Beautiful Casualty

Chapter Nine

The next day, I woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. Bacon, eggs, toast. A real breakfast cooked by someone other than myself. I sat up and, when I was just about to walk into the kitchen, I felt something horrible in my stomach. I ran to the bathroom holding both my mouth and my stomach. I pushed the bathroom door open hard, luckily no one was in there. I began to vomit... and it felt like it would last forever--like it'd never stop.

Afterwards, I washed my face and hands before going to the kitchen to greet Abby-Jake's mom. As I turned the corner, I spotted her frying up some eggs.

"Wow," I said. "That smells amazing."

"Oh," she said, acknowledging my presence. "Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"I guess I could eat something," I replied, taking a seat at the table. I didn't want to straight up say 'yes', I'd sound too needy. That's when Jake walked in, shirtless and yawning. Tattoos cover his chest, connecting with the ones on his arms. He was so skinny--like me. I felt my face turning hot and I had to look away. I sat without saying a word as I waited for Abby to finish preparing the plates and serve them. "Thanks," I said and began eating.

It didn't take me too long to finish and when I did, Abby and Jake just stared at me. "What?" I asked, confused.

"You're a pretty damn fast eater," Jake said bluntly.

"Jake!" Abby scolded her son, smacking him on the shoulder, then she turned to face me. "Tess," she put her fork down beside her plate and stood up. "Can I please talk to you for a moment in private?"

"Sure," I wasn't sure what she was going to say, but I was pretty sure it was something about her not wanting me to live with her anymore, which I understood. I followed her out to the hallway, my heart beating faster and faster with every step.

"Tess," she turned to look at me. I could hear a little bit of concern in her voice as she spoke. "Are--" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Are you pregnant?" I stood there mute for a minutes, the question took me by surprise. I didn't know how to answer it. Should I lie to her like I did Jake? I mean, she deserved to know the truth, she took me in and all--fed me. But what if she kicked me out for it? My mom would have. Dave would have. Hell, even Marcus probably would have. Plus, I didn't know who the father was. It could've been anyone. Ray, Dave, Marc, or even the guy that I'd got in that parking lot. I was a slut, a whore, a younger version of my mother. And it wasn't like she owed me anything, she didn't have to let me stay. I was the one who owed her.

"I--" I let out a breath. I felt tears start to fall down my face. "Yeah."

"Do you know who the father is?"

"It's, um," I had to think of a lie--fast. "My ex's, but he, um, doesn't know--I don't know where he is." It was partially true--I didn't know where he was.

"Well, I'm here to help." She smiled. I smiled.

While I was sitting on the couch in the living room, Jake came and sat down next to me. I couldn't remember where Abby had gone--to get groceries, probably. I could feel Jake staring at me, so I looked over at him and said, "Hi?"

"Hey," he smiled. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I guess." I was in a bad mood for some reason and I didn't want to talk.

"Where're you from?"

"I'm from a lot of places," I said, then looked back at the t.v.. I could still feel him staring at me. "Look, I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

"Oh, okay." That's when I noticed he was staring at my arm. I moved it up against my stomach to hide the scars from his view.

He placed his hand on mine and looked into my eyes.