Page 87 of The Forever After Bet

“I have a couple of text messages from her. I’ve got to corner her and tell her I want nothing to do with her. I’m blocking her number again, so it’ll be useless to contact me.”

“Something needs to be done,” Jack says, shaking his head.

Mrs. Clark is waiting for us when we walk in. I notice Hannah has taken off her corsage, so I take off mine and slip it into my pocket. She’s made a ton of treats for us, including my favorite snickerdoodle cookies.

“Hi, Ford,” she says, giving me a side hug. “How was the dance?”

“It was a lot of fun.” I smile. She grabs the plate of snickerdoodles, and I take a couple off the plate. “Thank you.”

I notice Hannah talking to her dad. They both glance at me. I smile and nod. We all go downstairs, and I head down the hall to use the bathroom.

It looks like Mrs. Clark just cleaned down here. She left a few cleaning supplies out and forgot to take a garbage sack. I bend down, putting the cleaning supplies under the sink. I’m unsure if they go in here, but they’ll be out of the way when others use the bathroom.

When I’m done, I grab the small sack of garbage. It’s clear, and I can see the contents inside. I catch sight of a particular item, and I lose my breath. I feel like my heart is going to break out of my ribcage. It’s beating so fast.

I sit down on the edge of the bathtub and stare at the garbage. I slowly open the knot at the top and pull the torn package out. My hand is shaking so badly I can barely hold it. I feel like I’m going to be sick. I open the garbage sack back up and shake the garbage around, but there’s not much in it, and I can tell the test isn’t in there.

I put the torn package back together, reading it. Early detection home pregnancy test. Easy to read. I read the directions on the back of the box. Finally, I put the package back in the garbage and tie it up. I don’t know what to do with it, so I shove it under the sink.

I splash some water on my face and take some deep breaths. It might not even be Hannah’s test; but even as I say it, I don’t believe it. When I come out of the bathroom, I’m in a daze. I search the room and find Hannah sitting on the sofa I make a beeline for her. I grab her hand, pulling her up to find a private place to talk, when Mrs. Clark comes downstairs with a game, she bought for us to play.

“Sorry,” Hannah mouths.

I sit down on the floor in front of her. The game seems to last forever, and it’s after midnight by the time we finish. After that, people start leave. Mrs. Clark finally goes upstairs, and I grab Hannah, dragging her down the hall.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “We never had time to talk about the Bree thing. Is that what has you in a daze?”

“No, I—” But I never get a chance.

Jack appears in the hallway. “Mom’s coming back.” He hisses. Hannah dashes into the bathroom, and I go into Jack’s room.

I don’t know what to do. I need to talk to my grandma. She always has good advice. I could be freaking out over nothing. If Hannah were pregnant, she’d tell me. She’d never keep something like that from me. Or would she? I’m starting to completely freak out. I need time to think and sort things out, and then I’ll be in a better mindset to talk to Hannah about this.

33. Family Dinner

When I come out of the bathroom, Jack tells me that Ford has gone home.

“He didn’t look good,” Jack says.

“I’ve rarely seen Ford sick; but when he is sick, watch out.” Ty whistles.

“I’ll call him later.” I plop down next to Leah. “We never talked about the to-do with Bree. What exactly happened?”

Leah rolls her eyes. “Bree is a narcissist. When she reached us, she pushed me and told me to leave. Ford told her to knock it off, that he was dancing with me. Then Bree changed tactics, saying she was helping him out. She liked this song and wanted to dance to it with him. Ford said there would be plenty of songs after this one. That’s when I got pissed and said she didn’t own rights to Ford. She went off on me about how they have a history together. That’s when that girl with neon pink hair showed up.”

“That’s Violet Richland,” I say.

“She asked Ford to dance, and he said now wasn’t a good time. He’d talk to her later. She seemed fine with it and skipped off. I was still yelling at Bree. We’d migrated to cheerleader days, and I was yelling about how she sucked. That’s when Ford dragged me away. He didn’t even say goodbye to Bree. She was a stalker after that. She corned me in the bathroom—”

“You didn’t tell me that.” Jack interrupts.

Leah shrugs. “It wasn’t a big deal. She knows if she messes with me, I’ll mess back. I’m not afraid of her.” Leah turns back to me. “Anyway, she accused me of scaring Ford away. She asked me where you were, and I asked her why she cared so much. She huffed at me and then left.”

“Usual Bree drama,” I mutter.

“I don’t get it. Why doesn’t Ford tell her to take a hike and get lost?” Leah asks.

“He did at the beginning of school, and look where it got him,” Ty says.

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