Molli gave Seneca a dirty look. “Thanks Sen. Yes, I am fine and yes I am pregnant.”
“Oh. Okay. Are you hungry?”
She gave Tony a grateful smile. “Starving.”
“Good. We’ve got enough food here to feed ten people.”
They ate a leisurely breakfast and then decided it was time to go. Grant had to work in a few hours and told Seneca there was no way he was going to leave them at Tony’s house. Tony laughed.
When they were ready to leave she turned to Tony and said “Call Tory. I’m sure she’d be glad to hear from you.”
He sighed. “I tried to call her a little bit ago. Her number’s disconnected. I guess she really doesn’t want to talk to me.”
Molli gave him an impulsive hug. “Oh, Tony. I’m so sorry. Maybe she’ll still come around. We still have time left in the school year. I doubt she’s going to go anywhere near Jude again.”
“I sure hope not.” Tony stepped back; looking a little embarrassed that Molli had hugged him.
“Hey,” Seneca said. “Where’s my hug?”
“Don’t you dare Sen.” Grant gave her a warning look.
Molli intercepted her friend. “I’ll give you a hug Sen.”
Seneca made a face but accepted Molli’s hug. “Thank you Molli. I just wanted to hug him Grant. You didn’t need to throw a fit. It’s not like I was going to run my hands up under his shirt or grab his ass.”
“If you hadn’t been planning on doing that, you wouldn’t have said it. Thanks for having us Tony.”
“You’re welcome. You guys have a nice day.”
“You too.” Seneca winked at Tony behind Grant’s back. “It was nice seeing you. Really nice.”
Molli laughed and took her friend’s arm, pulling her out the door before Grant could get anymore pissed off by his girlfriend’s blatant flirting. Jude wasn’t around when Grant dropped them off at Seneca’s house. She managed to avoid him all weekend, though he kept calling her. She kept ignoring both him and Eduardo who had also decided to start calling her again.
Chapter 11
It was Thursday. Molli was late for class and hurrying down the stairs when she felt herself shoved from behind. She hit her head and landed at the bottom of the stairwell. She looked up with blurred vision and saw the back of a slim blonde with long hair. Tory, she thought. It had to be.
She sat up and pressed her hand protectively over her abdomen. She wondered if Tory had pushed her because she’d found out about her failed seduction of Tony or if she was still pissed off about the whole stupid affair with Jude. Feeling a little dizzy, she grabbed the railing of the stairs and pulled herself up.
She walked stiffly towards Marcune’s office, intent on telling on the little bitch. Tory could have made her lose her baby she thought.
The secretary looked up. “You should be in class.”
Molli fought an eye roll and a ‘duh.’ “Tory Collins pushed me down the stairs. I need to talk to Ms. Marcune.”
“Just a moment.”
Molli sat down in an uncomfortable chair, hand still pressed over her abdomen. I should have stopped in the bathroom and made sure there was no bleeding she thought. She was debating on going to the bathroom when the secretary said “You can go in now.”
She opened the door to Marcune’s office. Marcune was wearing a tight smile. “Hello Ms. Archer. Mrs. Brown said that you had a little accident on the stairs?”
Molli sat down. “It wasn’t an accident. She pushed me on purpose. She hates me.”
“And who would she be?”
“Tory Collins.”
“Victoria Collins is a stellar student. We’ve had no problems with her since she arrived at Crestview.”
“Yeah, so?”
Molli wondered whether she should bring up the destruction of her room, but then figured that Tory would find some way to twist it around and make it look like that was her fault or tell on her for being pregnant.
“What were you doing on the stairs so late Ms. Archer?”
Molli held back a sigh. She’d gotten a text from Ricky and had been in the bathroom talking to him on the phone between classes. It had felt so good to hear his voice that she hadn’t wanted to hang up the phone. She could hardly tell Marcune that though. “I was feeling sick to my stomach and had to go to the bathroom.”
