The Empty Desk

Chapter 3

And, my stomach sunk.

Ive always relied on lies. I've always been an excellent liar. Always thinking I could pull it off. But, I had set records already. This was far from something I could "pull off". Realization hit me like a tidal wave. Knocking me off my feet and drowning me of what was my reality now. Everyone was bound to know that she, 18 year old girl, had sex with her teacher, and now she's pregnant!

I was truly tired of crying. I wasn't going to let another tear fall. I was gonna accept this as what is supposed to happen; face it.

"But... What are you going to do?" I asked worryingly.

"Well, once they find out, I'm probably going this lose my job. But, don't worry. I have other job opportunities." He explained as he began to pick up his things.

"People... People are going to see us different from now on." I reasoned.

"It's okay," He began making a pause. "It's already done." He finished with a smile.

"It's not like we are going to go around telling people what happened. They are bound to notice eventually. I am more worried about your parents, Lucia."

I looked to the side. Trying to avoid the fact that it was true. I had to tell my parents, and when I did, Joshua was going to be in so much trouble. Unnecessary trouble. I looked back into his eyes and I could notice by the expression on his face, he was thinking the same thing I was thinking.

"Today..." He said as he walked towards the door. I froze in place. Did he want to go to my house, today? Like, No! I'm not ready! What was he thinking? Ugh... There's literally no point in whining, he is going to do it anyway. I rolled my eyes and stomped out of the room. Not before I murmured a "thank you" as he held the door for me.

The school day seemed to pass by faster than other days. Every hour I would stop and think. My parent's knew about Joshua. In fact, my parents loved Joshua, but as a teacher! I used to have problems with physics so he used to tutor me in his house. That's when about a month ago things got pretty intimate. To the point where we had sex! But, nobody else knew. And, I didn't want anybody else to know actually. Much less my parents! They will be so disappointed... Specially my father. And, what about my little sister?

"Lucy." Someone called. I turned around to meet Mona. "I'm here, let's go." She smiled up to me. I felt odd because she looked up to me, and I would disappoint her too.

"What's that?" I said pointing to her neck. She naively looked down. I pulled up one finger that hit her nose not so strong.

"Ow!" She whined as she put both hands over her nose. I chuckled, put an arm around her and walked to the car.

I got to my room and stuffed my face into one of my cushions. I was tired of thinking about me, about Joshua, about my parents. I just wanted to sleep. But that was interrupted by a sweet mellow knock on my door.

"Lucia?" Mom called as she slowly opened the door.

"Mh?"

"Aren't you going to have lunch?" She concernedly asked.

"I ate at school, ma." I lied. I just wasn't hungry but if I said that she would force me into eating.

"Are you okay?" She said bringing herself in, closer to the bed.

"Yes mom, I'm fine. I'm just a little sleepy." I said with a smile revealing my face from the cushion. Her face turned from concern to understanding expression.

"Okay." She said, and I buried my face again. I only heard the door close and I drifted to sleep.

Something on my face made my whole body jerk awake. I instantly shot my eyes open looking for any danger, when I noticed an annoying black spot, moving pretty quickly.

"Damn, flies." I whined. I stared out he window, fixing my gaze in the sky. I usually tell the time of the day by the color of the sky. The blue indicated it was past 5pm, the streets were calm. Evening.

My door was swung open loudly, making my head jerk.

"Lucia, Mr. Joshua's here." He asked full of intrigue. Judging by his smile and his interested body-language, he thought he was here because he had good news. Me heart seemed to drop, I certainly didn't feel ready. Either way, I took a deep breath and smiled.

"Let's go down, see what he wants." I announced. My dad nodded and we both exited my room together. As I walked down the stairs I silently praid for him. I also thanked the heavens I was already 18, if I wasn't, my parents would disagree and they could put Joshua in jail.

I came to notice his existence, slowly as I could see more of his body, until I could see him entirely. He was there, seated at the beige leather couch on my living room. My mother was just getting him a glass of cold water. He muttered an inaudible "thank you", but I made it up by looking at his beautiful pink lips.

I sat on the couch across Joshua. When my father sat next to me, I widened our gap by sliding a little farther away. Mom came around and sat on the armchair putting a hand on dad's shoulder.

"So, what brings you here?" My father asked.

"I came here to address something to you." He said, looking back and forth between dad and mom. I looked at my parents from the corner of my eye to see their reactions. They seemed interested on what Joshua was going to say and their smiles were gone. Mostly due to Joshua's serious expression.

"Lucia is pregnant," He began. My parent's face color seemed to drain. "by me." He added. I felt a knot on my throat. It had finally been revealed.

"What...?" My mom asked in disbelief. Her faced quickly turned to meet my eyes. My green eyes met watery ones. Her face showed disappointment and sorrow. But, what I wish I had never seen was my dad's face. He stared at me blankly, brows pressed and mouth slightly opened. He was mad, angry, disappointed, sad. As if he thought this was all a joke. As if he was waiting for us to laugh and say "It's a prank!". That shred of hope was slowing fading away as my face didn't seem to change.

My mom started to cry, quickly leaving the living room. I got to see how she strolled to the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. My dad on the other hand, he had just looked down and intertwined his hands. I glanced at Joshua and noticed he was doing the same I was doing, waiting for something to happen. No shorter after we looked at each other, my dad stood up and clenched his fist. I was almost certain he was going to hit me, when he slowly paced to the other couch. He looked down at a confident yet nervous Joshua. He isn't going to—

"Dad, no!" I helplessly shouted to the top of my longs as I saw my father swinging his fist. The predictable loud smack was heard. Joshua was literally thrown out of the couch into the floor. I instinctually stood up and tried to reach him. Joshua lifted his eyes to meet my own. His eyes were something Ive never seen before. They shouted "Don't get near". I held my hand to my mouth as I frightfully waited for something to happen.

"Get out of my house."

Joshua looked up to my father with an undefined expression. His hand was covering the growing bruise on the side of his face.

"Now." He commanded. Joshua lifted his weight up from the floor and walked to the door. He swung the door open and quietly closed it without looking back.

I was looking at the door as if there was some sort of ghost. He was here, and now he isn't. Why? Why did this happen?

"Lucia." My dad called driving me out of that thought. But, soon, other thoughts, more terrifying ones surged up. I looked up to my dad's hazel orbs, with dying terror.

"Who are you?" He asked with deadly curiosity. "'Cause you're not my daughter." He said, walking off to my crying mother.

After a couple of shocked seconds, I dropped on the couch, laying back my head. Tears slowly slid down my cheeks and drying off. I disappointed my parents. Joshua wasn't here. I rolled my eyes slowly to the side, just to see Mona peaking from the stairs. She wore the saddest little face in the world. She looked down for a second, then stood up and walked up stairs again. And, yet another person I've disappointed today.

As of today, my life is going to change.