"Her or me?" A tear rolled down Michelle's puffy cheek, "You have to make a decision."
For Michelle, life has always been about control-control in the studio, in her friendships, and even in the secrets she hides. But with an unexpected pregnancy...
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I feel extremely exhausted. After spending three hours pretending that I want to be here, the party still hasn't come to an end. Now the focus isn't mainly on me; the dancers are taking turns sipping from their alcohol-filled cups.
It's taking so much for me not to join them. I could really use something to get me through the night.
Emily walks over to me. "I'm so glad everything turned out okay. The food was nice, the cake was delicious, and everyone actually seems to be enjoying themselves."
"My feet are killing me, though." I admit to her.
"Do you want to sit down? I can get you a chair."
I shake my head. "No, it's fine. I don't want to look like I'm not enjoying myself. It doesn't matter if I'm comfortable or not."
"You shouldn't have to be uncomfortable, though. Here, let me get you a seat-."
I raise my voice slightly. "I said that I don't want one!"
She furrows her brows, clearly confused as to why I'm acting so cold with her.
"I was just trying to be helpful. The last thing I want is for you to be in pain."
I'm having none of her lies, "Like you care."
I walk away from her, deliberately shoving into her for dramatic effect. I roll my eyes at her trying to act like she cares.
But, before I can even get a moment to breathe, I hear her irritating voice saying, "Mom, Dad!"
I instantly turn my head and I see the two people that I thought I'd never speak to again...
"Thank you so much for coming!" She greets them, hugging them both.
"Oh, it's our pleasure!" Her mom says, "We wouldn't want to miss this special occasion."
She then looks around, before complimenting what Emily has done to the place. "Wow, this looks great! I knew you'd come up with something lovely. I knew from the moment you brought it up that you'd go full out. You always do."
"That's right, mom." Emily says, "You know me so well."
And then she speaks to her dad. "And, dad... what do you think about it?"
He looks around, clearly not satisfied, yet he lies, "Looks good."
There's a few seconds of awkward silence before Emily happens to remember that the party is actually about me and that she should probably bring me into the conversation.
"Michelle." She turns to look at me, ushering me to come over. "My parents are here."
No fucking shit.
I walk over to them reluctantly, feeling my heart practically beating out of my chest as anxiety fills my entire body.
"Hi, it's- it's nice to see you both again." I lie, remembering to keep a smile on my face despite it being obviously fake.
