Page 2 of Save Me

He had his scholarship, and she had the trust fund her grandmother Sarah Mayes left her, which would be hers when she turned eighteen. They’d have each other and the rest of their lives.

When she first suspected she was pregnant, she panicked, and put off telling Hunt, because she was afraid of the consequences it would cause in both families. Then a couple of weeks ago she’d begun spotting, and thought she’d lost the baby. But after the spotting stopped, and she missed her third period, she bought another pregnancy test and used it. The baby was still there! She was happy, but time had crept up on her, and Hunt needed to know.

They’d planned to meet tonight, and then the storm came through. So, then her plan was to call him after dinner, but her phone was upstairs in her room. So here she sat, listening to the rain drowning out the drone of her parents’ voices, and speaking only when spoken to, until dinner was over. At that point, she laid down her napkin and looked up from her plate.

“Thank you for dinner. I’m going to my room,” she said, and stood up without waiting to be excused, and left the table.

The moment she closed the door behind her, she went to get her phone. She always tucked it beneath the chocolate brown teddy bear Hunt had given her on Valentine’s Day, but when she thrust her hand beneath the bear, the phone was gone.

Frowning, she began looking around the room, trying to remember if she’d moved it, when the door to her room flew open. Her mother was standing in the doorway with a look on her face Lainie had never seen before, and she was holding Lainie’s phone.

“Are you looking for this?” Tina asked.

Lainie frowned. “Yes. What are you doing with my phone?”

“Making sure you don’t inform that bastard of a boyfriend that you’re pregnant!” Tina said.

Lainie froze. How did she...?

Tina’s voice began to rise. “I found the box of a pregnancy test kit. Would you like to prove to me you’re not pregnant?”

When Lainie stayed silent, Tina started to wail. “Oh, my God! So, it’s true! How far along are you?”

“Three months,” Lainie said.

Tina groaned. “How dare you do this to me? To us? You’ve ruined everything, and we don’t have much time to fix it!”

“There is no WE, here, Mother. You’re not ‘fixing’ anything, because nothing is broken, and all you’ve done is lower yourself to digging through my trash.”

“Somebody has to protect you from yourself!” Tina shrieked. “I’m having your father contact an abortion clinic. We’re driving there tomorrow. You’ll be healed before you have to leave for college.”

The words were a roar in Lainie’s head, and before she knew it, she was screaming.

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll just meekly go along with this! This baby does not belong to you and Dad. It belongs to Hunt and me. We choose. And I’m not going anywhere with you two. You’re so full of yourselves and your hate that you’ve forgotten what love even feels like.”

The truth was painful, and without thinking, Tina drew back her hand and slapped her daughter’s face. But the moment blood began seeping from Lainie’s bottom lip, she took a step back in dismay.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Lainie was in shock from the unexpected assault, and reacted in kind by snatching her phone from her mother’s hands, then shouting.

“Get out of my room. Get out! Get out!”

Tina was already in tears when Greg walked in.

“You will do as your mother said, and no more arguing,” Greg said.

The taste of blood was in Lainie’s mouth. The imprint of her mother’s hand was still burning on her face when she turned on her father, her voice shaking with rage.

“If either of you lay a hand on me again, or hurt this baby I’m carrying, I’ll destroy you. I’ll tell the world that you murdered your grandchild. Your reputations won’t be worth shit, and I’ll be gone.”

Greg Mayes grunted like he’d been punched.

Lainie knew he was angry, but when his face twisted into a grotesque mask of pure hate, she turned to run.

He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her around to face him. His breath was hot on her face—his voice little more than a low, angry growl.

“I’d rather you and that abomination in your belly were both dead than have Chuck Gray’s bloodline in my family!”

---