had not asked her usual questions. Did you tell your mom that you're pregnant?

Nope.

Why not?

Because I don't want her to know.

Cami knew that if she told her mom, she would get the help she needed, but she was just so scared. She didn't want her to think that she was a complete failure just because she'd made a stupid mistake. However, she did realize that she needed to tell her, but she just couldn't shake the fear of her mother hating her. On the other hand, she wanted the baby to be happy and healthy. If she did all that she could do to ensure that, then there wouldn't be any guilt on her part. If she didn't, she'd feel guilty which was how she felt now.

As she washed her hands, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Marissa standing beside her. She really was a true friend, and Cami loved her for that.

"Marissa," she began. She dried her hands before continuing, "I need to tell you something that I've been thinking about."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to tell my mom that I'm pregnant."

Marissa smiled. "It's about time, and don't worry. After you tell your mom, you'll feel like an extra weight has been lifted off your shoulders."

"One less thing for me to worry about," Cami said as they exited the girls' restroom together.

Little did Cami know that she would soon have a lot more to worry about. Unbeknownst to her or Marissa, someone had managed to overhear their conversation.

Later that afternoon, as Cami sat down in the living room, she wondered what she would say to her mother. Maybe she should just come out and say it: "I'm pregnant." She rested her head on the couch. She knew that she would be disappointed, but she needed to tell her. Her hope was that one day her mother would be able to forgive her.

She jumped when she heard a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it!" Kaci said while running to the door.

"Is Cami there?" she heard a familiar voice ask.

Kaci slammed the door without saying a word.

Cami instantly sat up and turned around. "Was that River?"

"Does it matter?"

Cami jumped to her feet and quickly made her way toward the door. "Yes, because I need to talk to him."

Kaci sighed. "You're not in love with this guy, are you?"

"I was never in love with him," she lied.

"Glad to hear that."

After Kaci walked upstairs, she opened the front door and saw River still standing there.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked her.

She crossed her arms. "About what? Do you want to talk about your fiancée or your baby that's on the way?"

"Cami..."

"River, I used to think that you were one of the smartest people I had ever met."

"So you now think I'm stupid? Interesting..."

"Let me finish. We had sex. Several weeks later you dumped me, got a new girlfriend, proposed to her, and now she's pregnant."

"Can we leave her out of this?"

Ignoring his question, she asked, "How can you fall in love with someone so quickly and then propose? Is there something in this for you?"

He quickly turned away from her and focused his attention on a passing car.

"Do you get access to something if you marry her?"

Still no reply.

Cami chuckled. "You think I'm stupid, don't you? Well, I'm not. I know everything about you, her, and the baby."

River turned his attention back to Cami who he wished would shut up for one second so that he could explain his side of the story. "What are you talking about?"

"That baby is not yours, and you know it," she retorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied.

"Do you love her that much that you would actually marry her knowing she's pregnant with another man's child?"

"I already told you I don't know what you're talking about."

Liar.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to have a talk with her about the wonders of a prenuptial agreement."

"Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

"Ruin your life?! You dumped me—the girl who really loved you. Then you started dating her. I loved you. I would have never hurt you. Ever! You've only dated her for several weeks. How do you know if she really loves you?"

A look of uneasiness settled onto River's face.

"But I do give you two thumbs up for dumping me. You have allowed me to see who you really are. Now that I have seen the real you, it makes me more aware of the things that I don't want in a guy."

He chuckled nervously. "You got me all wrong."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he added. "I'm not a bad person."

"I didn't say you were a bad person."

"You certainly think that."

"Think what, River?"

"That I'm a bad person."

Cami sighed and glanced toward his car that was sitting in her driveway. "Just leave."

"Look, I'm sorry that you're still hurting because of the breakup. I'm just not in love with you anymore."

"You don't have to be because I'm not in love with you either. I do want to tell you something else..."

"And what's that?"

"Marry her. I want you to marry her. You'll have access to her money, which will also be a plus for me."

"You do know that you're not making any sense, right?"

"Excuse me?"

River's face turned serious, more serious than she had ever seen before. "You listen to too much gossip. Who feeds it to you anyway?"

Cami frowned, but before she could say anything else, River continued, "I overheard Adriana tell someone over the phone that I wasn't the father of the baby."

She listened closely.

"Afterward, I confronted her about it, which led to us arguing. Then, I just..." He paused, as if he couldn't believe that he was about to say this. "...I broke up with her."

She didn't know what to make of the news that her ears had just heard. Did the end of Adriana and River signal a fresh new beginning for them? She couldn't think about that right now. Her mind was now debating whether or not now was the right time to tell him she was pregnant with their first child. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could feel her heart pounding inside of her chest. It was now or never.

"I'm pregnant," she said in a low voice that was barely audible.

River's eyes widened. "What?"

This time she opened her eyes and found blue ones piercing her soul. "I'm pregnant, River," she repeated, but this time in a louder tone.

Kaci emerged from behind the door. "What did you just say?!"

Cami froze. This cannot be happening.

"You are not pregnant with his baby."

"Yes, I am, Kaci," she confessed to her younger sister without looking at her.

Kaci stepped out of the house and made her way toward Cami. "You had sex with him?!"

Before Cami could say anything, Kaci turned her full attention to River. "Do you know what your problem is? You never listen. That's your problem. I told you to stay away from my sister, but what did you do? You came around her anyway, and as a result, she's pregnant. I've hated you since the day I first met you."

"Kaci, shut up and get in the house!" Cami yelled.

Kaci turned around to face her older sister with a huge frown on her face. "I don't know what you see in this guy. I don't even care that he is the father of this baby, but he is not going to be a part of this family. Ever!"

She loved Kaci to death, but honestly, she could be a little scary sometimes. She hoped that she would come around. Kaci didn't have to like River, but eventually, she'd have to understand that this had nothing to do with her. Cami certainly hadn't intended for her to find out before she had a chance to tell her mom.

Now she had to tell her mother before anyone else did. She sighed to herself. Why did things never go as she planned?
Chapter 8

Cami closed the front door and turned around to face Kaci's angry glare. Now Kaci wanted some answers, and Cami wasn't sure she had the energy to go through with it. She just wanted to get into bed and go to sleep. Since Kaci was sitting on the sofa, she took a seat across from her on the loveseat.

"How did you know River was engaged?" Cami asked her curiously.

"After you and I split up at the grocery story, I saw him walking with that girl. She had, what looked like, an engagement ring on her finger, so I just put two and two together."

"Okay." Cami was relieved. She would have hated to find out that Kaci knew about this for a long time without telling her.

"So now it's my turn to question you," Kaci said.

Cami sighed, bracing herself.

"Are you really pregnant?" Kaci asked, with her arms crossed.

Cami's eyes met hers. "Yes, I even took a pregnancy test."

"Have you told Mom?"

"No."

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Soon, but please, don't tell her. She needs to hear this from me," Cami said.

"Fine. I won't say anything." Kaci uncrossed her arms. Hearing this relieved Cami because she wanted to be the one to tell her mother she was expecting her first grandchild.

As Kaci stood up to return to her room, Cami remained sitting on the loveseat in the living room, teary-eyed. Kaci glanced over her shoulder, and one look at her sister's face was all that she needed to see to know that the tears were on the way. Within seconds, Cami was sobbing uncontrollably. Her shoulders shook as the tears spilled onto her cheeks. Everything she had been keeping bottled up inside was finally coming out. The secret that left her stomach tied in knots, made her heart pound, and gave her constant headaches was wearing her body down. While she cried, Kaci knelt down beside her and held her in her arms and repeated to her over and over that everything was going to be okay. After hearing this so many times, Cami began to believe that it was true.

Later that night, when Cami awoke, she found herself in bed. She looked at the alarm clock sitting on her nightstand. It was three in the morning. After all the crying she did earlier, she couldn't remember how she had managed to get into bed. Her mother wasn't home at the time, so the only person that could've helped her was Kaci. She smiled to herself as she thought about how she had comforted her earlier. "Everything's going to be fine. You have to believe that," she recalled Kaci saying to her.

She suddenly found herself thinking about the time that Kaci had defended her when they were kids. She was nine years old, and Kaci had just turned eight. They were playing on a playground near their home, when out of nowhere, an older girl around age eleven ran up to Cami and pushed her. She fell to the concrete ground and scraped her knee and hands.

Kaci witnessed this incident occur and was angered by it. No one was allowed to do that to her big sister but her. She jumped off the slide and made her way toward the girl who was now walking toward the monkey bars. When Kaci approached her, neither girl said a word. Instead, Kaci let her fist do the talking. Then she pushed the girl onto the grass. Cami couldn't believe what she had seen. Her younger sister had actually stood up for her. She was grateful and happy that she had someone in her corner. "That's for pushing my sister. Next time I'll break your arm," she remembered Kaci saying to the girl.

The young girl then burst into tears and ran toward her mother who was sitting on the park bench. Her mother had seen her daughter push Cami and injure her, but as long as it hadn't occurred to her daughter, she was perfectly fine with it.

After Cami and Kaci told Diane about the incident, she had some words with the girl's mother. After their conversation, the woman was as scared of Diane as her daughter was of Kaci.

Cami chuckled to herself. Her sister was always going to have her back, no matter what. Thinking about this made her think about how strong her mother and sister were. She wanted the strength that they had. She needed to learn how to be strong, not only for herself, but for the baby as well.

She slowly got out of bed and quietly made her way to the kitchen. Her taste buds were eager for some orange juice. Normally she didn't drink it because she didn't care for the taste. Now she only wanted a taste of it because of her pregnancy cravings.

After quietly walking into the kitchen, opening the fridge, and reading the orange juice carton, she realized that it contained pulp. She hated pulp! It made her feel as if something was crawling inside her mouth. However, orange juice was rich in vitamin C, so it couldn't hurt even though it contained pulp. She flipped on the light switch and carefully took a clean glass out of the cabinet, and then she poured a small amount of orange juice into the glass. As she swallowed the first gulp, she realized that she couldn't bear the feeling of pulp in her mouth. She opened the fridge and set the orange juice carton inside on a shelf. She then took her glass and poured the remainder in the sink. She didn't understand how people could bear to drink it. Regular orange juice was okay, but when pulp was added to it, it became disgusting.

She didn't want to return to her room without something, so she took another look inside the fridge. All her eyes spotted were leftovers and that simply wouldn't do. She pushed everything on the bottom shelf over until she spotted some vanilla yogurt. Then she searched the cabinets until she found a pack of almonds and poured the yogurt and several almonds into a bowl. Afterward, she went to her room, the bowl in tow, and brushed her teeth and washed her face.

Although it was still very early, she decided that it would be best for her to get ready for the day. Besides, she was wide awake now. There was no way that she could fall asleep even if she tried. She made her way out of the bathroom and opened her closet. Anything that was fitted was definitely out of the question. Ever since Cami had discovered that she was pregnant, she was against wearing any clothing garments that would hug her body too tight. As she searched her closet, she found a pair of dark denim jeans, a black blouse with gold sequins at the bottom of the hem, a leopard print cardigan, and a pair of gold flats. She then went to her jewelry box and pulled out a gold necklace that simply read "Cami" and put it on. Her mother had given the necklace to her as a birthday gift when she turned thirteen.

After she had gotten dressed, she looked at herself in her bathroom mirror, sat on her bed, and flipped through the career book her mother had given her, all while eating her yogurt with almonds. She had a baby on the way, and she wanted this baby to have everything. She still wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she had to do something. First off, she knew that she wanted to get a high school diploma and a college degree. After all, she did want to bring home the big bucks—or at least have enough money to care for the baby and herself. But she still wasn't sure about what field she wanted to pursue.

After flipping through several pages of the career book, the word "Actor" caught her eye. When she was younger, she wanted to be an actress. She closed her eyes and tried to picture that becoming a reality, but the only reality she could picture was auditioning for roles and the baby getting in the way of her trying to accomplish anything. She then thought about herself having her own television show. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. She smiled as she thought about Marissa trying to get all of the camera time. She sighed, closing the book and laying her head back onto her plush pink pillow. Then she closed her eyes and said aloud, "Everything's going to be fine. I have to believe that."

After opening her eyes, she decided it was time to study for calculus. She had to pass this class because she didn't want to repeat her last math course. In addition to that, she wanted to earn at least a B in the class, and she knew that she had a lot of studying to do in order to pull up her F average. There was no time like the present.

That morning at school, she found out the dreaded news. Her secret was out. She was so embarrassed and humiliated. Students whispered and giggled as she walked past them. She didn't want anyone at school (except Marissa) to know about this, but now they all did.

"Can you believe it?" she overheard one girl saying to her friends.

"What?"

"Cami's pregnant."

"Who is Cami?"

One of the girls pointed at Cami. Her heart felt as if it was going to jump out of her chest. She sighed when she finally made it to her locker.

Who could have possibly told the entire Crossroads High her secret? The only people that knew were Kaci, Marissa, and River. She knew that Marissa and Kaci wouldn't tell anyone, so that left River. She wanted to think that he wouldn't have told anyone, but apparently, he had. Or had he? It could've been someone who had overheard Marissa and her talking, but they were careful. So who could it have been?

Not even one minute later, Marissa appeared at her side. Cami leaned against the locker.

She was trying to hold her emotions together. "Bad news?"

"I'm sorry, Cami," Marissa apologized. "Tammy's the one who told everyone you were pregnant."

"How did she find out?"

"She overheard us talking in the girls' restroom."

"But why tell everyone?"

Marissa shrugged. "Maybe because she's a blabber mouth."

"I don't think I can do this," Cami admitted, massaging her temple with her fingers.

"Yes, you can," Marissa encouraged her. "Don't let this get to you."

Easier said than done.

Throughout the day she continued to receive whispers and stares from everyone. Whenever someone (other than Marissa or Kaci) did talk to her, they would ask how far along she was or who the father was. She didn't want to answer any of those questions because it wasn't any of their business. Instead, she would ignore the pregnancy questions, smile politely, and walk away.

Near the end of the school day, Marissa took her by the hand and led her outside near the old oak tree where a group of girls were eagerly listening to Tammy speak. Inside, Cami was secretly hoping that it was not about her, but she knew it was.

"There she is," Marissa whispered. "She's in the center talking to all those..."

Cami cut her off. "Don't even say it."

Marissa studied her best friend's face. "What are you going to say to them?"

"I don't have anything to say to those girls, but as for Tammy...that's a different story," Cami replied, returning the eye contact.

"Want my help?"

"No, just tag along."

She lightly nudged Cami in the shoulder. "Is this shy little Cami speaking?" she joked.

She glanced at Tammy standing in the center of the crowd of girls. For a second, their eyes locked on each other. Maybe this is shy little Cami speaking.

Marissa followed her gaze. "I saw her at a salon the other day getting her hair done. It's so sad. Her extensions are cheap," she babbled.

"Oh, really?"

"That's not even the worst part. She tried to copy my hairstyle," she continued.

"Oh, no, it must have been the most horrible thing ever," Cami said while trying her best to sound interested. Marissa, please shut up.

"She even tried to get her hair dyed the exact same colors as mine."

"I hate her," Cami said, as she stared at Tammy in the center of the circle.

"Oh, look everyone. It's Cami and Marissa!" Tammy proudly announced. All of the girls turned around to look at them and began to laugh hysterically, and Tammy looked as though she was enjoying every single moment of her fame. Enjoy this while you can, Tammy, because fame doesn't last forever.

"When is your baby due?" she asked, with a wide grin on her face. Cami didn't like her grin. She was happy at the expense of her being humiliated in front of all of these people.

She usually didn't play dirty, but Tammy had left her no choice. "I don't know, Tammy. When is your baby by Kelly's ex-boyfriend due?" Cami heard herself say aloud.

Everyone gasped.

Tammy looked from Cami to Marissa, and then at Cami again. "Don't make this about me. This is about you and—and what you did with River even though you knew he was engaged!"

More gasps. Now several guys were approaching them, which made the small crowd become even larger.

All eyes were once again on Cami. "Well, Tammy," she began, "all of that's right, except for the part about me sleeping with him while he was engaged. You see, River and I had sex before we broke up."

"You are so stupid," Marissa said to Tammy.

"Several weeks after we broke up, he started dating his current fiancée. I had sex with River while he was still mine. I didn't have to sleep with another girl's boyfriend," she continued.

Some people booed Tammy, while others simply walked away. Her less-than-fifteen minutes of fame were up. Tears fell down her cheeks as she shamefully walked away, with Cami and Marissa following closely behind her. Cami wasn't going to let her get away that easily. She wanted to know why Tammy would do something like this to her.

"Hey!" Cami called to her as she sped up her pace to catch up.

Tammy slowly turned around. Her head hung low, and her eyes were focused on the grass. "What do you want?"

"What were you hoping to gain by telling everyone that I'm pregnant? Were you hoping that it would take you out of the negative spotlight so that everyone would forget what you did?" Cami asked her.

There was no answer from Tammy. Only tears.

Cami frowned. "I hope that you got what you wanted, but let me tell you something. I'm going through hell right now. I have my own problems to deal with, so the best thing for you to do is to shut up and focus on your own problems. I don't want to hear my name come out of your mouth again," she said.

Tammy didn't say anything. She couldn't even look at her. She just turned around and walked away. Cami actually kind of felt sorry for her, but then she dismissed those feelings as soon as she thought about what Tammy had done. If she hadn't opened her big mouth, none of this would have happened.

"When did you get so tough?" Marissa inquired, her mouth agape. Today she had seen a completely different side of Cami that she didn't know existed. In all of the years that she had known her, she had never known her to get this angry with anyone or that she was this strong. The Cami that she knew would've avoided speaking up for herself because she hated the attention that came with it. But today she was the complete opposite of that person. She was even better because she had stood up for herself.

"I don't know. I didn't know that I could be this way," Cami answered. "Then again, it could be my hormones."

"Won't Kaci be proud?"

"Oh, please. Kaci's so mad at me."

"Why?"

"River came by yesterday, and I gave him a piece of my mind. I told him that I was pregnant. Kaci sort of overheard..." Marissa raised her eyebrows. "...and got angry," Cami finished.

"I can imagine. She hates him."

"I just hope that she doesn't hate this baby."

"I'm sure she'll come around."

"Yeah," Cami said, as she looked toward the sky, "I hope so."

"When are you going to tell your mom?"

Cami closed her eyes, as if trying to shut the thought out of her telling her mother. Then she opened her eyes and found Marissa staring at her intently. "When I get home, I'll tell her."

Marissa patted her on the back. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I just wish I could've chosen my own time to tell her instead of Blabber Mouth Tammy choosing it for me."

"Want me to come over?"

She thought for a moment before replying, "No, I have to do this on my own."

"Just stay calm while you're telling her, and don't raise your voice. That'll just make it worse," Marissa stated. Cami found herself feeling uneasy, and as if sensing it, Marissa quickly added, "Your mom loves you very much, and she'll help."

"Sounds like you've been through this before. You haven't, right? You would tell me, right?"

"Chill, Cami. Of course, I would. I just happen to be great when it comes to giving advice."

Cami took a bottle of water from her purse and swallowed a small gulp of it. Her nerves were definitely on edge. She knew that her mother would be upset with her. She just didn't know how upset. "I can't even imagine how upset my mom's going to be," she said, voicing her thoughts aloud. She twisted the lid back onto the bottle and began to tap the bottle with her free hand.

"Then don't," Marissa said, grabbing her hand. "Don't think about the bad stuff. Think about the good stuff. Think about getting prenatal care for the baby. Think about how good it'll feel to realize that you're not alone—to realize that someone who really cares about you is going to be there every step of the way."

Cami hoped that her mother would be there for her every step of the way. If she wasn't, she didn't know what she was going to do.
Chapter 9

Her secret had spread like wildfire across town. She was the hot gossip everyone was talking about, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wished that she could turn back the hands of time to prevent this from happening. This probably wouldn't have occurred if she hadn't had all of her private conversations in the girls' restroom at school. This definitely wouldn't have happened if Tammy kept her mouth shut, but wishful thinking wasn't going to get her anywhere now. Kaci, Marissa, and River knew. The entire Crossroads High knew. And now her mother knew...

Diane didn't greet her daughters after arriving home, which was unusual for her. She was tired and weary from working, having worked a double shift at the hospital and another shift on her day off waitressing because the new girl hadn't shown up.

She was beyond exhausted, and hearing congratulations from one of her co-workers about the new addition to her family wasn't something she expected to hear. Cami was supposed to be taking birth control pills, so this whole pregnancy rumor couldn't be true. She had known that Cami and River were getting really close, and she didn't want her to get pregnant, so the pills were a no-brainer. She had asked Cami if she was having sex on past occasions, but the answer was always no. This entailed for a serious conversation with her daughter—one that she wasn't looking forward to.

Cami observed her mother enter the kitchen. She set two bags with to-go plates of food onto the kitchen table. On a better day, she would've scurried to the bags to see what was inside before Kaci came rushing down the stairs, but not tonight.

Her mother didn't appear cheerful, and she hadn't greeted them when she arrived home, which struck Cami as odd. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. That was when it all hit her.

She knew.

She knew that Cami was pregnant. The gossipers had gotten to her before she could. What explaining was there for her to do now? There was no possible way that she could get herself out of this.

"Mom," she said.

Her mother didn't even turn to face her. She couldn't, because somehow, without hearing Cami admit to her that she was pregnant, she knew it was true.

Kaci peered into the kitchen, and observed her mother and Cami. Her mother's back was facing Cami, and her sensitive sister looked as if she were running on a ball of emotions that was going to erupt at any moment, and she didn't want to be around when it happened.

She hadn't eaten anything since lunch at school today, so she had no choice but to go into the kitchen. She walked in and looked inside several to-go plates.

"Grab a plate and go," her mother ordered her with her back still facing Cami.

"No dessert?" Kaci asked while she continued to look through the plates.

"Kaci, just grab a plate and go to your room," the girls' mother said, her voice stern. She obeyed meekly.

Once Kaci exited the kitchen, Diane sat down at the kitchen table and stared blankly at her daughter. Cami wondered what she was thinking, but the thought made her sick to her stomach. She knew what people thought about pregnant teen girls. She didn't want her mother to think the same of her.

She stood near the entrance to the kitchen as she and her mother stared each other down. She was mad as hell. Cami could tell just by looking at her.

Diane wanted to know if Cami really was pregnant, and if so, what had happened to her birth control pills. She had many questions on her mind. Why is this happening? Didn't she take the birth control pills I gave her? Why my daughter? Why Cami?

"Sit down," her mother ordered.

Cami obeyed, not wanting to cause any more trouble.

"People have been saying things," she began, with her eyes now staring a hole into Cami's forehead. She lowered her head. She could feel her mother's eyes on her, and it made her very uncomfortable. "I want to know the truth..." She paused before continuing. "Did you have sex with River?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Did you take the birth control pill every day?"

Tears began to form in her eyes. She knew this question was coming. "No," she replied, her voice trembling.

"Cami, look at me when I'm talking to you!" her mother said, almost yelling. She slowly lifted her head but only to see hurt and anger staring back at her.

"Are you pregnant?"

"Yes."

Diane was silent for a moment. Cami watched as her mother rested her elbows on the kitchen table and cupped her face with her hands. A tear rolled down her cheek. Cami leaned over the kitchen table and wiped it away with a finger. Despite the way that her mother may have felt about her at the moment, Cami loved her dearly and hated to see her cry. "I can't believe this," she heard her mother say. "I gave you birth control pills, and I told you to take them every single day, and you still got pregnant."

Although she had given her daughter the birth control pills, she was starting to wonder if it had been such a good idea since she was going to be a grandmother. However, if she hadn't given Cami the pills, she probably would've still gotten pregnant because she had unprotected sex.

She recalled having the sex talk with Cami when she was twelve years old shortly before she had begun her period. Then a few years later she met River. She would arrive home from school with a bright smile on her face, and her mother would wonder who or what could've possibly made her so happy. She hadn't seen her daughter smile that much since her husband had walked out on the family. After some questioning, Cami confessed to her that she had a boyfriend, and then they had another long sex talk. She was very clear that she didn't want Cami to have sex at all. So at first, she told her that she didn't want her to see River anymore, but that didn't work because she continued to see him while Diane was at work. She contacted his mother and filled her in on what was happening, and she sided with Diane and told him that he couldn't see Cami anymore, but the kids continued to see each other. In the end, Diane ended up taking her to the doctor's office and getting her a prescription for the pills.

And now Cami was pregnant, and she was going to be a grandmother. This was not at all how she'd expected her day to turn out when she'd gotten out of bed this morning.

Cami remained silent. She just didn't know what to say to help salvage the situation.

"Is River the father?"

"Yes."

"Why did you have sex with him?" Cami couldn't understand why she was asking her this question. She was the one who gave her the birth control pills, so she wouldn't get pregnant if she and River had sex.

"Because I loved him."

"Did he love you?"

She lowered her head again. "I don't know."

"Then why did you open your legs to him?"

She could feel the shame fall upon her once again. "I don't know, Mom."

