Chapter Twenty One
Michelle
The last few weeks had been so hard. I couldn’t believe that no one had suspected about my fake breakup with the girls. I must admit, I’d never thought of Faith as being an actress, but after that day whenever they walked past me they acted as if I didn’t exist.
Mrs. Turner had even sat with me at the dining hall a couple of times, which was really unusual for a teacher to sit with a student.
“I just wanted to make sure that you are okay,” she looked at me through her glasses as if she was trying read my mind.
I smiled, the fake smile that I had learned over the last few weeks while practicing in the mirror. Those who knew me who would know that it was hiding the truth. Others would think I was the happiest student in the world. I adjusted my sweater and gave her what she wanted to see and hear, “Everything’s fine.” I waited for her to accept it. To take it as the truth and to move on to another subject.
I thought that it had worked until she repeated, “Are you sure?”
I did again, this time trying to make it more convincing, I was eating the one dish I despised as if it was the best dish in the world and I repeated, “Everything’s fine.”
She didn’t move. She kept staring at me, and I started to get uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she was distracted by the Principal who came over to speak to her.
“Mrs Turner, you know that the students eat here, and we eat over there,” Principal Hopkins pointed as if he was talking to a new teacher, not one that had been at the school before I was even born.
She nodded, “I know, but today I thought that I would keep Michelle company.”
He frowned as he looked at me, probably worried about what I would say. Like so many of the officials in town, he was scared of my dad. He would want to make sure that no one paid attention to me.
Principal Hopkins wouldn’t hesitate to tell dad if I was talking to Carl. I knew his real purpose of coming over, and if Mrs. Turner was sitting with any other student it wouldn’t have bothered him.
But, Father Roger’s daughter, that was a totally different matter. One that needed to be put in place immediately. Maybe the first time she had lunch with me, he had let it slide. Or had he been busy, not paying attention? I found that hard to believe. There were only two hundred students in the school, so it would be hard not to notice or even be told about our previous lunch together.
I didn’t know what to think about it.
There was a battle of wits as they looked at each other.
Would Principal Hopkins go as far as to dismiss Mrs. Turner, because we had lunch together?
Maybe?
Especially, seeing as I thought him to be petrified of my dad. He had a way of putting him in his place, like the Prom, which was going to happen in the next few weeks. The first time in a decade that Stowe Peaks High has been allowed to have one, after the last one resulted in a couple of students kissing outside. After that, my dad, the Great Father Roger, declared that it had encouraged promiscuity and that they should be banned. But for some reason this year, he had decided to lift the ban.
All the students were happy they could go to Prom. They would have a good time. That was, all the students apart from me.
I didn’t want to get Mrs. Turner in trouble, soon I would be gone and she would be here having to suffer the consequences of her actions. They could say that she had helped me escape. I stuffed the last piece of lemon chicken in my mouth, hating the so-called joys of pregnancy. Before, I’d used to love eating it, but now anything citrus just made me feel sick.
I stood up quickly and said, “It doesn’t matter, because I’ve finished.”
Principle Hopkins scolded, “But you didn’t eat your rice.”
I shrugged, “Really? I’m not too hungry. I actually feel sick. Can I be excused?”
I said it so innocently that any fears that they both had seemed to disappear.
She smiled and said, “Of course, my dear. Maybe go and get some fresh air, that normally works.”
I nodded, “I will do.”
As I walked away so did Principal Hopkins, but I could feel their eyes on me. Too scared to know if they were watching me, I avoided their stares as I put the lunch tray away and headed outside to sit in the shade, alone in the school yard once again.
Chapter Twenty Two
Michelle
I could see them all from my window. I watched as they left in the limo that they had hired. Everyone was excited about being able to go to Prom once again, something that hadn’t happened in a long time in Stowe Peak.
“Your father and I will be going too,” I turned around to realize that my mom was talking to me. That was all she ever did, speak to me when it came to giving me my instructions for that day. It was as if she wanted to show that not only did dad have authority over my miserable life, but she did too.
“Where?” I asked, acting as if I hadn’t overheard them in the kitchen arguing about leaving me at home. They hadn’t done it in months and, with my pregnancy starting to show, they were worried about doing it again.
“Well, it’s not like he can get her pregnant again after he’s already done it,” Mom had said to dad, telling him that there was no reason for both of them to stay at home. I was sure that she was secretly wanting to go, wanting to be part of the main event of the year that hadn’t happened for so long.
“Yes, but I don't want him anywhere near her. He may get ideas,” Dad had argued back, and I knew exactly what he meant. Being alone with me may give Carl the idea to run off with me and then we would both be out of this miserable town and away from them.
“I will watch him as if my life depends on it. Make sure that he doesn’t leave the school and that he doesn’t come back here.”
Dad offered another suggestion, “And I will unplug the phone in case she decides to call him.”
