Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
Me
Where are you?
Me
Please check in and let me know you’re okay.
I set my phone down on my desk and heave a sigh. Victor’s phone is on, but he isn’t answering my calls or texts. Dad hasn’t seen or heard from him either, but that isn’t surprising. I’m sure the last thing Victor wants to do right now is get a lecture from our father.
I lean back in my chair and stare out into my empty classroom. It’s my free period, and I should be grading quizzes, but I can’t focus.
It’s likely Victor’s already made it back to Houston by now, but I have no way of knowing for sure.
If he isn’t there, then he stopped off somewhere else on the way back to sleep or hide out until he feels like going home.
I could call hotels between here and Texas but that’d take forever.
I stop myself just short of googling accident reports.
“Answer your phone,” I growl as I stare at the blank screen.
I lean back in my chair and absently run a hand over my stomach. It’s twisted in knots but somehow, I’m hungry too. Not surprising since I’ve barely eaten the past few days. Nothing tastes right.
Leaving my phone, I head out of my classroom and to the breakroom. It’s empty except for Doug. He must be watching band rehearsals because his phone isn’t muted, and I’m greeted with an upbeat instrumental song. The sound quality is low, but he stares at the screen with rapt interest.
“Hi,” I say quietly as I enter so as not to interrupt him.
He looks up and smiles.
“Hey, Whitney. Come for the cake?” His big, boisterous voice echoes in the room over the song playing from his phone.
“Cake?” I perk up as my gaze darts to the counter and a delicious-looking vanilla cake with thick icing. “Is it someone’s birthday?”
“Uh . . . mine.” He pauses the song, which I just realized was “Happy Birthday.” Did his students send him a happy birthday video? That’s kind of sweet, actually.
“Happy birthday.” I smile at him.
“Thanks. Another year older and no wiser.” He grins, then shakes his head. Doug glances at the clock on the wall and stands. “I better get back. The lesson plans won’t write themselves, will they?”
I smile awkwardly at his retreating back.
I wonder if Sloane has considered going out with him again.
He’s sort of adorable. I make a mental note to ask her about him later as I cut a very big piece of cake, then hit the vending machine for a few things with more sustenance.
I can barely carry it all back to my classroom.
When I get there, Landon is waiting by the door. He pushes off the wall and stands straight as I approach.
“Hey, Landon.” I smile at him. “Need something?”
“I was wondering if you could help me with the geometry homework?” He holds out a hall pass to me as if proving he has permission to be out of his study period. I glance at it without taking it and nod.
“Yeah, of course.” I juggle the armful of food I’m carrying. “Mind getting the door?”
Landon turns the knob and pushes it open, then motions for me to go ahead. He follows me to the front of the room. I set my buffet of food down while he unzips his backpack and pulls out his geometry homework.
While he’s doing that, I check my phone. One new text, but not from Victor.
Conrad
Hope you’re having a good day. Back tomorrow. x
I smile at the sweet message. We’ve only exchanged a few texts since he left. Admittedly, I’ve been the one reluctant to reply. I don’t know what to say. I made this mess but I’m not sure how to fix it.
I knew they hated each other but standing there and listening to them spout the most vile things to each other was hard to stomach.
Is that what it’s going to be like every time they’re in the same room together?
Or worse, will I always have to choose between them?
A weekend with Victor, holidays with Conrad.
Keeping two of the most important people in my life separate like that just feels wrong.
I take a bite of the birthday cake, then drop the fork and reach for the chili chips. I also got beef jerky, mini cookies, and a Dr Pepper. Not a nutritious snack, but hopefully something will taste good and it’ll hold me over until tonight.
“Is there something specific you need help with?” I ask Landon as he settles into a desk in front of mine. “Or do you want to review the entire thing?”
“All of it, probably.” His grin is shaky.
“Okay.” It’s a nice distraction to teach. Two of my morning classes took quizzes, which left me with a lot of time to sit and think. This is better.
While I start at the beginning of the lesson, I watch Landon’s expression carefully. It’s harder to do with an entire class of kids, but I can see when I lose him.
“Let me try to explain it another way.” I open the cookies and pop a few in my mouth, then erase the whiteboard and start again.
Time moves faster than it has all day. I lose myself in planes and angles. When the bell rings, I’m surprised that so much time has passed and disappointed that I don’t have longer to help him.