Tears and silence.

Diane finally took her hands away from her face and was now looking past Cami at the wall. "I just don't get it," her mother said while shaking her head. "Why didn't you take them every single day?"

"I'm so sorry," Cami said, as her voice quavered.

"It's too late for that. We're struggling to feed three mouths, and soon we'll have one more." Then suddenly Diane began to sob. Cami felt bad, knowing that she had caused all of this. She tried to put her arms around her mother, but she pushed her away.

"Mom," she mumbled. Now she knew that she was in trouble. Her mother didn't even want to touch her.

"I—I don't want to look at you right now!" she sobbed.

Cami stood up from her chair and saw Kaci watching them silently.

"She's upset. She doesn't know what she's saying," Kaci said, as she eyed their tearful mother.

Cami knew her little sister was trying to make her feel better, but she wasn't stupid. She knew the truth. She knew her mother hated her just like Kaci. She was the most hated person in this house.

She ran to her bedroom with hot tears running down her cheeks. She slammed her door shut and buried herself beneath the covers in her bed. Why me? Why? She didn't think that she could handle this. I can't be having a baby. I can't handle Mom and Kaci hating me. I can't handle it. This is just too much for me.

Later that night she awoke with the feeling of vomit rising up in her throat. She ran into the bathroom and did the usual. Then she cleaned herself up, took a shower, and packed her bags. She needed to get away for a night or two. She was not wanted.

As she made her way down the stairs, she could feel someone's eyes on her. She turned around and saw Kaci slowly making her way toward her. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the duffel bags.

"Leaving," Cami replied. She was trying so hard not to cry.

"Where are you going at this time of night?"

Cami knew that if she told her where she was going, she would probably follow her, and she didn't want that to happen. "I'll be back soon."

"How soon is soon?" Her voice sounded so small. Cami almost wanted to turn around and give her a big hug—almost.

She could feel a lump begin to form in her throat. "I don't know."

"Please, don't leave," Kaci begged.

"I have to. You and Mom need space..."

"Space from whom?"

"From the pregnant girl who has ruined your lives. You guys hate me. It's so obvious."

"Mom is just upset, and we don't hate you."

"I'm leaving anyway," Cami said. She edged toward Kaci and held her close to her body in a tight hug. "I love you, Kaci." She could feel the knot in her throat get tighter.

"I love you, too," she said. Kaci's arms tightened around her neck. Cami knew she didn't want her to leave, but she felt as if this was something that she had to do. She didn't want her to see the tears that were now forming in her eyes, so she pulled away from her.

A part of her knew that leaving was running away from her problems, but she needed this even if it was only temporary. As she reached for her duffel bags, she could feel her heart pounding and breaking. Her eyes left Kaci and looked to the door. She could feel her arm reach out and her hand turn the knob.

Chilly fall air grazed her face as her feet attempted to temporarily separate her from her family. Once she was outside, she didn't turn around to face Kaci because she knew that if she saw her face, she wouldn't make it to her car.

Chapter 10

Leaving home was one of the hardest things that Cami had ever done. She cried the entire time while driving to Marissa's house. It was only a ten-minute drive, and she already had twelve missed calls from Kaci. She wanted to answer her calls so badly, but she knew that if she did, Kaci would just convince her to come back home. That was something she wasn't ready to do.

Marissa was not at all surprised to see her best friend standing at her front door. In fact, she hugged her so tight that Cami thought she was going to pass out. After convincing Marissa that she was fine, she finally loosened her grip. While now smiling ear to ear, she invited her in and asked her if she wanted any sweet tea and Cami, of course, said yes to her favorite beverage.

While she eagerly waited in the kitchen, she found herself thinking about her mother and sister. She closed her eyes and tried to shut the thoughts out completely. When she heard Marissa call her name, she opened her eyes. She handed Cami an ice-cold glass of sweet tea, and then began to tell her all about her tearful, problematic life.

"I told my mom that I'm pregnant, and now she hates me."

"Cami, she's just upset."

"She didn't even want me to hug her."

Marissa was slower to respond this time. "She'll come around."

"What if she doesn't?"

"She will. She's your mom."

Cami could picture Kaci's face in her head. It was heartbreaking, and she wondered if she would ever be able to get that haunting picture out of her head.

Marissa was happy that Cami had told her mother she was expecting. She was just glad her mother hadn't been home, or else she would've called Diane, and Cami would've been forced to go back.

"You can stay here for the night, but you should really talk to your mom tomorrow," Marissa advised.

Cami sighed. "I know," she agreed. "She'll probably ground me."

"I've been there, too."

That night, Cami could barely sleep. She only got two and a half hours' worth of sleep, which was a far cry from her usual eight.

She glanced at the clock and saw six o'clock staring back at her in red. Oh my gosh! She had to get ready for school. She got ready faster than she ever had before. She quickly jumped out of bed and unzipped her duffel bags. Then she grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, white lace blouse, teal pleated hi-low skirt, pink belt, and the gold flats she wore with everything.

She knocked on Marissa's bedroom door, and she quickly answered in her pajamas.

"I'm going to get a head start and pick up Kaci, so I'll see you at school."

Marissa yawned. "See you there."

She walked outside to her car and got inside. She sent Kaci a text message to let her know that she was on her way: Kaci, I'll be there in ten minutes. Before she had put her keys in the ignition, Kaci sent her a text: Don't bother. "Oh, what the hell!" Cami said aloud. She could have stayed in bed until six-thirty if she would have known this would happen. Instead of getting herself upset over a situation she couldn't control, she put the key into the ignition and drove to school in silence.

Instead of walking into the school, she made her way near the old oak tree. She knew that no one would be there this time of morning, which would give her some time to clear her head.

The chilly fall wind blew and she shivered a bit. Maybe I should have worn a jacket, she thought to herself. Or maybe I just need some hot cocoa to warm me up. She glanced down at the skirt she was wearing. Who was she kidding? She should've just worn jeans.

The ensemble had been a birthday gift that her mother had given her for her fifteenth birthday. She had constantly nagged Cami about wearing it because she wanted to see what it would look like on her. Plus, she loved to see her daughters wearing clothing she had purchased for them. Cami hadn't gotten around to wearing the outfit until now. In fact, she'd forgotten that she had it until it fell from a shelf in her closet.

She then sat down on the grass and rubbed her belly. She had been so occupied lately that she had not even noticed how quickly her belly was growing. For a moment, her eyes widened. She couldn't believe a baby was actually growing inside of her. The sun began to shine, and she enjoyed basking in its warmth. However, her warmth was soon blocked by a shadow. She didn't bother to turn around to look. She was expecting to hear Kaci or Marissa's voice booming over her shoulder, but instead, she heard another voice—one she was not expecting.

"Hey, there," he said.

Cami sighed out of frustration. Every time she wanted to be alone someone would disturb her.

"Hey," she said, not meeting his gaze. She looked at the ground while her hands played with the grass. She could feel his eyes on her. They were almost burning a hole in the back of her head.

"You look beautiful," he said.

"Thank you, but you don't have to compliment me," she said rather coldly, but he didn't seem to notice.

River sat down beside her and studied the ground for a moment before speaking. "How's the baby?"

"The baby's fine," she answered, even though she wasn't one hundred percent sure, since she hadn't been to a doctor's appointment yet.

"And what about you?"

"Fine."

"I know you hate me, Cami," River said, while he stood beside her with his back now leaning against the tree.

She slightly tilted her head to the side. "I don't hate you."

Then he did something she didn't expect him to do. "I'm sorry." Her ears were most certainly not expecting to hear this from him. She was surprised, yet happy, that he had apologized.

"You came here just to tell me that?" she asked.

"And I'm sorry how our relationship ended." His gaze fell down to the ground before he looked up at her again. "I've always loved you, and I'll never stop."

While Cami's heart melted, her brain told her otherwise. Don't give into him. Don't be a fool for love—for River.

"So do you know if our little one is a boy or a girl?" he asked her.

"No, but I'll find out soon."

"I'll help you take care of the baby, Cami, so you don't have to do this alone." That should have comforted her, but it didn't.

Only time will tell.

Since they were on the subject of the baby, she thought it might be a good time to tell River what she had been thinking about lately. Before she could say anything, everything around her went black.

For the next fifteen minutes, she was in and out of consciousness. When she awoke, she was in the nurse's office with River holding her hand. She looked up at the nurse who was standing over her and smiling.

Mrs. Cynthia Atkins, or Nurse Atkins, as she liked to be called, was a friendly older woman in her mid-forties. She was a voluptuous woman who many suspected of having plastic surgery. Having a husband who happened to be a plastic surgeon didn't help her case, either. But then again, it wasn't anyone's business. She knew that many of the teachers who were jealous of her had started the rumors, but despite that, she was friendly to everyone, which made them dislike her even more. Although Nurse Atkins was nice, Cami never enjoyed being in her office because she knew her mother would receive a full report on her visit.

"Now I understand that you are expecting," Nurse Atkins said as she held Cami's other hand.

Cami nodded.

"Although you are awake, I highly recommend that you go to the hospital to make sure that everything's okay with the baby," she continued, her eyes never leaving Cami's.

She rubbed her belly. "Everything's fine. I just felt lightheaded," she explained.

"I can't make you go to the hospital. All I can do is make suggestions." Cami knew that she really wanted her to go to the hospital, but she wanted to go there with her mother.

"I'll go to the hospital after school." Nurse Atkins eyed her thoughtfully before giving her a smile. "Alright, but let me know if you feel sick."

Cami nodded.

River helped her to her feet. They walked outside the Nurse's office.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the hospital?" he asked, with a concerned look on his face.

"No, I'll go with my mom after school," Cami answered.

"Cami, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she insisted.

He kissed her forehead and then hugged her.

"If you need anything, call me." His lips were so close to hers; they could've kissed. She watched him slowly take a step back away from her. It was as if he didn't want to leave her there.

"I'll walk with you to your car," she told him.

She ignored the curious states they were getting from people. River protectively put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. They walked to his car in silence, and she was perfectly fine with that. When they made it to his car, he removed his arm from around her. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." She turned around to make the lonely trip back inside the building.

She could feel his eyes on her the entire time.

The walk to her locker seemed endless. She was tired and drained from everything that was going on in her personal life. At this point, all she wanted to do was eat some delicious food and sleep in her nice, warm bed.

"I guess good girls can be nasty too," she heard a girl say when she walked by her.

"I saw her with River this morning," a guy said to a friend.

"I wonder what they were talking about," she heard another girl say.

"Slut," she heard another say to her friend.

"How far along is she?"

"When is she due?"

"Someone told me she's having twins."

"She's not going to graduate with us."

She heard so many people speaking that their voices suddenly became a blur. Soon she wasn't able to distinguish one voice from another. Oh, shut the hell up.

She felt a gentle tug on my arm. "Don't listen to them. They're all stupid," Marissa said. Cami wanted to tell her about everything that had happened this morning, but decided against it. Although Marissa was her best friend, she didn't need to tell her about every little detail in her life.

"Tammy must be so proud. She got what she wanted. I'm the center of attention, and she's not."

"Maybe, but I still wouldn't want to be her," Marissa said, as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Cami listened intently as she waited for her to continue. "I heard that Leena is supposed to be getting her back for sleeping with Kelly's boyfriend."

"Yes, I know. I told you all about that." Marissa gave her a weird look as if she didn't know what she was talking about. "I told you about all that stuff I overheard in the girls' restroom," Cami reminded her.

"Yeah, I remember now, but someone else told me that they heard about some plan that she was supposed to have to get back at Tammy."

"But she's pregnant."

Marissa chuckled. "Tell that to Leena. Pregnant or not, she wants to get back at Tammy. I just hope the baby doesn't get hurt."

"Do you think she'd actually try to physically hurt Tammy since she's pregnant?"

"No, she'll probably just try to humiliate her in front of a huge crowd."

While she listened to Marissa babble about Leena, she heard her stomach rumble. She was so focused on taking Kaci to school this morning that she had forgotten to eat breakfast.

Marissa glanced down at her stomach and began to laugh. "No breakfast this morning, Cami?" She replied by grabbing Marissa's arm and leading her down the hallway to the cafeteria. Yummy stuff was everywhere! The aroma of grits, eggs, bacon, sausages, and cinnamon rolls entered her nostrils. She deeply inhaled to let it fill her once more. Marissa said something but she didn't quite catch it. Her mind was on food, food, food, and more food. She filled her plate with anything that she could possibly fit on it. Some people stared but didn't say anything.

Once they found seats, she chowed down. Normally she found the cafeteria food to be quite distasteful, but today it was delicious. She was so busy eating that she didn't notice that Kaci had sat down beside her.

When she did feel her younger sister's presence beside her, she almost didn't want to look at her for fear that she would see hatred in her eyes. Instead, her eyes were warm and inviting.

Marissa sensed the two sisters needed privacy, so she dismissed herself. Although Cami had only been away for one night, she missed Kaci terribly. She was the only sister that she had, and she felt as if she had left her behind. She wanted to speak first, but she just felt so guilty about leaving her last night. "Hi," Kaci said, breaking the silence.

"Hi," Cami heard herself say. She wanted to say more, but she didn't know where to start.

She watched as sadness filled Kaci's eyes. "You're just like dad, you know." She suddenly felt as if someone had stabbed her in the heart. How could her own sister compare her to that traitor? She was nothing like him. Or was she? No, she wasn't anything like him.

"What, Kaci?" She saw a tear fall down her cheek. Kaci hardly ever cried about anything. And when she did, it was about something serious. The only times Cami recalled her crying was during funerals. Suddenly she felt herself regretting leaving her mother and younger sister behind. Did her mother feel the same way as Kaci? She hoped not. She didn't want them to feel this way, so she knew that she had to go home after school to make things right again.

"I went to visit Marissa last night, but I would never ever leave you and Mom and never come back," Cami said with tears in her eyes. Kaci wrapped her arms around her. She truly loved her sister.

"You're my big sister, and I will always love you, no matter what."

"I love you, too."

Cami glanced across the cafeteria and saw Marissa giving her the thumbs-up sign.

She could no longer run from her problems. Her father had run away from his family, and into the arms of another woman, and broken their hearts in the process. She could not allow herself to make the same mistake. Mom, I'm coming home.
Chapter 11

She arrived at home with a warm welcoming. It was better than she had expected. Her mother kept her arms wrapped around her for a long time, as if she might disappear into thin air if she released her from the embrace. It was as if it had been forever since they had seen each other.

"Don't ever do that again," her mother said to her with tears in her eyes.

"Okay."

"Nurse Atkins called me today and told me what happened at school. Why didn't you call to let me know?"

"I was going to tell you after school today."

Her mother sighed. "Well, I made a last-minute doctor's appointment for you today."

Cami really didn't want to go to the doctor's office because it was always freezing cold, and she hated sitting in the waiting room. Worst of all, doctors give shots, and she hated shots.

Later that evening, the doctor put clear fluid on her belly. It was cold, and she shivered a bit. Words were coming out the doctor's mouth, but she couldn't focus on what she was saying. All she could think about was what she wanted to tell River before she had passed out. She had made a huge decision, and she wanted to tell him what it was. She just hoped that he didn't end up hating her for wanting to do this, once she finally did reveal the truth to him.

She then found her mind drifting off to another thought—her first time with River. He had asked her to go out with him on a date. His mother was going to be away for the weekend, and they thought it would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with each other. She lied to her mom and told her that River's mom would be home and vice versa. Her mother told her to be home by ten that night, and she agreed.

After she agreed to let her go, Cami went upstairs to get dressed. As she peered into her closet, she realized she didn't have any new dresses to wear. River had seen her in the few she did have, and she didn't want to wear any of those again, so she made her way into her mother's closet and found a silk pink dress. It fell below the knee, which was long but not too long. She added her heart shaped gold necklace, a gold clutch, and leopard print stilettos to complete her ensemble.

She heard her mother opening the front door, so she peered downstairs in time to see her grab her keys. She's leaving. Perfect. Although she always returned her mother's things when she borrowed them, Cami did not want to be seen in the dress because her mother hadn't worn it yet, and she hated it when her daughter would borrow something that she'd never worn. After that, she ran into her room, got dressed, touched up her makeup, and dashed out the front door.

Meanwhile, River was putting the finishing touches on dinner. He was never the best cook, but he always did the best he could. This was his first time cooking food for a girlfriend, which at times he still could not believe. He hoped that she liked it because if she didn't, they would be eating a five-dollar pizza (since his mother hadn't gone grocery shopping).

In the midst of preparing dinner, he heard the doorbell ring. He set the plates and food onto the table and tried his hardest not to make a mess. Then he poured sweet tea into two glasses, which he knew was Cami's favorite. Even if she hates dinner, at least she'll love the tea.

The doorbell rang again. This is it.

She was surprised at the sight of him once he'd opened the door. He was extremely well dressed, wearing a black tailored suit with a white collared shirt underneath. Usually, he wore a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but she was happy that he went an extra mile for her and wore that suit.

He smiled, revealing his pearly whites. "You are so beautiful in that dress," he said and pulled her in for a kiss. His lips were soft as they brushed over hers.

They pulled apart, and she looked up into his eyes. They were as blue as the ocean, and it made her soul melt with the feeling of love. He wrapped his arms around her and then kissed her again deeply. After they pulled apart the second time, she lightly kissed him on the cheek before entering the house.

He closed the door behind them and told her to close her eyes. Then he led her into the dining room, and when she opened her eyes, she saw spaghetti and meatballs and breadsticks on the dining room table.

She took a seat at his mother's antique glass table and took a sip of the beverage that was in the glass. He remembered that I loved sweet tea.

"Oh, I forgot something. I'll be right back," he said, as he stood up to leave. When he returned, he told her to close her eyes once more. When she opened them this time, they glued themselves onto the beautiful red bouquet of roses that he handed her. He also gave her a box of chocolates and a sexy black leather jacket, but the roses were her favorite. He was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek, and then he sat at the dining room table, and enjoyed dinner with his beloved Cami.

She had glanced at him several times while eating the spaghetti and meatballs and breadsticks he'd prepared and noticed that he appeared to be very nervous.

"Dinner's delicious," she complimented him.

His cheeks flushed. "Thank you."

Shortly after dinner, they went into his bedroom and stared at the fireplace. River's bedroom was huge and immaculate. A king-sized bed stood in the far right corner of his room along with a forty-two-inch wall-mounted television. He didn't have many furniture pieces in his room, which made it appear larger than it actually was. There was a white area rug in front of the fireplace. They sat down on it, and he held her in his arms as they both gazed at the burning fire in front of them.

She could feel his hands wrap themselves around her waist. She turned around to face him and saw eyes full of desire staring back at her. He edged his face closer to hers until their lips were touching. Their tongues danced wildly as the desire began to build in her. She pulled back but only to feel his wet tongue on her neck and shoulders. A soft moan escaped her lips.

Take this pill every day, and DO NOT skip one, she remembered her mother telling her. The truth was that she had skipped a few days, but she did take the pill today, so she thought she would be fine.

Within several minutes, he was helping her take off her dress, leaving her in only her black lace bra and panties while he stripped down to his boxers. Then she had sex with him for the first time.

She returned home at nine fifty-eight that night and saw her mother waiting for her in the living room. A smile came upon her face when she saw her oldest daughter (though she was a little angry when she noticed that she was wearing her silk pink dress).

"Hello, Camila." She embraced her in a hug.

Cami kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, Mom, are you mad?"

"No, I'm just happy you got home safely." She kissed Cami on her temple.

Then Cami went upstairs to get some sleep. That night, all of her dreams were filled with memories of River and herself.

Why am I doing this to myself? I shouldn't be thinking about this.

The doctor exited the room and left Cami with her thoughts. Kaci was staring at her as if she was trying to read her mind, and her mother had a big smile on her face. "I'm going to be a grandmother," she said aloud. She turned to Kaci and added, "And you're going to be an aunt." Kaci then turned to Cami and said, "And you're going to be a mother."

Cami swallowed hard.

After she told River her big decision, she would have no choice but to tell them, too.

Chapter 12

Being "the pregnant girl" around school wasn't easy for Cami. As if her situation wasn't bad enough, she had to go to school and hear people call her horrible names, these people generally being Leena and her posse.

Cami could feel her stomach tie itself into knots every time she entered calculus class because she knew Leena would be there. She tried to be in class on time every morning so that she wouldn't have to walk by her just to get to her desk.

Most of the students wouldn't bother her, but Leena and her crew always did. And she'd let them. She usually didn't say anything to defend herself, and whenever she did, Leena would always come back with something better. It was as if Leena was using a blade to cut away at her piece by piece. But Kaci and Marissa wouldn't allow Leena to talk to them any kind of way that she pleased. They'd stand up for themselves and Cami (whenever they were with her).

This morning would be no different. Cami had to have an early vomit session before she entered calculus. After cleaning herself up, she knew that she wouldn't make it in time before Leena arrived. She really didn't care if Leena's friends were there or not because they didn't seem to bother her if Leena wasn't around.

As soon as she walked into class, she could feel her stomach flutter in a bad way, and she felt like she could throw up all over again. Leena was sitting in her usual spot—the third row from the front—and, as she gazed across the room, it looked as if she'd be walking for an eternity before she even made it to her seat in the seventh row.

"Loser approaching. Loser approaching," she heard Leena whisper loudly as she passed her to make her way to her desk. She and her friends burst into fits of laughter until Ms. Morrison shushed them. None of the other students said a word because most of them were all too afraid of what would happen if they dared to get on Leena's bad side.

Cami was so anxious to leave class that once she made it to her desk, she found herself constantly checking the time every five minutes or so. She wondered if it would always be this way. Why did Leena care whether or not she was pregnant? She wasn't the one who was carrying a baby, so it shouldn't have mattered to her.

Then it hit her. Leena was just trying to make her life as miserable as she possibly could because that was the type of person that she was. She created misery for others and left it in her wake. Like many of the other students, Cami couldn't wait until the semester was over. She prayed they wouldn't have any more classes together.

Thirty minutes of class had passed before Cami felt herself becoming sick once more. Her stomach was still tied in knots (as it was any time she was too close for comfort to Leena). She wasn't sure, but she felt as if she might have to vomit.

This couldn't be healthy for the baby, but she didn't know what to do. The principal, Ms. Lovett, wouldn't help, and she feared telling her mother would only make things worse.

She wished that she could be more like Kaci or Marissa. Nothing scared them—not even Leena and Kelly.

Although class wasn't over just yet, she packed up all of her belongings and made her way to Ms. Morrison's desk and was surprised when Leena didn't send an insult her way. But boy, could she feel the hatred in Leena's eyes staring at the back of her head.

"Ms. Morrison, may I be excused to go to the restroom?" Cami asked.

"Yes, sure," the polite old woman responded. "And don't forget the hall pass."

Cami nodded, reached for the hall pass on the teacher's desk, and didn't turn back—knowing who she'd see staring back at her.

Once she made it to the restroom, her stomach unknotted, and she realized that she didn't have to vomit after all. But she knew that the moment she stepped foot back into Ms. Morrison's class, her stomach would go into knots once more. All of this because of Leena Davidson, who happened to be not only the most popular girl in school, but also the school bully. Thinking about her was enough to make Cami want to puke.

The bell would be ringing soon, so she washed her hands and walked back to Ms. Morrison's class to deliver the hall pass. The bell rung before she could make it inside the classroom, so she waited one by one as the students exited.

She felt someone bump into her as they walked past her. She slightly turned her head to the side and saw an evil grin on Leena's face. "Oops, sorry," she said in a very unapologetic way.

Just then Kaci walked down the hallway and bumped into Leena, nearly knocking her over into another fellow student. "Oops, sorry," Kaci said to her with a frown. Her sister was pregnant for crying out loud. What was wrong with Leena Davidson? Did she have nothing better to do but bother people all day long?

"Why, you little..."

"You do realize," Kaci began, cutting her off, "that my sister is pregnant."

Students were out and about trying to get to class, and there were a few teachers around. None were close enough to hear what was going on. Although Leena could've easily put Kaci in her place, she declined since they were out in the open around so many people.

"I don't care if she's pregnant," she whispered to Kaci meaning every word of it.

"Well, then, I suggest you find someone else to mess with because if I ever see you doing that to her again, I'll put you ten feet under."

A look of surprise came across Leena's face. "Ten feet, huh?"

"Yeah, that way even the dogs won't find you," Kaci whispered back to her, and then grabbed Cami's arm. Cami glanced back at Leena and saw a startled look on her face before that all-too-familiar grin appeared once again.

After returning home from school, Cami made a dash for the kitchen and began to eat some of her mother's homemade baked cookies.

She didn't always tell Kaci or Marissa about what Leena would say to her at school. She didn't want them to think she couldn't stand up for herself, but after today, she wasn't so sure if they'd be wrong in thinking that.

When Leena purposefully brushed up against her earlier, she didn't say or do anything. Even after Kaci came along, she still didn't say anything. She was starting to think that she didn't have it in her to stand up to Leena Davidson. But she knew that if she didn't start speaking up, she would be like many of the other students, doormats that Leena could walk on whenever she pleased.