If it was anyone else’s parents then it would have been comical. I would have laughed hearing them debate about ways to keep us apart. But, they were talking about Carl. The man whose baby I was carrying and he didn’t even know. Mom had voiced her disappointment at my weight gain, but then she said that seeing as this was my second pregnancy that could be the reason for getting so big quickly. It couldn’t be because of my huge appetite, which I lost as soon as I came out of Hell.
Funny, no one seemed to have noticed in school. Or maybe it was a case of them noticing, but everyone keeping quiet.
I shook my head. If they had noticed, Carl would have said something. There was no way he would have kept his distance. I was only four months, but then I suppose to anyone else I would look a lot bigger.
“The Prom. It’s the first time that the school has been allowed to have one after all these years.”
The school? Rather Dad had allowed them to have one.
“Anyway, I just want to make sure that you have no intention of contacting that boy. You know the consequences, and you’re already a few months gone. You wouldn’t want to go back to Hell, would you?”
I nodded, agreeing that it was the last place I wanted to go to, but not because I was a few months. Going there would mean the end of my plan. I would miss my graduation ride and then never have another opportunity again.
I intended to be on my best behavior. I had worked too hard to be anything else.
“Good, as long as we understand each other.”
I slumped down on the bed, wondering if Carl was going to the Prom with someone. I had heard a rumor, two kids talking, but then when they saw me, they stopped talking about Carl or anything related to me.
I had even seen flyers about voting for the King and Queen of the Prom. I hoped that they would win, Carl had been through sadness, though not as much as I had. The idea that he was getting over me pulled at my heart strings.
A tear escaped my eye and then I could hear my mom shouting to my dad, for my benefit of course.
“She understands, dear. Now, let’s get on our way.
”
Chapter Twenty Three
Carl
Everyone was having a good time. Father Roger grabbed his wife and they took to the dance floor when the band played, ‘Oh Happy Days.’ I looked at my date, one that was chosen by my mom, and I could see that she was happy to dance too.
Dwight’s date had left, because she had broken her heel, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to give my date to Dwight. Both of them looked confused, but there was only one person I wanted to dance with tonight. Soon, it would be graduation and I wouldn’t be coming back to this town after I left.
It was too painful being here and not being able to speak to Michelle. If I came back during the holidays the only voice I would hear would be my mom’s telling me about my dad leaving. He’d told me that as soon as I left, he would be gone too. I’d had a feeling that he’d been thinking of doing that, but knowing he would be gone made me realize that there was nothing to come back for. In four years’ time when it was time to grab Michelle and make her my wife, would she still want me then?
We would be different people, and the love that we shared could be different by then.
No, what was I thinking? I had to come back during the holidays to find out where she had gone. I knew that Faith and Harmony hadn’t turned their backs on her. Maybe after graduation, Michelle would leave. I wouldn’t pressure her for an answer now, but I would find out from them in time.
I had my chance and I didn’t hesitate when Dwight asked my date for a dance. I hopped into my dad’s car that he had loaned me for the night and drove to her house.
I thought about parking it down the road and sneaking in as I used to, hoping that she would be in the kitchen or somewhere nearby. I knew that her dad was watching my movements, and I shouldn’t have taken the risk, but I had to.
That burning ache inside of me for the last few months from seeing her and never being able to talk to her was too deep to let it slide by.
I knocked on the door and when there was no answer, I opened the door. She looked so beautiful, she was standing in her white nightshirt that covered her from shoulder to toe and holding Mia’s hand. Neither of us spoke as I took her hand and said, “It didn’t feel right going with a date tonight.” I cupped her face and she purred, then opened her mouth to protest.
I knew what she was going to say. I was being selfish being here, but I didn’t care. The last few weeks had been so hard on me that if it meant giving up my career and taking care of her then I would do that.
“Dance!” Mia said as she clapped her hands. She was cute and had bright eyes just like her mom, the type that lit up as soon as I walked into the room. I smiled at her and asked Michelle, “Would you dance with me? Just once? Tonight, as if we were at the Prom together?”
She frowned, “Was that why you came, for the last dance?”
I stroked her arm as I grabbed it and wrapped it around my neck, “Until four years’ time. It will be something to hold on to.”
It was as if I had awoken her from the bad dream that had become her reality.
“We can’t do this. They’ll be back at any time and then I’ll be punished again,” she pushed me back. I knew that I didn’t deserve it.
“Five minutes,” I pleaded. “Harmony and Faith are watching my back.”
I took in a deep breath so that she wouldn’t panic. “They said that they would,” I nodded, hoping that she wouldn’t push me away and that we could have at least one special moment. I had texted them both when I was in the car before I entered the house. They had said that they had it covered. I knew that there was more to the story than them turning their backs on Michelle, as I had caught them a couple of times in her locker. So, it was clear that she was leaving. I wouldn't stand in her way. I held her in my arms as she surrendered to me and held me so tightly and then Mia started to sway as she hummed to a made-up tune.