“Does that make sense?”
“Yeah.” Landon’s head bobs quickly as he bends over his paper, writing frantically. When he looks up, he’s smiling. It’s such a small but refreshing thing to see him looking happy. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, of course.” I feel like I should thank him. It’s the lightest I’ve felt all day. “If you get stuck again, let me know.”
“I will.” He packs up his stuff and stands. Out in the hallway, students are heading to their lockers or their next class.
Landon lingers.
“Was there something else?”
“I also wanted to thank you for . . .” He trails off and his cheeks tinge red.
“You’re welcome.” I haven’t been sure how to handle it. If I should bring it up or if that would only embarrass him. “How is everything?”
“Good.” He bobs his head. Then amends his answer.
“Okay. I’m staying with Grady for now. He got some sort of special permission to let me live with him, so I didn’t have to go to another home out of the school district.
The social worker said she’ll try to find a new placement in Moonshot but .
. .” He shrugs. “Anyway, thanks for being so cool about it.”
“You’re a good kid, Landon. I didn’t do anything that others wouldn’t have.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Coach Whit.”
The words make my stomach churn. He’s right. Of course he is. I hate that he’s had to live through so much in his short life.
“I better get to my next class.”
I nod and force a smile. “And I better finish my lunch.”
His brows pull together as he stares at what’s left of my snacks. “That’s a strange combination of food, Coach Whit.”
“I know. Not the healthiest options, but I was craving sweet and salty.”
“Jenny ate weird stuff together like that too when she first found out she was pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” I laugh, staring over at a sheepish-looking Landon. “I’m not . . . This isn’t . . .”
He shrugs and backs away as the first students for my next period walk into the classroom.
“Later, Coach.” Landon gives me a small salute before he heads out.
My face is hot as I sit tall and smile at the new students filing in and taking their seats. “Good afternoon,” I greet them with a tight voice.
Then I think back to my last period, trying to calculate if I missed one.
The last couple months have been a blur, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had one recently.
I pull up the calendar app on my phone and scroll back.
It’s been longer than I thought. Maybe I had one since then and forgot to input it into my calendar.
I drop the phone and cover my mouth with both hands. Fear shoots through me, but I shake my head. No. It can’t be. I’m on birth control and we’ve used condoms most of the time. There is no way I’m pregnant.
I pick up my phone again and walk over to the far corner of the room. There has to be another explanation. I’m absolutely certain I’m not pregnant. Except . . . is it possible? My body is hot all over as the line rings in my ear.
When the call goes to voicemail, I barely recognize my voice as I leave a message. “Hey. It’s me. Call me back.” I take a breath. “Please? I need you.”
“What am I looking for?” Victor holds up a pregnancy test in each hand and studies them carefully.
“It’ll say pregnant or not pregnant and the other one will have one or two lines.”
He grunts.
“We’re supposed to wait two minutes.” I take them from him, careful not to look too closely, and set them on the coffee table. I’m not ready to know yet. I set a timer on my phone for two minutes and let out a shaky breath.
“I cannot believe you let that pretty boy knock you up,” he says like I did this intentionally and only to piss him off.
“Can you help distract me right now? Please? Talk about anything else. Like where you went when you left here Sunday morning.”
Victor was waiting at my house when I got home from practice, but so far, he hasn’t said anything about where he’s been or how he got here so quickly.
“I checked into a hotel to sleep for the day.”
“And didn’t leave when you woke up Monday morning?”
“I was tired,” he says a little too defensively.
Interesting. I would have expected him to get as far from Moonshot as possible and as quickly as he could.
We fall back into silence, and my leg bounces nervously.
He clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “What in the hell do you see in that guy?”
“Still not talking about it,” I mutter.
“Fine. Fine.” He sighs. “The house looks nice.”
Real surprise makes my mind go blank for a second. “Wow. A compliment.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I still hate it, but it suits you.”
“Small and cute?” I grin at him.
His tone is dry and quiet. “Something like that.”
“Most of it was Mom’s doing. I’ve just been finishing up projects she started.”
He lets out another grunt. Oops. I ruined the vibe by mentioning Mom. It’s his least favorite topic, but now it’s the only thing distracting me from the pregnancy tests two feet away.
“Why do you hate her so much?”
“Why don’t you hate her at all?” he fires back.
My mouth pulls into an annoyed frown.