K. Robinson - Twisted Ties

With no signs of life, I finally gave up and drove back to my dorm. I had a small assignment from my math class today, and I needed to get it done before I forgot about it.

After I finished my assignment, I drove to the local mall and purchased the printer I’d mentioned to Andy before. It was sad that I was excited to go out for a printer. I had absolutely no life outside of finding Jesse and spending time with Andy. Since Jesse was still a puzzle and Andy was working late, that left me with my printer.

I returned home and took my time with hooking it up and installing the software. When that was done, I checked my Facebook page to see if I had any new messages. I smiled when I saw one from Lucy, asking how I was.

She thought I was nuts for traveling across the country to find Jesse, but she still loved me. When I’d first told her about my plans, she had gotten mad at me. She’d pointed out that there was no way we would be able to stay close while living so far apart. I’d known she was right, but it hadn’t changed my decision.

After messaging her back, I sent my dad an email to let him know that everything was going well. Then, I shut off my laptop and crawled into bed. There was no use in going back out to see if Ally had returned to the same house. Even if she had, it wouldn’t mean that Jesse was there with her.

I closed my eyes as exhaustion took over. The last thought I had was whether or not I was insane.

Over the next two weeks, I fell into my new schedule. I only had morning classes, so after I was finished with those, I went back to my dorm and worked on my homework. When that was done, I’d either go to Andy’s house on his nights off, or I’d park outside of Ally’s house, like a stalker. I knew I was being pathetic, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Occasionally, I’d mix it up by going out for dinner with Abby, but that had been rare. I considered her a friend, but we weren’t close enough for me to tell her why I was really here.

When I went to Andy’s, we’d order something to eat and watch movies. Once in awhile, he’d drag me out to see a movie in an actual theater, or we’d do something dorky, like bowling. I had to admit that I was glad he’d decided to come with me.

I’d made a few friends since school started, but I was too focused on Jesse to put much energy into bonding with people. I knew something would have to give, or I was going to lose my damn mind. My stress levels were through the roof at this point.

Things finally did change one night, but it wasn’t in the way that I’d hoped. As each day had passed, I’d found myself spending more and more hours outside of Ally’s house. More than once, I’d fallen asleep and woken up the next morning, almost late for class. I’d started bringing my Kindle with me to pass the time, and it’d seemed to help most nights.

Unfortunately for me, I’d forgotten my Kindle tonight. Andy was working again, and I couldn’t call him to keep me awake. I’d caught myself drifting off several times, only to jerk awake. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, it was dark, and someone was tapping on my window. I groaned as I looked at the time on my dashboard. It was after midnight.

As I rolled my window down, I expected one of Ally’s neighbors to be there, waiting for me, so that they could yell at me for parking in front of their house. Instead, I stared at the face of a shocked Ally.

“What the fuck?” she shouted.

I froze as I stared at the person I hated most in the entire world. We’d never been alone together since everything had happened.

“I can’t fucking believe this! I thought I was nuts when I kept seeing this car every night when I came home. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for Jesse,” I said defiantly. I knew I was busted, so there was no point in trying to lie.

“You’re pathetic. Did you really come all this way to find him?”

“Did you?” I asked. “Because I think you did.”

“Maybe I did, but at least I’m not parked outside of his house every night like a fucking psycho.”

“So, he does live here,” I said excitedly.

She’d given me the information I needed. Now that I knew he was here, there was no way that I was leaving without talking to him. She would have to beat me unconscious to keep me away.

“He does, but he doesn’t want to see you. I think you’ve hurt him enough.”

“I did hurt him, but I won’t again.”

I started to open my door, but she slammed it shut.

“Let me out of the fucking car.”

“No. I won’t let you go in there and destroy everything I’ve worked for.”

“What? Are you together now?”

“We are.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. The moment I had seen Ally that day in the diner, I’d suspected something like this had happened. I wasn’t going to leave until I had the chance to talk to Jesse though. Maybe if he knew I was here, he’d leave her and come back to me.