And she didn't want to be anyone's doormat.

Chapter 13

After yesterday, Cami was not ready to return to school. She'd gotten up early to catch her mother before she went off to work. "Mom, I feel sick. Can I stay home today?"

"Does anything hurt?" Diane checked her temperature to be certain that she didn't have a fever, and she didn't.

"No, I just feel nauseated."

"That happens when you're pregnant." Her mother smiled reassuringly and kissed her forehead. "You can stay home. Please, call me if you feel any worse or need anything."

"Okay." Cami hugged her mother.

It would've been the best time to tell her mother about Leena and all the stress that she had been causing her at school. But she decided against telling her. She just didn't feel as if it would do any good. Besides, she was getting closer and closer to graduation. Graduation was the day she looked forward to, because after that, she'd probably never see Leena or Kelly Davidson ever again—except around town, which really didn't bother her too much.

After her mother and sister had left, Cami sat alone in her room and surfed the web. She browsed clothing websites before she began taking quizzes.

She was trying as hard as she could not to think about Leena, but her mind would always come back to her. She was the main reason Cami didn't want to go to school today. She wanted to go a whole school day without being called a name or receiving some sort of disapproving look from her.

It was times like these that made her wish she could be more like Kaci. She wanted to be brave, just like her, and take on Leena, and anyone else whenever they bothered her. One day Kaci wouldn't be around to fix everything for her; she'd have to fix it herself. And if she couldn't take her problems on, they'd defeat her before she even had a chance to start, and she couldn't go down without a fight.

She could feel her eyes begin to water. She shut her computer down, rested her head on her pillow, and began to cry. All she wanted was for Leena to leave her alone. In addition to being pregnant, she had to listen to insults about herself daily from her. It just wasn't fair. She didn't do anything to her to deserve this. The only person at school she really would even talk to was Marissa and Kaci. She didn't bother anyone else or create any problems, and yet, some of those very things made her a target to Leena Davidson.

After she poured her eyes out for almost an hour, she went into the bathroom to wash her face. The cold water felt relieving, and as she looked into the mirror at the reflection staring back at her, she noticed how red and swollen her eyes were from crying. She'd have to take a nap and rest so that once her mother and Kaci returned home, they wouldn't notice.

Then she glanced down at her hands, which were slightly shaking. She took several deep breaths and tried to calm herself down in order to make her hands stop shaking.

It worked.

But as soon as she took one last look at herself in the mirror, she was beginning to realize she couldn't go on for the rest of her Crossroads High stay like this. Things would have to change.

Later that afternoon, when she had woken up, she found Kaci sitting on the other side of her bed. She didn't turn all the way around because she didn't want her to see her red and swollen eyes. It should've subsided a bit, but she didn't want to take a chance with Kaci this close to her.

"So what did you do all day?" Kaci asked her.

"I mostly just slept all day," she answered with her back still facing Kaci, who was now looking over at her.

"You can't just sleep all day."

"But I'm pregnant, and pregnant women sleep a lot." She grabbed her mirror off the nightstand and examined her eyes to see if the red and swollenness had gone down any, and she was pleased when she discovered that it had.

"I'm not sure I want to have kids someday," she heard Kaci say.

By this time, she'd turned all the way around and was facing her sister. "Why not?"

"I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but childbirth is supposed to be very painful."

"Yeah," Cami agreed. "But they give you something for that to help ease the pain." She tried not to think about it, for fear of freaking herself out.

She remembered, as a child, hearing her mother tell the story about how she felt as if she was going to die when she was giving birth to her and how she forgot the pain as soon as she'd laid eyes on her. It made her wonder how on earth a woman could forget something that nearly killed her just because she had seen her newborn. She wasn't certain, but as she gazed down at her growing belly, she knew she'd find out soon enough.

And to think that this was the reason why she was pregnant: He edged his face closer to hers until their lips touched. Their tongues danced wildly as the desire began to build in her. She pulled back but only to feel his wet tongue on her neck and shoulders. There were times that she'd wished she would have waited to have sex. Had she waited, she wouldn't have to worry about labor pains and all of the other things pregnant women worried about.

"I didn't scare you, did I?" Kaci said jokingly, once she'd noticed how long Cami had remained silent.

"No, I try not to think about that stuff because it scares me a little," Cami admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you still shouldn't give up on having a family of your own someday."

Kaci sighed a little. "If I could wake up when it's over, that would be nice," she said before giggling. Cami laughed right along with her. She had no idea why they were laughing because nothing she'd just said was funny, at least not to Cami. But there they were, giggling. Cami enjoyed little moments like these with her sister because it always made her feel better no matter what she was going through.

"Are you better now?" Kaci said, still giggling somewhat.

"Of course," she answered. "It felt good to laugh."

"I read in a book that it's actually supposed to be healthy for your body."

Cami gave her an "I don't get it" look as she brought herself to a seated position on her bed.

"I read it in one of Mom's health magazines. I think it's on the coffee table in the living room." Cami was about to go downstairs to get the magazine, but Kaci grabbed her arm and quickly added, "I'll get it for you." In less than one minute, Kaci had gone downstairs to collect the magazine for Cami and then returned to her older sister's room.

"Thanks," Cami said, as she handed it to her. "So how was school today? Did you learn anything new or interesting?"

"No," Kaci answered, sighing.

"You sure?"

"As if I wouldn't know if I'd learned something new," Kaci said with a laugh.

"So did you run into Hattiesburg's most stuck-up today?" Cami asked her.

Kaci rolled her eyes. "I see Kelly every day. She's in my child development class. I honestly can't wait to get out of there because all she does is talk trash about people."

"They both do," Cami added, knowing all too well how it felt to have one of the Davidson sisters talk trash about her. She'd had one too many run-ins with them—all of which she wished had never happened.

One day just last week, Leena asked her how many guys she'd slept with. Then she intentionally tried to trip her so that she'd fall. Instead of saying something, she just let it happen as if she somehow deserved it. And that was the way it was nearly every single day. But deep down she knew she didn't deserve it—no one did.

"Well," Kaci began, as she flipped Cami's television off with the remote, "some girl made Leena angry. I don't know what she did to her, but it must've been pretty awful, or maybe the girl's just scared because she's transferring."

"So she's just going to let Leena run her off?"

Kaci nodded. "I guess so."

Cami looked forward to the day when she, and everyone else at school, for that matter, wouldn't have to worry about Kelly or Leena Davidson. How they treated people and the things they did were just awful. There simply was no cause for such behavior.

She wondered if Leena and Kelly were as horrible at home as they were in school and if their parents were as awful as they were. Quite frankly, she and the rest of the school would be better off without them.

She didn't understand how they could be so cruel to people and not think anything of it.

They had to know that the way they treated people was wrong. Then she remembered something that her mother had always told her as a child: "When you do bad things to other people, some day it will all come back to you." Whenever that day for Leena and Kelly came, she wanted to have a front row seat to watch it play out in action.
Chapter 14

"Cami, do you feel better now?" Marissa asked worryingly. Ever since she'd discovered that Cami was pregnant, she was always worrying about her the way that a big sister would.

"Yes, I'm fine," Cami answered casually. She didn't bother to tell her about the incident that occurred with Leena the other day. Gossip traveled fast, so she knew Marissa probably already knew what had happened.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to tell you something," Marissa announced.

"Tell me what?" Cami said as she took her calculus book out of her locker.

"Yesterday Leena somehow got pictures of some girls who are in your calculus class and sent them around to everyone."

Cami raised an eyebrow. "What kind of pictures?"

"Naked pictures."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so your calculus class is probably going to be empty today."

"Why would she do that?"

"She's doing it because she doesn't have anything else to do but make everybody else's life as miserable as hers."

The bell rang for class, but Cami was still standing at her locker, thinking about the words Marissa had just said: "She's doing it because she doesn't have anything else to do but to make everybody else's life as miserable as hers."

Marissa snapped her fingers in front of Cami's face, startling her. "Are you okay?" she asked her.

"Yeah," she answered.

As if reading her young friend's mind she said, "Don't let Leena get to you. If you need me to, I'll take care of her after class. Besides, I think she's the one who put gum on my favorite pencil the other day."

"Leena hates gum. Kelly's the chewer," Cami said.

Marissa frowned. "Those damn Davidsons," Cami heard her mumble.

If you need me to, I'll take care of her after class. And there it was. Marissa had offered to "take care" of Leena for her "after class." Even she didn't think that Cami could stand up for herself. She didn't know if she'd ever get a chance to prove that to anyone or even herself, but if the opportunity ever presented itself (and it would), she'd be ready and willing to stand up for herself against Leena Davidson.

Ms. Morrison's calculus class was nearly empty. There were only eight students in class today—with most of those students being Leena and her friends. Since there were so few students in class, Cami could've walked down another aisle to get to her desk, but she chose to take the usual route. She wasn't going to let Leena scare her away from anything, so she walked to her desk just like any other school day and waited for it.

"I slept with River, Cami," Leena said, trying to bring the young girl to tears.

She stopped in her tracks. She knew what Leena was trying to do, but it wasn't going to work. She and River had been over for a while now, and there was probably no hope for them.

Instead of allowing herself to get upset, she said, "Yeah, I know. Everyone in Hattiesburg knows about that, so I don't know why you're telling me something that I'm already aware of."

Leena's friends exchanged puzzled looks with her. She could hear them question her about it as she walked to her desk.

"Good morning, class," Ms. Morrison said as she walked in with the teacher's edition of her calculus textbook in hand. She looked around the classroom at all of the empty seats. Then she took her glasses off, wiped them with a cloth, put them back on, and looked around the classroom once more. "Where on earth is everyone? Today isn't a holiday."

"They're all sick, Ms. Morrison," Leena said in the fakest, soft voice Cami had ever heard.

"My dear! Sick with what?" the old woman asked, as she sat down at her desk.

"I was told that it was a very contagious cold," Leena answered with the fake smile still on her face.

Her friends nodded to make her story more believable.

"Well, I guess today can be a make-up day for students who may be having some problems with the concepts or who may be behind on their work," Ms. Morrison said.

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out an antibacterial room spray and began to spray the room.

Everyone began to cough, including Ms. Morrison. The spray didn't really bother Cami because she sat closer to the back of the classroom, but it did get to Leena, who had to leave the room unexpectedly.

"We must keep the germs at bay," she heard the old woman say as she ran down the hallway and into the bathroom.

While there, she coughed so loudly that even Ms. Lovett came inside. "Are you okay?" the principal asked.

Leena removed bottled water from her purse and took a large gulp. "I would've been better if Ms. Morrison hadn't sprayed so much room spray into the air."

The older woman sighed. "I'll have a talk with her about that."

"You better," Leena mumbled.

Ms. Lovett turned away from Leena and pretended to straighten her blouse, all the while rolling her eyes.

"If you need anything like another bottle of water, you can come to my office."

Once Ms. Lovett was gone, she found herself wondering why Cami agreed with what she had said. She had never slept with River in her life, nor did she intend to. He was below her for all she cared; she only said that to get to Cami, but it didn't work. Instead, she turned it around on her and made it seem as if she really did sleep with him—which wasn't at all true.

Then her mind thought about something else. There was something about the way that Cami walked into class today that was a bit odd to her. The girl seemed as if her spirit was more lifted.

Leena smiled to herself. If that was the case, she was just going to have to break that spirit of hers.

As she put hand sanitizer on both hands, she wondered if Cami really believed that they'd been together or if she was just toying with her. She hoped that she wasn't toying with her because she hated it when people did that.

No one toyed with Leena Davidson and got away with it. No one.
Chapter 15

"Cami, did you hear about what happened?" Marissa asked her at lunch the next day. She hadn't noticed the strange looks that she was getting from everyone, and Marissa didn't want her to.

Cami bit into a fresh apple and said, "No. What happened?"

Marissa sighed and then pointed with her finger to the front of the cafeteria to a smiling River, who was kissing someone else. Cami's heart dropped into her stomach. It was already bad enough that she'd lost him, but now he had to rub it in her face—and at school even!

He wore a black and white tuxedo, as if he were dressed for some type of formal event. As he made his way toward Cami's table, no one in the cafeteria made a sound or even moved an inch. They were all too busy watching him.

"Hi, Cami," he said coldly, with his hands in his pockets.

She set her apple on a napkin on the table. "Hi," she said, reaching for her bottled spring water.

"I just came here to tell you that I don't want to see you ever again."

"Why would you say that?" She gazed into his eyes and didn't recognize the man who was staring back at her. His eyes were cold, uninviting, and filled with hatred.

"Because of me," she heard a familiar voice say. She turned to look at the woman who was standing somewhat behind River, and once she took a step forward, she realized that it was Leena Davidson.

Her eyes widened in terror. This cannot be happening, she thought to herself. Why out of all the girls in the world would he pick Leena? Why couldn't he pick someone else? She just couldn't believe any of this was happening right in front of her very own eyes.

"Leena and I are getting married in Vegas, and both of us want you out of our lives forever," he said.

Leena smirked as she locked lips with him right in front of Cami, who looked as if she was about to faint. "Honey, let's go. Our future awaits us," Leena said with a smile to her handsome husband-to-be. They both turned around and began to walk away.

"River, wait I have to tell you something!" Cami shouted, but he never turned around. "Wait! It's important!" she yelled, running after them. She almost made it to the doors leading out of the cafeteria, until Leena's friends caught both of her arms.

Marissa and Kaci eventually got Leena's friends away from Cami, but it was too late. River and Leena were already gone.

Cami nearly jumped out of bed. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was sweating. That was the most horrible dream she'd ever had, but it made her realize something. It may have just been a dream, but she believed it was a sign that she had to come clean to River. She had to tell him the truth.
Chapter 16

Cami watched the white snowflakes fall onto the ground from her bedroom window. It was the first time she had seen it snow in Hattiesburg, and it was beautiful. It was very rare to see snow fall here, so this was definitely a sight to see.

The neighbors were outside making snow angels, while the children stuck their tongues out to taste the falling snow. If only she could be as happy and carefree.

She nervously fidgeted in her bed. She had been dreading calling River, but she knew that it was something that had to be done. Her mother and Kaci were out shopping for the holidays, so this would be the perfect time for her to tell him her big decision.

After several deep breaths, she finally dialed his number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, River. It's me, Cami."

"Hey." He sounded happy.

"Um, I was wondering if you could come over to my place today to talk."

"Okay. What time?"

"Now."

"I'm on my way." He sounded like he was eager to see her.

Less than twenty minutes later, they were seated in the living room. He was wearing a long sleeved white shirt, denim jeans, and black sneakers with white stripes. The shirt showed off his tall, muscular frame, and she couldn't help but steal a few glances at him. As if suspecting that her eyes were on him, he turned to face her, but she quickly averted her eyes and began to stare at the floor. Just tell him.

"Cami, can I ask you something?" he asked, with his eyes on her.

"Yeah," she replied without facing him. She was becoming even more nervous than she had anticipated. For a moment, she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to go through with this.

"Can I touch your stomach?"

What?

"Cami?"

"Yes, you can," she replied, making it sound more like a question than an answer. He moved closer to her and placed his right hand on her stomach. She was showing but not so much that it could not be covered with clothing.

Tell him the truth.

Her back began to hurt a little, and it was becoming more frequent as the days passed on.

Sensing her discomfort, River put his arm around her, and she rested her head against his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured him. Sitting like this with him made her think of their dating days. They used to sit in the living room in this exact same spot just like this. She'd catch a whiff of his cologne and would see Kaci standing on the staircase rolling her eyes at him. Then, after Kaci had gone into her room, they would sneak in a kiss until her mother made an appearance in the living room.

"Hey," she heard him say while looking down at her. "Are you going to sleep on me?"

"No," she answered. "I was just thinking about something."

"Like what?"

Tell him.

"I was thinking about how we used to sit here and just enjoy each other's company."

He smiled at her. "I remember that, too. It just seems like so long ago."

She looked down at her hands. "I know, but it really hasn't been. So much has just happened in a short time span."

Without warning, he tilted her face toward his with his hand and forced her to look at him. Then he lowered his face to hers and kissed her passionately. He was still the great kisser that she'd always known him to be. And while it felt good to lock lips with him—even if only for a second—she knew this wasn't what she wanted. She invited him over for one reason and one reason only, so she broke the kiss.

He put his arm back around her with a confused look on his face and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," she responded.

I have to do this now before Mom and Kaci make it back. If I don't do this now, I may not ever get the chance to tell him the truth.

She knew what she needed to do, but telling him was not going to be easy. His arm was still around her, and she pushed it away, as if doing so would make telling him any easier.

There was a chance that he wouldn't want to be around her after hearing what she had to say. She could see in his eyes that he was confused and thought that he had done something wrong. She took several deep breaths and rested her hand on her growing belly.

"I've been thinking long and hard about this," she said to him with her eyes on her hands. She made sure not to make any eye contact with him, but she could feel his eyes on her. "I've decided that I'm going to give the baby up for adoption."

River nearly jumped out of his seat. "What?!" he exclaimed, obviously enraged. "You can't give up our baby!" Memories of his fatherless life crept into his mind. He thought about all of the times that he'd cried as a child to his mother for a father who didn't love him. His mind then wandered to the times when students in his class would talk about gifts that they wanted to give their fathers for father's day; it made him sick with sadness and heartache. He didn't want this to be his child's life. He wanted his child to have a father so that they could go on fishing trips and sporting events. They could even have a family vacation at least once a year, but now he wasn't so sure if any of this would be possible. Cami was taking their baby away from him and giving it to strangers. He didn't want her to do that. Their baby deserved to grow up with blood relatives.

She could feel the tears begin to swell in her eyes. "River, I don't want to give the baby up."

"Then why are you?" His tone was cold and bitter. She could tell that he was angry as hell with her.

"Because I can't afford to give the baby everything it needs."

He looked at her questioningly, placing his hands on her shoulders to force her to look at him. "I have a job, so I can help you take care of our baby. Plus, I'm graduating from college soon, and then I'll be able to make more money."

The tears fell onto her cheeks. He wiped one away with his thumb. "I've never been through anything like this before," she confessed while bringing herself to look at him.

"Neither have I, but we can't just give our baby away to strangers. I want us to take care of this baby."

She didn't respond. Instead, she just stared at him for a moment. She couldn't believe that he was saying all this. It seemed as if he really wanted to keep the baby, and she began to have mixed feelings. A part of her wanted to keep the baby, but another part of her wanted to give it up for adoption.

She could tell that River was growing angrier by the minute. Keeping the baby seemed like the only logical choice to him. He told her several times that he would be there for the baby and buy whatever the baby needed. But she still wasn't convinced. He had left her once, and she didn't want to give him the opportunity to do this to their child, too.

When they were unable to come to an agreement, River stormed out of the house and left her in the living room to ponder what had just happened.
Chapter 17

Tears were pouring out of Cami's eyes as she sat on her bed and watched the end of a documentary, which was coincidently about a woman who wanted to place her baby up for adoption. The pregnancy was unplanned, and although she was married, the woman and her husband were facing financial difficulties. The woman, Tessa Baskin, who was thirty-nine years of age, had hidden her pregnancy for five months from her husband of fourteen years, Roy Baskin.

Once she revealed the pregnancy to him, she told him that she wanted to give the baby up for adoption. They already had three beautiful children together, and although they were going through financial difficulties (Roy worked in construction, and she'd been laid off from her job as a human resource manager when the company was moved overseas to China), he still wanted to keep their baby. After she told him how far along she was, he became very angry that she'd kept something like this hidden from him for such an extended period of time. That night he left their home and spent the remainder of the night at his brother's place playing cards.

Eventually, Roy came back to the home that he and Tessa shared. He loved his family, and he could never stay away from his children too long before he longed to see their faces.

He and Tessa had numerous conversations about the adoption. Each still felt the same way they had before: he didn't want to give up the baby, and she did. Through all of the arguments and turmoil that this had taken on their marriage, Roy was there for his wife throughout the entire pregnancy. He would drive her to and from the doctor; he would massage her back and feet; he would do anything to make sure that she was comfortable because she was carrying his child.

In the end, Tessa decided that she couldn't part with her newborn. After she'd held her baby for the first time in the delivery room with Roy by her side, she knew that she wouldn't be able to go through with the adoption. She told him with tears in her eyes, "I can't give him up. I thought it was best, but I just can't." They shared a kiss and smiled in bliss.

They weren't sure of how they were going to make ends meet. All that mattered to them was that their family was staying together.

Several months later, cameras followed the couple and their four children as they moved from Jackson, Mississippi to Atlanta, Georgia into their temporary two bedroom apartment. Tessa had been hired as a manager at an upscale department store, and Roy had been hired as a construction manager at a booming construction company. Both had managed to save up enough money within five months to move into their dream home.

The moment that Roy had opened the front door to their new home for the first time, she began to cry because she was just so excited that they had finally purchased the home of their dreams. He held her there in the foyer while the children danced in circles in the living room. They were all thankful that they could kiss cramped-apartment-living goodbye. Their new home was a beautiful craftsman style home that had a bedroom for everyone, plus the kitchen of Tessa's dreams. The life they'd always wanted was now in front of them.

Watching Tessa made Cami think about her recent decision to place her and River's baby up for adoption. One of the main things that worried her was whether or not she could provide for her own child. She didn't have a job or any sort of extra cash flow coming into the home to help out, and she didn't want to rest everything on her mother's shoulders. Although River said that he'd be willing to buy the baby whatever he or she needed, Cami still wasn't so sure about that. He had left her before, and he could most certainly do it again. And she didn't want that to happen to their baby, too.

Even though Tessa didn't want to keep her child with Roy, she had a husband who loved his family and provided for them. She and River didn't have that.

But there was something about this documentary that made her believe that if she decided to keep her child, she could do it, but she wasn't sure if it was something that she should do.

Cami got up from bed and went into the bathroom to wash her face before heading downstairs to eat dinner. She still hadn't told her mother or Kaci that she wanted to place the baby up for adoption, but since she'd told River, she knew that she'd have to tell them soon. But she didn't want to think about that right now. The time for that would come soon enough.

As soon as she'd made it to the kitchen, she saw Kaci eating spaghetti with breadsticks and studying with notecards for her child development class.

"Hi, Kaci," she said, helping herself to a plate of food that her mother had already prepared for her on the kitchen table.

"I was wondering when you would get down here," Kaci said, looking up from her notecards. "I could hear you crying all the way downstairs."

"Sorry about that." She looked at her watch and saw that it was after seven. "When is Mom getting back home?"

"She ran to the store to get some milk, but she should be back soon," Kaci answered.

There was something about the look on Cami's face that bothered her. It was as if she wanted to say something, but just couldn't bring herself to do it. It was clear to her now that her sister was upset, and she knew exactly why.

"Did River upset you today?" Kaci asked Cami, looking her dead in the eye. Cami dropped her fork. She hadn't mentioned that she'd invited River over today, so how did she know?

Judging by the surprised look on her face, Kaci could tell that she'd stunned her. "I guess you're wondering how I knew he was here, right?"

Cami nodded.

"I could smell his cheap cologne as soon as I walked through the door," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "So did he say something to upset you?" Before Cami could even respond, Kaci continued, "And don't lie to me. I saw the look on your face. What did he say?"

"We just talked about the baby," Cami answered.

She wanted to talk to her mother—not Kaci. She needed to tell her the truth about the adoption before she changed her mind again and decided to wait any longer.
Chapter 18

Over the next several weeks, Cami slowly slipped into a daily routine. She would wake up every morning at six and make a run for the bathroom. Once she had arrived at school, she would listen to Marissa's latest gossip, and then study before class. Because of all the studying that she was doing, her grades had improved, which pleased both her and her mother.

She had recently discussed with some of her teachers that she was interested in attending college, so they were all forthcoming with advice. She was told to attend the college fair, which was held in the gym once a semester for juniors and seniors. Many community colleges and universities would send representatives there to give students more information about the school's academic majors, financial aid, and the enrollment process. She attended the college fair and had been doing her own research on several colleges that interested her.

After school, she would study for each class, research colleges and scholarships, apply for jobs online, and read books to the baby. By ten, she would call it a night and then do the same thing the next day.

She had yet to break the news to her mother and Kaci about placing the baby up for adoption. She and River hadn't spoken much since their argument. When they did speak, he would always try to convince her to keep the baby. Once he'd even asked her to go to dinner with him, but she politely declined because she knew what he was up to. He wanted her to change her mind over dinner, but it was too late for that. She had her mind made up. This baby was going to make another family very happy, and that was all there was to it.

One day, while looking at an old family photo album, she found herself staring at a picture of a young woman and an infant. The young woman was eighteen years old, and the infant was only several days old. After graduating from high school, she got married to her high school sweetheart and attended a local university in Hattiesburg. She attended college during the day and worked as a cashier at a bookstore by night.

