Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
SAKURA
Before anyone could notice, I gripped the CVS bag tightly and pulled my hands behind my back. If I didn’t get this to my room fast, then all the nosy relatives would ask what I had gone to the store for.
But I couldn’t be rude.
So, I giggled nervously, replaced my shoes with slippers at the door, and stepped into the room, forcing myself to smile at my family members.
We weren’t supposed to have a party until this weekend.
Why did Dad ask everyone to come over tonight?!
Birthdays weren’t even that special to us. We didn’t celebrate the way other people did.
Usually.
I didn’t know what the heck had gotten into Dad tonight, but I wished it hadn’t.
“Happy birthday, Sakura!” Auntie Yua said.
I squeezed my eyes closed. Oh fuck, I am screwed.
Yua’s daughter and my favorite cousin, Ichika, grinned and handed me a stack of my favorite green tea cookies that she had made and wrapped with a cute cloth bow. I gladly took them from her and sent a thankful smile her way.
At some point tonight—once I took this goddamn pill—I needed to talk to her. She worked as a gynecologist in downtown Redwood. I needed to ask her to help me get on birth control because there was no way in hell that I’d ask Dad.
Before I could greet my other family members, Ichika grabbed my wrist and leaned close to me. “Do you have Plan B in your CVS bag?” she whispered into my ear. “You can see right through it.”
Cheeks flushing, I gave her a worried smile. “Y-you can?”
She grabbed it from me and tucked it behind her back. “I’ll bring it to your room, but once you greet everyone, we need to talk.” She stood all serious for a moment, then giggled. “And I want to know all the details.”
I didn’t even know if it was possible, but my entire face grew warmer. Quickly, I nodded to her and continued to greet the other family members who had shown up, which was pretty much everyone on Dad’s side. Mom wasn’t even here.
When I finally wriggled through the crowd to Dad, I gently squeezed his shoulder. Dad wasn’t one to show much physical affection ever.
He smiled up at me. “I hope you had a great birthday.”
Oh, you don’t even know.
“A great day,” I said, glancing around again. “Where’s Mom?”
He looked away from me and grimaced. “Just out tonight. Don’t worry about her. I’m sure she’ll be back by tonight to wish you a happy birthday.”
But she hadn’t remembered my birthday for five years now, which I guessed was when Dad had started sorta, kinda hosting small gatherings for my birthday. But definitely not this size with all my cousins and family members.
“It’s okay,” I said to him.
I hadn’t expected her to come this weekend for the scheduled party. I wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t here now. She was probably urging some of her pharmacy friends to go to happy hour without her so she could toss a couple of pills into her purse without anyone noticing.
After sighing, I slumped my shoulders and peered toward the hallway. I wished things could’ve been different with her, but they’d been this way for years now. At least she still lived here—for the most part—and sometimes still tried.
“Were you studying after school?” he asked. “I thought you’d come right home.”
Memories of earlier rushed through my mind—the feel of Mr. Avery’s hands all over my body, his mouth on my neck, his cock buried deep inside my pussy. Feeling his warm cum spill out from inside me.
“Oh, I was just”—fuck, what do I say?!—“getting some extra credit.”
“Good.” He nodded. “I hoped you weren’t doing anything too rebellious for your birthday.”
I laughed nervously and stepped backward. “No, of course not.”
Just fucking my teacher—that’s all.
“Which class?” he asked as I desperately tried to make a run for my bedroom.
“Literature.”
Dad pressed his lips together, as if he didn’t approve of getting extra credit for the arts.
“Well,” I said, taking another step toward the hallway, “I’m going to drop my backpack off in my bedroom, and then I’ll be back out. Thank you for, um, setting up this party again.” Not really, but I didn’t want to break his heart.
Once I finally made it out of the crowded living room, I sprinted toward my bedroom, dumped my backpack on the floor, and locked the door behind me. My chest heaved up and down as realization finally hit me.
Ichika sat on the bed with her hands posted back on the mattress and a wicked tell me all grin on her face. She handed me a box of Plan B. “They’ll all do basically the same thing, but you should take this one.”
I tore the box open, popped the pill into my mouth, and swallowed it whole without any water. Adrenaline rushed through my body at everything that had happened today—Mr. Avery, seeing Vera at the CVS while I’d bought Plan B, and this damn surprise party.
“So,” Ichika started, sitting crisscross on the bed, “tell me everything!”
After glimpsing back at the bedroom door, I took a deep breath and jumped onto the bed with her. Since I had been a child, I’d always told her my deepest, darkest secrets. But this … this was way more personal than anything we had talked about.
“I, um …” I leaned forward and lowered my voice even more. “I need you to help me get on birth control.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly, shaking it up and down. “Tell me you did not lose your virginity!”
Eyes widening, I ripped my hand away from her, slapped my hand across her mouth, and tugged her down onto the bed so we were both lying on the mattress. I turned to my side and slowly removed my hand. “Can you not scream it?! Everyone is here!”
Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “With who?!”
My cheeks flushed again, and I glanced away. “With someone at school.”
There was no way in hell that I would tell her about him. Telling her I had lost my virginity was one thing. Telling her that it had been with a teacher was completely different! He was my professor, for God’s sake.
“Who?” she urged.
“I’ll tell you sometime. Not now. But I … I really need you to help me get on birth control.”
After playfully rolling her dark brown, almost-black eyes at me, she nodded. “Sure. I have availability tomorrow morning, but you’ll have to skip school. I can get you a copper IUD that starts working immediately.”
I stared up at the ceiling and blew out a breath, thanking the Redwood gods that Ichika had something that’d start working immediately. Because I didn’t know how the hell I’d be able to stay away from him.
Detention or not, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Mr. Avery for weeks now.