Page 47 of Finding Fate

Seconds later, she felt cool hands touch the back of her neck, and her hair pulled away from her face. Oh, how she loved Annie, and oh, how she hated those nachos. How could her favorite food betray her this way?

Annie stayed with her as her lunch continued to resurface, holding her hair back and waiting patiently for it to be over. When she thought the last of the queasiness was finally gone, she sat back against the side of the stall. Annie handed her a wad of toilet paper so she could wipe the corners of her mouth and flushed to rid them of the smell.

“Feel better?” she asked.

“Yeah, I think I’m okay now, just a little shaky.”

“That’s good. You really freaked us all out, the way you left.”

“How many people saw me?” she groaned, her cheeks already flushed from before. Her eyes darted around to see if she could spot any pairs of feet, to see who might have witnessed when she saw it, the long, white box that hung on the wall outside the stalls.

“Oh, I don’t think anyone really saw you throwing up. The people in the other stalls did rush out when they heard you, though…Izzy?”

She felt herself paling, forced now to admit the possibility of what she’d refused before.

“Izzy?...Izzy?!” Annie said, growing alarmed at her sister’s stunned silence.

“Annie?” she said weakly, leaning her head back against the stall. “Can you spot when you’re pregnant?”

“Yeah, I think so…why?”

She exhaled a long sigh. “Because if you can, there is a very strong possibility that I’m pregnant.”

“Izzy, that’s ridiculous. You have to have sex to get pregnant,” Annie said dismissively.

Isabel looked down at the floor near her feet. She was well aware that you had to have sex to get pregnant, and she was also well aware that she and Tucker were very good at having sex when they got the chance. Her fingers twisted in her hair, unsure how to admit to her sister what she’d been keeping from her for months.

“Izzy, you haven’t,” Annie stated in disbelief. Izzy, having sex? The idea was just absurd. She had to be misinterpreting something.

Isabel looked up into her sister’s eyes, telling her it was the truth.

“Was it Wesley?” she asked, stating the only option she could think of as she started pacing the room. “Did he force you? Of course he did. You wouldn’t do that with him. I’ll kill him!” she cried, punching her fist into her hand. “Why didn’t Izzy tell anyone before?! Damn it! Tucker thought he made it there in time that night.”

“Annie, no!” Isabel tried to shush her before anyone overheard. “I didn’t have sex with Wesley.”

She stopped, relief coursing through her for a moment, but then searched her sister’s expression to make sure it was true.

“But that would mean...” she began to realize, her mind racing. “But they’ve only been together a couple months…but there’s no other option if it’s not Wesley.”

“With Tucker?... You had sex with Tucker?!”

Isabel nodded. The part she was going to hate was coming fast, but she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer.

“When?” Annie asked, shocked. She sat down on the floor next to her.

“You mean the first time?” she asked sheepishly.

“The first time?! Y’all have had sex more than once?”

Isabel nodded again.

Annie took a moment to collect, her voice tight when she spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me? We tell each other everything. Well, almost everything. But this is definitely one of those things we tell each other! I told you when I slept with Jet for the first time.” “How could she have kept this from me?” she wondered, shocked and hurt.

Isabel took a deep breath and sighed, closing her eyes. “I didn’t tell you because the night you told me about Jet was the same night that Tucker and I had sex for the first time.” She paused, but Annie just sat there, her expression inscrutable.

“I didn’t want to ruin your big moment. You and Jet have been together for so long. News like that should have been special between us, not put on the back burner because your twin had sex with her best friend before they were even officially dating.”

“This is so not going well,” she thought, disheartened when Annie still refused to speak.

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