Page 77 of Finding Fate

Lisa’s smirk wavered. “Why should I believe you? Of course you’re going to say that. You’re Izzy’s sister.”

Annie was aware of the growing crowd, gawking in anticipation, but she didn’t care. She could see in Lisa’s eyes that she believed every word she was telling her. She pressed on, her glare even more intense as she worked to drill her point into this ridiculous girl’s head.

“Yes, Izzy’s my sister, but Tucker is also one of my best friends. So I would probably have a much better idea of what he thinks and what he says than you would. Don’t you think, Lisa? I mean, he blocked your number barely a week after you screwed ‘cause you wouldn’t leave him alone.”

Lisa didn’t respond except for taking an exaggerated swallow. Her tears appeared just shy of falling, and Annie could tell that she realized her plan to humiliate Izzy was backfiring.

The bell was about to ring, and the people around them were starting to get a little nervous, but she really wanted to get under Lisa’s skin just a little more.

“I really don’t like being a bitch, but when you mess with two, no, three of the most important people in my life, I’m not going to just stand by and watch, so for you I can make an exception. You need to stop deluding yourself about Tucker, and the next time you decide to open your mouth with anything other than the truth, I’ll report you for slander so fast that those annoying curls on your head won’t even have time to quiver.”

“And just so that we have our facts straight,” Annie continued, “Tucker chose to be with Izzy, not you. Second, he chose her because they love each other and for no other reason than that. Third, Izzy did not plan to get pregnant. The baby was not a trap. Fourth, Tucker stayed with her when they found out about the baby because he loves her, and he does not feel trapped. And fifth, none of us, especially Tucker, want anything to do with you. Got it?”

Lisa gave her a frightened nod, her tears starting to fall, and Annie knew she’d made her point.

“Good,” she said, pushing past the gathered crowd, thankful that none of the teachers had shown up during the commotion.

“Hopefully, some of those people will spread that around so that the stupid rumors Lisa started earlier today won’t matter,”Annie thought as she headed to class.

The bell rang when she was only halfway down the hall. She knew that, with Mr. Girst, that meant a write up, but she didn’t care about it right now. Putting Lisa in her place made it totally worth it.

* * *

“It was just Lisa. Don’t let her get to you. She’s just trying to upset you because she’s still mad that Tucker didn’t want her. She wouldn’t know how Tucker feels about any of this,”Isabel thought to reassure herself as she left Annie to go to class.

She didn’t feel like crying for once. That was a good thing. Lisa’s words had just really shaken her. There was no way she could know how Tucker felt about the baby.

“But what if she does? What if she didn’t make it up? What if she heard it from someone else, someone who would know? Could Tucker feel trapped in a relationship with me? Did I just assume that he wants the baby just as much as I do?”

Her pace slowed as she worked through these new thoughts. “I know he loves me. He told me that before we knew about the baby, but he didn’t tell me that he thought we were meant to be together until after we took the test.”

She slowed to an almost snail like pace as the weight of her thoughts threatened to crush her. “What if he only told me that because he felt obligated to be there for our baby? Tucker doesn’t back away from responsibility, but what if he really wants out? I don’t want to trap him. But I don’t know how I’d make it through this without him…”

She hadn’t realized that she was standing still in the middle of the hall until someone whispered in her ear, “Why is it that, every time I find you alone, you seem upset?”

She shuddered as the voice sank in, and she recognized who was standing only inches away, the hallways nearly deserted.

“I’m fine. I’ve got to get to class,” she said quickly, taking a step, but she had barely put her foot down when Wesley slid in front of her, his face wearing the same appealing smile it had the last time he’d cornered her.

That smirk made her sick to her stomach. Out of all the times he’d thrown nauseating winks and smiles in her direction over the last five weeks, why did he choose this moment to bug her? Right in the middle of her heart crippling realizations.

“Hold up a minute. You don’t need to rush off,” he said, now blocking her path. She could try to turn around, but she would never make it to class on time, and school was the one thing she did on time.

“What do you want, Wesley?” she asked in defeat. She’d just have to wait for him to say what he needed to say. At least people would be around to hear her this time if something went wrong.

“Not much. I just wanted to find out if you’ve been thinking about what I said the last time we talked.”

Mentally rolling her eyes, she replied. “No, not really.”

The corners of his charming smile fell a little bit, but he kept on. “That’s too bad. I can see how upset and angry you’ve been. You shouldn’t stay with Tucker if he makes you so unhappy.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Wesley.” “Could he seriously not have heard yet, and doesn’t he know that it’s probably the other way around? That I am the one who is making Tucker unhappy?”

He frowned then and gave her a scrutinizing look, his patience obviously starting to wear. “Maybe not, but I still can’t figure out why you’d choose to stay with him when you could come back to me.”

She chose not to respond to that comment. He would just ignore or twist everything she said around anyway. He was beginning to look annoyed with her, and she started to wonder how long his patience would hold. Maybe she should just turn around and find another route to class. At this rate, it was better to be late than work Wesley up.

Before she could decide what to do, she saw his hand rise. She flinched backward, and her hand flew to her stomach instinctively as flashbacks from the previous summer flew through her mind. She knew all too well how hard that hand could come down, and she wasn’t the only one to worry about this time. This time, there was her flutter.

She heard a lofty chuckle from where Wesley stood and realized then, with a ripple of relief, that he hadn’t been planning to hit her. He was only reaching out towards her, his fingers outstretched to grab some strands of her hair.

He looked down to where her hand pressed against the small bulge beneath the pink, cotton material and smirked.

“I guess that’s my answer,” he said a little too smugly as if she had just assured him that she would go back to him otherwise. He reached out again and ran his fingers through the silky, dark brown strands of her hair. She shuddered at the touch.

“At least I know it’s not mine,” he said before he turned and walked into a classroom on their right.

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