“Do you have conversations with yourself when you’re having stomach problems? Ms. Patton swore that she heard you talking in the bathroom when the bell rang. You know that cell phones aren’t allowed on your person during school hours.”
Molli couldn’t believe that Marcune was more concerned that she had been talking on her phone in the bathroom than she was that Tory had pushed her down the stairs. “Listen Ms. Marcune, if you want to give me detention for talking on my phone go ahead. But can we talk about what you’re going to do to Tory since she pushed me down the stairs? I could have really gotten hurt.”
“Go see the nurse. You can skip the detention, but you really should be more careful on the stairs. I’ll talk to Ms. Collins; hear her side of the story.”
“That’s it? You’re just going to talk to her? No wonder my parents pay so much money for this damn school.”
Molli turned around and opened the door.
“Ms. Archer?”
She didn’t bother to turn around. “Yes ma’am?”
“Watch your mouth.”
Molli sighed. “Yes ma’am.”
She closed the door behind her and walked out of the office and to the nurse’s office. The nurse was cheerful and kind and put an ice pack on her head and let her lie down. She was feeling really stiff and she was worried about the baby. She’d gone to the bathroom and she hadn’t been spotting but she was still worried.
She fell asleep for a while. Ms. Belmont; her history teacher came and got her after lunch. They ran straight into Tory on the way to her next class.
“You little bitch,” Molli seethed. “I know you pushed me you little psycho. You can’t stand the fact that I’m the one that Jude wants can you?”
She wanted to add something about Tony but didn’t figure it was a good idea in front of Belmont. And if Tory didn’t know about her showing up at Tony’s house and spending the night she thought the girl would probably go even crazier than she already was.
She could see that Tory wanted to say something but Belmont cut in. “Calm down Molli. If you don’t there’s no way I’m going to let you get away without going to the hospital. You need to worry about getting some rest. The staff will take care of the rest.”
She could see that Tory got a little pale as Belmont propelled her down the hall and wondered if Marcune had bothered to talk to her yet. She let the teacher lead her back to her room, since the nurse had said she looked tired and should probably spend the rest of the day in bed. She was planning on spending the rest of the day in Ricky’s bed if she could manage it, since they had the day off tomorrow for some kind of teacher in service.
It was a little creepy letting Belmont undress her. She had a feeling the older woman liked it a little too much. She kissed Molli on the forehead before she left. “Get some rest Molli.”
Molli gave her a weak smile. “Of course. Thank you Ms. Belmont.”
She waited until the door had shut and she heard the woman’s footsteps going down the hall before she reached for her cell phone. She thought that Ricky should be out of class and she knew he was off of work today and the next day.
She texted him ‘Hey. You out of class?’
‘Yes. What are you doing out of class? Is everything okay?’
‘I fell down the stairs. Well, Tory pushed me but everyone is trying to convince me that she didn’t. Like I don’t know what I saw with my own eyes.’
‘Oh sweetheart. Are you okay? The baby?’
‘I wasn’t bleeding when I went to the bathroom. I think the baby’s fine. I couldn’t exactly ask the nurse to check me out here since they’d probably kick me out if they knew I was pregnant.’<
br />
‘I have a friend that’s an intern who can take a look at you.’
‘I don’t think that’s necessary Ricky. I’m just shook up. I think I need to chill for a while. Can you come and pick me up?’
‘Of course. By the time I get there it should be after school hours so no one should say anything if you leave. I would very much like to have my friend look at you. I insist.’
‘Okay. Can you come the back way through the woods? I don’t feel like walking all the way out to the road.’
‘Are you sure you’re okay Molli?’
‘Yes. You’re so sweet to worry about me.’
‘I worry about you a lot. Especially since I know that you’re still hanging around that fool Eduardo.’
‘I haven’t been with him at all lately. I’m not even sure I was with him since I had my last period. And I don’t ever do it with Jude without a condom. So it’s pretty likely that you’re the father. I hope you are.’
‘So do I Molli. I’m going to let you go now so that I can come get you. I might have to call you if I can’t remember the back way through the woods.’
