Leaving home was one of the hardest things that Cami had ever done. She cried the entire time while driving to Marissa’s house. It was only a ten minute drive and she already had twelve missed calls from Kaci. She wanted to answer her calls so badly but she knew that if she did Kaci would just convince her to come back home. That was something that she wasn’t ready to do.
Marissa was not at all surprised to see her best friend standing in front of her front door. In fact, she hugged her so tight that Cami thought she was going to pass out. After convincing Marissa that she was fine, she finally loosened her grip. While now smiling ear to ear, she invited her in and asked her if she wanted any sweet tea and Cami, of course, said yes. (Sweet tea is her favorite beverage.)
While she eagerly waited in the kitchen, she found herself thinking about her mother and sister. She closed her eyes and tried to shut the thoughts out completely. Upon hearing Marissa call her name, she opened her eyes. She handed Cami an ice, cold glass of sweet tea, and then she began to tell her all about her tearful, problematic life. She explained everything that occurred when she and her mother discussed her pregnancy and how her heart broke when she told Kaci she was leaving home. As she retold the story, she could picture Kaci’s face in her head. It was sad and sorrowful and she wondered if she would ever be able to get that haunting picture out of her head.
Marissa was happy that Cami had told her mother that she was expecting but she was upset to see her at her house at such a late hour. She was just glad that her mother hadn’t been home or else she would’ve called Diane and Cami would’ve been forced to return home. She told Cami that she could stay for the night and hide her for the next few days if necessary but that she should reconcile with her mother as soon as possible.
That night she could barely sleep. She only got two and a half hours’ worth of sleep which was a far cry from her usual eight.
She heard Marissa studying in her room next door so she decided against disturbing her. She glanced at the clock and saw 6:10 a.m. staring back at her in red. Oh my gosh! She had to get ready for school. She quickly jumped out of bed and unzipped her duffel bags. Then, she grabbed her toothbrush, toothpaste, white lace blouse, teal pleated hi-low skirt, pink belt, and gold flats. (She loved to wear the gold flats with everything).
After getting ready faster than she had ever gotten ready before, she told Marissa that she would see her at school and then made a dash for her car. Once she was seated in the driver’s seat, she sent Kaci a text message to let her know that she was on her way: Kaci, I’ll be there in 10 minutes. Before she had put her keys in the ignition, Kaci sent her a text but it was not the one that she was expecting: Don’t bother. “Oh, what the hell!” Cami said aloud. She could have stayed in bed until 6:30 A.M. if she would have known this would happen. Instead of getting herself upset over a situation that she couldn’t control, she put the key into the ignition and drove to school in silence.
Instead of walking into the school, she made her way near the old oak tree. She knew that no one would be there this time of morning which would give her some time to clear her head.
The chilly, fall wind blew and she shivered a bit. Maybe I should have worn a jacket, she thought to herself. Or maybe I just need some hot cocoa to warm me up. She glanced down at the skirt that she was wearing. Who was she kidding? She should’ve just worn jeans.
The ensemble had been a birthday gift that her mother had given her for her fifteenth birthday. She had constantly nagged Cami about wearing it because she wanted to see what it would look like on her. Plus, she loved to see her daughters wearing clothing that she had purchased for them. Cami hadn’t gotten around to wearing the ensemble until now. In fact, she’d forgotten that she had it until it fell from a shelf in her closet.
She then sat down on the grass and rubbed her belly. She had been so occupied lately that she had not even noticed how quickly her belly was growing. For a moment her eyes widened; she couldn’t believe that a baby was actually growing inside of her. The sun began to shine, and she enjoyed baking in its warmth. However, her warmth was soon blocked by a shadow. She didn’t bother to turn around to look. She was expecting to hear Kaci or Marissa’s voice booming over her shoulder but instead she heard another voice—one she was not expecting.
“Hey there,” he said.
Cami sighed out of frustration. Every time she wanted to be alone someone would disturb her.
“Hey,” she said not meeting his gaze. She looked at the ground while her hands played with the grass. She could feel his eyes on her. They were literally burning a hole in the back of her head.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you, but you don’t have to compliment me,” she said rather coldly but he didn’t seem to notice.
River sat down beside her and studied the ground for a moment before speaking. “How’s the baby?”
“The baby’s fine.”
“And what about you?”
“Fine.”
“I know you hate me, Cami,” River said while he now stood beside her with his back now leaning against the tree.
She slightly tilted her head to the side. “I don’t hate you.”
Then, he did something that she didn’t expect him to do. “I’m sorry.” Her ears were most certainly not expecting to hear this from him. She was surprised yet happy that he had apologized. He later revealed how awful he felt for ending their relationship. He even confessed to her that he had always loved her and would never stop, but while her heart melted, her brain told her otherwise. Don’t give into him. Don’t be a fool for love—for River.
They also talked about the baby. She told him that she didn’t know if it was a girl or a boy but that she would soon. He told her that he would help her take care of the baby once he or she was born. Only time will tell.
Since they were on the subject of the baby, she thought that it might be a good time to tell River what she had been thinking about lately. Before she could say anything, everything around her went black.
For the next fifteen minutes, she was in and out of consciousness. When she awoke, she was in the nurse’s office with River holding her hand. She looked up at the nurse who was standing over her and smiled at her.
Mrs. Cynthia Atkins or Nurse Atkins as she liked to be called was a friendly older woman in her mid-forties. She was a voluptuous woman who many suspected of having plastic surgery. Having a husband who happened to be a plastic surgeon didn’t help her case either. But then again it wasn’t anyone’s business. She knew that many of the teachers who were jealous of her started the rumors but despite that she was friendly nonetheless which made them dislike her even more. Although Nurse Atkins was friendly, Cami never enjoyed being in her office because she knew that her mother would receive a full report on her visit.
