Page 42 of Pieces

Blinking rapidly, his mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. “Hold up, first time?Thefirst time?” He leans closer to the camera. “Are you messing with me right now?”

“Why would I mess with you about this?” I snap, my voice sharper than I mean it to be. My chest is heaving, and I can feel the tears threatening to spill, but I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself. If I fall apart again, there’s a good chance I’ll stay broken, and I can’t do that. This week has been a mess. If I thought the day I found out hard, I was sorely mistaken, because I’ve hardly been able to rehydrate from crying so much, let alone anything else.

“Shit.” He runs a hand down his face again, in a clear state of disbelief. “Isn’t that one of those horror stories Dad used to tell us so we’d never even think about having sex?”

I roll my eyes so hard they go starry for a second. “Oh, please, like that stopped you from sleeping your way through high school.”

He tilts his head, conceding the point with a faint smirk. “True.”

“Besides,” I add, swallowing hard and looking away, “I can’t exactly tell the father because…” My throat tightens, but I force the words out. “I met him at the Gracie Abrams concert earlier in the fall, and we didn’t swap numbers or anything.”

Finn freezes, staring at the screen. “Your first time was a one-night stand?”

“Yup.” I pop the word like it’s no big deal, but the knot in my chest tells a different story. I hug my free arm around myself, trying to hold it together as the silence stretches.

“Daphne,” he says finally, his tone softer now. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was having fun for once, Finn. I’ve spent so much of my life being the perfect daughter, student, friend, sister. I just wanted one night for me. I didn’t expect this to happen.”

He sighs, his hand dragging down his faceagain. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I just… Shit. This is a lot.”

“You think I don’t know that?” My voice wavers, and I blink rapidly to stop the tears from falling. “I’m living it, Finn. I tried to tell Dad tonight after his game. I waited right until the school’s social media announced final scores, but I just couldn’t force myself to walk inside his office. So here I am, wandering around campus at night.” My fear of disappointing him in an entirely different way almost chokes me. I thought being the perfect student and standing on my own would be my problem, but no. What if this is the thing he can’t forgive?

He takes a deep breath, nodding slowly. “Alright. We can deal with this. First, you need to see a doctor, like, immediately. Have you done that yet?”

“Tomorrow afternoon,” I say, my voice small. “Liv’s coming with me.”

“Good, okay, that’s good.”

Good doesn’t quite cover how I’m feeling. Anxious, scared, and sick to my stomach covers it better, but I know he didn’t mean everything is good. He’s glad I’m not alone. And honestly, me too.

“Hey, Daph?” Finn’s tone shifts, suddenly sharper now. “How private did you want this conversation to be?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, my nerves peaking.

“There’s some guy standing behind you,” he says, brow pinching. “I’ll get the number for campus security.”

My heart stutters. The phone trembles in my hand as I whirl around to see what he’s seeing. This campus is usually a relatively safe place, but a girl can never be too careful. I dive my free hand into my purse, fingers closing around the can of mace I keep tucked there as I take a shaky step back, my eyes locking onto the shadowy figure a few paces away.

“Don’t come any closer!” I shout, yanking the mace out and holding it up with a trembling hand. My chest heaves, adrenaline coursing through me as I glare at him. “I will spray you!”

The guy freezes, his hands shooting up in surrender. “Whoa, hey! I’m not— Daphne, wait!”

The sound of my name snaps me out of my panic for a second. I squint, the glow of the streetlights finally illuminating his face as he steps forward. My breath catches, confusion slamming into me. “H-Hudson?”

I blink to make sure I’m not seeing things, but yep, that’s definitely him.

His face is pale, but he’s still just as gorgeous as I remember him to be, even in the dim streetlights. He lowers his hands slowly, like he’s afraid of spooking me. “Yeah. It’s me.”

I don’t move, my heart now racing, the mace still clutched in my grip. “What the hell are you doing here? How are you here? Were you following me?”

Hudson shakes his head quickly, his words spilling out in a rush. “I swear, I wasn’t following you. I didn’t even know you were here. I—” He stops, dragging a hand down his face, and takes a step back. “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Finn’s voice crackles through the phone that’s still in my other hand. “Daph, who the hell is this guy? I’ve got the number ready to call for help.”

I glance down at the phone. “No, it’s okay, hold on.” Then my gaze finds Hudson again when realization hits as the bold CLU letters glare at me from his sweater. “Wait. You’re a student here?”

Hudson hesitates, guilt flickering across his face before he nods. “Yeah. I go here.”

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