Lavender

Chapter Seven

The week flies by, and it's Thursday in the blink of an eye.

I told Theo when he dropped me off after school yesterday that I had to take care of some things with finalizing the sale of my house back in Georgia, so I wouldn't be needing a ride to class today.

There's nothing wrong with a little white lie, right?

A young married couple had actually bought the house two weeks after putting on the market, I'm just not ready to tell Theo my secret. I know that when I do tell him, he'll hate me, and I'm not ready for that yet.

When will you be ready, Cora? You've lied to him for this long, how will he ever trust you again? the voice in my head sneers.

At 9:45 on the dot I pull my Mercedes into one of the parking spots in front of an old brick building in downtown Poway, a small city on the outskirts of San Diego. I take a few deep breaths before getting out of the car and walking inside.

After signing in with the old lady sitting stoutly behind the front desk, with her classes on a silver chain around her neck, a nurse calls my name and leads me to a room in the back, and I sit on the crunchy, paper covered bed until the doctor comes in.

"Hi, Cora. I'm Doctor Hannah Ashworth. How are you feeling?" A tall blonde woman in pink scrubs smiles at me while she snaps a pair of latex gloves over her long fingers.

"I'm good. A little nausea some mornings, and I have a hard time falling asleep some nights," I answer, not meeting her eyes.

"Well those things are perfectly normal. I'm going to have you lie down, and we'll take a look." I lay back and pull my shirt up slowly, over my stomach.

She squirts the cold gel onto my stomach and rubs a plastic wand over it, smearing the gel over my goose-bump-covered skin.

"There we are!" She chirps and points to the fuzzy tv screen beside the bed, at a tiny little head and four tiny nubs that will eventually be hands and feet. "We won't be able to tell the sex for another few of weeks, but so far it's seems like you have a very healthy baby. You should start showing here in the next month or so as well."

I don't say anything, just stare at the black and white screen, watching the picture of a baby, that looks oddly like a gummy bear, move around inside me and listening to it's heartbeat. So strange that there's an actual person growing inside of me.

Doctor Ashworth cleans off my stomach, gives me a printed picture of the ultrasound screen, and sends me on my way with some prenatal vitamins.

Sitting in my car, still parked in at the doctor's office, I stare at the baby, my baby, while my thoughts consume me.

Almost four months ago, I had gone to a frat party with my roommates. According to them, I was knocking down cocktails, one right after the other. My grandpa had just been diagnosed with stage four liver cancer, so what else did people expect?

Long story short,  I blacked out at some point and woke up in the bed of a guy who had been trying to hook up with me since freshman year. His name was one that I would never forget. Kevin Compton.

After that night, Kevin followed me around more so than usual, claiming we had something special and that we were meant to be together. He was really angry when I told him I didn't want to be in a relationship with him, and he became violent, vandalizing my car twice, and even breaking into the apartment I shared with the girls. When my grandpa eventually passed, Kevin got even crazier, if that was possible. He said someone had to look out for me now and that he'd never leave me alone in this crazy, messed up world. I remember the gleam in his eye, as he pronounced his love and devotion for me, and it still sends shivers down my spine.