Page 142 of The Future Play

Me: I need to talk to you.

Me: Please answer.

I call again, but nothing.

Me: Answer your phone!

I sink to the floor and call again, almost screaming when I get hisvoicemail again.

Dropping my phone on the floor next to me, I pull my knees up to my chest. This is my worst fear come to life.

There’s a knock on the door as it swings open. “Hey, Mands. I’m supposed to grab you for a late dinner. There’s a surprise… guest. What’s wrong?”

Mackie kneels in front of me, wrapping her hands around my arms.

“Jamie—Jamie’s not answering. It’s been almost two hours, and he won’t answer. He won’t?—”

“Take a deep breath,” Mackie instructs.

But I shake my head. “I think I’m pregnant.”

Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t miss a beat. She pulls her phone from her back pocket and types something out. Then a few moments later, my door opens wider and the girls stream in. Rae, Sarah, Chelsea… and Hyla.

“Surprise,” she whispers as she sits down next to me and takes my hand.

“What happened?” Chelsea asks.

I don’t know how to answer that. They know things have been tough, but this is the lowest I’ve felt.

“I might be pregnant. And I’ve spent almost two hours calling Jamie, but he hasn’t answered.”

“Do you want one of us to get you a pregnancy test?” Sarah asks.

“No. I want to wait until I can at least get him on the phone to take one,” I sniff.

“Then we’ll wait with you,” Rae says.

And of course, they do so much more than that. They bring food upstairs. Mackie specifically brings me a buttered plain bagel, while Hyla tells us stories from her flight attendant life to distract us.

I keep calling Jamie, but no matter how many times I call or what I text, he doesn’t answer.

My stomach is burning with fear as my chest clenches in pain.

When it’s nearly four hours after his game, the panic sets in, and I can barely breathe.

Please answer. Please, please answer.

It goes to voicemail again, and I’m in full hysterics.

“Why isn’t he answering?!” I am the perfectly broken picture of an ugly-crying train wreck as I throw my phone across the room. I swore I’d never be this girl. This pathetic mess of heartbreak. I’d never do it again. Then Jamie Henderson walked into my life, melted my walls, and made me believe I was worth something. Worth everything.

Mackenzie sweeps some hair from my face. “Maybe he had something with the team.”

“No,” I rasp. “The game was over hours ago. And even if he went out with the team, that’s no excuse for him not answering.”

I look around the room at my best friends. The women who chose me when I felt like I wasn’t worth choosing. Mackenzie, Hyla, Rae, Sarah, and Chelsea. All five of them stopped what they were doing and surrounded me with love the second I needed them. Of course they’re here. Ride or die. We always show up for each other.

But as much as I love them, they aren’t the ones I need right now.

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