Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17558 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 70(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
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. “Her minimum price.”
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, but two million dollars!” Jessie laughs.
“You know some girls want to 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 10th grade.
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’m careful. 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.
“Uncle, Titus!” I cry out, giggling as I leap into the passenger seat.
“Hey there, cutie,” he replies, discretely slipping a strong hand onto my thigh and squeezing firmly. My body instantly responds and comes alive for him. “Happy to see me?”
“You don’t even know,” I say with a dramatic sigh. It’s all I can to not to throw myself on him. But here in the school parking lot with all these people around, I can’t do that. It’s like having a perfect meal cooked by Gordon Ramsay placed in front of you and knowing you can’t touch it.