𝐈𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬

CHAPTER THIRTY

THIRTY

IRIS

It was dinnertime, but food was my least of concerns as I stared at the rectangular strip in my hand in disbelief.

My body remained glued to the toilet seat as tears welled up in my eyes, my hands trembling and threatening to lose hold of the tiny foreign object which seemed to cause a burning sensation on my fingertips.

There must be a mistake somewhere. I should retake.

However, the dozen of used strips tossed across the floor of the toilet stall proved otherwise. There wouldn't be the exact repeated mistake in twelve pregnancy test strips, or would there? Two fucking vertical lines on each one of them.

How the hell is this possible?

A part of me began to wish I hadn't checked at all. I should've ignored the fact that my period was late for–what exactly–five weeks?

"Ignorance is bliss." they say, abi?

Quickly, I took a picture of the strip, sending it straight to Jared's direct message on WhatsApp. In no time, the two blue ticks appeared, followed by the indication that he was typing. Somehow, I anticipated that he'd be excited and talk about getting married and building a family.

Then again, I thought of Maina and how the whole thing would make him feel. I had no idea how I was going to tell him I'm pregnant, and I really didn't know what his reaction would be. Would he still be interested in me then?

Why do you care, Iris? You have a boyfriend.

I did have a boyfriend. And I was carrying my boyfriend's baby. I had no idea whatsoever why my mind was on Maina, and why my head was playing out possible scenarios involving his reaction to the news of my pregnancy.

<Abort it.

8:05PM

The text knocked the air out of my lungs. I suddenly couldn't breathe anymore. I looked at the contact name once, twice, three times. There it was, written: "Obim💞✨". Honestly, I was confused. Was this the boy I "loved"? I read the message again and was slapped with the reality that Jared had sent me that evil text. How in the world did this boy become so vile and wicked?

Abort a child? My child?

His child? He must be joking.

I laughed silently and began to compose a reply when his next message-even worse than the first-entered.

<I already know it's not mine so spare yourself the shame and terminate that bxstard.

8:06PM

Ehn???

My hands were shaking at this point. I found it hard to believe it was the Jared whom I believed I was in love with that I happened to be texting. To think I was even considering marriage. God forbid. There must be a mistake somewhere. Chuckling, I packed up all the used strips and threw them in the stall's bin, apart from one. I felt I'd need it somehow.

Or maybe a part of me just wanted to have some evidence that this was really happening and it wasn't a dream. Although I would really love to wake up if it was.