Almost two years later, the young woman gave birth to another child. Shortly afterward, she received her four-year degree and fulfilled her dream of becoming a registered nurse. Cami knew these two people because the young woman in the picture was her mother, and the infant was her. She considered her mother to be the strongest woman that she knew.

She had had a substantial amount of responsibility at a young age that most young adults didn't have to worry about. Her mother's day would begin with her getting the family up at five-thirty each morning. She would then cook breakfast and get the kids dressed. After she had eaten breakfast, she would take the children to the babysitter's house on her way to school and stay in class from eight that morning until three in the afternoon. Then she'd run errands before driving to her part-time job to work until ten-thirty at night. After returning home from a long, tiresome day, she would cook dinner, tuck the children into bed, and complete assignments before finally calling it a night.

Cami suddenly found herself having second thoughts about placing her baby up for adoption. Could she take care of the baby, go to school, and work part-time the same way her mother had while she was attending college? If she put her mind to it, she knew that she could do it, but was this what she really wanted?

She could tell that something was wrong from the moment she arrived at school. No one seemed happy and full of energy. The gossipers were tightlipped, and it appeared as if a few of the girls had been crying. People were sad and upset but why? What had she missed?

She peeped inside her first class for the day, but didn't see Marissa inside. She texted her and hoped to receive a reply. Instead of texting Cami back, she called and said that she was sitting in her car.

"Guess no one's told you," Marissa said to her, as she plopped down into the passenger's seat.

"Told me what?" Cami inquired.

"About what happened to Tammy."

"What happened to her?"

"She had a car accident, and she lost her baby," Marissa explained.

"She lost her baby?" Cami instantly laid her hand on her baby bump. She couldn't imagine losing her baby. In the past few months, she had come to love the tiny human being that was growing inside her each day.

With each passing day, she was becoming more and more attached to her unborn child. Then the thought of adoption found its way into her mind. Would she be able to do it? Would she be able to give up the baby? What if she couldn't go through with it? She didn't have a job or money, and she didn't want to put more stress on her mother than she already had. She was still applying for part-time jobs, but had not received any calls. However, she wasn't about to give up because she was determined to find a job.

"Yeah."

"Poor Tammy."

"She's in critical condition. She's barely alive."

"When did this happen?"

"Last night. I was told that Tammy had an argument with Kelly's ex-boyfriend, and someone said that she had even been drinking."

"Drinking? Pregnant women don't drink."

"You're not supposed to, but a lot of people are saying that she did."

The entire day all Cami could think about was Tammy and what her family must be going through. The previous week she had seen her at the mall, shopping for clothing and toys. Despite what Tammy had done to her, she felt bad for her. She could not even fathom the idea of losing her baby. The thought of it made her sick and sent her running to the bathroom.
Chapter 19

Kaci happily hopped into the passenger's seat of her best friend's car. He smiled at her, and they quickly exchanged hellos.

Skylar Caldarelli had secretly had a crush on her since they were kids. He loved her outspokenness and feistiness. He found it quite attractive. The first time he ever laid eyes on her was on the playground in second grade. His class was playing kickball with hers, and she was the first up to kick. From the moment that he laid eyes on her, he was blown away by her beauty. Those cute brown eyes and pouty lips held his attention. Lost in thought, he didn't hear any of his teammates yelling at him to catch the ball. As a consequence, he was hit in the head with the ball and received a black eye while she made a home run.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was no longer the little girl who caused him to be ridiculed by his friends when he was hit by the ball. She was now an intelligent young woman whom he had feelings for. Every time he thought about her, he felt all mushy inside.

Although he was sixteen years old, he had never kissed a girl, but he dreamed about kissing Kaci every day. He was saving his lips just for her. A part of him wanted to tell her how he felt, but he was scared of rejection. He cared a great deal about Kaci, but he wasn't sure if he should risk telling her his true feelings. What if she only saw him as just a friend?

Although Skylar cared about her, a part of him envied her because she had a sibling. Growing up as an only child, he usually found himself playing alone. There were many children that played together in the neighborhood, but he was shy and couldn't bring himself to join them. One day his mother took him to a nearby park and made him play with the other children. That day he made some new friends and found that many of the kids, with the exception of a few, were friendly.

Seeing him getting along so well with the other children made her happy. His mother knew that her son had wanted a little brother or sister, but she had fertility issues. She had miscarried twice before giving birth to him. Although she and her husband had tried to conceive another child, they had been unsuccessful, which made them more appreciative for their miracle child, Skylar.

Kaci wondered what could be on his mind. He hadn't said much to her when they had arrived at the fast food restaurant. "Are you okay?" she asked him over lunch.

"Yes," he replied.

She thought she saw a blush on his cheeks, but she wasn't sure.

They ate their cheeseburgers and fries in silence for several minutes until Kaci spoke. "I'm going to be an aunt," she announced to him.

"Congratulations," he said to her, not knowing what else to say. He had heard a rumor that Cami was pregnant but didn't mention it to her. He was just glad that Kaci wasn't pregnant by someone else. Now that would have broken his heart.

"But I don't like her ex-boyfriend, River. I never have. He broke up with Cami and then got engaged to another girl." She went on to babble about how much she despised River. As he listened to her speak about River, it was very obvious to him that she didn't like anyone who hurt her sister. She despised River and blamed him for getting Cami pregnant, although she played a part in the conception as well.

After returning to school from their lunch break, Kaci went to her third class of the day, which happened to be child development. Today was one of those days that she really did not want to be in class because they were starting the reproduction chapter.

Although she was brave and wasn't one to show her emotions, she secretly dreaded attending class every day. Someone, usually Kelly Davidson, would usually say something mean and hurtful about Cami, and she would always defend her because she was her sister. But she was getting tired of putting people in their place every time she came to class. She wanted to attend at least one class where she wouldn't have to hear anything bad about her sister, but with someone like Kelly around, she didn't believe that was possible.

"Class, please open your textbooks to page one hundred forty-two. Kaci, please read the first page," Ms. Thompson said.

"Yeah, she should know a lot about this," Kelly said with a laugh. Some of the students giggled.

Kaci sighed. She knew something like this would happen. She didn't even bother to turn around to face Kelly because she had a temper, and she was trying to avoid losing it in the classroom.

"Kelly, don't interrupt," Ms. Thompson said. She was a very short woman—four foot eleven to be exact. In fact, she was the shortest person in the classroom, but she wasn't scared to voice her opinion. She was kind, but she hated it when people would speak out of term in her class.

"Did you wish that Cami would shut up when River was doing her?" Kelly inquired, ignoring the older woman as if she hadn't said a single word to her.

More giggles erupted.

The forty-three-year-old teacher shook her head. It was no use trying to explain anything to Kelly because she never listened. She always did whatever she wanted to do, despite what she was told.

Kaci got up, walked over to Kelly's desk, and stood directly in front of her. This move worried Ms. Thompson because Kaci was always a well-mannered student who never left her seat during class.

"Why are you standing in front of me?" Kelly asked in a mocking tone.

Ms. Thompson then walked over to Kelly's desk and said to Kaci, "Please, take your seat."

"Keep my sister's name out of your mouth," she said to Kelly between clenched teeth while completely ignoring her teacher.

Kelly stood up. "And what will you do if I don't?"

"I guess I must be invisible," Ms. Thompson said, as she walked toward the door. She would report Kelly to the principal, Ms. Lovett, on a regular basis, but whenever she did, Kelly would merely be given a warning—as if that would solve anything. After sending her to the principal's office for the third time, Ms. Thompson was told by another teacher that Mr. Davidson donated huge sums of money to the school.

Kelly could see her out the corner of her eye, and she knew where the woman was headed, but it didn't matter. The principal would only give her a warning. Besides, Ms. Lovett receives a nice second salary from her mother for doing her job, and her father donated. Her family practically owned this school, which meant that she was untouchable, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Ms. Thompson kept the door open and ran as fast as she could to the principal's office. Although she knew that reporting Kelly wouldn't help, she had to do something. She couldn't wait for this school year to be over with. Then she wouldn't have to see Kelly Davidson again—at least not in her classroom.

She just hoped that a fight didn't break out in the room while she was gone. She didn't want anyone innocent to get hurt, and as a mother of three, she herself didn't want to get hurt. That was where the principal came in. She was supposed to fix things and make them better instead of letting them go on. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Ms. Lovett wasn't going to help the situation get any better. Maybe something else should be done about this instead.

Davidson or not, Kaci was not going to let anyone disrespect her sister for a second especially when she was around. "You don't want to know, and I won't tell you. You see, I'm not Tammy. I'm not scared of you, but if you want to keep pushing my buttons, go ahead." She walked one step closer to Kelly and whispered, "And I will put you exactly where Tammy is." For a moment, a look of fear settled onto Kelly's face. Tammy was still in the hospital recovering from the car accident, and to receive a threat like this from Kaci Alderson was the last thing that she'd expected to happen.

Then, after regaining her composure, she sat down at her desk and frowned until class was over.
Chapter 20

It had been a long time since Diane had spent some time alone with both of her daughters. Before the divorce, she used to spend a lot of time with them because she didn't have to work as much. Working double shifts and having a second job left her with little time to spend with her children, but she was determined to continue working as much as she possibly could.

Now she had another reason to: she had a grandchild on the way. She wanted to be able to spend as much time as she could with her two daughters before the baby came. She peered into Kaci's bedroom, but she was already asleep. She knew that Cami was still awake because she could hear her laughing.

Upon seeing her mother enter her room, Cami thought she would lecture her about teen pregnancy or something, but she didn't. Instead, she just sat on her bed, ate popcorn, and watched movies with her. They chatted about school, the baby, and their plans for the future.

"I've been researching colleges and scholarships and applying for a part-time job," Cami told her mother.

"Camila, I'm so proud of you." Her mother leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Everything's going to work out."

Their conversation seemed to be going fine until she told Cami that she had an interesting conversation with River earlier that day.

She lowered the volume of the television with the remote control. Then she lay down on her right side facing Cami. "River called today," she started.

"I've been home all afternoon. I didn't hear my cell phone ring," Cami interrupted.

"That's because he called my cell phone."

He told her, didn't he?

"So what did he say?"

Diane paused for a moment before continuing. "That you wanted to give the baby up for adoption." She waited for Cami to say something but she didn't since she was at a loss for words. She'd noticed that her mother didn't look angry, but she didn't look too pleased either.

"You are not going to give up my first grandchild!" Cami was shocked. She thought that her mother would be thrilled if she gave the baby up because of their finances, however, it didn't seem to her that her mother was thinking about their finances at all.

This made her feel relieved. So maybe she could keep this baby without her mother hating her. But was this what was best for the baby?

"So you don't want me to give up this baby?"

"No."

A huge smile spread across her face, and she wrapped her arms around her mother. "I'm so glad that you want me to keep the baby," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Because lately, I've been having second thoughts about the adoption."

Her mother planted a kiss on her forehead and wiped her tear-stained face with a Kleenex.

Without a word, Diane once again wrapped her arms around Cami. She had matured so much in such a short period of time, and she was very proud of her. However, a part of her did feel sad for her daughter because her life was never going to be the same now. The carefree, baby-free life that she used to live would no longer be hers.

It was at that moment that Cami felt something warm fall onto her arm. She pulled away from her mother and saw tears on her beautiful face.

Around one-thirty in the morning, the doorbell rang. They normally didn't have visitors this time of night so Cami's suspicious nature was on high alert. She heard Kaci yell that she would get the door. She was curious to see who this could possibly be, so she followed her little sister downstairs.

Diane was in the shower, so she knew that she probably didn't hear anything.

When Kaci answered the door, she frowned when she saw who was standing in front of them. They didn't speak, and neither did he. Cami was too in shock to speak. Kaci tried to slam the door in his face, but he pushed it open.

"You're not welcome here," she said sternly.

He ignored her statement and asked, "Where's your mother?"

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't need or want you..."

"Who's at the door?" Diane asked as she made her way downstairs in her bathrobe.

A look of anger came across her face when she saw her ex-husband standing at the door. "Rob, what are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

He looked at the ground before replying, "I wanted to talk to you."

"You haven't talked to her in three years, and you're not going to," Kaci said.

"That's her decision," he retorted.

"Who are you to tell me that it's her decision? You're not the man of the house. You haven't been around for three years, and now all of a sudden you want to talk. Talk to the whore you left Mom, Cami, and me for!"

Cami noticed that he was eyeing her stomach. He must have heard the rumors, she thought to herself. She wouldn't be surprised. Everyone else in town knew, and he probably knew, too, before even coming here.

"The rumors are true. You are pregnant," he said, with his eyes glued to her stomach.

"That's none of your business!" Kaci exclaimed.

"Girls, go upstairs. I have something I need to say to this stranger," Diane said.

"Yeah, and I got a whole lot more to..."

"Kaci, go upstairs. Cami, you too," she ordered.

"Mom, don't get soft. Don't let that piece of trash back into our home. He deserted us once and he can do it again," Kaci said. "The more you do it the easier it becomes, right, stranger?"

Diane had always admired Kaci's strength and outspoken nature. Perhaps if she were more like her, she wouldn't be willing to listen to whatever garbage her ex-husband was about to feed her. Although he had hurt her deeply, a part of her still loved him. He was her first love and the father (although he didn't act much like one since their divorce) of their two daughters.

Her mother's instinct told her that Cami and Kaci were upstairs in their rooms eavesdropping while her woman's intuition told her that listening to Rob was going to be a waste of time.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Talk," she ordered him.

He lowered his voice as low as he could. He tried to sound apologetic, hoping that maybe she would forgive him, but sometimes hoping just isn't enough. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm...sorry, and I didn't mean to hurt you and the girls."

"Yes, you did. You wanted to hurt us. You knew how much we loved you. You knew that, but you didn't care..."

"I didn't care then, but I care now."

She shook her head. "No, you don't. You don't care. If you cared, you wouldn't have left us. Getting between another woman's legs was more important to you than your wife and your two kids. You made the choice to leave, and you're going to stay out."

"I've changed..."

"I don't care."

"Diane, you and the girls need me."

That statement made her angry. She had accomplished a lot since the divorce. She was still working two jobs and overtime whenever she could. Although there were times when she wasn't sure how she and the kids were going to get by, they did. They had managed to get by just fine without him, and they would continue doing so. "Have I called you? No, I have not. You wanted to be with her so go, and don't ever come back."

"Wait... I don't have a place to stay. Sh—she kicked me out."

"Not my problem," Diane said, and then slammed the door in his face.

Cami and Kaci watched out of Cami's bedroom window as he walked to his car with his head hung low. Now he knew how it felt to have loved and lost.
Chapter 21

Rob had a feeling that Diane would reject him, but it was a chance that he had to take. He missed his family and was homeless since his mistress had kicked him to the curb. But he didn't love her. She was just a mere plaything for his amusement.

He had met her while she was standing outside his office one late afternoon. They went out for drinks at a local bar, and a few hours later, he found himself sleeping with her in an upscale hotel room. He continued seeing her while hoping that Diane would never find out about them.

Although he loved his wife, he loved the sex, material things, and money that he could get from his mistress. He tried to be as discrete as possible. Before his wife would return home from work, he would shower and delete text messages and phone calls.

Despite all of that, Diane began to suspect that something was going on. She had noticed that he was acting strangely. Whenever she tried to make love to him, he would act as if he wasn't interested. She did not want to believe that her husband of thirteen years could be having an affair, but she knew that something was wrong.

Late one night she followed him to the most expensive restaurant in town. She couldn't make out who the woman was, but she got a good look at the man who seemed as if he couldn't get enough of this other woman—her husband. She watched them enter and exit the restaurant. He was grinning from ear to ear and looking happier than she had seen him in months. It stung her heart to see the man that she loved lock lips with the other woman. Her emotions wanted to display themselves, but she fought back the tears, swallowed hard, and forced herself to watch her cheating husband's every move. The cheating twosome got into the woman's vehicle and made their way to her apartment. Diane watched as Rob and the homewrecker made their way into the apartment. Rob grabbed the woman's butt and fondled her breasts before she had even unlocked the door. He did not make it home to his family that night.

After witnessing all of this with her own eyes, she knew that her marriage was over. She had told Rob countless times that if he ever cheated it would be over, and she refused to go back on her word. Counseling wouldn't be of any help. She didn't want someone telling her to give a cheater another chance because she had made up her mind.

Less than twenty-four hours later, she went to the courthouse and filed for divorce. Diane confronted Rob about the affair, and he denied it at first. After she showed him the pictures that she had taken of him and the other woman together, he finally confessed. She shoved the divorce papers in his face and told him to sign it. Initially, he didn't want to sign the divorce papers, but after several weeks of listening to Diane constantly yell at him about being a cheater and how she didn't trust him anymore, he convinced himself that maybe it would be better if they were no longer together.

After the divorce, his daughters sided with their mother and showed their disapproval of him choosing his mistress over them. Cami avoided him, and Kaci had told him that he was no longer her father and that she didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Before the affair, Rob was not "father of the year", but in his eyes, he did the best that he could do for his daughters. He had his own business selling medical supplies to hospitals and clinics. His business was very successful, but it required him to spend a great deal of time away from his family.

When the girls were young, he missed out on many precious moments with them. Diane was really the one who cared for their growing daughters while he was away on business.

After the divorce was final, he discovered that his business partner had stolen money from the business. Without enough money to fund operations, he closed his business and became penniless. He hadn't saved much money, and the little money that he had saved, he spent it trying to impress his mistress. After losing his only job, he relied on her to support him, but he could tell that she was slowly but surely growing bored of him. Now that they were living together, there wasn't any need to hide their relationship from his wife. Their sex life also took a dramatic hit. It wasn't as spontaneous as it once was. She wasn't even home most of the time because she was always away on what she called "business trips". Rob had a sneaky suspicion that these were a little more than business trips. She only stayed at the apartment once or twice a week. Before his divorce, she was with him more often than she was away on business, so he knew that something was going on.

Eight months later he found himself regretting the decision he had made. Meeting this woman, whom he blamed for breaking his family up, was one of the worst things that had ever happened to him. He wished he had never met her. He wanted to be back in the king-sized bed that he had once shared with Diane. He missed waking up to feeling her in his arms each morning. The feeling of her soft, velvety skin against his was enough to make him feel like a happy school boy inside. He wanted to spend more time with his daughters. His sweet, firstborn daughter, Cami was sensitive yet had a good heart, and his youngest, Kaci was stubborn, but more caring than she led on. He missed attending their birthday parties and spending the holidays with them.

He sighed deeply while gazing up at the starless sky. He wanted his old life back instead of this new hell on earth that he had created for himself.

Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. This was all the money he had left, and it would have to go into the gas tank. He had lost his family, home, career, and money. There was nothing else for him to lose. He was sure about one thing: his ex-mistress had another thing coming if she thought that she would just leave him penniless. Because of her, he had lost everything he ever loved, and the least she could do was repay him all of the money he had spent on her.

He took one more look at his former home before driving to the homewrecker's apartment. With his hands planted firmly on the steering wheel, his mind formulated a plan. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

As he continued to make his way down the road she lived on, he noticed two figures inside her car. The windows were fogged up, so he couldn't tell if it was really her or not, but he knew that it was. She was a wild woman who loved to have sex anywhere and anytime. No place was off limits for her. The sight of this made him angry. What if she had been seeing this other guy all along? He beat the steering wheel with his fists without sounding the horn. How could he have been so stupid?

The affair wasn't worth losing his family over, but now it was too late. The only thing of value that he had to his name was his black Mercedes, and luckily he had paid it off while he was living on top of the world. However, he still needed a job to pay for the car insurance each month not to mention a place to live.

His red eyes fell onto her car once again. He could now hear moans coming from inside.

He knew that his plan was not the best one, but he did not want to live in his car. This was such a far cry from the millions he once made. He closed his eyes and imagined himself at home with his family, but the sound of his ex and her new lover's loud moans found their way into his ears.

He knew that what he was about to do wasn't right, but he decided to do it away. While she was occupied, he quietly walked past her vehicle and toward her apartment door. He had given her the key when she asked for it, but she didn't know that he had a spare key made.

He looked over his shoulder to see if they were still inside her vehicle. They were. Then he tried to insert the key into the door, but it wouldn't fit. The locks had been changed. He glanced over his shoulder once more. The lovers were still occupied. Then he turned the knob and hoped that the door was unlocked. It was, and he quickly made his way inside. He was in luck, and he knew that he would have to make this trip count.

It was time to do what he came here for.
Chapter 22

School was a place that Cami didn't want to be this morning. Despite some of the positive things that pregnancy was doing to her body, such as increased hair and nail growth, it also had its negatives. She was critical of the several pounds she had gained within the last several months. As a result, she was always trying to wear loosely-fitted clothing that would hide her weight gain. She had not received much sleep due to her constant vomiting trips to the bathroom, and she could never seem to sleep more than three hours at a time. She was exhausted and cranky; all she really wanted was to sleep soundly in her cozy bed.

"Where have you been?" Marissa asked when she saw her at her locker.

"At home, sleeping—or at least wishing that I could. Where have you been?"

"Here, wondering where you've been."

Cami flashed a smile. "It's nice to know that you care."

"Mind if I touch your stomach?" Marissa eyed her growing abdomen. She felt the need to touch her best friend's stomach, partly because it reminded her of a past horrific incident that had occurred to her a few years earlier—one that Cami knew nothing about.

"No, I don't mind."

"Aw. This is so cool! Your stomach's so hard."

"Yeah, I know."

"It must be the baby's head."

"No, I don't think it's that big."

Cami suddenly felt the urge that she felt every morning. She dashed into the girls' restroom but only to find Leena and a group of her friends crowding it. If they didn't get out of the way, she was going to vomit on somebody's shoes.

"Excuse us," Marissa said politely.

"Excuse you and Pregnant Girl," Leena retorted, not even bothering to bat an eyelash their way. As badly as Cami needed to get into a stall, she couldn't. Neither Leena nor her friends would move.

"So you and your stupid friends aren't going to let us use the restroom?" Cami asked angrily.

"No, Pregnant Girl. Why should we?"

She didn't want to do it, but she couldn't help it. She leaned forward and puked all over Leena's designer stilettos.

Marissa chuckled as Leena watched on in horror. "This wouldn't have happened if you and your idiot friends had moved out of the way."

Leena's mouth fell open for a split second, but she quickly regained her composure. Then, her face formed a look of disgust mixed with hatred that Cami hadn't seen before. It was a look that almost frightened her. "Who the hell are you to...to call me an idiot?" She looked as if she could strangle Marissa, but she didn't seem to be worried.

"I called your friends idiots, not you, but I guess you didn't quite catch that."

Leena crossed her arms and clenched her jaw. It was apparent to everyone there that she was angry. Marissa noticed, but remained calm despite the storm that was brewing in front of her.

"I want you and that pregnant pig to get out of here now," Leena said between clenched teeth. Cami had always been slender and being called a "pig" really bothered her. She'd never had any sort of battles with her weight. Although she wasn't fat, even with the weight gain, it made her feel even more self-conscious than before.

"We're not leaving until we're ready," Marissa said while standing in front of Leena.

A tall brunette with bangs got in between the two girls and said, while facing Marissa, "You should just leave and take Cami with you. Your presence isn't doing Leena any good anyway."

Cami could clearly see that Marissa was trying to remain calm despite the fact that she was dealing with these selfish, self-centered girls. She wiped her face clean with a damp paper towel and washed her hands. Then she walked by Leena and whispered to Marissa, "Ready when you are."

Although it was a whisper, Leena heard it and wasn't going to miss the opportunity to butt in. "Yeah, leave. Go, Pregnant Pig," she said as she rolled her eyes. She hated them both and wanted them gone. Although she and Marissa used to party together, she hated her more than Cami. She blamed Marissa for her brother's suicide. She knew the girl hadn't killed him, but she might as well have. Cami hadn't ever done anything mean to her—not that she knew of. But she was a goody-goody who never did anything wrong. Plus, she was Marissa's best friend, and anyone who was a friend of hers was an enemy of Leena's.

Cami had had enough of people belittling her. She had to deal with Tammy telling everyone at school that she was pregnant, and she had to deal with being called cruel names on a regular basis at school. Her mother found out that she was pregnant before she could tell her. River now hated her for wanting to give their baby up for adoption. She had had to deal with so much, and she was tired of it. "If I were you, I'd get the puke off my shoes. You smell terrible," she heard herself say bravely.

Marissa turned to look at her. This was the second time that Cami had stood up for herself. First she had done it with Tammy, and now with Leena.

Leena glanced down at her puke covered shoes. This was all Cami's fault. If she just would've used another restroom, this never would have happened. She lifted her right leg to kick Cami with her vomit-covered shoe, but before she could, her other leg slipped out from underneath her. "This is all your fault!" she screamed, while pointing at Cami. "Hey, someone help me get up. Now!" Two girls practically ran to her side and offered their help to their so-called friend.

"Sure hope she pays you guys for that or at least says 'thank you'," Marissa mumbled.

