Page 75 of Finding Fate

“I can’t believe it!” Noah exclaimed. “We were hoping it was just a rumor. It is Izzy, after all.”

Tucker exchanged a look with Jet. It would have been great if that were the case, but… “No, it’s not a rumor.”

Shouts and groans erupted from his surrounding friends. “Dude, how could you be so stupid?” Hector asked once the commotion had died down. “Carrying around condoms is one of the main purposes of a wallet.”

“It’s not like we planned on it,” he snapped. “It happened too fast for me to really even think about it.”

“It happened too fast, huh?” Hector asked with a smirk as he nudged Kyle in the arm with his elbow.

“Well, you’d be an expert on things happening too fast, wouldn’t you, Hector?” Tucker retorted, bringing into play a rumor from their junior year when his friend had managed to get some action.

Hector scowled and started grabbing his clothes from his locker. “I still say she exaggerated.”

“You’re not going to quit basketball over this, are you?” Noah asked, ignoring their grumbling friend.

“I think I can manage to still play ball even though my girlfriend’s pregnant,” Tucker scowled.

“Just checking, man. I’d hate to see you lose focus over this. Scouts will pick up on that, even if you’ve got more talent than anyone else on the team. I mean, you haven’t officially signed with anyone yet.”

“So are y’all going to take care of the situation?” Kyle asked more seriously then.

By his tone, they all knew what he meant. Tucker shot the ignorant redhead a look of disgust and went back to putting on his shoes.

“Just a question, man,” he said defensively.

“Well, most of the guys at school have been wondering why Tucker Patterson decided to settle on one chick when just about every girl at school still drools over him like fucking candy. I guess now we’ve got our answer,” Noah commented while running his comb excessively through his light brown hair.

Tucker stood up at that and snatched his bag from the floor. He had had enough. Like hell they had an answer. They didn’t have a clue about anything.

“Fuck off,” Tucker spat at them, giving them the most furious glower he could manage. He turned to storm out the doors, pushing so hard they slammed into the outside building wall as he left.

Before the doors closed, he heard Jet say, “Y’all are all idiots.”

* * *

“Oh, come on, Ems. It wasn’t anything personal,” Annie said in an attempt to pacify the small, athletic blonde as they walked down the hallway towards their lockers. “We didn’t tell anyone about it.”

“I don’t see how I’m not supposed to take it personally, Annie. I really thought that we were becoming good friends…that all five of us were. Why couldn’t I be trusted with this secret? I didn’t rat Tucker and Izzy out when he let it slip that they were having sex. Why would I do it about this?”

Annie pursed her lips and breathed out a small huff of frustration. Emma had felt really affronted when she found out Izzy was pregnant that morning. They hadn’t meant to upset her, and it was nothing against her, but how could she get her friend to see that?

“Emma, you are a good friend, and it wasn’t that we didn’t trust you.”

“Then, what was it? I’d really like to know so that the next time there’s some big secret, I’ll know why it’s being kept from me,” Emma retorted just as they reached Annie’s locker.

Izzy was pulling a book from the adjacent one when they walked up. “I’m sorry, Emma,” she told her, wanting to help explain when she overheard. “I just wanted to keep it under wraps for a while. The more people that knew, the easier it was for one of us to slip up and let the news out. Not on purpose, of course. It’s just that…Tucker and I wanted to hold off on the drama as long as possible.”

Emma looked at her for a few seconds before her frown relaxed into a timidly understanding smile. “I guess I can see that.”

The twins sighed in relief. “Thanks,” Izzy replied.

“Yeah, it sucked having you mad at me,” Annie added.

“Well, I’m still annoyed, but I’ll get over it.” Emma looked down at her watch. “I’ve got to run to my locker. I’ll see you and Jet in health class in a few minutes, Annie. Later, Izzy,” she said before she walked off.

“Later,” they both replied as they dug through their lockers.

“So how was dance team practice?” Annie asked cautiously.

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