Not the Same

Chapter twenty-three

Anger.

Fear.

Sadness.

Confusion.

Betrayal.

These are all the feelings that consume me as I continue pace back and forth in my dorm room. How could this have happened? Hailie pregnant? With Adam?

First of all: ew. I don't even want to think about that.

Second of all: how could she not tell me?

Someone knocks at my door while I'm in the middle of this internal breakdown.

"Avery, open up. It's Cameron."

Cameron? Why is he here?

I walk over to the door and before I can fully open it, Cameron is already inside my room. He looks at me; the concern evident in his eyes.

"Avery, are you okay?"

"No," I admit. "I just found out that my best friend is having a baby with my brother who has made my life horrible for years."

Cameron takes a step towards me, wiping my eyes.

"I didn't even notice I'm crying," I say out loud, feeling frustrated with myself and the entire situation.

"Avery, I wanted to tell you," Cameron confesses.

My heart stops.

"You knew?" I ask him in disbelief.

His faces pales. "Avery-"

"You knew this entire time that my best friend is pregnant with my brother's baby and you didn't tell me?"

"I was going to tell you" Cameron proclaims.

"When? When Hailie's birthing a baby out of her baby canal?!" I cry.

"Her baby canal?" Cameron asks, a hint of an amused smile on his face.

"I don't like to say the word," I grumble angrily.

"Say it," Cameron challenges.

"No," I state.

"Say it."

"I'm not saying it."

"Saaaaaay itttttt."

"Cameron-"

"C'mon, Avery."

"HER VAGINA! HAPPY? I SAID IT! WERE YOU WAITING TO TELL ME SHE'S PREGNANT UNTIL SHE IS PUSHING A BABY OUT OF HER VAGINA?!"

Cameron looks at me with the biggest grin on his face.

"He knew?"

Cameron and I both look towards the door to see Adam and Hailie.

Adam starts to walk towards me. "Avery, we need to talk." Not gonna lie, it feels pretty satisfying to see the big bruise in the middle of Adam's face and his big, puffy, red nose.

"There's no way I'm talking to you," I angrily snarl. "Or her."

"Avery, please just listen to me," Hailie begs. "You're my best friend."

"Funny," I comment. "Because I didn't know that best friends get pregnant with their supposed best friend's brother who they know their best friend hates."

"Avery-"

"How could you?" I ask her, my voice cracking in pain and disbelief. "I would expect this from someone as low as Adam, but you? I never would have thought you would betray me like this."

"Oh come on, that's not fair," she pleads.

"How could you not tell me? You found out you were pregnant and didn't think it was important to mention it to me, regardless of the fact that you're pregnant with my brother's baby."

"Avery-"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" I continue. "I mean, pretty soon it's gonna be obvious.

"Avery, that's enough," Adam commands, catching all of us off guard. He turns to Hailie and a gentle look glosses over his face. "Go on, say what you want to say."

Hailie gives him a small, grateful smile and looks towards me. "I wanted to tell you, Avery. You have to know that I wanted to tell you so badly, but I couldn't. I was so afraid and scared that you would want nothing to do with me after I told you and I couldn't have that. I couldn't deal with the idea of you hating me. I was already scared over the fact that I'm pregnant and I wanted to tell you, but I was scared that by doing so, I would be losing you. I couldn't lose you." She takes a small pause, seeing if I have anything to say. After a moment, she continues. "I really do care about your brother, Avery. I didn't just hook up with him; I genuinely  wanted to be with him. Your brother and I have been seeing each other for a while now and I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to make things tense between us. I know you and your brother don't get along since the incident, but isn't it time to put that in the past and move on?"

I flinch; her words feeling physically painful on my skin. "Now is not the time to talk about that," I tell her as calmly as I can. I sigh and take a deep breath, trying to think straight for a moment.

"Look, I get it. For some strange reason, you like my brother. I'm not mad about that."

"You're not?" she asks in disbelief.

"No," I reply.

She looks relieved. "Oh, thank God," she breathes, taking a step towards me, trying to give me a hug.

Immediately, I step back from her, causing her to frown.

"What I am mad about is you not telling me. This isn't some little secret; this is a life-changing thing. You're having a baby and you didn't think that was important to tell me?"

"Avery, I wanted-"

"I just don't think I can trust you right now and I need some time and space away from you," I pause and look at the three of them.

"All of you."

A look of hurt flashes across all of their faces.

"Avery, can we talk?" Cameron asks while stepping forward and grabbing my forearm, a look of hurt on his face.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this."

Before he can respond, I'm already running out the door, wiping the tears off my face as I run towards my car.

Author's note:

...Please don't hate me.

I am SO sorry I haven't updated in a while.  I can honestly say I have never been so stressed or whelmed in my entire life and it was so hard to find anything to give you all the update you deserve.  I'm hoping to update REAL soon.  Like tomorrow or Friday soon.  Believe me, it's been KILLING ME that I haven't been able to update.  So I tried to make this update long and special!  I hope you liked it!

I hope you're all having the happiest of holidays and have been spending time with your loved ones!  What's your favorite thing that happened to you this holiday?

xoxo,

LetTheGamesBegin_