“Oh, it’s not a rumor,” one of the girls said. “It never is.”
“Trust me. You think you know everything as a sixteen—”
“Seventeen,” the three girls said in unison.
“Even better. Because I thought I knew everything at seventeen as well. Trust me, you don’t. The woman you’re talking about? She’s a great person. And this rumor you’ve heard about her? Probably started by a woman who’s jealous that she’s not with me and this lovely woman is instead. So the next time you want to believe a rumor, ask yourself one question.”
I took a step towards the girls while the florist rang me up.
“What does the other person stand to benefit from telling it?” I asked.
I paid for the flowers and walked out, but the rumor still weighed on me. Damn it. Those damn voices were back. If the entire town was talking about that, then that was probably why Michelle was fired from her job. And common sense told me it was a rumor that was probably started by Cecily herself. Or Andy. Or someone else that stood to gain some sort of sick pleasure from making mine or Michelle’s life miserable.
But I had seen them come out of the bathroom together. And Andy had called Michelle his girl. And Cecily had told me Michelle was screwing around behind my back. I knew what this town was capable of. The lies that permeated through their mouths for the sake of entertainment. But was it possible an entire town of people, including the high schoolers, had something wrong? High school girls were annoying as hell, but they were detectives. Hell, the CIA could hire them to track down people and they’d have their name, telephone number, last prior address, and current whereabouts within the hour.
Was it possible girls whose entire lives revolved around finding the catty truth had something like this wrong?
I got back to the house and carried the flowers and the wine into the kitchen, and I expected to find Michelle there. But the more I walked through the house, the more I found it empty.
“Michelle?” I asked. “You here?”
I pulled out the two bottles of wine and set them on the table next to the flowers before I called out her name again. Only this time, I was met with a sound.
But it wasn’t the sound I expected.
“Michelle?” I asked, as I walked down the hallway. “You okay in there?”
I knocked on the bathroom door and heard what sounded like someone getting sick. I furrowed my brow and leaned against the wall, listening as the faucet turned on. Water ran while the toilet flushed, and soon Michelle emerged looking pale and sick to her stomach.
She jumped when she saw me there. Almost like she didn’t even hear me calling for her.
“Hey. You okay?” I asked, as I pushed off the wall.
Her eyes filled with that worried stare, but then another look crossed her face. A look that sent my own stomach rolling as it blanketed her features.
Guilt.
Why did Michelle look guilty?
“What’s wrong?” I asked, as I rolled my shoulders back. “Why were you just throwing up?”
She sighed before she walked back into the bathroom, then emerged with a plastic bag full of tests. She handed it out to me and I rose my hand, taking it as my eyes fell to the glaring word that ripped me back to so many terrible memories.
No.
Not her.
“I’m pregnant, Gray,” she said with a whisper.
Not Michelle, too.
Chapter 28
Michelle
I watched Gray shake his head as I said those words. His eyes widened as he dropped the bag, like it was on fire or something. Panic rolled through my veins as his wide eyes met mine, then ever so slowly they narrowed. Pierced me with distrust. I took a step away from him, no longer recognizing the man standing in front of me.
I felt the urge to run for my room as he grew taller with his stance.