Leena gave the small crowd a look that specified that someone should do something. "Oh, just get out of the bathroom," a girl stated as she made a shooing motion with her hands.

Gladly.

Without another word, Cami and Marissa exited the restroom. She didn't intend to do it, but it felt so good to puke all over Leena's shoes.

Cami was so relieved when the bell rang for lunch. She was starving! She had no idea what was on the lunch menu, and she didn't care. She just wanted some food!

"Slow down," Marissa chuckled. "No one's going to steal your chicken wings or your mashed potatoes."

"I bet they're all too scared to," Cami said with a mouthful of potatoes.

"Probably are," she agreed, staring into the distance. Cami's eyes followed her gaze and she soon saw why. Sitting across the lunch room with her little sister was Skylar Caldarelli. She knew that Kaci had been best friends with him since they were kids, but she didn't know much about him, other than what she had observed whenever she saw him at their house which wasn't often because her mother didn't allow boys over the house unless she was there. There was one thing that she did notice about him: he was a gentleman. He always opened doors for Kaci, and he was always very polite. He seemed like a nice boy, but then again, all boys seem nice—or at least some of them.

She watched Kaci laugh at something that Skylar said. Watching them reminded Cami of herself when she was dating River. Her eyes glued themselves to Skylar. There was something about the way that he looked at Kaci...

"Are they dating now?" Marissa asked, while checking her cell phone for new texts.

"I don't think so," Cami replied.

"He's one of the good guys," she said matter-of-factly.

Cami pointed at her stomach. "Look at what the guy who I thought was good did to me."

"Are you worried about her?"

"It's not really her. It's him." She knew that Marissa probably knew more than what she was saying. She always had her ears glued to the halls for the latest gossip.

As if reading Cami's mind, she said, "I haven't heard much about him, but he's a really nice guy." She went onto say that she had once dated one of his relatives, and they frequented Skylar's home on a regular basis. Whenever she would come over, he would greet her, but didn't say much after that. However, he did become more comfortable around her after he got used to her being around. But the juiciest part of it all was that several months ago, he revealed to Marissa's now ex-boyfriend that he had a serious crush on his best friend.

"I knew it!" Cami exclaimed. "He has a crush on her."

"You can't be too sure about that," Marissa said in a low voice.

"Why not?"

"He does have other friends, and some people have more than one best friend. So how can you be sure that it's her?" Marissa was right. She couldn't be sure about that.

Marissa excused herself to get an ice cream sandwich. She didn't quite look like herself while she was telling her about Skylar. She looked a little sad. Could she have a crush on Skylar? He was very attractive, but he was younger than her, and Marissa didn't date younger guys. So maybe she didn't have a crush on him.

When Marissa made it back, she still looked sad.

"Are you okay?" Cami asked her.

"Yeah," Marissa mumbled.

Cami could tell that she was lying. Something was wrong; she just didn't know what it was. She couldn't believe that Marissa wouldn't tell her what was bothering her because they had always told each other everything.

But everyone had secrets.
Chapter 23

Tears came to Marissa's eyes as she thought about the life she once had. She didn't want to blink for fear the tears would begin to fall. She continued to stare up at the star-filled night sky with her sorrowful brown eyes. She wanted to forget about her past, but as soon as she tried to push the memories to the back of her mind, something would always make them rear their ugly head once more.

Three years ago, at the age of fourteen, Marissa was a wild, out of control teenager who loved to drink and have sex. She never thought about the consequences of her actions. She didn't care. She was living in the moment.

"Pass me the beer!" she shouted to one of the guys at the party. He handed her a bottle of beer, and she gulped it down like a pro, as the crowd cheered her on.

"Give it up for the girl!" Leena cheered.

"Third round?" the same guy asked her.

"Yeah," she replied feeling tipsy.

Marissa closed her eyes, trying to shut out the painful memories, but to no avail. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she thought about herself taking another drink.

Leena's living room was so crowded that she found it hard to breathe with all of the hot and heavy bodies around her. She slowly made her way through the crowd of people and upstairs into the hallway that led to the bedrooms. She let her left hand roam the wall for a light switch and was pleased when she finally found one. All she really wanted was to find a bedroom so that she could sleep for the rest of the night.

Unbeknownst to her, someone had followed her.

"You like to drink, huh?" a voice asked her from behind. She turned around to face him.

"Duh! Who doesn't?"

A sly smile crossed the young man's face as he eyed Marissa. He was in the mood to have fun, and he hoped that she would have fun on the ride he was about to take her on.

He began to gently stroke her arm. Without giving it much thought, she pulled him to her and kissed him, and soon afterward, he carried her into the bedroom. They made out for several minutes, and then she fell onto the bed. "I'm soo tirred," she slurred, just as the guy began to kiss her neck. After that, everything faded to black.

The next morning she awoke in a room she was not familiar with. She remembered the party and drinking until she nearly passed out, but she did not remember coming into the bedroom. It didn't take her long to realize that there was a naked guy in the bed with her, but that wasn't unusual. She slowly got out of bed, put her clothes on, and made her way home.

Her mother was not pleased at all when she saw her. She knew that Marissa had been at a stranger's house drinking and having sex.

She hadn't been the same since her father passed away. She had always been daddy's little girl, and her mother knew that she missed him terribly and was still grieving.

Whenever her mother would tell her that she couldn't have dessert, she would always run to her father. After her mother was asleep, he would give her a pack of candy or brownies. She feared that Marissa would grow up to be a spoiled brat since her father spoiled her so much. But as she got older, she never changed. She was still the same sweet, humble, and grounded girl whom her mother fell in love with the moment she saw her in the hospital after giving birth.

But the Benson household would soon be filled with sadness. A few months after Marissa's fourteenth birthday, her father was killed by a drunk driver. That very night Marissa stayed up and cried alone in her room for hours. Her mother tried to comfort her, but she insisted on being left alone. Christina allowed her to miss several days of school to grieve, but the next week she had to return. When she did, she didn't tell anyone about her father passing away—not even Cami. She just couldn't bring herself to talk about it.

Shortly afterward, she began attending parties. It was there that she experienced things that a fourteen-year-old child should never experience: alcohol and sex. Leena Davidson ran into her at a friend's party and was quick to invite Marissa to her parties. With all of the late night partying that she was doing, she began to arrive at home past her curfew. It started with her arriving home at eleven at night, but that quickly turned into five in the morning. This caused her mother to be constantly worried about her. She was always fearful that something bad would happen.

Marissa used to be such a good girl. What happened to my baby? Christina thought. She feared that her baby was a sex crazed alcoholic. Marissa had a serious problem, and she knew that she had a problem, but worst of all, she didn't care. Her mother tried to get her to attend AA meetings. She attended a few, but soon after, she stopped. She didn't want to change, but soon she would.

It was a cold, stormy Saturday night. Her mother went grocery shopping, which meant that she would have the entire house to herself.

The doorbell rang.

It was one of the guys from the party. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before. "I need to call my friend, but I don't have any service on my cell phone," he had told her.

"You can use mine. I still have service."

As he made his way into her mother's house, she saw a sly smile appear on his face. Where have I seen that smile before? She rubbed her head trying to think, but before her brain could process the memory, she felt a hard, blunt object connect to the back of her head.

When she awoke, she was on the floor in the living room covered in her own blood. The cool air made contact with the open wound on the back of her head and her naked lower body. She looked over her shoulder to see that the front door was ajar. She wanted to run to the neighbor's house for help, but she didn't feel as if she had the energy to do so. Her head was throbbing with pain, and her lower body ached. She lifted her head high enough to see that the undergarments and jeans that she had been wearing were ripped and covered in blood.

Her eyes stayed locked on her bloody clothing. She knew what had happened to her, but she didn't want to believe that it was true. She tried to bring herself to stand up, but couldn't. She turned herself onto her stomach. Then she got onto her knees, and shakily stood up. She looked down to see blood trickling down her legs. She began to cry uncontrollably. Her entire body was shaking, as her legs tried their hardest to hold her steady. She screamed for help, but no one could hear her. As hard as she tried to stand, it just wasn't enough. She collapsed on the hardwood floor.

Her mother took her to the hospital and had Marissa examined, tested for STDs, the works. While she was in the hospital, she began to think about her father and what he would've wanted. If he were still alive, she wouldn't have done any of those things. He wouldn't have allowed her to stay out all night, attend parties, drink alcohol, or have sex.

Although he was no longer with her, she still wanted to make him happy. She made a decision to stop doing all of the things that not only would've hurt him but was hurting her mother, too.

Several weeks after the rape, Marissa continued to keep the promises that she had made to herself. She was no longer a wild, out-of-control, drunk, party girl. Instead, she was the smart, brave girl that her mother always knew her to be. She later received a surprise phone call from Leena. "Do not bring your sorry ass back to my parties." Leena's voice sounded cold and unforgiving, as if there was more that she wanted to say, but Marissa had closed that chapter of her life, so she didn't care how Leena was feeling.

As she continued to recall these hurtful events, she found herself hating Leena. If she hadn't worn her brother's plaid shirt to school today, she wouldn't have nearly lost it in front of Cami. She never wanted Cami to find out about any of this. She wanted it to stay hidden in the past, along with the memories of Leena's brother.

Marissa never mentioned anything to anyone about her ordeal other than her mother—not even Cami. At school, most of the people who she had partied with didn't even bother to speak to her now. She later found out that it was because Leena blamed her for her brother's suicide. But why would she do that? Why would Leena blame her for something like that? She felt her heart skip a beat as that sly smile invaded her memory. Suddenly everything began to make sense to her.

The night before when she woke up in the bed, he was beside her. She answered the door for him shortly before she was attacked. Then Leena's brother raped her. However, these discoveries did not mean that her troubles were over. Marissa was pregnant, and she knew that the baby's father could only be one person.

Against her mother's wishes, she got an abortion.

She cried even harder now. It hurt to know that she had killed her own child. It wasn't something that she wanted to do. She just felt like she had no other choice. If she could go back and change what she had done, she would. She would've given birth to the baby and then possibly give him or her up for adoption, or maybe she would have even decided to take care of the baby herself.

She closed her eyes off to the world around her. If only she would have made different choices.
Chapter 24

Cami stood near the door to Kaci's room. She knew that her younger sister was a smart girl. She may even be smarter than her when it came to boys, but she didn't want her little sister to make the same mistake that she'd made. Skylar may have seemed like the ultimate gentleman, but he was still a boy. Plus, she had the sneaky suspicion that he wanted to be more than just friends with her.

She knocked on her door. Kaci answered with a tube of lip gloss in her hand. She greeted Cami with a hug and then returned to applying her makeup. Cami observed her ensemble: black skinny jeans with a red blouse, a striped black and white blazer, and black flats with studs to top it all off.

Cami was curious. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready."

"Are you going on a date?" Cami inquired as she watched Kaci apply her make up.

She could tell that Kaci was becoming agitated with her. "No, Skylar and I are just going to the mall to hang out," she replied with a scowl.

"What are you guys going to be doing, exactly?"

She shot Cami a look as her reply.

Cami knew that this next question would probably make her angry, but she had to take that chance. She wanted to know how far they had gone with each other, and she wanted to save her from whatever he was offering.

"Has he touched you?"

"What?!" She swung around in disbelief with her mouth halfway open.

"Have you guys had sex?"

"No, Cami! We're friends, and we're not together. What's wrong with you?"

"I know that you think Skylar's a nice guy, but that's how boys get you. They..."

"No! Maybe that's how River got you, but things are not like that between Skylar and me. Gosh! Have girls these days had so much sex that they don't know what a friendship between a guy and a girl is anymore?"

"Kaci, I'm trying to help you."

"I am not like you, and I never will be! I will never be sixteen and pregnant."

Ouch.

The words stung Cami to the core, and she slowly felt tears come to her eyes.

I am not like you, and I never will be! I will never be sixteen and pregnant.

Seeing that she had apparently hurt Cami's feelings, Kaci quickly apologized, which was something that she didn't do very often. "I'm sorry, Cami. There's no need to worry. That's not going to happen to me because I won't let it. You know me."

"I just don't want th-this to hap-pen t-t-to you," Cami said with her face now covered in tears.

"Come here," Kaci said. Cami did as she was told, and she took her in her arms while they sat on her bed. "Cry baby," she mumbled as she held her older sister in her arms and wiped away her tears.

Cami cleared her throat while was still in her arms. "This isn't what I wanted. I get dirty looks from people at school. Leena and her stupid friends wouldn't even let me get to a toilet to vomit..."

Leena and her stupid friends wouldn't even let me get to a toilet to vomit... Those words echoed in Kaci's head like none other she had ever heard before. That bitch!

Later that evening Cami awoke in Kaci's bed. She looked from side to side in the bed, but Kaci was nowhere in sight. She could still smell perfume in the room, so she knew that it hadn't been long before she left.

Cami sighed as she thought about what Kaci and Skylar could be doing together. She said that they were going to hang out at the mall, but that could always turn into a quick "let's run by my place" type of thing. She knew that her sister was smart, but she didn't trust Skylar. He was still a boy, but as stubborn as Kaci was, she knew that she wouldn't listen.

She looked down at her growing belly. Hopefully, her life would not be one that her baby would have to live.
Chapter 25

A dark figure lurked through the woods hoping to find the target that she had been looking for. The black ski mask, black hoodie, black jeans, and black boots did an excellent job of camouflaging her in the darkness.

She crouched low behind a tree and watched as all of the lights in Leena's house were turned off. The car was sitting in the Davidsons's driveway, and she knew exactly who it belonged to.

Hastiness would result in sloppy work, and failing this mission was not an option. She decided to wait a few hours before making the first move. As the night wore on, fewer people drove down the street. With all of the neighbors seeming to be asleep, she reached into her back pocket and made her way to Leena's car...
Chapter 26

Leena and Kelly never thought that they would have to ride the bus to school. After seeing Leena's vandalized car, they both called their friends and told them that they needed a ride to school. However, everyone they called was either already at school or didn't answer the phone. Their parents weren't home, and they couldn't ask their neighbors because their mother told them to never socialize with them.

While riding the bus to school may seem like a normal thing for school age children to do, it did not seem normal to Leena and Kelly. As soon as the girls stepped onto the bus, a musty, mildew-like smell made its way into their nostrils. Neither girl wanted to touch anything because they feared they would catch something. None of the high school students wanted the girls to sit with them, so they were forced to sit in the front with the younger children.

Although Leena and Kelly were sitting in the front, they could hear roars of laughter coming from the back of the bus. They knew that they were probably the main subject of the laughter, and they didn't like it. But what could they do about it? They were completely out-numbered, so giving losers a piece of their mind was out of the question.

During the entire bus ride to school, they felt completely out of their element and did not want to experience something like this ever again.

Leena and Kelly were the first two high school students to get off the bus. They had never been so happy to see school before in their lives. Both girls breathed in the fresh air. It didn't smell that fresh, but it was a lot fresher than the air on the bus.

Leena pretended to ignore the looks that she and Kelly were receiving from onlookers.

Kelly noticed and tugged on her sister's arm. Leena gave her an irritated look. "Why's everyone staring at us?" she said in a low voice to her sister.

Leena rolled her eyes. "As if you don't know."

Kelly sighed. "This is because of that stupid bus ride, isn't it?"

Leena nodded.

Kelly put her hands over her heart as if she were having a heart attack. "How are we supposed to get home?"

"Hopefully Mom and Dad will come and get us," Leena said hopefully.

"You know they won't," Kelly said in an even lower voice. Many people were walking by them, and she didn't want people to know what they were discussing. Leena quickly caught on and lowered her voice as well.

"Well, we'll have to figure out something because I'm not riding that germ infested piece of crap back home," Leena complained.

Kelly hoped that her older sister would figure something out soon because she didn't want to ride the bus back home, either.

Both girls knew they would be the hot topic for the day, but then again, they were always hot topics. However, this time would prove to be different.

Kaci smiled as she looked at pictures of Skylar and herself on her phone. She had enjoyed hanging out with him the other day.

"Cami thinks you're going to get me pregnant," she shared with him.

His cheeks flushed bright red. "No...no, that's not going to happen."

Truth be told, he actually wouldn't mind marrying and starting a family with her someday. Of course, he didn't tell her any of this because his shyness always got the best of him.

Then she convinced him to go shopping with her, which didn't take much convincing because he loved her so much already. Kaci knew that boys weren't like girls when it came to shopping, so she made a mental note to keep their shopping excursion short and simple. In the end, she chose several long-sleeved shirts and a few pairs of jeans for him. Skylar liked all of them, and Kaci was surprised when he paid for the items. She tried to convince him to let her pay, since she couldn't afford to buy him a gift for his birthday, but he refused.

Afterward, they left the mall and took a walk around the lake, which was several miles away from his parents' house. Kaci loved being by the water, and Skylar knew it.

As soon as she saw the lake, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She then grabbed Skylar by the hand and found a spot near the lake that she liked. He blushed uncontrollably, and Kaci smiling up at him only made it worse. They posed randomly while she snapped away. Her favorites were the ones that she took while they were standing in front of the lake.

As she looked at several more pictures, one caught her attention. It was a picture of him sitting on the grass, staring at the water while the wind blew through his hair. She loved his black hair. He used to wear it shaved close to his head, but he had since grown it out to just above his shoulders. She especially loved it when he would wear his long hair in a ponytail. She loved a lot of things about him, such as the way he smiled, the way he laughed, the way he treated her, and the shape of his lips, although she had never kissed him. She sighed to herself as she began to realize what she was thinking. She couldn't believe that she was thinking these things about him. Skylar was her best friend and would always be just a friend...wouldn't he?

She jumped suddenly when she heard the classroom door slam. It was Kelly, and she had a frown on her face. Kaci heard her mumble something as she walked to her desk.

She didn't know what her problem was, and she didn't care. So far she had been having a great week, and she was not about to let Kelly ruin it.

Once Kelly sat down, she knew that people would either ask her questions or ignore her altogether. Ever since Leena and she had arrived at school, everyone had been acting weird. Normally every morning girls would flock to them to see what new designer threads they were sporting, or try to talk to them so that they could seem cool for a few minutes. People would always snap pictures of them, which made them feel like they were celebrities, but none of these things occurred this morning. Instead, people had been gossiping about them, and many refused to speak to them.

"Kelly, what's wrong?" her friend, Erin asked.

She slung her purse onto her desk.

She really didn't want to talk about it because she still couldn't believe that she had actually ridden a school bus, but she still replied. "Someone vandalized Leena's car, so we were forced to ride that thing they call a bus."

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you're not," Erin said.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "So why didn't you call me back?"

"I did, but you didn't answer," Erin replied.

Kaci's ears were now on alert. What's got her panties in a knot this time? She checked the time on her phone. It was nearly eight-fifteen. Ms. Harris was late, but of course, this was nothing new. She was usually fifteen to twenty minutes late each morning. Sometimes she did not come to class at all, which usually would lead to the students being sent to the gym or getting a substitute teacher. She was a single parent and had a four-year-old son who was very sickly, and had to be hospitalized often. If Ms. Harris couldn't get a babysitter, she would bring her son to class. She would neatly lay his blue and black checkered blanket on the carpet. Then he would sit and play with his toy cars while sitting on it behind her desk.

Ms. Harris had introduced him to Kaci after class one day. His name was Cody, and he was a nice kid. The day Ms. Harris had introduced them, he offered Kaci a chocolate chip cookie that his mom had made. This made her feel a lot better because she had had a tough morning dealing with Kelly. She wasn't quite sure what his illness was, or why he was sick all of the time, but Kaci worried whenever she didn't attend class.

Erin seemed taken aback by Kelly's outburst. "You don't have to be so rude. I was taking a shower, and I called you, but you didn't answer."

Kelly could tell that she had hurt Erin's feelings, but she didn't care. If she would have answered her phone, this wouldn't be happening. "Why should I have answered your call? If you would've answered when I called you the first time, I wouldn't have ridden the bus."

"I was taking a shower, so I didn't hear the phone ring, but after I was finished, I called you back. I would have picked you up, but you didn't answer," Erin said.

"I didn't want to. Like I said before, you should have answered it when I called you the first time," Kelly repeated as she took her nail file out her purse.

Hearing Kelly talk to her this way made her want to end their friendship. Erin shook her head and said, "Forget it, Kelly." She never thought her friend would act this way towards her. She didn't want to believe that Kelly was as self-centered and cold as she was making herself out to be right now.

She allowed herself to be befriended by Kelly, and after two years of friendship (or what she thought was a friendship), she had had enough. She didn't want to do any more of Kelly's dirty work. She didn't want to belittle people and laugh at their pain when she didn't even think it was funny. Now she didn't feel bad for rubbing the inside of a toilet bowl with a cotton swab and rubbing it all over Kelly's pillow.

"Whatever," Kelly said as she rolled her eyes.

Kaci looked at her phone. It was almost eight-thirty, and Ms. Harris still hadn't arrived. She hoped that someone would hear the girls arguing because she was getting tired of hearing Kelly's annoying voice all the time.

The entire classroom was quiet. Everyone was watching Kelly and Erin. It was obvious by the looks that they were giving Kelly that they were on Erin's side. She didn't like that at all because if it weren't for her, Erin would still be what she considered "a nobody".

While Kelly may not have thought that she was out of line, several of her classmates did, and they were quick to let her know it.

"She said she would have taken you to school, but with that bad attitude, I wouldn't take you anywhere," a female student was quick to say.

"That's why your sister's car was vandalized!" another student added.

"Nobody likes you and your sister, anyway. Y'all are just stuck-up rich people," a guy said. He paused for a minute before continuing, "Hey, wait a minute. If y'all are so rich, why are you attending public school? Don't rich people send their kids to private school?"

"Yeah, your parents are lawyers, by the way," another student added.

Leena and Kelly had always wanted to attend a private school, but their parents wouldn't allow them to do so. They had tried explaining to their parents that their classmates did not understand them and that they should be with other creative minds that were more like their own. I'm not supposed to talk to the neighbors, but I have to go to public school, Kelly thought.

She looked over at Erin, who now refused to even make eye contact with her. Somehow she knew their friendship was over. So what if it was over? She didn't need Erin; she would probably be better off without her.

"This is the longest she has ever been quiet," a student whispered to another.

"Kelly, do you like that new bus smell? That you never smelled before. Going all through your nose," a male student sang.

The class erupted in laughter. Kaci even found herself laughing.

The laughter ceased when the door was suddenly opened by Nurse Atkins. She had a diet soda in her left hand and slowly took a sip while eyeing the class suspiciously. "You guys need to learn how to use your inside voices," she said before taking a large gulp of soda. "Your substitute will be here shortly."

"Why can't you teach us?" a male student asked.

"Because I don't have a teaching license or degree."

"You have to have a license to teach? Whose dumb idea was that?" a girl asked.

"I don't know, honey," Nurse Atkins answered. She glanced at her watch, and then said, "I have to go but just remember to use those inside voices." As soon as the door closed, it was as if she'd never opened it.

Everyone turned their attention back to Kelly.

"Stuck-up rich girl," a girl mumbled and rolled her eyes at Kelly.

Kelly had had as much as she could take from these people. She grabbed her purse and stood up.

"Aw. Looks like we made the princess angry," a girl said as she wiped fake tears out of her eyes.

"You people are all acting ignorant, selfish, and childish, and I don't want to deal with you anymore. I'm leaving," she announced.

Several students snickered.

"You guys have been rude to me ever since I got here this morning. You've been using your broken English to insult my intelligence, and I do not appreciate it."

"What the hell is she talking about? Nobody here has used any broken English," a girl said to her friend.

"I don't think you want to go there," Erin said frowning.

Kelly put one of her hands on her hips. "Or what?" she said raising her voice.

"You aren't in a position to call anyone names. After all, you are basically a criminal."

Kelly tried to hide her look of discomfort, but it was very obvious.

"Every time you go to the doctor, you get a prescription and sell it to someone," Erin announced.

Many students gasped.

"You're a drug dealer?" one student inquired.

Kelly's eyes widened. "That's not true!"

"Yes, it is. Whoever is buying those prescriptions from you could have a serious addiction, and you're contributing to the problem. So if someone you sell to dies, then their blood is on your hands."

Kelly rolled her eyes at Erin. "It's not true, and even if it were, it wouldn't be my fault. If they died, it would be their own fault for being an addict."

"But you are the one selling it to them, so you are contributing to the problem," Erin argued.

"Like I said, it would be their fault for being an addict."

There was an unsettling silence in the classroom until Erin broke it. "Kelly, you have a serious problem. You're selfish, and you don't even care if someone dies from medication that you sell to them. You are the lowest of the low, and I don't want to be your friend anymore. I'm sorry, but I can't be friends with someone who does what you do."

"Who cares?" Kelly asked, as she applied lip gloss to her pout. She inserted the wand into the tube and a smirk appeared on her face. "By the way, you look fabulous today." She strutted as she made her way to the door as if she was on a runway. She then turned to face her ex-friend once again before adding, "Of course, you would look so much better in those jeans if you would drop those extra ten pounds."

