“I just…Stella and Justin.” I hiccupped a sob and regretted coming out of my dorm. I should have stayed inside where I didn’t look like I was losing my mind. “They were…they…”
Curtis wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to his chest, rocking us back and forth. He was trying to comfort me, but there was only one person’s arms I wanted around me, and I couldn’t have them.
“It’ll be okay,” Curtis whispered. “They’ll find who did this. The police came and talked to me yesterday and said they’re close.”
“They are?” I asked. I hadn’t spoken to anyone to know any updates, but maybe that was why Dad had been calling me what felt like nonstop since Saturday morning.
Curtis pulled back a little and swiped his palm over my cheek to dry my face of the tears. “Yeah. And Justin’s mom called to tell me they’re arranging a funeral as soon as his body has been released.” He whispered his hand over my shoulder and down my arm. “Have you talked to Stella’s dad?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t. I hadn’t thought about any of that. It hadn’t even crossed my mind.
“I should call him.”
“You should,” he replied. “Now, what’s say we get loads of junk food, go back to your dorm, and watch a movie? Forget about everything that’s been going on?”
I inhaled a breath, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him no, but what came out of my mouth was, “Okay.”
Curtis grinned, the kind of grin I hadn’t seen in what felt like weeks. “You get the candy, I’ll get the chips and popcorn. Meet back at the cash register?”
I nodded and stared at him as he spun around, wondering if I was doing the right thing. But, no, I couldn’t keep wallowing. I couldn’t keep going over and over everything and trying to find something I could have done differently so they’d still be alive.
More importantly, I couldn’t keep thinking Ford was just going to turn up, apologize, and tell me he loved me too.
I had to put it all behind me, and this was the first step to that. So I found the candy aisle, filled my arms up with packets of the stuff, and then ambled toward the cash register. Curtis held his hand up to me from where he was already in the line, waiting to be served, but something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.
Shampoo and conditioner bottles covered the shelves, but it was what was opposite them that had me halting and staring at it with wide eyes. And then everything clicked into place. Everything made sense. The way I’d been feeling. The way I’d been acting.
I rushed over to Curtis and handed him the candy. “I need to get something else. Meet you outside?” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I darted back to the aisle and stared at all the boxes.
My life had changed so much over the last six months, but this…
This could annihilate everything.
* * *
BELLE
I stared at the lone word.
One word. Eight letters.
That was all it took to change my perspective on everything. I’d expected the walls in my tiny bathroom to close in on me, but instead, I felt free.
I’d been on a roller coaster of emotions as I walked back from the store to the dorm yesterday, and it had taken until Curtis left last night for me to pluck up the courage and take it.
And now I couldn’t stop smiling. For the first time in nearly two weeks, I wanted to call someone. For the first time, I wanted to cry happy tears and not sad.
This changed things. It changed everything.
My stomach dipped as I walked into my room and reached for my cell, and I placed my hand on my stomach.
Pregnant.
I was pregnant with Ford’s baby.
I was growing a tiny human inside of me.
My hands shook as I found his number, and I took a breath as I pressed the call button. I held it to my ear and willed him to answer as it rang out. It clicked over to voicemail, but I didn’t give in. He needed to know. He had to know.