24 Chapter 8A (1/2)

”I hate my body. I hate what it remembers; hate what it let him do” – Cheryl Rainfield

September 19th 2013; 10:34am

”Shay!” I heard Rain yell my name and I froze.

Why? Oh why hadn't I left my calculus class earlier? I could have avoided this all together.

”You don't mean that,” a tiny voice said in my head as I slowly turned around to face Rain. Angel stood next to her, with a brow raised questioningly, as to why I had currently been on the run out of school.

”Hey guys,” I said nervously, patting down the wig that was on my head. Angel rolled her eyes, stomped over to me and yanked my arm, before pulling me along. Rain said nothing, just followed the two of us into an empty room; Angel closed the door, and sat me in one of the plastic chairs in the classroom.

”So,” Rain said, casually swinging her arms by her side and moving closer to me. I drummed my fingers on the table and avoided eye contact.

”So” I muttered, more to myself really, than them and examined my nails

”Come on, people,” Angel scoffed, losing her cool ”we've been friends for almost three years, both of you for five. Are we scarce on things to talk about?”

I sighed and glanced at Angel, who had settled herself exasperatedly in one of the plastic chairs a few rows away from where I sat.

”Look, we know you aren't ready to talk about her yet,” Rain started and I sucked in a breath, watching her as she picked her next words carefully ”but it doesn't mean we can't talk about anything else.”

”We just don't want to be shut out of your life,” Angel said with a shrug, as she watched me carefully. I looked between my two friends, not exactly sure what to say to that.

There was silence for a moment before Angel placed her feet on the table and ran her hands through her hair.

”So I have the latest scoop on what's happening in school,” she said, causing me to smile. Rain shook her head with a smile and nodded for Angel to go on.

”I heard Diana got knocked up this summer.”

I stared at Angel in shock and she nodded pitifully, not for Diana but for the girl whose boyfriend probably got her pregnant.

”Who's the baby daddy?” Rain asked, also interested in the gist. It wasn't like I hadn't expected something like this to happen; with all the boys she slept with, it was inevitable. The point was, she was still in high school, so I thought she would have been a lot more careful.

So much for that.

”It's Justin's but who knows?” she shrugged and I shook my head, clearly not surprised.

Justin had always been destined to get someone pregnant, and Diana was his booty call.

”I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner,” Rain said with a small laugh, shaking her head in dismay ”Justin's really in it now.”

”He denied it,” Angel scoffed, clearly not sorry in the least for the two of them ”It happened like, two days after school started.”

”I just thought Diana stopped coming because she was ill or something.”

”It's been three weeks Rain,” Angel said as she rolled her eyes ”no one stays ill that long.”

”So she just dropped out?” I asked, glancing at Angel ”I haven't seen her at all this year.”

”I don't know but she's missed three weeks,” Angel shrugged, clearly uninterested in Diana's newly complicated life as though she was itching to tell the juicy bits of the story ”no one can make up three weeks.”

”I can,” Rain said matter-of-factly and Angel sneered.

”You're a nerd,” Angel rolled her eyes ”of course you can.”

Rain flipped her off and I laughed, the both of them going along with it.

The way they were both glancing at me, I was sure they were just happy to see me smiling again; which was why I loved my friends and I missed them a lot.

Even if I couldn't say it in so many words, the fact remained.

”I'm just getting to the juicy bits” Angel said exasperatedly, silencing both me and Rain.

”Of course you are,” Rain said but Angel just ignored her and glanced at me.

”Diana confronted Justin about it … in front of the entire school!”

”Where was I then?” Rain asked Angel skeptically as if she could not believe she had missed such an event.

”I don't know,” Angel shrugged, uninterested in Rain's interruption ”at the library or something” she looked at me and continued.

”It was amazing.”

”Show some remorse Angel, for heaven's sake, the girl is pregnant” Rain said, shaking her head at Angel's enthusiasm.

”Um, so?” Angel asked, wondering what the hell Rain was on about ”she brought all of it on herself! Why not help her bask in the gift of life she has been given?”

Rain scoffed and rolled her eyes.

”Anyway, she walks up to Justin in the cafeteria, right?” Angel said, continuing her story, her eyes shining with excitement ”her belly is the size of a freaking basketball.”

”Wait, she was already showing?” I asked as it was my turn to be shocked. Angel nodded and ran her hands through her hair again.