I bet he did. And like she said in the car, he got what he wanted, so now he’s out.
“I just wanted to be held,” Iz pleads. “I wanted it to be Jim, but he wouldn’t even let me say the words.”
Tink sniffles past her blocked nosed. “I’m not judging, Iz. We all do stupid shit sometimes. Trust me, I get it. I just meant…” She trails off and watches us with screaming eyes. Bringing her hands up to her face, she mumbles, “I can’t even…” Removing her hands, she noisily climbs to her feet and turns back to grab Iz’s hands. “Come with me? Do me a favor? I don’t want you to ask questions right now. I just want you to trust me to take care of you.”
Please, Lord. Please let this be one of the only times I’m wrong about what’s in Casey’s head. Please, please, please no, don’t let her be right.
Casey grabs my hand with her spare. “Come on. You, too.” She lets out a deep sigh. “I’m not doing this shit alone.” She drags us through her messy kitchen and past all of the flowers, into the hallway, then into her room. Stopping at her bed, she nods at me silently, releases our hands, and walks into her attached bathroom. Drawers open and crinkly packets move. She pauses at the bathroom door and takes a deep breath.
My stomach drops. This can’t be real. It’s not even happening to me, and yet, I feel likemylife is potentially just about to change.
This is bad. Really, really bad.
Tink holds her offer in front of Iz. “Don’t think about it, don’t freak out. Just set my mind at ease and do a wee. We’ll be right here waiting, and when you’re done, come out and we’ll look at the results together.”
Izzy’s chocolate eyes wheel around in panic. “Are– What– Umm...” She studies the pee stick and lets out a sigh. “Fuck. Okay.”
Iz steps into the bathroom silently, and as soon as she’s gone, I turn on my best friend. It’s my turn to flip my flopping shit. “Casey! What the fuck? And why do you even have those?”
“I have tests because I’m a grown ass woman who has sex sometimes. I was feeling shitty with this cold, so I peed on a stick. It was negative, so cool your jets. And I asked Izzy to take a test because she’s also a grown ass woman who has sex sometimes. She’s emotional and feels weird. It’s a logical step to pee on a stick, just in case. It’s not a big deal, Kit, and once she does, we can rule it out and maybe get her some multivitamins to help her feel lessflat.”
“I can hear you two. The door is literally still open. Stop talking about me like I’m not here, you jerks.”
“Did you pee?” Tink asks. “Just pee on the end, it’s pretty foolproof.”
“Yeah, I peed…”
“Well…? Come out.”
“No, you come in.” Iz noisily pulls her pants up and flushes the toilet, so Tink and I rush in and stop at the sight of the test face down on the counter.
My heart drums painfully in my chest. “How long do we have to wait?”
“Two minutes,” Tink says. “The brand is literally ‘two-minute tests.’”
“It doesn’t matter.” Iz washes her hands at the sink and eyes the test as though it would grow legs and run off.
“What doesn’t matter? You peed on it, right? You didn’t miss?”
“Yes, I peed. No, I didn’t miss. I mean, it doesn’t matter, we don’t have to wait.” Her white face finally meets ours. “It came up instantly.” She swallows heavily. “Two lines means positive, right? The two lines came up before I even finished peeing.” Her eyes spill over at the same time her voice cracks. “Oh my God. It came up instantly. It’s super positive.”
Oh.
Fuck.
Tink and I rush forward and take her tremoring body in a group hug. Iz was holding herself up while she was alone, but as soon as our arms wrap around her, she drops her weight and leans into us. “Oh my God,” she sobs. “I ruined everything.”
“Shhh, Izzy, it’ll be okay.” I run my hand along her hair and hold her tight as we move backwards out of the bathroom. “We’ll make it okay, I promise.” I have no clue how to honor my promise. I don’t know how this one can be fixed, so I simply tell a lie and murmur my reassurances. We move backwards until my legs hit the end of the bed, and lowering as one group, we make an Izzy sandwich and hug until her sobs quiet to sniffles. My ribs ache from the awkward positioning, and my shoulder officially feels dead.
I hate to make a big deal out of it, because I know Bobby will make an even bigger deal out of it, but I know I’ll have to ice and strap it when we get home, and I can do neither without him knowing. Which means I’m going to have to explain why I’m hurting. Or compound my lies for tonight.
“Izzy…?” I stroke her hair and look down at her baby face. I can’t even blame the guys for refusing to let her grow up. She’s twenty. Her face still bares freckles. Lying in my arms, shaking and crying, she looks like a child. A child with a really big reality right now. “Talk to us, Iz.”
“What do you want to know? I think my entire life just blew up.”
“Well, let’s start with options. Right?” I look to Tink for backup. “You always have options. What doyouwant to do?”
“I… I don’t know.” Her brows pull together in question. “What are my options?”