I wonder what he’s up to now. Working that security job, I suppose. A normal girl might get worried about her man working a job like that, but not me. I know what he can handle. After all, he has seen real combat and come back alive.
Is it wrong that I’m turned on by that? I’m not sure, but my body starts to tingle just at the thought, so there’s very little I can do about it anyway. And when I think about how commanding and masculine he was back there in the woods—how he took me and wasn’t even soft or gentle when he thrust into me for my first time, waves of excitement wash through me that are so intense, I have to do everything I can to block him out of my mind.
Before I know it, I hear Mr. Tarrington’s voice calling out that the half-hour is up.
“Pencils down. Everyone, pass your quizzes around to Angela, please.”
I pass my quiz up to Jason, who puckers his lips at me like he always does. But rather than roll my eyes and sigh like I normally do, today I have the confidence to flip him the bird. I can see this surprises him, and he doesn’t know what to do about it. But I don’t care. I’m already on my feet and leaving the classroom.
Later at lunch, I still can’t stop thinking of Titus, so much so that I’m not even really that hungry. Truthfully, I haven’t been hungry all day and haven’t eaten anything at all and only grab a single protein bar and a water before sitting down at my normal table.
“I mean, sure. If there’s tons of money involved,” Angela laughs. “Say…two million dollars and a nice house.”
“Two million?” Jessie replies, astonished. “That’s a lot.”
“Well, that’s what I’m worth. That’s my price.”
The girls start laughing as I tear the wrapping open on my protein bar. It seems I’ve come in during the middle of a conversation, and I have no idea what is going on.
“Two million dollars for what?” I ask.
“That’s Angela’s price for if a guy wanted her to have his baby,” Jessie explains, rolling her eyes. “Herminimumprice.”
Angela nods, sitting up straight, shoulders back like some kind of high school royalty. “That’s right. I’ve got a life ahead of me. Stanford, Microsoft or Google after that. I’m not going to change that because some jackass wants me to be his stay-at-home mom for him.”
“Yeah, buttwo million dollars!” Jessie laughs.
“You know some girlswantto be stay-at-home moms,” I reply.
Angela snorts a laugh. “Yeah, crazy ones. Brainwashed ones.”
Something about her comment and the way she says it goes straight through me like a dagger to the chest. Brainwashed? I know for a fact that Angela has only ever had one boyfriend, back at the start of 10thgrade.
His name was Charlie, and he was a jerk jock that everyone knew was no good. We all told her not to date him but she didn’t listen, and when he cheated on her with Becky Simmons, she basically stopped dating altogether. I can’t help but feel like some of what she’s saying right now stems from her experiences with Charlie. And while I feel bad about it, hearing this also hurts me.
“So,” I ask slowly, “what would you do if you got pregnant accidentally?”
Angela frowns at me like I’ve just asked her the world’s silliest question. “First of all, that would never happen because I’mcareful. And second of all, I think we all know what I would do.”
“Same here,” Jessie chimes in. There’s a pause in the conversation. I can tell the girls are both looking at me, waiting for me to agree with both of them. But I just can’t do that.
I stare down at the table, thinking about that magical moment in the forest with Titus and the moment he made me a woman. In a way I almost feel sorry for my two friends that they haven’t had a similar experience. They have no idea what they’re missing out on.
“Lucy?” Angela asks. I look up.
“Oh, me? No…I’d keep it.”
“What?” she gasps. Jessie just looks at me in shock. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” I reply, taking another bite of my protein bar. I like both of these girls, but I don’t know if I can handle any more of this conversation right now, and I definitely can’t explain to them my reasoning behind this decision either. So I grab my water and stand up. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you guys later.”
As I walk quickly down the halls, I simply feel as though I just don’t belong here anymore. Something lifechanging happened to me, and I can’t share it with anybody. I’m carrying this precious golden secret around with me that only Titus and I know, and if there’s one place I want to be right now, it’s with him.
The rest of the day seems to crawl by at a snail’s pace. It’s like watching my own life play out in slow-motion. I’ve always been perfectly behaved, but an hour before school lets out, the thought of ditching occurs to me.
Somehow, however, I manage to make it until the bell and am practically sprinting for the door, praying my dad won’t be late to pick me up. But when I get outside and look for my dad’s car, I don’t find it. Instead, I find something even better; I find Titus’ truck waiting for me.
Instantly my heart leaps into my throat, and I race over as he opens the door for me.