Untitled Part 9
"Think whatever you want!"
"I'm bad, okay? I'm just awful!"
Then she ran off again.
But the faint catch in her voice at the end—almost a sob—lingered in the locker room long after she was gone.
My eyes settled on the tumbler.
And once again, I was dragged back to the day I least wanted to remember.
My morning sickness was brutal after I got pregnant.
I was so sick I barely had the strength to move.
After dinner was ready, Aunt Tanya, the housekeeper, plated some food and carried it up to my room on the second floor.
When I saw she'd forgotten a spoon, I figured I'd just go downstairs and get one myself.
The moment I stepped out of the room, I heard Daisy's small voice drifting up from below.
"Did she throw up again?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Aunt Tanya said with a sigh.
"Mrs. Sterling's morning sickness is really severe. If this keeps up, her body's only going to get weaker."
Daisy fell quiet.
I could almost picture the little crease between her brows.
"Is there any way to make the... um... that thing in her belly disappear?"
She paused, then added in a low voice,
"I didn't like it anyway."
"Maybe it should just disappear."
My fingers trembled.
The door shifted under my hand and swung open.
Hearing the noise, Daisy turned and ran toward me.
"Why'd you come out? Are you feeling sick again?"
"Do you want me to help you—"
The second she reached her hand toward me, I instinctively took a step back and covered my stomach.
She stopped cold.
She just stood there, staring at me in a daze.
A moment later, understanding dawned on her face.
"Mom was right after all."
"All that kindness you showed me was fake."
"Now that you're going to have your own baby, you don't even want to pretend anymore. Isn't that it?"
Her eyes shook with emotion.
"You said you knew I was a good kid... so why are you hiding from me? You think I'm bad, just like everyone else. You think I'd hurt you, don't you?"
"Claire, I hate you!"
"I hate you most of all. I'm going to my mom."
She spun and bolted for the stairs.
Rain was still hammering against the windows outside.
I rushed after her and grabbed her arm.
"That's not it, Daisy."
"I never—"
"Don't touch me!"
She shoved me away with all her strength.
I lost my balance and staggered backward several steps.
The staircase was right behind me.
I missed the banister, stepped into empty air, and tumbled down.
Before I blacked out, I saw Daisy running toward me in panic.
She even tripped and fell halfway there.
"Claire!"
"Claire!"
My thoughts snapped back to the present.
I twisted open the insulated tumbler.
Warm milk steamed softly inside.
There was still a little dried milk around the rim.
She must have heated it herself and poured it in by herself too.
Before this, I'd always believed that even if Daisy hadn't pushed me on purpose, she had genuinely wanted the baby in my stomach gone.
That was why I'd never been able to let go of my resentment toward her.