“We’ll see if you are after I talk to him,” I said as I tried to open my door again.

Ally refused to budge.

“Move.”

“Not until you listen to what I have to say.”

“Then, spit it out, so I can go talk to him.”

“I’m pregnant!” she blurted out.

My mouth dropped open, and then I froze. “There’s no way. You’re lying.”

“I’m not. It was an accident, but there’s nothing Jesse or I can do about it. I have his baby growing inside of me.”

Forget being punched in the stomach. I’m going to vomit. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that he could have slept with her after what she had done to us. She’d destroyed us, and she’d destroyed his friendship with Andy in the process.

“Do you really want to go in there and take my baby’s father from her? Because that’s what will happen if you do. Jesse will leave me for you, and I’ll be left alone to take care of this baby. You’ll destroy my child’s life.”

I couldn’t believe this was happening. How could Jesse have been so stupid? And how could I have been so stupid that I’d held out hope for a boy two years after he disappeared from my life? I was doing nothing more than chasing a high school crush while assuming it was true love.

I thought about the way I’d been raised. If I were to go to Jesse and he left Ally, I would be putting his child in the same situation I had been in. Ally was a spiteful bitch, and I knew she would never let Jesse see his child if he’d left her. His son or daughter would be forced to live with a manipulative bitch while his or her dad wasn’t around. I hated Ally, but I couldn’t do that to her child. It was innocent despite the circumstances surrounding his or her parents.

“This can’t be happening,” I whispered.

“It is happening. Look at my stomach.”

She pulled her shirt tight and turned sideways to show me the beginning of a baby bump. Bile rose in my throat, but I forced myself not to vomit. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

“I guess it is,” I mumbled.

“I won, and you lost. It’s time for you to accept that and go back to California where you belong,” she said with a triumphant grin.

I wanted to get out of my car and smack that grin right off her face. I wanted to so badly that my hand was on the door handle before I even realized what I was doing. I couldn’t believe that I was about to hit a pregnant woman. Dear God, I’ve lost my mind. I needed to get out of here and fast if I wanted to leave with my sanity intact.

“Move out of my way,” I said as I started my car.

“Leaving so soon?” she asked sweetly.

“Get the fuck out of my way, or I swear to God, I’ll make you move, pregnant or not.”

She laughed as I put my car in drive, and then I tore out of my parking spot.

I knew Andy had to work tonight, but I hoped he was at home by now. There was no way that I could go back to my dorm room and sit alone while all of this was going through my head. I was hanging on to my sanity by a thread, and I knew that if I was by myself while dealing with this, I’d lose it.

I nearly cried in relief when I pulled into his apartment complex parking lot, and I saw his car sitting there. I didn’t have to be alone. He would help me. I ran across the lot, and in too much of a hurry to use the elevator, I sprinted up the stairs to his floor.

Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I beat on his door. I prayed that he hadn’t fallen asleep yet. I had a key to his apartment, but I hated to use it this late at night. I didn’t want him to think someone was trying to break in.

The door opened, and Andy was standing there. He took one look at me and pulled me into his arms.

“Emma, what’s wrong?” he asked.

I was crying too hard to speak, so I shook my head.

“Who’s that?” an unfamiliar female voice asked.

I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of him having someone over. I looked over his shoulder to see a pretty red head standing behind him. From the fact that she was wearing his shirt, it was obvious that she planned to stay the night with him.

“This is Emma,” Andy told her.

“Who is she? Is she going to be okay?” the woman asked as she looked at me warily.

Obviously, that my tears were making her uncomfortable.

“She’s…she’s my family. I hate to cut our evening short, but you need to go,” Andy said as he walked me over to the couch and pushed me down onto the cushions.

“It’s fine. You’ll call me?” she asked as she grabbed her pants off the floor and threw them on.

“I will.”