‘Okay.’
Molli felt a little warm inside that Ricky had said he hoped the baby was his too. She couldn’t wait to see him. She just wished that he would finally decide to break up with Mellenda. She felt like she was stuck in a movie that was doomed to repeat itself over and over. First it had been Eduardo she thought. Sure, I’ll leave my wife for you, when you graduate. Then Jude, yeah I’ll break up with Tory, I promise. Now Ricky. But Ricky was the only guy that she’d ever really cared about.
‘I’ll see you soon darling.’
‘Bye Ricky.’
‘Goodbye Molli.’
She put her phone away and got dressed slowly. She noticed that a bruise had started to show up on her forehead. She hurriedly covered it with makeup. She knew that it would take Ricky at least an hour and a half to get there but she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Mellenda, so she packed an overnight bag, and put her phone and her charger in her purse. She figured she’d play a game on her phone out in the woods until Ricky got there.
She made it out of the school safely and was headed out into the woods when her phone rang. It was Eduardo. She answered it, not bothering to hide her sigh.
“Hello.”
“Hey sexy. When you gonna come see me?”
“How about never?”
“Molli, you shouldn’t say things like that to a man who’s done so much for you.”
Molli snorted. “What have you done for me? Made me worry that I might get an STD when I found out you were sleeping with so many other women? Told me that abortion was the obvious solution even when I told you the baby probably isn’t yours? I did you a favor by telling you at all.”
“I like you when you’re slim and beautiful, not pregnant and fat. Yes, it was a selfish thing to say. But it’s not like you ran out and got an abortion. Have you told your boyfriend about the baby?”
“I haven’t told Jude.”
“You are so convinced that your roommate’s Puerto Rican boyfriend is the father aren’t you? That should make an interesting looking child with your light hair and blue eyes. You should have stuck with your skinny white boy.”
“So now you’re prejudiced all the sudden? That sounds pretty damned funny since you’re Hispanic, married to a white woman and sleeping with a black crack head.”
“Peggy is not a crack head.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Eduardo. Is the politically correct term crack cocaine addict? I don’t think that Ricky is Puerto Rican.”
“You’re so in love with the guy and you don’t know? He is Puerto Rican. Screw him and his fancy car and his college education that is going to do nothing but put him into debt.”
“You’re jealous because you have a crappy car that your wife doesn’t let you drive anymore. And you could never have made it a day in college let alone four years. I will screw him. I’d much rather screw him than you.”
“Bitch. Are you sure it’s not Wilson’s kid? My boy saw you and your hot friend coming out of his house the other morning with that idiot boyfriend of hers. Does Tony swing both ways now? Or did Grant watch will Tony took turns with you and your slutty friend? You screwing your other friend’s boyfriend too, Molli? Just in front of her face instead of behind her back? Are you sure it’s not Grant’s kid? I heard he knocked up a twenty year old when he was fourteen. She popped his cherry and he ended up with a kid.” Eduardo laughed.
Molli almost dropped her phone. If Eduardo knew she’d spent the night at Tony’s house maybe Tory did too, and that was why she had pushed her down the stairs. “First of all, I didn’t do it with Tony. I went over there to buy weed and he wouldn’t sell to me. He got us stoned and we ate pizza and ended up going to sleep there. I have no idea if Tony swings both ways and I don’t care. Don’t call Seneca a slut because she’s not a slut. And your boy had better stay the hell away from her. Grant does not have a kid. He had to take a paternity test, but the child wasn’t his. They don’t call it popping a cherry when a guy loses his virginity you idiot because guys don’t have cherries.”
Eduardo chuckled. “You know it gets me hot when you’re feisty Molli. Why don’t you come over to my apartment?”
“You mean Peggy’s apartment? No thanks. Why don’t you go home to your wife and kids? Or did she decide she doesn’t want you there at all anymore?”
“You got such a mouth on you. But you know that I love what you do to me with that mouth of yours.”