She had spent enough of her time entertaining these people. It was time for her to leave.

Many students rolled their eyes at Kelly, and some even called her names. Many of them had a newfound hatred for her. Finding out that she sold prescription medication to people and seeing how she'd treated Erin didn't make it any better.

She really did think that she was better than everyone else, with the exception of Leena. She didn't care if she hurt other people, whether it was through selling prescription medication or through the words that she spoke.

She may have sold prescription meds before, but that was in her past. The extravagant life that she lived today provided her with enough luxury that she no longer had to resort to such measures.

Geez, what a bitch, Kaci thought.
Chapter 27

Word traveled quickly around the school that Leena's car had been vandalized and that Kelly had angered many of her classmates.

Kaci texted Cami all of the juicy details, and Cami filled Marissa in on these new developments. While Cami read the texts, she and Marissa couldn't contain their laughter. Neither could the rest of the students.

The vandalism and riding the bus contributed to Leena and Kelly's anger, but that gave them no reason to be so mean and rude to people. They were the most popular girls in school and were used to always getting their way. Cami was actually looking forward to how this was going to play out.

Suddenly she felt something and instantly put her hand on her stomach.

"What's wrong?" Marissa asked, obviously worried.

Then she felt it again.

"The baby's kicking!" Cami finally said.

"Really?" she asked and without much thought, she put her hand on Cami's stomach.

"I felt the baby kick!" she exclaimed. "My little niece or nephew is inside of you. That's so amazing."

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing. Isn't it?"

Baby, soon I will be bringing you into the world. This ice-cold, brutal world.
Chapter 28

It wasn't often that Diane had the entire house to herself. When she did, she enjoyed the peace and solitude, but today was going to be different because she would be enjoying Nurse Atkins' company. It had been a long time since the two women had gotten the chance to chat with one another. Diane had even baked chocolate chip and sugar cookies and made some sweet tea for her insatiable sweet tooth.

About twenty minutes later, she arrived in her husband's black Mercedes. Diane heard her pull up into the driveway as she took the last batch of cookies out of the oven. She hurriedly made her way to the front door, opened it, and watched as the mid-forty-year-old woman clumsily made her way to the front door in her black five-inch stilettos. Now, why is she wearing those shoes? She should be wearing loafers or something more comfortable, Diane thought to herself.

Nurse Atkins paused for a moment to catch her breath before entering the Alderson household. Diane reached out and put her hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Certainly, the walk from the car to the front door couldn't have been that long.

"Oh, yes. I just needed to catch my breath for a minute."

Diane watched a car pass by, and waved.

"And how have you been doing, my sweet apples with sugar lumps?" Nurse Atkins asked, flashing her megawatt smile.

"I've been okay," Diane replied.

"Just okay? The sun is shining. It's a beautiful day, so you should be feeling fabulous and not just okay, darling."

Diane eyed her shoes. "I'll be feeling fabulous when you take those shoes off. I don't want you to break your back in my house." Nurse Atkins didn't hesitate to take her shoes off. She simply kicked them off and laid them beside the door.

Diane closed the door behind her. "What have you been up to?"

"I work, and then I go home when I'm done. My feet are always too tired to do anything else," Nurse Atkins replied, as she followed Diane into the dining room area. The two women sat down at the beautiful glass table to continue their conversation.

"Then why do you wear those heels?"

"Because I'm trying to lose weight."

"What?"

"A high school student told me that she got slimmer legs just by wearing stilettos all the time."

"I don't see any weight for you to lose."

Nurse Atkins pointed to her left arm and held it straight out. Then she shook it from side to side. A slight frown appeared on her face as she watched the jiggling fat on her arm. "I want to get rid of my bat wing fat."

"I have it, too, but it doesn't bother me," Diane added.

"But I don't have the confidence that you have. I just wanted to keep the younger version of my body a little while longer but it's gone. The bat wings have appeared. My boobs are drooping, and my butt, of all my body parts, has gotten bigger!" Nurse Atkins complained. "I've tried diet after diet, but nothing seems to work." She sighed. "You're not supposed to eat much when you're on diets, but I'm hungry all the time."

Diane laid her hand on top of Nurse Atkins hand. "You're beautiful—jiggles and all." The nurse chuckled. "Do you know how many women wish they had a nice body like yours?"

She touched her heart. "Thank you, Diane."

"You're welcome but you do know that you'll be wishing for that body when you're in your eighties," she said.

"Oh, we mustn't think that far ahead!"

Diane sat back in her chair and shook her head. "You know, I don't know why I sat in the dining room when there's sweet tea in the kitchen..." Before she could say anything else, Nurse Atkins jumped up from her seat and entered the kitchen. Diane soon caught up and stood by the kitchen window while her friend helped herself to the tea and cookies.

Although Diane had family members in her hometown of Hattiesburg, her parents never cared much for Rob, and his family had never cared much for her, so they didn't come around Cami and Kaci at all. The only time the girls would see anyone from their father's side of the family was from time to time while they were out and about in town. Now that they were divorced, her girls were all she had.

Following the divorce, her family wasn't involved in her life any more than they had been before. Her parents hardly ever visited her daughters, and the rest of the family was out of the question, mainly because of jealousy and hatred. During many of her relatives' time of need, they had asked Diane for money because they assumed that her husband was wealthy since his parents owned several convenience stores. She had refused to give them any because she didn't have any to give. That caused many of them to get angry with her. She would've helped if she could, but she had a family of her own, bills to pay, and was attending nursing school. But her family didn't care about that. They simply shut themselves out of her life. The only relationships she had were with her daughters and a few close friends.

Her relationship with Cami was tested when she found out she was pregnant. She could've told her to move out of the house, or get rid of the baby, but she didn't do that. She wasn't going to do that to her daughter or her unborn grandchild. Although she was still angry at her for not taking the birth control pills, she loved her daughter and the baby. She was still going to be there for her, no matter what.

Diane was going to be a grandmother in her thirties and that was all there was to it. Although she knew that she should have, she didn't want to discuss her concerns with Cami. They'd have to take the baby to and from the doctor's office and hire a babysitter—not to mention purchasing necessities. Cami getting a part-time job could help with some of the financial stress that the baby was going to cause, but her mother wanted her to focus on her studies. Something that could help them would be having a...

"Baby shower!" Nurse Atkins shouted.

"A baby shower?" Diane repeated. The pitcher containing the sweet tea was running low, so she stood and grabbed the pitcher by the handle and headed to the counter near the refrigerator to make more. Nurse Atkins followed closely behind with a cookie in each hand.

"Yes, a baby shower would be perfect! Everyone could bring things for the baby like..." she paused for a moment. "Is it a girl or a boy?"

"We don't know yet," Diane answered.

"Oh, well. In that case, you could decorate everything in gold!" She looked toward the ceiling for a moment as if trying to think of something else useful to say. "Oh, and it may be better if you didn't use pink or blue since you don't know what the sex of the baby is."

"We should know the sex of the baby before the baby shower."

"I'm sure the baby shower will be quite lovely."

Diane turned her back to the woman and stirred the tea bags in the pot. "But it'll have to be on a weekend that I'm not scheduled to work."

"And what weekend would that be?"

"I'm not working this weekend, but..."

"Fabulous! We can have the baby shower this Saturday."

"Not on such short notice," Diane protested.

"Don't worry. I can handle the invites, the decorations..."

"You can help me if you want, but you don't have to," Diane added. She knew that there was no way that she could back out of having the baby shower this Saturday. However, she was not going to let Nurse Atkins handle everything. This event was for her daughter, and she wasn't going to leave such a big project to someone else. Besides, she would be the only one deciding who would attend, and she would choose the decorations herself.

Diane sighed to herself. This was going to be a long, tiresome weekend.
Chapter 29

The days quickly came and went, and before Diane knew it, she was putting the finishing touches on Cami's surprise baby shower. A few days after she and Nurse Atkins had their chat, she found out that Cami would be having a girl, so everything in the living room, kitchen, and backyard was decorated in pink and yellow. Cami loved bright colors, so her mother knew that she would be happy with the decorations.

She would most certainly be surprised when she returned home with Kaci from a special outing they had together. They had spent the day in the park eating junk food, catching up on the latest gossip, and talking about boys, and the baby. Afterward, they went to the mall and browsed numerous apparel stores and treated themselves to ice cream with extra sprinkles. It had been such a long time since they had spent time like this together, and both girls had really found themselves enjoying each other's company.

Then Kaci received a phone call from their mother. Cami couldn't make out what Diane was saying, but her guess was that it was something funny because of the funny look on Kaci's face.

Several minutes later the girls were on the road making their way back home. Cami couldn't figure out why they were leaving so early. "What's the rush?"

"Mom needs us back home. She has something important to tell us," Kaci explained.

Cami figured that it must be something good for her sister to be smiling so much.

When she arrived at home, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were more cars than usual parked in front of the house and in the grass. It wasn't her birthday, or Kaci's, so she didn't know what was going on. While sitting in the driver's seat of her car, she looked over to Kaci for some type of clue as to what was going on, but she had turned sideways to face the passenger's side window so that Cami couldn't see her face.

Cami rolled her eyes, got out of the car, and slowly made her way to the front door. She was eager to know what her mother wanted to tell them, but she was a little worried as to what it could be. She looked back at Kaci who was still sitting in the car.

"What are you going to do—stay in there all day?" she asked irritably.

Kaci opened the passenger's door and climbed out of the car. "I would, but then I'd never get to see the look on your face when Mom tells you," she said with a smile.

"Tells me what?"

Kaci walked up to her and whispered. "If I tell you this, you have to promise that you won't tell Mom that I told you."

"I promise, so what is it?"

"Mom's pregnant."

Cami blinked several times, and then shook her head as if she couldn't believe that this was happening. "What did you just say?"

"Mom's pregnant," Kaci repeated.

Cami was shocked. How could her mother be pregnant? She didn't even know that she was seeing someone. "So why are all of these cars here?"

"She invited people from work to be here when she made the announcement. Don't you think it's exciting? We'll get to have two babies in the house at the same time."

Cami just couldn't believe what she was hearing. If her mother was having a baby, too, she wouldn't have time to help her with her baby. "I can't believe this," she said in shock.

She turned around, turned the door knob, and stepped inside the house. "Surprise!" everyone shouted. Her mother was smiling as she wrapped her arms around her oldest daughter, but Cami was still trying to process the information that Kaci had told her. "What is this?"

"Your baby shower," Diane replied happily.

"But Kaci told me that you were going to tell everyone that you were pregnant."

Kaci erupted in giggles. "I can't believe that you actually believed me! You should've seen the look on your face," she said while pointing at Cami.

"Kaci, really? I am so going to get you back after I spit this baby out," Cami said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Still chuckling, Kaci said, "Don't you mean after you push, push, push the baby out?"

Cami playfully grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her in for a hug. "You're such a troublemaker, Kaci."

"I had to get you just once."

"Well, I can assure you that I'm not pregnant. Besides, we don't need two crying babies in this house at one time. It'd be enough to make me run away," Diane added.

Everyone laughed.

Cami could feel herself begin to relax. She was so relieved that there weren't going to be two babies in the house at one time. She didn't know if she could handle that.

She loved all of the decorations. Everything was decorated in pink and yellow. There were cupcakes, gifts, and flowers everywhere. She really loved the pink cupcakes that had a yellow heart in the shape of a C on top. There was a three tier banana cream cake sitting on one of the tables that had "Cami and Baby" written on top in pink icing.

Before she sat down to open any gifts, she grabbed a paper plate and began to pile cupcakes and potato chips on it.

Diane raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you should open your gifts first?"

Cami bit into a cupcake. "I guess I could."

"After that, you can have some barbecue ribs, baked beans, and macaroni & cheese."

Cami stuffed the remainder of the cupcake into her mouth.

Kaci eyed all of the food that Cami had piled onto her plate. Since she'd gotten pregnant, she had been eating everything in sight. Kaci was certain that she wouldn't be having children anytime soon or ever.

For the rest of the day, Cami opened her gifts and spent time with her friends and family. The only person that was missing was River. Diane had invited him, but he couldn't make it since he had to work.

She had received enough diapers and formula to last for at least three months. Her mother had given her a crib, baby monitor, and clothing for the baby. She received a bath and body gift set and a gift card from Skylar and his parents. Nurse Atkins also gave her another gift card and several children's books, while she received a gift bag filled with baby products such as lotion, shampoo, and wipes from Marissa and her mother, Christina. All in all, she received a lot of gifts—a lot more than what she or her mother thought she would get.

Later that evening everyone made their way to the kitchen to get some barbecue ribs, baked beans, and macaroni & cheese. There was an overwhelming feeling of love inside the home. Everyone was happy and cheerful. They were celebrating a life that had not yet been brought into this world, and they had also relieved Cami of some of the worries she had.

The formula and diapers wouldn't last forever, but it was a great start, and she was grateful for it. This was definitely a day that she was going to remember for a long time.
Chapter 30

Cami had never known what she wanted to do with her life career-wise, but there was one thing that she was certain of: she didn't want a career in retail.

She hated it when people returned merchandise because she knew there wasn't a guarantee that they would receive their money back, which is what most wanted. Sometimes returns would go smoothly, but other times not so much. There had been many times when customers would try to return merchandise for refunds but had to be turned away because they had waited beyond the store's thirty-day return policy. Not giving them what they wanted would usually result in her being yelled at and the customer angrily leaving the store.

"The longer you work here, the more you'll get used to it," Haylie said to her. But Cami didn't want to. She saw it as wrong for people to yell at her just because she couldn't refund their money. Instead, it was their fault for not looking at the receipt.

Teenage girls who craved the latest fashions trends were the store's primary customers. Being a teenager herself, she knew that most didn't pay attention to the information printed on the receipt. Sometimes she found herself wishing that they would act more like adults instead of spoiled children who couldn't get their way, but this wasn't the only thing that bothered her. She hated constantly taking apparel and shoes out of the dressing rooms, refolding apparel, and bending and stooping to restock the store.

She received a ten percent store discount, but it still wasn't worth everything she had to put up with. This made her want to graduate from high school and college even more because earning minimum wage wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Despite all of that, Cami was grateful for her job. Although there were times she was exhausted, she would push herself to work even harder.

Her eyes focused on the falling raindrops outside while seated behind the cash register.

Haylie always kept a cushioned chair behind the register just for her. She also worked around her schedule for school. It made her happy to know that her manager was so considerate toward her, and it made her realize that there were good people in the world who were willing to help if asked.

"So Cam, would you mind helping me with this?" Haylie asked, while pointing to an opened box of jeans.

"Sure," she replied. She really didn't mind. Working with Haylie was a breeze.

As they folded jeans and laid them on the display table, Cami couldn't help but steal glances at her. She admired Haylie. Having a business in a prime location on Hardy Street and staying on top of the hottest trends made the twenty-four-year-old a self-made millionaire in less than two years. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at a fashion design school in California. While there she learned the basics of sewing, sketching, and how to manage a clothing store. She went on to receive her four-year degree in fashion merchandising. Instead of staying in California, she returned to Hattiesburg, got a loan for her store, and the rest was history. Since then, she had become a regular on the scene who often gave back to charities that benefit children.

She chased after her dream and made it come true. Cami wanted the same thing for herself. Although she wasn't sure what kind of career she wanted, she knew that she would work hard to make whatever dream she chose come true.

Haylie had noticed Cami was watching her earlier, but now she was staring in the distance while folding jeans. She figured that the young expectant mother must have a lot on her mind.

She didn't think twice about hiring her when Cami asked if she was hiring. She just hired her on the spot right then and there without her filling out an application.

What tugged at her heart strings the most was the look that she saw on Cami's face when she came into the store inquiring for job openings. It was a look of sadness, a look of fear. She would never forget the words that the young sixteen-year-old mother-to-be spoke the day she came into the store: "I really need this job because I'm pregnant, but if you don't hire me, that's fine. I just...really need the money for my baby." The words that she spoke were words that a teenage girl should never have to say.

It was clear to Haylie that she was a responsible young woman who was trying to do the best that she could, and she respected her for that.

So far, everything had been working out perfectly fine with her new hire. Cami was always on time for work, and she had a strong work ethic. She never complained when Haylie told her to do something. To put her to the test, Haylie told her to do several tasks, including cleaning the windows, sweeping the floor, and vacuuming the carpet. Most new hires would quit or be fired because they didn't think that it was their job to do such menial tasks. Thankfully, Cami was different.

Although Haylie had a maintenance employee to do those tasks, she always told her new hires to do the same tasks because she wanted them to know that they weren't above performing any job duty in her store.

As she reached down into the box, her hands came up empty. She and Cami had worked much faster than she'd anticipated.

A quick glance over her shoulder revealed that Cami wasn't there. Where could she have possibly gone? Suddenly, the sound of someone panting and shuffling filled her ears. Her eyes darted to the back room area where her inventory, lounge room, and office were. Cami was standing near the door with a box of merchandise on the floor near her feet, with her hands on her knees as she bent over.

"Oh my God! Cami, are you okay?" But before she could respond, Haylie added, "That's it! I'm calling nine-one-one right now!" The first thought that crossed her was that the teenager was about to give birth. The slightest bit of blood made her feel as if she was going to pass out, so there was no way she was going to let Cami give birth in her store. Besides, she wasn't a nurse. What if she delivered the baby and something went wrong? She just couldn't deal with that.

"No...Don't call nine-one-one. I'm...fine," Cami answered without looking up. "The box...was just...so heavy."

Haylie leaned down and laid her hand on the mother-to-be's back. "Are you sure you're okay? Because if not, I can take you to the hospital right now."

"I'm fine...honestly."

Haylie removed her hand from Cami's back and she stood up straight. "From now on, don't carry any boxes. I don't want you or the baby to get hurt." Cami smiled at her remark. Even at her young age, Haylie sounded like a mother—her mother.

Haylie noticed that her panting had slowed down. Although it had decreased, she was now sitting on the floor with her back against the wall with her arms by her side, and her legs outstretched in front of her.

"Can I get you anything? How about water?" Haylie asked.

"Yes, that would be great," Cami replied. A full minute hadn't passed before Haylie had returned with natural spring bottled water for the young girl.

"Thank you," Cami said, as she took the bottled water from her.

Haylie remembered the first time that she had met her.

It was on the day of her grand opening. The turnout had been bigger than she had expected. Amongst the more than two hundred guests who arrived, two people stood out more than anyone else—River and the girl he had arrived with. Haylie had seen her younger cousin with girls before, but there was something about this one that was different.

As she watched them interact with each other more closely, she realized that he must be in love with her. He was acting all lovey-dovey and made sure that she didn't have to lift a finger to get a thing. He even purchased a pair of stilettos and accessories for her at the grand opening.

Haylie chuckled to herself. This girl must really be something because she had never known him to purchase anything this expensive for a girlfriend. The River she knew would've purchased this girl a cheap bracelet if he could find it, and those stilettos that carried a high price tag would've been out of the question. But all of that seemed to have changed somehow.

She had to meet this mystery girl.

She loved River dearly and could relate to him on levels that his friends, or girlfriends, for that matter, couldn't. He was like the brother she never had. Their mothers were sisters, so they spent a great deal of time together as children. His father wasn't around when he was a child, and hers had died in a skiing accident long before she was born. As a child, he would often tell her that he wanted to meet his father. She felt sad for him because his father wasn't making any sort of attempt to get to know him. For fear of hurting him any further, she didn't dare tell him about the conversations their mothers would have about his father.

As she looked at River now, it seemed as if he had overcome all of that and was now in a happy place with his life.

His eyes met hers as she maneuvered her way through the crowd. A wide grin appeared on his face at the sight of the woman he considered his sister. Without saying a word, he grabbed his date's hand and began to make his way to Haylie with the young girl following closely behind his heels.

Once they finally reached each other, they embraced the other as if they hadn't seen each other in ages. Haylie peered at the young girl over River's shoulder and noted to herself that she did not appear to look angry at their embrace. In fact, she was smiling, and it wasn't fake, but sincere. Haylie was relieved, not for the girl, but for herself.

At the age of seventeen, she was punched in the nose by River's then girlfriend, Jenny. Apparently, Jenny had witnessed him hug Haylie while they were at the mall. After punching her, River ran to his cousin's aid.

"Get away from her!" Jenny demanded.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! She's my cousin!" River shouted.

"It doesn't matter who she is. I don't know her."

River didn't have to think twice about the decision he was about to make. "It's over, Jenny!"

Jenny had never apologized to Haylie.

He noticed that she had been staring at the young girl, and he quickly reassured her that his date wasn't crazy like Jenny. With an extended arm, the young girl introduced herself as "Cami". As Haylie shook her hand, she began to feel drawn to her. There was just something about her that she loved, and that was still true to this day.

The sound of a customer entering the store startled both women. Haylie extended her arm out to help Cami get up. Then she turned her head slightly and said, "Welcome to Haylie's Fashion Paradise."

From a distance, the young woman looked familiar, but with her head hung low, Cami couldn't see her face very clearly.

"I'll take this one," Cami said, with her eyes still on the young woman.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Haylie asked, eyeing her.

"Yes, I'll be fine. After I'm done, I'll help you restock."

"If you say so," she heard Haylie say as she began to make her way to the register. As she got closer to the woman, she realized that she had been crying. Then her eyes suddenly caught onto something that the woman was carrying. She was clenching, in one hand, a brown teddy bear with red feet as if someone might try to take him away from her, and carrying two bags with store merchandise in the other.

"How may I..." Cami started, but paused. Now she understood why the woman looked so familiar. It was Tammy.

Although the girl had been mean to her in the past, she felt sorry for her. Her hair was disheveled; her face had mascara-stained tear marks everywhere. Cami wasn't sure if she was seeing things correctly or not, but she thought she saw what appeared to be cutting marks on one of Tammy's arms near her hand. Now aware of her staring, Tammy began to feel uncomfortable and turned around, as if she were about to walk out of the store.

"No, Tammy wait," Cami heard herself say.

She was the last person that Tammy expected to see. She didn't want to be in the presence of someone who she knew didn't like her. Then again, she had done and said some horrible things to Cami, so maybe she deserved to hate her. She looked toward the door and saw her mother sitting in the car, anxiously waiting for her. She knew that if she tried to return to the car with the bags, her mother would make her come back inside the store.

Cami watched as she debated whether or not to return to the car. Then she slowly turned to face Cami.

"I need to return these," she said in a low voice that Cami could barely hear.

"Okay. I'll get you at the first register."

While she took the clothing out of the bags, she realized that they were infant clothing. This made her begin to feel sorrow for Tammy all over again. She was returning all of the infant clothing that she couldn't use.

"Do you have your receipt?"

Without a response, she pulled a long, white receipt out one of her back pockets and handed it to Cami. The young cashier looked at the receipt, and then excused herself and made her way toward Haylie.

Tammy had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that she wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible. Every inch of it reminded her of the baby she no longer had. Then her eyes settled on Cami who was busy talking to Haylie.

She could feel herself becoming overwhelmed with emotions. She didn't know if she was going to cry or scream, but she had to get out of this place. The pink and white polka dots in the clothing section for infants that read "Congrats...It's a Girl!" were starting to make her feel nauseated.

She had made up her mind. If Cami was continuing her conversation with the manager, she was going to leave. When she looked over her shoulder toward her, she saw that she was now making her way back with Haylie following closely behind.

"Okay," Cami began once she had reached the register, "your thirty days are up to return the merchandise..."

"Great. Just great," Tammy interrupted, feeling herself getting upset all over again.

"I wasn't finished," Cami added.

"What could you possibly say that would make me feel better?"

"We're going to overlook that and give you your money back."

"Really?"

"Yes," Haylie answered. "I wasn't going to do it at first, but after Cami begged me to, I thought I'd let it slide just this once."

Tammy couldn't believe it. The girl whom she had been horribly mean to was actually doing something nice for her. She suddenly found herself feeling remorseful for everything she had done to her. She didn't deserve any of that. If anyone deserved it at all, it was Leena and Kelly.

"Do you still want to return these items?" Cami asked.

Tammy nodded. She wanted to thank Cami, but she didn't think her voice would allow her to speak.

"Okay, just give me a minute or two." She noticed that Tammy hadn't let go of the teddy bear. Although it wasn't any of her business, she wanted to ask her about it but declined. Her face was a telltale sign of the pain that she was feeling, and she didn't want to cause her any more pain.

As she diligently worked, she could feel her baby begin to kick. They were light and subtle, but she knew that the baby was awake all the same.

"Okay," Cami began as she refunded Tammy's money, "Twenty...forty...sixty..." As she counted the money, she couldn't help but notice Tammy's facial expression. She looked as if she might burst into tears at any minute. As soon as Cami handed her all of the cash, she shoved it into one of her back pockets.

"Thank you for shopping at Haylie's Fashion Paradise, and Tammy...I hope you have a really nice day."

Tammy made herself make eye contact with Cami. "Thank you, but...I just...don't think I'll ever have a nice day ever again without her."

