Stolen Innocence (Evergreen) [Student/Teacher Love Story]

thirty two

I'm not at all sure how to bring this up to him right now. Do I bring it up to him? Does it mean anything? I only started getting my period less than a year ago...maybe it's normal to skip it every once in a while?

    The voice in the back of my head reminds me that I've never missed a period yet (according to my trusty period tracker Hayden told me to download), but I ignore her for now.

    Facing two evils: telling Michael or listening to my mother's wrath, I sigh and pick the lesser of two evils.

    "Hi, mom,"

    "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" She screams at me for a few moments, asking what the hell I was thinking, who I went with, where I went, why I thought I could just leave and a note would suffice...on and on, until she seems like she's run out of breath.

    "Here's your father," She says without giving me a chance to say anything in response.

    "Eye, we're worried about you. Come home," I can hear my mom scoff in the background.

    "Yeah, I'm on my way back. Tell mom to take a deep breath," And then I hang up the phone, not thinking or caring about the consequences of what I've done.

    "That was a little harsh, don't you think?" Michael says and I just stare at him for a moment blankly. He seems to get the message.

    "I missed my period," I blurt, deciding to face both fears in the span of five minutes. He goes quiet, his eyes on the setting sun ahead of us. His hand leaves the steering wheel and moves to my left thigh, squeezing slightly.

    "Are you sure?" I nod and he looks at me as if he doesn't believe me.

    "I know my body. I missed it," He nods at this, sighing deeply as his mouth forms into a thin line.

    "Well? What do we do?" I ask and he is silent for a moment more.

    "We'll get you a test when we get back. That's all we do for now. Don't worry too much about it," He takes my hand, kissing my knuckles lightly.

    "Remember what I told you about evergreen?" I nod, smiling.

    "Forever," I whisper.

    "Forever,"

—-

    "You are grounded. Do you hear me? For life," My mom shouts as me as I make my way upstairs, paying her no mind. My dad is standing astutely next to her, saying nothing.

    At this point, I don't really care what she says. Anything she could hurl at me pales in comparison to what I've discovered today. That trip was lovely and everything I could have ever needed or wanted, but it didn't take away any of my problems.

    In fact, it seems to have exacerbated them.

    A few hours later, I hear a gentle knock on my door and I can smell food cooking downstairs.

    "Eye?" Another knock.

    "What?" I ask as I open the door, taking my headphones off momentarily. My dad watches me with a curious expression, almost like he doesn't know what to say. Almost like he doesn't recognize me anymore.

    "I just...is everything okay?" His eyebrows crinkle and I almost laugh. Oh, dad. "We don't...we don't have to talk about it now, just...if you ever want to..." Classic. Skating out before he can get tied down to anything real.

    "Yeah, whatever you say," I go to close the door but his foot stops the door as he winces.

    "Eat some dinner?" He offers and I sigh, relaxing my jaw as I follow him downstairs.