“Fuck you Eduardo. I never liked blowing you. I think that it’s time we stopped seeing each other for good.”
“It’ll be time when I say it’s time. Not you. And it ain’t time yet.”
“It will be when Ricky kicks your ass if you don’t stop harassing me.”
Eduardo snorted. “Your pretty boy couldn’t kick my ass if I had both hands tied my behind my back. We’re not done until you’re hot little ass leaves for college.”
“I thought you wouldn’t want me when I was fat and pregnant?”
“How fat can you get when you’re trying to hide your baby from your precious private school and your stupid parents? I know you ain’t told them yet.”
“Yeah, so what? It’s none of your business. I have to go. Ricky’s gonna be here any minute.”
“I should kick his ass for taking you away from me. Just gotta get in those nights with him when he’s not fucking his other girlfriend don’t you? Why don’t we set up a little swap? I’ll let him continue to bone you if he gives me a taste of his pretty girlfriend.”
“Mellenda wouldn’t look at you if you paid her. She’s too high class for you.”
“She was screwing Wilson last year and he’s a drug dealer. I’m a working man.”
“You don’t have a job. You’re living off of unemployment while Crisha has two jobs so that she can take care of your kids. And Mellenda would never go out with Tony, let alone screw him.”
“You pretty little private school girls seem to like your men down and dirty. She did go out with Tony last year. Before she hooked up with your Enrique. Hey, is Wilson still with that sexy blonde? I wouldn’t mind taking myself a taste of that one either.”
“No, he’s not with Tory anymore. You can have her. I think she’s almost as crazy as you are. She pushed me down the stairs today.”
Eduardo chuckled. “She sounds even better than I thought. You got her number?”
“You disgust me Eduardo. I told you that she pushed me down the stairs when I could be pregnant with your child and you think it makes her more attractive?”
“Hey, you swear up and down the kid is lover boy’s. Why should I care if your precious Ricky’s kid goes bye bye?”
Molli pushed the button on her phone to end the call. It rang again almost immediately after but she knew it was Eduardo from the ring tone. She took the lap blanket that she had brought with her out of her bag and spread it out on the ground, leaning against
a big sturdy tree.
Her phone rang half an hour later. It was Ricky.
“Hello.”
“Hi Molli. I was right. I can’t remember the back way into the woods.”
Molli laughed. “There’s that dirt road right before you get into town, on the left side. Just keep following it all the way. It puts you out a little ways from that old pervert’s shack. I’ll see you there soon.”
“Have you been outside this whole time? Are you warm enough? We’ll stop and buy some cocoa on the way back out of town.”
“You already sound like a father. I can’t stand being stuck inside Crestview all the time. And yes I’m warm enough. Thank you for asking. I wouldn’t mind the cocoa though. I’ve been craving chocolate. I’m starving too. I didn’t eat much for lunch.”
“We’ll eat then. Wherever you want. I miss you Molli. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be with you last weekend. I didn’t know how to get out of being with Mellenda when we’d already made plans so far ahead of time.”
“It’s okay. I had a good time hanging out with Sen and her boyfriend.”
“How is Seneca? And Grant?”
“They’re good. As crazy as ever. We should go out on a double date with them sometime.”
Molli thought that she was probably pushing it, but she didn’t really care. She was tired of not having Ricky to herself.
“I’d like that. Maybe next weekend? We’d have to do it in Upton since I still haven’t found a way to break up with Mellenda. I can give Grant gas money to come up if he needs it.”
She was so thrilled by the fact that he had agreed to a double date that she was able to overlook the fact that he had said he still wasn’t breaking up with Mellenda. “That’s so great. I like Upton a lot better than I like Brentwood anyway.”
Ricky chuckled. “Upton is a college town. More for young people to do. I’ll let you go my darling. I forgot my headset and I think sometimes that I could talk to you all night. I love the sound of your voice.”
“I know how you feel. I love your voice. I bet you sound great singing, so sexy.”
“I can’t sing. Can’t really dance much either. Stay warm. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 162