In response, Cami walked out from behind the counter and made her way toward the young woman. She hadn't experienced a loss as great as Tammy's, and she was aware that there was probably nothing that she could say to make her feel better, but she was going to try.

Standing in front of her, Cami gently placed her hand on Tammy's arm. Tammy could feel fear wash over her. She didn't understand what Cami was doing. She had never touched her before. The only thing that she could think of was that she must be trying to take the bear away. As a result, her grip tightened around it. Then, Cami lifted her arm with the bear in hand and pressed it to Tammy's heart. "She'll always be in your heart..."

"How touching," Leena said as she eyed them. "I see you've finally decided to come out of hiding," she added, referring to Tammy.

Tammy stood frozen while facing Cami. Cami just stood there shaking her head. She hadn't even heard Leena enter the store.

"I guess you interrupted something," Kelly said, as she popped her gum.

Leena flinched. "Well, what do ya know? I guess I did," she said with a chuckle.

"Probably wasn't important, anyway," Kelly mumbled.

Haylie couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing as she marched over to the girls. She was not a fan of Leena or Kelly. In the past, she had told them repeatedly to not enter her store. They only belittled people and caused trouble, and she didn't allow people to do that in here. She didn't understand why they even bothered to enter because they never even purchased anything.

"It's time for you guys to leave now," she said while facing Leena and Kelly.

"What if we don't want to leave?" Leena asked as she applied lip gloss. Haylie knew that she was only trying to push her buttons, but instead of letting her temper get the best of her, she remained calm.

"Then I'll call the cops."

"And what are they supposed to do to us? I'll tell you what...absolutely nothing. So you would be wasting your time."

Now she was starting to feel as if she were being bullied in her own store, and she didn't like that. She didn't like bullies; it was time for them to get out. "Either you get out of my store, or I'll make you."

Leena shrugged. "Make us."

Without another word, Haylie dashed to her office.

Cami watched her run back to her office, and then turned around to face Leena and Kelly. "You really need to leave now."

"And what is she going to do—shoot us?" Kelly joked.

"It's your funeral," Cami mumbled.

Although she said it in a low tone, Kelly heard it, and it made her feel uncomfortable. The thought of death bothered her. She wasn't ready to die. There were just too many stores she hadn't shopped in and too many countries she hadn't visited. "Let's leave," she said, tugging on Leena's arm.

"What for? She's not going to do anything," the girl's older sister said. Leena was not going to let Haylie scare her out of the store. She was beneath her for all Leena cared, and even if she did try something, she would call the cops and have her arrested. She was a Davidson, and she could have and do anything she wanted.

"Let's just leave and go shopping somewhere else," Kelly said. "This place is a dump."

"Fine," Leena said while casting a look at Tammy. "But I'll be expecting to see you at..."

"Get out now!" Haylie shouted as she marched towards the girls with a baseball bat.

Everyone turned to look at her. Leena smirked. She thought she would have a gun. What harm could she do with a baseball bat?

The elder Davidson sister boldly reached out and pulled a strand of Haylie's hair. Without hesitation, Haylie got into her batter up position and hit Leena in her left knee. She instantly let out a yelp of pain and fell to the floor, with both hands clenching her knee.

Cami and Tammy could only stand in awe as they watched the scene unfold in front of them, while Cami made a mental note to never get on Haylie's bad side.

"You are crazy!" Kelly exclaimed. "Look at what you did to her!" She grabbed one of Leena's arms and tried to pull her up to her feet, but she was in so much pain that she didn't want to get up. She winced at the pain that was shooting through her knee.

Although she was in a great deal of pain, she knew that she had stayed long past her welcome—or unwelcome, that is. Never in a million years did she think that Haylie Miller would do something like this to her. Like all people who did harm to her, she was going to get her back one way or another, but it wasn't going to be today. She was in too much pain for that.

She held her breath as she slowly rose to her feet, but she quickly found that she wouldn't be able to use her left leg while walking. She quickly put one of her arms around Kelly to steady herself. Neither Leena nor Kelly said a word as they made their way to the exit.

"And don't ever come back, because if you do, you'll lose both knees," Haylie called after them. No one had ever made her as angry as the Davidson sisters had.

It was at that moment that she looked around her store to see if any other customers were there. Only Cami, Tammy, and she were there. With that, she found herself happy because she probably would've scared the other customers away. She hoped that she hadn't scared Cami and Tammy too much.

Leena cast one more look in Haylie's direction before exiting the building. She wasn't ever going to forget this or let it go. Whenever someone hurt her, she always made it her mission to return the favor.

She was going to make Haylie Miller pay dearly.
Chapter 31

At twenty-eight weeks pregnant, Cami was more sleep deprived than she had ever been in her life. She took a trip to the doctor at least once a week, studied often, and worked part-time at Haylie's Fashion Paradise.

Cami hadn't given birth to her baby yet, but she was excited nonetheless. The day she found out that she was having a girl was one of the happiest days of her life. River wasn't the first person she called, but he didn't waste any time joining Cami, Diane, and Kaci at the hospital.

Upon seeing Cami, he hugged her for what felt like an eternity. "I've changed my mind about giving the baby up for adoption," Cami announced. Everyone in the room was thrilled. Cami was filled with emotions that she was not aware she had, and she began to laugh and cry all at once.

River rubbed her back soothingly trying to comfort her. "After we leave the hospital, I'll treat you to a cheeseburger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake."

Cami's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Okay," she beamed.

The two were not dating, but because of their unborn child, they found themselves spending more time together.

Kaci was not pleased that they were spending so much time together because River wasn't her favorite person. However, she was spending more time with Skylar, and he was not Cami's favorite person, either.

Since Cami had been absent from school for days at a time because of the pregnancy, she hadn't seen much of Marissa. When she did see her, she greeted her with a hug, and then they happily made their way toward the library.

The new smell entered their nostrils as soon as they stepped foot inside. The library had been renovated over the past summer. It was much more immaculate and featured many new furniture pieces for students and faculty as well as new books to entice the minds of the young.

Both girls quietly made their way to the back and pulled out various textbooks to begin studying and catching up on assignments.

They had been in the library for about thirty minutes before Cami heard the door open and slam suddenly. Many students entered and leave on a daily basis during school hours, so she didn't bother to look up. Instead, she kept her eyes focused on her history definitions, but the clicking sound of heels on the wooden floor grew louder with each passing second. She knew then that whoever had entered the library was making their way toward Marissa and her.

It wasn't long before she heard a familiar voice that she found quite irritating.

"Hello, Cami. Baby bump's getting bigger," Leena observed.

Cami's eyes remained focused on her history definitions. "That's what it's supposed to do."

Leena chuckled.

Cami sighed. "I don't enjoy your company and you don't enjoy mine. So what do you want?"

"Have you seen Kaci?" she asked.

The question definitely caught her off guard. Why would she want to know where Kaci is? She hates her. She looked up from her textbook. Now Leena had her attention. "Why?" Cami inquired.

"Because I need to talk to her," Leena said in the nicest, fakest tone Cami had ever heard.

She eyed Leena suspiciously.

"She doesn't hang out with people like you."

"And what kind of people is that, huh?"

Cami made a face at her. "You know exactly what I mean."

"Listen to me..."

Cami stood up. "No, you listen!" A few students at a nearby table looked in their direction but didn't say anything. Cami quickly noticed and lowered her tone, "I don't want you anywhere near my sister."

"You're pregnant, so what could you possibly do to me?"

"Try me and see. Oh, and by the way, you're lucky I'm not Haylie or else you would've lost a lot more than a knee." She observed Leena's stilettos. She limped on that leg whenever she walked, and Cami knew that wearing the heels would only make it worse. She couldn't understand why she would wear four-inch heels with a banged up knee. Then again, why Leena did many of the things she did was a mystery to her.

Leena looked from Cami to Marissa, and turned her nose up at them before making a hasty departure.

"I hope that fake nose of hers falls off," Marissa said. Several students overheard and began to laugh, but Cami wasn't laughing. She wanted to know why Leena wanted to know her sister's whereabouts. This was something that would stay on her mind for the rest of the day.
Chapter 32

All eyes were on Tammy Moore as she made her way to her locker to get the textbook for her first class of the day, but she didn't seem to notice the stares she was receiving from her peers. Although her physical body was at school, mentally she wasn't there.

After yesterday, Tammy did not want to return to school. All she wanted was to stay home in her room. However, her mother felt that she had spent more than enough time out of school. But school wasn't at the top of Tammy's list. From the time she woke up until the time she went to sleep, all she could think about was what she had done—killed her baby.

Several months ago she had overheard a group of girls in the school cafeteria talking about a party that some girl on Leena's ousted list was throwing. Any enemy of Leena's could be a friend of hers.

After school, she went home, threw on a cute purple mini dress, and before she knew it, it was time to go to the party. While there, everything was going fine. Most of the people at the party were teens from other schools, so most of them didn't know her. The ones that did treated her better than the people she knew from her own high school.

One thing that she hadn't planned on was running into Lucas while she was there. She wouldn't have bothered to show up if she would have known that he would be there. The last time she saw him he informed her that he wasn't the father of her unborn child. She didn't care if he didn't want a relationship with her because, quite frankly, she didn't want one with him either. She wanted to co-parent the baby with him even though he didn't want to be in the child's life.

As she stood there in the kitchen and watched him gulp down a bottle of beer, she came to the realization that he wasn't going to be there for their baby, but she wanted to give it one more shot before giving up.

She gazed around the kitchen. The only other people there were a few couples who were making out. "Lucas, can we go somewhere and chat for a minute?"

He lowered the bottle from his lips. He didn't want to deal with her right now. "No," he replied.

"It's important."

"Ohhh, let me guess. It's about that baby you're trying to pin on me, isn't it?" The teens who were making out were no longer doing so. They were now intently watching Lucas and Tammy.

"I'm not trying to pin anything on you."

"Yeah, you are." He turned around, opened the refrigerator, and helped himself to another cold beer before continuing. "I already told you that it's not mine."

"But I haven't been with anyone else."

"I got you in bed on the first night. As far as I'm concerned, you probably did it with someone else."

"I didn't."

He shrugged. "But I don't know that."

"So you don't want to be in the baby's life?"

"Kid's not mine."

The conversation with Lucas was pointless. From the way he was acting, he didn't want to be bothered with the baby or her—ever. "Well, I'll be sure to tell your child one day..." she began.

"Yeah, you do that," he interrupted.

"...what a screw up you are."

She watched as his facial expression turned from simply unhappy to mad as hell. He couldn't believe that he was being called a "screw up" by some girl he had only slept with once. If she wanted to play dirty, then so was he. He was going to teach her whom to call a "screw up."

He took his half-full bottle of beer and poured it onto her. Two football players grabbed him while several girls ushered Tammy out of the kitchen. "I'm not the father of that slut's baby!" she heard him yell behind her.

The girls suggested to Tammy that it may be a good idea to sit down and relax, but that idea didn't interest her. She wanted to put as much distance as she could between her and Lucas. She couldn't believe he would stoop so low as to pour beer onto her. She never wanted to see him again, and she didn't want the baby anywhere near him.

She cried the entire time while driving home. She wanted to call her mother, but she knew that she'd be in big trouble if she found out that she went to the party. She smelled like beer, and if her mother was still awake, she was definitely going to be in even more trouble.

She was crying so hard now that she could barely see the road. She glanced at her phone. Should she or shouldn't she? Her mother had always told her not to talk or text on her phone while driving, but she really wanted to talk to her. Despite the trouble she would be in, she didn't know who else to call besides her. She took her eyes off the road and reached over onto the passenger's seat.

"Hey, Tammy, sorry about your loss," a girl said. She didn't know the girl's name, but she looked so familiar. She forced a small "thank you" to come out of her mouth and then returned her attention to her locker. She didn't want to be here and listen to people give her their condolences.

It was her mother's idea for her to be here in the first place. Her mother wanted her to return to school, even though she told her that she wasn't ready. She loved her mother dearly, but she was angry with her for making her return all of the baby's items. Ever since the death of her baby, they had been arguing about the baby's belongings. Her mother had returned the crib and blankets, and she was supposed to return the clothing. But she never wanted to return them at all. Her mother thought it would be best because Tammy wouldn't have to look at it every single day. According to her mother, this would make the recovery process easier.

Maybe it was time for Tammy to do something that was right for her.

Her mind was made up. She put all of her textbooks back in her locker. She wasn't going to any of her classes today.

Cami and Marissa along with many other students, including Leena and Kelly, watched her make a beeline for one of the exit doors.

"Where is she going?" Marissa whispered to Cami. "She just got here."

"Probably home," Cami whispered back. She wanted to talk to Tammy to see how she was holding up, but by the looks of what she had just witnessed, it wasn't good.

Tammy didn't know how long her journey home was going to be, but she was willing to walk. She would've driven home, but her car had been totaled in the accident.

She took her backpack off and gently laid it on the ground. She searched through it until she'd found the teddy bear.

While she walked home, she held it in her arms as if it were an infant.

Chapter 33

Cami was having the worst morning. She couldn't find anything to fit her stomach perfectly. All of her tops were either too tight or couldn't cover her entire belly. She eventually settled on one of her mother's old maternity blouses, but she refused to wear any of her maternity jeans.

She and Kaci were in her room getting dressed for school. She would have preferred if Kaci would have stayed in her own room, but she didn't have the heart to tell her to leave.

Since they were in the same room, Cami decided to tell her about her encounter with Leena. She was puzzled as to why Leena would want to know where she was, especially since they couldn't stand each other.

Cami tried to brush off the Leena thing, but something still puzzled her as to why Leena would ask about her sister's whereabouts.

She allowed those thoughts to be pushed to the back of her brain and for the baby's name to be pushed to the front. She had been thinking about baby names for her little girl for some time now, but she hadn't thought of the perfect name until just now.

Kaci looked over at her and pointed out that she was blushing. She took this opportunity to reveal to her what she wanted to name the baby.

"Are you serious?" Kaci asked as Cami drove them to school.

"Yes, Kaci."

She smiled. She hadn't even brought her little angel into the world yet, but she already had such big dreams for her. Cami didn't want her daughter to be like her. She didn't want her to be a pregnant teenager. She wanted for her daughter what any parent would want their child to do: graduate from high school and college and to work at a decent job with benefits and excellent pay.

She pulled up in front of the school looking for a parking space but there weren't any available.

Then she glanced over and saw Kaci fidgeting. She looked like she was very eager to get out of the car. Of course, she did what she wanted to do.

Before Cami knew what had happened, Kaci bolted out of the car and towards the school. "Kaci, wait! Let me find a parking space," Cami called after her.

"I have to visit the little girls' room," she shouted over her shoulder.

"If you hadn't drunk so much root beer, you wouldn't have to go!"

"But I did, so let's get over it!"

"Watch out for cars," Cami called after her as she crossed the street.

Kaci rolled her eyes. She wasn't a little kid anymore, so she didn't need someone telling her to watch out for cars. But Cami was her big sister. Plus, she was about to become a mother for the first time so maybe that had something to do with it.

Before she had finished crossing the street, Cami heard a terrifying scream. She turned around and watched in horror as Skylar pushed Kaci out of harm's way but only to be hit by Leena's repaired car. His body landed on the pavement with a hard thud.

Leena had almost killed her sister! Maybe that's what she wanted with Kaci. Maybe she wanted to know where she was so that she could pull a hit and run or something worse. That bitch!

Cami got out of her car with the keys still in the ignition and marched over to Leena's. She tried to open the driver's door, but it was locked. A few seconds later she emerged from her vehicle. She hated her and Kaci, and she was about to let Cami know just how far she was willing to go.

"You almost killed my little sister!" Cami screamed.

"She vandalized my car, so I was repaying her!" Leena shoved Cami. However, she maintained her balance and punched Leena in her face. She stumbled onto the hard pavement and tried to steady herself on her two feet, but the direct hit from the pregnant girl had already done its damage. Several students who were in their unparked cars got out and began to watch the incident play out in front of them.

"You stupid, stupid idiot!" Cami screamed. "Anybody could have vandalized your car! Do you know how many people hate you?!" Her fists flew into Leena while Leena had her hands locked around Cami's hair. Cami was going to punch her as many times as she possibly could whether she was standing or not. This girl had just tried to kill her only sister, and she wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"Cami! Cami!" Marissa yelled, trying to get Cami away from her. She tried as hard as she could to pull the two apart but it just wasn't enough. Just in the nick of time, a male math teacher, Mr. Morgan, and Nurse Atkins helped Marissa pull the two girls apart.

Although Leena's nose and hands were slightly bloody, when Mr. Morgan saw her face, he let out a low scowl. He didn't like the Davidson sisters. They were ungrateful, spoiled brats who didn't understand authority. While she was in his freshman math class, she'd talk and text while he was teaching. He told her to stop on many occasions, but she would only stop when she wanted to. Although he had reported her to the principal on numerous occasions, she was always in his classroom the next day doing the same thing that had gotten her into trouble.

One day, when he felt that he had truly had enough of Leena Davidson's rude behavior, he went to Ms. Lovett's office to discuss the matter. She assured him that she was looking into the matter, but he didn't buy it. Too much time had passed without her getting punished for Ms. Lovett to be looking into it. He threatened to go to the school board; she made a quick comeback stating that she would make sure that he lost his job if he ever went to her superiors. Like many of the other teachers, he couldn't afford to lose his job; he had a wife and four children to support. Instead of going to the school board, he decided to do like the others and wait until the girls graduated.

A large crowd of students stared in awe and watched as Cami and Leena were separated. After asking Cami if she and the baby were okay for the millionth time, Marissa and Nurse Atkins led her to where Kaci was sitting, which was about a five minute walk away. She had been so adamant on kicking Leena's butt that she had almost forgotten about Kaci.

She nearly cried when she saw Kaci's face. Her younger sister looked as if she was in shock and on the verge of tears, and Cami instantly wrapped her arms around her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, peering into Kaci's eyes.

Kaci nodded. "Are you?"

"Yeah," she replied as she glanced around and saw a crowd of people surrounding Skylar.

A girl walked out of the crowd and told Kaci that he had been calling her name. Kaci, Cami, Marissa, and Nurse Atkins made their way through the crowd to get to him. Kaci knelt down beside him and took his right hand in hers.

"You saved me," she said in a whisper with tears in her eyes.

Skylar smiled weakly. His face was bruised, and his hair was disheveled. His shirt had been torn, blood covered the left side of his body from his shoulders to his waist and lower back, and his hands were bloody and scratchy. He wanted to sit up and hold Kaci to comfort her but every bone in his aching body prevented him from doing so.

"Some-bo-dy had to," he managed to say.

Tears began to roll down Kaci's cheeks. She could tell that he was in pain, and it hurt her to see him this way. "You're going to be okay."

He lifted a bloody hand to wipe away a tear on her tear streaked face.

"You're going to be okay," she repeated. "You just have to be."

"Don't worry about me," he said, before closing his eyes.

Kaci shook his shoulders and tried to wake him up, but he didn't respond.

Nurse Atkins quickly began to give him CPR, but no matter what she did, he wouldn't open his beautiful eyes. Then two EMTs loaded his body onto a stretcher and drove off.

Kaci's breath caught in her throat. Her best friend had saved her from Leena...Leena! Her eyes darted across the students while trying to find one in particular. She felt someone squeeze her hand. She turned around and realized that it was Cami. Kaci realized that she had never left her side. She also noticed that her sister's hair was a little disheveled and her hands were red.

"Why is your hand red?" Kaci asked.

"That's not important," Cami answered quickly.

"Leena did this, didn't she?" Before Cami could reply, she added, "I'll kill her."

Cami grabbed her by the shoulder and swung her around. "She isn't worth it."

Kaci clenched her jaw. "Did you see Skylar? Did you see what she did to my best friend?" Cami pulled her close to her and held Kaci as close as she could.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Kaci said. "Just because her last name is Davidson she can get away with anything."

"Maybe not. Look," Marissa said, pointing to the front of the school. Near the entrance to the school where the fight had occurred, handcuffs were being placed on Leena as she shouted obscenities at the officers. "You guys don't know who the hell you're dealing with! I am Leena Davidson!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's all she ever says," a girl standing behind Marissa said. "I am Leena Davidson," she continued in a mocking tone. "Leena Davidson sucks!" Many students standing in that area chuckled at the girl's comment.

"My family owns this city and that means I literally own the department, so I can have you all fired!" Leena shouted. She was the great Leena Davidson. No one could do this to her. She was above the law and all of these people—the officers, students, teachers, even the principal...Where was the principal? She was supposed to be here keeping her out of trouble.

Ah, there she was.

Leena spotted her white Range Rover pull up into her principal-only parking spot.

Ms. Lovett was quite aware of what was happening, and she wanted to make it all go away, but she didn't know how. The few students who she had asked to give her the details on the day's recent events told her that Leena had tried to kill Kaci by running her over, but killed Skylar, and then attacked Cami.

Ms. Lovett was sure that the students were just saying this to get rid of at least one Davidson. Although they were popular, she also knew that they were disliked by many of their peers and teachers. What they were saying couldn't be true. Leena couldn't have tried to kill Kaci. There was no way that she would've killed Skylar and attacked Cami. She was pregnant, after all. These students were making this all up—or were they? Leena couldn't be as terrible as everyone said she was, right? She couldn't have possibly killed Skylar, could she?

Her heart began to pound in her chest. Had she been protecting a monster all this time? Then a loud voice made her ears ring.

"Julienne!" Leena screamed. Ms. Lovett could now feel everyone's eyes on her as she made her way to Leena.

"Julienne, you have to get me out of this!" By this time, Leena's face and cheeks were flushed from all of the shouting. She was beginning to lose her voice from all of the commotion she was causing.

Ms. Lovett shook her head in response.

Although Leena was now sitting in the back seat of the patrol car, she could see her eyes widen with anger. "What do you mean you can't help me? All of the money you were paid and..." Everyone watched as the officer drove off with a screaming Leena in the back seat. She was banging her head against the window and kicking the other window with her feet.

No one said a word. They were all too shocked by what they were seeing.

The last statement that she'd said made the students curious. "...the money you were paid..." Marissa was in shock, because she usually knew all of the latest gossip concerning Crossroads High, but somehow her ears had missed this. Cami and Kaci just stared at each other as if reading the other's mind. Ms. Lovett knew about the problems the Davidsons had been causing, but instead chose to overlook it because their parents were paying her.

Everyone's mind was still occupied with the events that had just occurred that no one paid much attention to Kelly as she made her way near the entrance to the school where the fight had occurred. As she walked past Cami, Kaci, and Marissa, she didn't bother to make eye contact. Her eyes were focused on one person and one person only.

"Julienne, where is Leena?"

No reply.

"Someone texted me and told me that Leena was dragged away in handcuffs. Is it true?"

Still no answer.

A frown formed on the teenager's face. "I don't like to repeat myself..." She smirked. "...but of course you know this because I've been in your office more times than I can count!"

"She's gone," the older woman finally managed to say.

"Where?"

Ms. Lovett sighed deeply.

"You were supposed to stop this!"

"Shut up!" She didn't want Kelly to reveal to the entire student and faculty body what she had done.

"You shut up! I'll make sure that my mom takes you off her payroll! If you can't keep us out of trouble, then you're useless to us!"

Many students gasped but most of the faculty didn't. They had known all along.

Mr. Morgan, Mr. Jones, Ms. Harris, and Ms. Thompson smiled at one another. They finally had all of the evidence they needed to make sure that she wouldn't be a school principal ever again.
Chapter 34

Kaci's eyes were blood shot red from crying. She and Cami had been in the hospital for three hours while waiting for Skylar to wake up along with his family. The doctors were worried that he wouldn't make it because of the severity of his internal bleeding. But they were able to get it under control. In addition to that, he had a broken leg, but he was going to make it.

Kaci and Cami hugged after hearing the news. They were thrilled that he was going to be okay.

Cami wanted to thank him for what he had done for her little sister, but she was going to wait for him to wake up.

She knew that Kaci was excited, but she also knew that she hadn't eaten anything for breakfast. "Maybe you should eat something," Cami suggested.

"I'm not hungry," Kaci insisted.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm getting us something to eat." Cami was going to get her something from a vending machine whether she liked it or not.

She hadn't walked down the hallway halfway before she started feeling intense pain in her abdomen. She stopped and took several deep breaths. She wasn't due for another twelve weeks, so she couldn't be having this baby now. The pain stopped, and she resumed walking. Then it began again, but this time she felt something wet. She looked down at the floor and noticed blood trickling down her legs.

"HHEEELLLPP!" she screamed.

The pain was so intense that she could no longer stand. She was lying down on her left side on the hard floor. She hadn't felt pain this intense before ever in her life. It was almost unbearable; she felt as if she were dying. The hospital felt like a hot sauna. She could even feel the sweat dripping off her face.

She heard footsteps coming toward her, but she didn't get a chance to see who it was, because her eyes were already closing.
Chapter 35

She could hear crying, and the slight squeezing of her hand told her that someone else was there.

