His Secret Baby (Story #1 of the Teenage Pregnancy Series)

Chapter Twelve

Hailee Steinfeld as Olivia

Twelve-

"Oh my God, I can't believe you did that," Olivia laughs, and then snorts. Her hands go to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry, that rarely ever happens."

For the past hour we've been babysitting Penelope, along with Skylar and Chelsea. Olivia can not stop laughing at every little thing, so I've been telling her stories of my high school years.

I laugh along with her. "Don't worry, it's cute."

She blushes and looks at Penelope and Chelsea, who are playing together on the floor. Skylar has been put down for a nap for the last fifteen minutes.

Did I just make things awkward?

I say, "Freshman year I was in Peter Pan and threw up all over Wendy," and everything's back to normal.

>•<

I meet Crystal at Le Cafe, a trendy coffee place a few minutes away from the high school, so it was a popular place to hang out. The coffee is overprice, good as fuck, but expensive. The up side is it comes with free entertainment.

She looks like hell. Cute as fuck, but absolute hell. Dealing with this new family crisis has taken a toll on her.

"Hi," I say, sitting in the seat across from Crystal. She looks up from her coffee with expectant eyes.

She lets out a disappointed sigh. "You didn't bring Sky?"

I frown. Shit. I thought she wanted to see me alone. "Mom's watching her."

"Oh." I blow on my coffee, not knowing what to say.

"Look, that girl you saw me with the other day is just a friend," I say, needing to address the elephant in the room.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like we're together, you can date whoever you want."

I rub my temples. Does she not get that I want to date her?

"Have you talked to Trinity lately?" I ask her, changing the subject.

She shakes her head, a slight frown on her face. "I have no idea how to deal with all this shit. If I don't move in with the Logsdon's than I won't have anywhere to live, but I really don't want to."

"Why not?" It seems like a stupid question, but her parents are in jail, her house is being taken away, I don't see any other option.

Crystal looks away. She bites her lip. "I thought you understood," she whispers; I barely hear it, maybe she didn't want me to hear it.

I reach across the table and place my hand over hers. "Crystal-"

"Save it Colton." She pulls her hand away from mine.

"Why are you pulling away from me? Let me help you." I grab her hand again.

She shakes her head, but doesn't move her hand. "It's just, my whole life was a lie. My name, the one thing that's mine, was a lie." She wipes some tears away with her other hand.

My heart is breaking. Crystal is one of the strongest girls I know; seeing her break down like this is torture. The worst part is that I don't know how to help her.

"My parents lied; every birthday, every kiss on the cheek, every 'I love you' was a big, fat lie."

She's getting angry. Anger is good. I'd rather her let her anger out than bottle it up.

My phone rings, interrupting her rant about lying and disappointment. My ringtone for Trinity.

Crystal watches as I pick up the phone, both of us seeming to know what the person on the other line is going to say.