A slow one, I wondered if it was a lullaby, but I was lost in her scent which was simply soap. I knew that every type of luxury that any girl her age had in their house wasn’t allowed in this household, but as her hair tickled my nose, I enjoyed the smell of her strawberry shampoo and wondered where she got such a treat.
I imagined Faith and Harmony putting a small bottle in her locker.
It didn’t matter as we hardly moved, but just held each other and I whispered in her ear as a tear escaped my eye.
I confessed, “I thought about not going to college. Getting an apartment or something and a job, so we could be together now.”
She shook her head, “Please don’t do that. Not only will you be miserable giving up on your dream, but I would be too.”
She was right and the voice of reason, but I hated the idea of her gone. I should have asked her then. Gotten it out of her, but I came to have a dance. A special moment with her. Everything else would have to wait.
I knew that it was time for me to leave, “I love you, Michelle.”
“I’ve always loved you, Carl. Don’t you forget it. No matter what happens.”
And I knew then that this was just temporary as I squeezed her one more time. I didn’t want her to see the sadness on my face or know that I was crying, but I could hear her silent cries.
And then Mia said, “Why you crying?”
Michelle replied, “Come, let me put you to bed.”
Four years, that’s all it would be until I held her in my arms every single night, for the rest of her life. I promised myself this as I started the car. When I got back to the Prom, Faith and Harmony gave me the thumbs up to tell me that everything was alright.
Chapter Twenty Four
Michelle
The car was parked outside the school gate, just like Harmony had said it would be at four. Everyone was inside the church hall preparing for the graduation party, the celebration which would mark my last day in town. I thought that I would feel sad about leaving, maybe even change my mind, but over the last few weeks, Faith, Harmony and Carl had kept my strength up. Without their friendship I couldn’t have survived in this town. They would all soon be going to college, all three of them had opted for colleges which were far away and they all had the same mission to be as far from Stowe Peak as possible.
If I’d had the opportunity I would have done the same. But I wasn’t allowed to apply, if I had, there was no way I would have had the funds to support myself during the four years. This was my only option. The only blessing was the fact that I had my high school diploma.
Maybe I could use that to go to a local college?
But, as I rubbed my belly and thought about my fate, I realized that I would be starting a new life, not just with one child, but two.
I grabbed Mia’s hand as she asked, “Where we going?”
I smiled, “An adventure.” Her frown didn’t go away, so I continued to say, “A happy place.”
She replied, “Ice cream?”
She clapped her hands at the thought of getting one, a treat that she had rarely experienced. One that Dad had classified as being one of temptation, but Mom had given to us whenever he was away.
“Yes, like getting an ice cream,” I replied as I took her hand once again and led her across the road. I had a backpack, which didn’t have much in, a few clothes and nothing else. I couldn’t make it look as if we had run away, that would mean that the sheriff would catch up with us if Dad alerted him straight away.
Besides I hated my clothes, they weren’t ones for women my age. They were for beggars on the street who had to take what they wanted. Then it hit me like a flash of lightening that after today I would be on the street.
I had a shelter to go to, but even then it wasn’t clear how long I could stay there.
I had so many questions, but I knew that sending notes back to Harmony and Faith could result in the end of my escape.
I had over $500 in my pocket which was more than I had ever had in my life. It may not be a lot to most people, but to me it was like winning the lottery a hundred times.
The only t
ime I had held money in my hand was when I’d gone to Christian camp and Mom had given me $10. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to spend the $10. The idea of having money and giving it away for the first time in my life felt like a stupid thing to do. But, as dad would say, temptation got the better of me and when we went on a trip and I was in a store, knowing that I could spend money, I didn’t hesitate in buying a little souvenir.
It was a horse, something that I had held onto for the last four years. It was in my backpack. A reminder of where I was and where I was going to; from now on any money that I had would be needed to buy food, clothes, milk, diapers, etc.
I would no longer have the luxury of deciding to buy something for myself. The ones that would get first dibs on what to spend it on would be my children.
As I stood by the car and Harmony’s cousin, Ben asked, “You ready?”
He opened the door and, as Mia dutifully sat at the back, I handed him my backpack and I smiled, “For the first time in my life, I am ready.”
“Good.”
I wondered if he thought that maybe I had changed my mind. I was a little late, but that was because I wanted to make sure that everyone was distracted with the party and no one knew that I was going to leave. It would only be a matter of time before mom realized that not only had I gone to Harmony’s house to get the macaroni and cheese that Harmony had purposely forgotten to bring and not returned. She would also know that Mia was gone, even though Faith had said that she would take her to the playground with the other little kids, which Faith had volunteered to do.
They would be my backup to make sure that no one would look for me, for at least an hour or if I was lucky maybe two. By then we would have crossed the state line, no one would have a clue who with or how, not even Carl. He would be the last one they would question. It was a perfect plan, one that I wished I could say to both Harmony and Faith a million thank you’s for devising it.
The Quarterback's Love Child (A Secret Baby Sports Romance Book 1) Page 7