She wanted to open her eyes, but they wouldn't open. She was lying on something that was softer than the floor yet still not as soft as her bed.

She no longer felt the intense pain that she had experienced before. Instead, her body felt numb.

The sobbing gradually grew louder. She had to know who this person was. She tried yet again to open her eyes. The bright lights above her head hurt but her eyes quickly adjusted. She saw two people sitting near her side while the third stood. The looks on their faces showed a sign of relief and yet sadness at the same time. She felt her right hand wander to her abdomen. Her stomach was flatter. She could feel herself growing happier by the second. She had given birth to her baby, but the sudden happiness that she was feeling wasn't shared with the rest of the family. She saw her mother's eyes fill with tears. Kaci avoided eye contact with her, and River stared at the ceiling.

Something was seriously wrong. Her entire body instantly grew weak. She heard her breathing increase. "Where is my baby?" she heard herself ask.

Her mother gently squeezed her hand. "Cami..." She heard her sniffle several times. Cami then looked at River. He walked to the other side of the hospital bed and held her other hand. She saw his mouth move, but she didn't want to believe the words that her ears had just heard. My baby is dead. She closed her eyes and let out a scream that was so powerful her entire body shook uncontrollably.

Cami had had a miscarriage. But how could this be happening? When she found out that she was pregnant, she was terrified. Then, she considered giving the baby up for adoption. As time progressed, she'd changed her mind and found part-time employment. In the end, she felt as if none of that mattered because she'd lost the baby that she decided to keep.

Her mother, Kaci, and River tried to calm her down, but she didn't want that. All she wanted was her daughter, and she was gone.
Chapter 36

Returning home without Natalie was the hardest thing that Cami had ever done. Her heart was broken, and she didn't know how to fix it. Her mother prayed with her on a daily basis and tried her best to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. She wanted to believe that, but how could she just pretend that nothing had happened? How was she supposed to move on from this?

She had been preparing for a life with Natalie, and suddenly it had been ripped away from her. Her mother had said that she shouldn't forget about her and that everything happened for a reason. Cami believed that, but she missed her so much.

Everyone kept telling her that she now had another chance to live her life the way that she was supposed to, but that only made her feel worse. It made her think about Natalie and the life she would never get to live.

She didn't know if she'd ever get over losing her daughter, but she knew she'd never forget her.
Chapter 37

They say that time eventually heals all wounds, and Marissa Benson knew this from experience all too well. It had been three years since she had had the abortion. Although a considerable amount of time had passed since then, there were still times that she felt sad—during the holidays, every September (the month the baby would've been born), and occasionally when she saw infants with their families in public. The painful nightmares of a crying baby she could hear and not see had become less frequent.

Her mother had tried to get her to attend therapy sessions, but she refused to attend. She'd rather grieve alone in peace than tell a stranger about her life. Sometimes she found herself wishing that she could go back in time and change past decisions she had made, but wishing wasn't going to change anything.

As she stood in the doorway of Cami's room and watched her stare at the ceiling, sadness began to pour over her. Cami had lost her baby, and Marissa knew there wasn't anything that she could do or say to make her pain go away. The only thing she could do now was give her love and support.

She had been so involved in her own thoughts that she had not noticed Kaci approach her from behind. "Hopefully you'll have better luck with her than Mom and me."

"Yeah," Marissa choked. Kaci questionably looked at the young woman. She looked as if she was fighting back tears, and she had never known her to cry.

"Hey," she began. Marissa slightly turned her head, hoping that she hadn't seen a tear drop. "She'll bounce back just like she always does."

Cami had heard Kaci's comment, and she couldn't help but wonder what made her younger sister think that she was so strong. She didn't feel strong. She felt defenseless because she couldn't save her baby. Her mother, Kaci, and Marissa didn't understand the feeling because they hadn't lost a child.

She felt someone lie down beside her in bed, and she knew that it was Marissa without turning to face her. She could smell the new strawberry scented shampoo that she'd been talking about for weeks. She inhaled the scent and momentarily forgot that she didn't want anyone's company.

Marissa sat up and laced her fingers with Cami's and tugged at her arm. "Let's go," she said.

"I'm not in the mood," she said, as she pulled her arm away from Marissa.

"Listen. We don't have to go to a party. Just let me take you to the mall and buy you dinner."

"Fine," Cami said as she sat up.

"Great!"

"But after that, I want to come home."

"Okay. Sure."

As the girls were getting ready to leave, Kaci peeked into Cami's room. She had been eavesdropping on their conversation the entire time. "Marissa, I need to borrow you for a sec." She turned to look at Cami, as to what Kaci could want with her, but Cami only shrugged.

She slowly rose from the bed and looked back at Cami before Kaci shut the door behind them. "Look, I want you to take extra care of her." She paused for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. "She hasn't been herself since...you know."

"Yeah, I know the story." In fact, she knew the story a lot better than Kaci or Cami knew. "Just take care of my sister, or else."

"Sure," Marissa said nervously. She knew that Kaci meant well, but she was coming off as somewhat threatening to her. She had always looked out for Cami whenever they were together, so Kaci had absolutely nothing to worry about.

The mall was crowded with youngsters hopping from store to store with numerous shopping bags in tow. Cheerful smiles were plastered across the shoppers' faces. Looking at them made Cami wish that she was one of them. Why should they get to be so happy while she was miserable?

Seeing her upset made Marissa sad. Cami was her best friend, and she hated seeing her this way.

A thought crossed her mind. It wouldn't take away the pain of her loss, but it should remind her of happier times.

Cami sighed.

They hadn't been at the mall for ten minutes, and she was already tired of walking. She was pleased when her eyes caught sight of the food court. There she would sit and rest for a while before doing whatever else was on Marissa's mall agenda.

"Let's sit down for a minute or two," she said to Marissa.

"Where?"

Cami led the way to the food court with Marissa following closely behind. She picked a table located near a fast food restaurant. "I'm going to go run and get something right quick," Marissa said.

"Wait. Are you getting something to eat or..."

"Just wait here. I'll be right back."

Cami watched Marissa walk off into the distance and turn a corner. She had better not ditched her to go shopping. She wasn't in the mood for that today. In fact, she wasn't in the mood for anything today. All she really wanted to do was stay at home where it was peaceful and quiet. But she just had to listen to Marissa and be dragged to the mall.

Suddenly she felt someone's eyes on her. She looked from side to side but didn't notice anyone looking at her. Maybe it was just her imagination. Then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and was surprised to see Skylar standing before her.

"Hi, Skylar," she said quietly. She didn't know that he had left the hospital. That's when she really got a good look at him. Although she had seen him before on many occasions, he looked more muscular and taller than she remembered. She also noticed that he was walking on crutches. It made her realize that she and Natalie were not the only victims that Leena had hurt. He was one of them as well. If he hadn't saved Kaci's life, she may have been one, but she was grateful the young man cared enough about her sister to actually put his own life on the line.

"Hi," he said. He had seen her in the parking lot earlier with Marissa. When he saw her, he was secretly hoping that Kaci would've been with them. He hadn't seen her in several days, and he really missed her. He would've taken a chance and stopped by her house to see her, but he knew that within the next half-hour his parents would be home—sooner rather than later—and he didn't want to risk getting in trouble. He was already taking a chance by even being seen in public. He was supposed to be at home in bed, but he was bored to death. So he took one set of his father's keys to his favorite sports car without his knowledge.

"I'm glad that you're okay," Cami said.

"Yeah," he said. "So am I."

"I know that you're probably wondering where Kaci is." She began to play with her hands. "She's not with me right now. She's at home."

He nodded.

"But she's doing fine." She glanced upward at the dome-shaped ceiling which looked as if it was covered in diamonds. "I guess I have you to thank for that," she said while smiling. Skylar even smiled to himself. "I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you for saving my little sister."

He blushed. "I would never let anything bad happen to Kaci." He meant every single word he said. He cared a great deal about Kaci, and he would never allow something bad to happen to her.

"But don't let this go to your head. You're still a boy, and I'm still going to keep an eye on you."

His lips formed a straight line. He couldn't deny the facts. He was a teenage boy with raging hormones who would've loved nothing more than to sleep with the young woman who had his heart. There was one thing that he was sure about: when the day came for them to be together, he wasn't going to let her out of his grasp.

"You okay?" Cami asked. He had been staring into space with the goofiest look on his face for the past several minutes. She knew that he was probably daydreaming about Kaci. She had seen the way he looked at her.

"Yes," he said. His eyes caught sight of Marissa in the distance. She looked as if she was a happy kid in candy land. She was carrying a plastic bag that was filled with candy. He couldn't tell what kind of candy it was, but he was thinking of purchasing some before heading back home.

He smiled to himself. He would be sure to share some with Kaci the next time he saw her. He dropped his eyes to the floor when he realized that Cami was staring at him.

When he had the courage to look up again, she was looking off into the distance. Her eyes held a similar sadness that he had seen in his mother's eyes while he was in the hospital. Suddenly, he remembered Kaci telling him that Cami had lost her baby.

"Cami," he began. She tilted her head to the side. She was listening. "I'm sorry about your loss." She crossed her arms and stared at the floor. "It's not your fault. It's Leena's." Her voice was shaky, and she could slowly feel herself becoming angry. Just hearing Leena Davidson's name made her angry.

"I should get going. My parents will be home soon," he said hurriedly.

She watched him walk on his crutches until she lost sight of him completely. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Besides, he did save Kaci. But at the end of the day, he was still a boy, and she was going to make sure that he didn't do anything to hurt her little sister.

"Here," Marissa panted as she handed Cami the jelly beans, "these are for you." She looked from the jelly beans to her friend. She knew that Marissa was trying to make her feel better, and it was very nice of her—not that she expected anything else. Despite that, she still had a lonely, empty feeling in her heart and jelly beans weren't going to fix that. She bit into one of the candies and began to relive her childhood.

When she was younger, both of their mothers would take them to the park together. After a fun-filled day of playing and joking around with Marissa, their moms would take them to the store and let them pick a sweet treat to eat. Marissa would always choose gummy bears, while Cami picked jelly beans. After that, they would even go out for ice cream. What a sugar rush! Oh, how she missed the good old days of being a kid. She didn't have any worries then. Her main focus was school, and that was it. Now her worries extended far beyond that.

It was obvious to Marissa that something was on Cami's mind. She wondered if it had anything to do with what Skylar had said to her. She saw them having a conversation earlier, but she wasn't close enough to hear what it was about. She debated whether or not to ask Cami but decided against it for the time being.

Although Cami thought that she wanted her to come to the mall to have a good time, there was another reason why Marissa wanted her to come.

She sighed, and Cami didn't seem to notice. She focused her eyes on her gummy bears. She popped a red one into her mouth. She had never told Cami that she was once pregnant, and had an abortion, or that she was raped, but she wanted to. The only part that she really dreaded was revealing that the person who had caused her this great pain, beside herself, was another Davidson.

"I know that you probably don't think that I know how you feel but I do," Marissa said.

Cami turned her sad eyes to Marissa's. "What are you talking about?"

Marissa gulped. There was no turning back now. "I can relate to the loss that you felt when you lost your baby."

Cami stared straight ahead at her with a cold look on her face. Marissa was probably going to tell her about when one of her relatives passed away. That wasn't the same as her losing a baby. Marissa didn't have one, so there was no way that she could possibly relate to her on this one.

"When I was fourteen, I was raped, and I had an abortion," Marissa confessed.

Cami's mouth fell open. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," she said as she put a reassuring hand on top of Marissa's. "But why didn't you tell me? How did this happen?"

"Let me start from the beginning." Marissa began to tell Cami about her past. She told her about the risky decisions she used to make concerning alcohol and sex after her father passed away. She even told her that she use to frequent Leena's parties and that she slept with her brother. The more she revealed to Cami, the more she could feel herself slowly falling apart. She was trying her hardest to keep it together, but it was difficult. Then she told her about the rape, pregnancy, and abortion. After everything that Marissa had revealed to her, Cami didn't know what to say.

She knew that she used to attend parties often, but that was it. She never would've guessed that Marissa used to engage in such risky behavior and suffered pain and trauma or that those parties she attended were hosted by The Devil herself. For a moment, both girls sat down in silence.

Marissa had said what she wanted to say to Cami. She waited for her to say something, but the young woman didn't utter a word. She tried reading her facial expression, but she couldn't tell if she was angry or sad. After all, Cami wasn't always the easiest person to read.

"Take me home," Cami demanded. Marissa could hear a hint of anger in her voice. She figured that it was probably because she told her that she used to party with Leena Davidson. "Was it something I said?" Marissa inquired.

Cami didn't bother facing her. Instead, she gathered her purse and left the packet of jelly beans on the table. Marissa quickly followed pursuit and drove her home. She tried talking to Cami, but she was quiet the entire way home. Marissa thought about anything else that she could have possibly said to her that could have made her angry. Each time she'd come back to Leena. That had to be it. Hopefully, after a good night's rest, she'd be fine.

After dropping Cami off at her place and arriving home, she noticed that the mailbox was open. It instantly struck her as odd because her mother would never leave the mailbox open. She always said that nosy neighbors may try to steal her TV Guide magazine which didn't make any sense to Marissa because she was hardly ever home to watch TV.

She stepped out of her car and made her way toward the mailbox. She peered inside and saw a white envelope inside with her name typed on the front. She pulled it out and looked it over. There was no postage or a return address. She opened the envelope, and her hands trembled as she read the note inside: I'M COMING FOR YOU.

Someone had to put this inside her mailbox probably while she and her mother weren't home. But who? Leena couldn't have done this because she was in jail, so that left Kelly, but Marissa couldn't picture her doing something like this. It didn't seem like it was her style. So who could it have been?
Chapter 38

It had been two weeks since the incident had occurred that nearly killed sixteen-year-old Skylar Caldarelli.

He hadn't been home for a full forty-eight hours, and he was already bored. His mother had taken his car keys because she didn't want him driving around town with a broken leg. She had even gone so far as to take his laptop so he couldn't keep up with the latest developments on Leena Davidson.

Unbeknownst to her, he'd started watching something on television that's called "the news." Since he'd started watching it, he saw Leena's mug shots on the screen almost daily, along with the fact that she was being held in the county jail on a one-million-dollar bond for two counts of attempted murder and a three-million-dollar bond for one count of murder: one count for Cami and Skylar, and Cami's unborn child (the murder charge).

Both he and Cami had pressed charges against Leena, and several people had clapped as they were leaving the police station. Residents weren't shy to voice their opinion on camera. Many couldn't believe that something like this had happened in their community, but they were glad that she was in jail. The select few who believed that her charges were mediocre asked that their faces not be shown on camera.

There was evidence and witnesses who went against her. Someone had recorded the entire incident on their phone, and it was rapidly approaching one hundred thousand views online. He'd seen the video on the news several times, and it made him angry every time he watched it. It also made him realize that if he hadn't been there when he was, Kaci may not be alive today. He would do it all over again just to save her.

The worst part of his recovery was that his mother wouldn't allow him to attend school until she felt he was better, which also meant that he wouldn't be able to see Kaci there. Luckily, she was coming over to visit him today.

He heard footsteps approaching him in the living room and then a pause. "You know, it's really not good to leave your front door unlocked," Kaci said while standing near the couch.

"Well," Skylar began, "I was expecting you." He slowly rose to a semi-standing position while leaning against the couch for support. He intently watched her as she made her way toward him. She looked more beautiful than he remembered, and he'd only last seen her several days prior to his release from the hospital. Her light blue denim jeans hugged her body just right and the long sleeved coral blouse with lace sleeves was beautiful against her brown skin.

Kaci smiled as she wrapped both arms around his neck. She was so excited to see him. She had missed him terribly.

He inhaled her hair as he held her close to him. He might have lost her if he hadn't saved her from Leena, and he loved her too much to risk saying goodbye.

She looked up at him while her arms were still around his neck. "By the way, Cami's here. She's in the backyard. My mom said that I couldn't come over unless she tagged along."

"That's fine with me. Um, my parents are upstairs in the study." He didn't mind Cami coming over, as long as he got to spend time with Kaci.

She could tell by his distorted facial expression that he was in pain, and as if reading her mind, he released her from the embrace and sat down beside her on the couch.

"So," he began, while straightening his good leg onto the couch, "how's Cami holding up?"

"Not so good," Kaci replied.

"What's wrong?"

"Ever since she left the hospital, she hasn't really been talking to Mom or me."

"Oh," he said as he looked at his hands. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, but it's not your fault." She wanted to say that it was Leena's fault but decided not to mention her name. "Cami told me that she saw you at the mall yesterday."

"I gave her my condolences. She just...looked so sad and kind of sick."

"She's sick with grief, and I don't know what to do that'll make her feel better."

"I'm not an expert at these types of things, but she probably just needs time."

"That's what my mom said." He could tell that she was sad, and he didn't like it. He put his arm around her and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

It hurt her to know that her big sister was hurting, and there was nothing that she could do to fix it. She turned away from him and wiped a tear from her face. But it was too late. He saw it, and it broke his heart even more. He hated to see women cry, especially one whom he had deep feelings for. He tried to pull her close to him, but she pushed him away. With both of his hands placed firmly on her shoulders, he could see her face clearly now. There were tears in her eyes that were threatening to spill over.

"No, I'm not okay," she admitted. "Leena tried to kill me, but instead, she nearly killed you. Then she attacked my sister and caused her to have a miscarriage..." She rested her back against the soft couch and covered her face with her hands. She once remembered watching a yoga infomercial in which a woman was doing breathing exercises that were supposed to calm her mind and body, and she began to slowly inhale and exhale.

He gently squeezed her shoulders. "She can't hurt anyone else."

"Her bond is really cheap," she said as she took her hands off her face.

He raised an eyebrow. "What's your point?"

She placed her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead. "Skylar, you know that her parents are wealthy, so she'll be out in no time." Her face fell into a frown. "Leena just better hope that I don't get to her first," he heard her mumble.

"I doubt that'll ever happen."

"What makes you say that?"

This time it was Skylar's turn to turn away from her.

"Wait. Do you know something?"

He didn't respond.

"Skylar, please tell me. We've been best friends for a long time now, so if there's anything...anything at all, tell me."

He slowly turned to face her. If his parents knew what he was about to say, he'd be grounded for life. "If I tell you this, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

Her mind was racing with thoughts about what he was going to tell her. "I promise."

"Kaci," he whispered. "I'm serious," he said, as he squeezed both of her shoulders. "If I tell you, you can't tell your mom, Cami, or anyone else for that matter."

"I promise. I won't tell anyone."
Chapter 39

Cami stared blankly at the in-ground swimming pool. Leena Davidson may have been in jail for attempted murder, but she was still alive. Natalie was gone. Because of Leena, Natalie had lost her life before it had even started.

She laid her hand onto her abdomen. Natalie wasn't there.

Although Cami had been told by her mother that the doctors didn't know what had caused her miscarriage, she did—Leena Davidson.

She could hear laughter coming from inside the Caldarellis's home. At least someone was happy. She clearly wasn't. Her mother, Kaci, Marissa, and River had tried to talk to her, but she didn't want to talk. All she wanted was her daughter back, but sadly Natalie wasn't coming back.

Cami slowly brought herself to a standing position and dipped her foot into the pool. The water was freezing cold. If Natalie was with her now, she wouldn't be outside in the chilly, winter weather. It was thirty-three degrees outside, but it really felt much colder because of the strong wind.

She walked over to her tote and pulled out the pink baby blanket that was supposed to be her daughter's.

The wind blew and she heard thunder in the distance. A storm was coming.

Meanwhile, Skylar and Kaci were in the kitchen eating s'mores, drinking a cold, tall glass of milk, and catching up on homework.

Kaci had been to the Caldarelli estate on numerous occasions, but the decorative craftsmanship and the overall beauty of the home never ceased to amaze her. His home was a seven-thousand-square-foot mansion with many bedrooms and bathrooms, and it also boasted a guest house on the property. Each bedroom was oversized with walk-in closets and each bathroom had a whirlpool tub and a separate shower, a ceramic tile floor, and a small walk-in closet for linens. Her favorite room in the house was the kitchen because she loved to eat desserts and pastries. The Caldarelli kitchen featured custom made mahogany cabinets with pull out shelves and state of the art Viking and Subzero appliances. The marble countertops looked exquisite and the tile flooring was very clean.

"My mother designed the entire layout of the kitchen and the décor," Skylar said, as if reading her mind. He blushed when he noticed that her eyes were on him. "Or at least that's what she tells people."

She set her pencil inside her textbook and bit her bottom lip. He could sense her mild discomfort.

"Is something wrong?"

Kaci looked toward the door as if expecting someone to enter. Then, she turned her attention back to him. "I'm surprised that your parents are okay with me being here."

"Why?"

"I just...thought...that they would blame me for you nearly getting killed...since...I was the one who Leena was after."

"My parents don't blame you for anything." He didn't dare tell her that his mother had blamed her at the hospital for him nearly losing his life. She yelled at Skylar repeatedly and forbade him from seeing Kaci. He explained to her that it was Leena's fault, but at the time, Mariah wasn't up for reasoning. Her mind had been plagued with a severe case of the "what if's." What if Kaci hadn't been there? What if Leena hadn't tried to run her over? What if she would've let Skylar stay home for the day? What was done was done and could not be changed. After she calmed down, Skylar told his mother that he was still going to hang out with Kaci whether she liked it or not, because she was his best friend and he loved her. But of course, he didn't tell her the last part.

Kaci sighed. "I know that she hates me."

"Kaci..."

"I heard what she said and..." She averted her eyes. "...I'm so, so sorry, Skylar." He put a reassuring hand on top of hers and gave a slight squeeze and stared at her until she finally made eye contact with him.

"It's not your fault."

"But if..."

"Besides, Leena didn't like me to begin with."

"Did you ever do anything to her?"

"Nope, she just doesn't like me."

"I never did or even spoke to her until she started bothering my sister, and she hates both of us. Kelly's just as bad if not worse." She took a bite of her graham crackers. "She doesn't like anyone in our class unless they're her friend. I just hope Leena gets a lot of jail time." And so did he.

"This is a special weather bulletin," the TV announcer said. Skylar and Kaci turned to face the television. "The deadly storm that produced several tornadoes and made its way through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas is quickly moving into our viewing area," Meteorologist John Hill reported.

Skylar turned up the volume.

"These storms are known to produce heavy rain, wind, and tornadoes. They're now moving..." The screen went black.

"Try another channel," Kaci said.

He reached for the remote but the other weather channels were discussing weather everywhere else but Hattiesburg. The lights began to flicker on and off; a loud pang of thunder sounded as it struck something in the distance causing Kaci to nearly jump out of the chair. Thunder and lightning scared her. If she were home, she would've gotten into bed with Cami and pulled the comforter over her head. But instead, she was with Skylar in the kitchen, and there wasn't a comforter in sight.

"You scared?" he teased.

"Of course not. I'm not scared of anything," she said bravely.

He wasn't convinced. "Yeah, right."

The loud sound of thunder mixed with several quick flashes of lightning and a downpour of rain caused both friends to jump. "Now who's scared?" she joked.

"Not me," he retorted.

Kaci chuckled as she stood up from the chair. "I'm going to check on Cami."

"Alright."

"I know it's raining, but I want to make sure that she's okay."

Skylar pointed to the wall near the laundry room. "Take my mother's umbrella."

"Thanks, and Skylar..."

"What?"

"...don't get too scared without me."

He grinned. "I'm not the one who's scared, Little Miss Jumpy."

"Whatever, I'll be back."

You better, he thought to himself.

He turned his attention back to the television and turned to the local news station but it was still off the air. He flipped through several more channels before turning the television on a twenty-four-seven movie channel.

He needed to finish his homework assignments and that would be impossible with the television on, unless Kaci was there. Whether the TV was on or off, she could always keep him on the right track—most of the time. On the other hand, it was storming outside, and the weather was going to hold his attention a lot more than his homework could. He closed his English and science textbooks and layered three milk chocolate squares between his marshmallows and graham crackers. Then, he let his taste buds run wild as they tasted the delicious chocolate and marshmallow goodness. He wiped the crumbs away with the back of his hand, and then grabbed his glass of milk and brought it to his lips.

Before he could take a sip, a bloodcurdling scream filled his ears. The glass slipped from his grasp and crashed onto the floor. He leaped to his feet and headed to the backyard all the while forgetting that he had a broken leg. He witnessed both of his parents pulling Cami out of the in-ground swimming pool with a crying and screaming Kaci standing nearby.

"Oh, my God!" his mother said, with one hand resting on her hip and the other clamped to her mouth.

"Call nine-one-one!" his father shouted as he performed CPR on Cami.

Skylar pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed nine-one-one, but Kaci snatched it out of his hand. "This is nine-one-one. What's your emergency?" the operator asked.

"My sister," she panted. She tried to get her breathing under control, but she couldn't get the image of Cami's lifeless body out of her head.

"Ma'am, calm down..."

"I found my sister's dead body in the swimming pool."

