Page 42 of Falling for Mindy

“You’re not at Mom and Dad’s, they can’t hear you,” she teased, “you don’t have to whisper.”

“You’re hiding in the garage so you can talk to me, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Yes. And you’re not on speaker and I’m alone. With a Diet Coke, which Mom won’t let me drink because it has chemicals in it. I’m about to lose my damn mind here. Now spill the details. You owe it to me.”

“I’m kind of involved with him.”

“Involved. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” she laughed. “It’s about damn time you hooked up with him.”

“We’re not hooking up,” I insisted.

“Okay, fine, be an old lady about it. You’re seeing him, then.”

“We’re sleeping together.”

“I know. I mean, I’m not stupid. I saw the way you turned bright red and sort of sparkly eyed when you talked about him. Plus, I know you. When you said involved with him, I knew you meant fucking,” she said.

“Nancy Drew gonna get her mouth washed out with a bar of Ivory if Mom hears you talk like that,” I laughed.

“Yeah, rub it in. I have to stay with our parents while you get to rock the headboard with the man of your dreams.”

“I won’t be rocking anything tonight,” I said. “The stress is really getting to me, worrying that this guy is going to find me, or that he’s found Alicia by now. I threw up first thing this morning, and I’m still shaky. It just makes me queasy to think about even moving off this couch,” I admitted.

I braced myself, figuring Katie would mention the grossest thing she could think of like the fried pickles she likes at the carnival. Swallowing hard, I waited for her comeback, something that would make me retch while she giggled. For a whole minute she was quiet.

“You sure it’s stress, Min?” she said finally.

“Well, yeah. Why?”

“You’ve been sleeping with Kyle for like a month or so, right?” she said.

“Yeah, but---okay, so my period’s late, but it’s got to be all the stress. I haven’t felt like eating much and I wasn’t really sleeping until last night when I was with Kyle. I felt safe with him, so I guess I could finally relax. I figure my body’s all out of whack from, like, cortisol. You know, the fight or flight thing.”

“You need to know one way or the other, Min. Go get a test and take it. I’ll wait on the phone with you.”

I was officially freaking out. I was starting to sweat and I felt even more queasy than before. What if she was right? What if I was pregnant with my professor’s baby? While I’m still his student and also shacking up at his house because I’m being stalked?

“Oh no,” I said. “No. No way. Not like this,” I stammered.

“Call me when you get back from the store. I’ll talk you through it.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’m gonna go right now.”

I hung up the phone, called an Uber, and went to the store. I stood in the family planning aisle for a long time, trying to decide between the brand name quick result test or the cheaper test. I decided to splurge, because the faster I got my results, the faster I could forget my one and only pregnancy scare and bury the box in the trash so Kyle wouldn’t find it. I didn’t want to freak him out, and I wanted to just pee on the stick while Katie teased me over the phone and then be done with it. I was just off schedule with my period because of all the trouble with Alicia and her ex. I’d been torn up for over a week because she was missing and I couldn’t contact her, and then her ex started coming for me. That was enough to make anybody’s hormones shrivel up and hide, for goodness sake. I wasn’t becoming a mother. That was ridiculous, and only Katie would come up with something so far-fetched and dramatic.

Coming out of the store, I was opening the Sprite I bought while I balanced my bag with the test in it and my phone. The bottle lid was really tight, and I paused, shoving my phone under my arm and slinging the bag on my wrist so I could use both hands to open my drink. Finally, I twisted the top off and took a drink. The sugary, citrusy bubbles tasted good, and I swallowed a drink, feeling a little better already. I put the top back on the bottle and then I felt something jab me in the back. I arched away from it and went to turn around and see what I’d bumped into. Startled, I dropped my Sprite.

“I’ll kill you if you make a sound. Don’t turn around. You’re going to the white car, third one down, left side. Walk unless you want to be a headline tonight, local woman bleeds out in front of grocery store, suspect flees.”

I jerked with awareness, and I was embarrassed that a quiet mewling sound came out of my throat, a pleading, pitiful thing. I choked back a sob. I took a tentative step, and he shoved the gun harder into my side. I could smell him close behind me, the smell of fried food and beer on him, his stale breath making me breathe through my mouth.

Once he had shoved me in the car, he leaned over and zip-tied my wrists. I was sniffing and blinking really fast, trying not to cry. I knew my phone had clattered to the ground when I realized someone had a gun on me. He had picked it up and pocketed it. I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t call 911 or send my location to Kyle or Katie or anyone. I was so mad at myself for dropping the phone, for losing my soda and my bag. For leaving the house when Kyle had told me to lock up and stay inside.

“Where the fuck is Alicia?” he growled as he drove us away.

“I don’t know. I don’t have any idea where she is,” I said.

“The hell you don’t.”

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