“Now I understand that you are expecting,” Nurse Atkins said as she held Cami’s other hand.
Cami nodded.
“Although you are awake, I highly recommend that you go to the hospital to make sure that everything’s okay with the baby,” she continued, her eyes never leaving Cami’s.
She rubbed her belly. “Everything’s fine. I just felt lightheaded,” she explained.
“I can’t make you go to the hospital. All I can do is make suggestions.” Cami knew that she really wanted her to go to the hospital but she wanted to go there with her mother.
“I’ll go to the hospital after school.” Nurse Atkins eyed her thoughtfully before giving her a smile. “Alright but let me know if you feel sick.”
Cami nodded.
River helped her to her feet. Once they were outside the Nurse’s office, he asked her if she had changed her mind about going to the hospital. She told him that she had not. After she’d convinced him that she was okay, he hugged her and then departed for his morning college class.
She knew that people probably had seen her with River but she didn’t care. She was beginning to care less about what people thought of her.
>
The walk to her locker seemed endless. She was tired and drained from everything that was going on in her personal life. At this point, all she wanted to do was eat some delicious food and sleep in her nice, warm bed.
“I guess good girls can be nasty too,” she heard a girl say when she walked by her.
“I saw her with River this morning,” a guy said to a friend.
“I wonder what they were talking about,” she heard another girl say.
“Slut,” she heard another say to her friend.
“How far along is she?”
“When is she due?”
“Someone told me that she’s having twins.”
She heard so many people speaking that their voices suddenly became a blur to her. Soon she wasn’t able to distinguish one voice from another. Oh, shut the hell up, she thought.
She felt a gentle tug on my arm. “Don’t listen to them. They’re all stupid,” Marissa said. Cami wanted to tell her about everything that had happened this morning but decided against it. Although Marissa was her best friend, she didn’t need to tell her about every little detail in her life.
“Tammy must be so proud. She got what she wanted. I’m the center of the latest gossip and she’s not.”
“Maybe but I still wouldn’t want to be her,” Marissa said, as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Cami listened intently as she waited for her to continue. “I heard that Leena is supposed to be getting her back for sleeping with Kelly’s boyfriend.”
“Yes, I know. I told you all about that.” Marissa gave her a weird look as if she didn’t know what she was talking about. “I told you about all that stuff I overheard in the girls’ bathroom,” Cami reminded her.
“Yeah, I remember now, but someone else told me that they heard about some plan that she was supposed to have to get back at Tammy.”
“But she’s pregnant.”
Marissa chuckled. “Tell that to Leena. Pregnant or not she wants Tammy. I just hope that the baby doesn’t get hurt.”
“Do you think that she’d actually try to physically hurt Tammy since she’s pregnant?”
“No, she’ll probably just try to humiliate her in front of a huge crowd.”
While she listened to Marissa babble about Leena, she heard her stomach rumble. She was so focused on taking Kaci to school this morning that she had forgotten to eat breakfast.
Marissa glanced down at her stomach and began to laugh. “No breakfast this morning, Cami?” She replied by grabbing Marissa’s arm and leading her down the hallway to the cafeteria. Yummy stuff was everywhere! The aroma of grits, eggs, bacon, sausages, and cinnamon rolls entered her nostrils. She deeply inhaled to let it fill her once more. Marissa said something but she didn’t quite catch it. Her mind was on food, food, food, and more food. She filled her plate with anything that she could possibly fit on it. Some people stared but didn’t say anything.
Once they found seats, she chowed down. Normally she found the cafeteria food to be quite distasteful but today it was delicious. She was so busy eating that she didn’t notice that Kaci had sat down beside her.
When she did feel her younger sister’s presence beside her, she almost didn’t want to look at her for fear that she would see hatred in her eyes. Instead, her eyes were warm and inviting.
Marissa sensed that the two sisters needed privacy so she dismissed herself. Although Cami had only been away for one night, she missed Kaci terribly. She was the only sister that she had and she felt as if she had left her behind. She wanted to speak first but she just felt so guilty about leaving her last night. “Hi,” Kaci said, breaking the silence.
“Hi,” Cami heard herself say. She wanted to say more but she didn’t know where to start.
She watched as sadness filled Kaci’s eyes. “You’re just like dad, you know.” She suddenly felt as if someone had stabbed her in the heart. How could her own sister compare her to that traitor? She was nothing like him. Or was she? No, she wasn’t anything like him. At least she hoped not.
“What, Kaci?” She saw a tear fall down her cheek. Kaci hardly ever cried about anything; and when she did, it was about something serious. The only times that Cami recalled her crying was doing funerals. Suddenly she felt herself regretting leaving her mother and younger sister behind. Did her mother feel the same way as Kaci? She hoped not. She didn’t want them to feel this way so she knew that she had to go home after school to make things right again.
“I went to visit Marissa last night, but I would never ever leave you and Mom and never come back,” Cami said, with tears in her eyes. Kaci wrapped her arms around her. She truly loved her sister.
“You’re my big sister and I will always love you no matter what.”
“I love you, too.”
Cami glanced across the cafeteria and saw Marissa giving her the thumbs up sign.
She could no longer run from her problems. Her father ran away from his family and into the arms of another woman and broke their hearts in the process. She could not allow herself to make the same mistake. Mom, I’m coming home.
Chapter 11