Mine (an African love story)

12. Picnic

It's been a week. I've completely stopped talking to Danny. I don't even leave voicemails anymore. I've just shut myself off from the world and I feel like I'm in a little bubble. I barely eat, mostly because I'm scared of throwing up after, or because I don't have the appetite. April comes over a lot to check on me and we watch movies together. I'm so happy we've become friends.

All this time to myself has given me time to think about Tyler and the baby. I still don't understand how I'm pregnant by him when I don't remember sleeping with him. I would never sleep with Tyler because I only saw him as a friend. His story doesn't make sense to me but it seems like the proof is all right there. He has tried to speak to me but I don't let him in. I'm just too confused to deal with anything else. But maybe I should give him a chance to talk to me. After all, it's better that I'm pregnant by him than a random stranger, right?

Today, April and I decided that we were going to go to a park. There's a big park in our area where they host a lot of events at. They are holding a huge picnic there for our neighborhood, and we want to go to get out of the house.

I walk out of my house and meet April who is standing right outside my house.

"Hey girl, you ready?" she asks me, with a huge smile on her face. April is always in a good mood, that's what I love about her.

I nod happily and we start walking. After a few steps, I feel dizzy so I stop walking and hold my head. April notices and looks at me.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Just a little dizzy, but I'm fine." I say, and she nods as she grabs my hand.

***
We get there and we sit on a mat that they already have laid out for visitors. So far, there were a few people there but more were in their way. They were playing music and the women were still cooking some food in the back.

April takes out her phone and we start taking pictures on Snapchat. First, we make silly faces, then serious faces, then random faces, and lastly we smile at the phone. She records us singing the songs and we laugh as we get louder on our favorite parts.

"You girls look like you're having fun." a voice states, and I look up to see Tyler. I raise my eyebrows and frown.

I haven't seen him for a month and it was weird seeing him. He was fidgeting and doing weird things with his fingers.

"Oh, hey Tyler." April greets and he smiles back. Tyler goes to our church but he doesn't come every week because of his parents' work schedule.

"Hey, April, can I please speak to Anima in private?" he asks her and I sigh. I knew this was coming. April looks at me and nods. She leaves and walks to the ladies cooking food.

"Hi." he says and I give him a soft smile. He sits on the mat with me.

"I've been trying to reach you." he continues and I nod.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't want to see you." I say bluntly. He looks taken aback and I sigh.

"I'm sorry I'm being so mean. I'm just trying to make sense of all this." I tell him and he nods.

" I get it. I'm sorry that you have to go through this. We should have never done anything. " he tells me and I look at him.

"About that. Are you sure we slept together? You sure you weren't dreaming?" I ask and he chuckles.

"Yes, I'm sure. You were feeling dizzy that day. I don't think you remember. I'm sorry. I am. You have every right to hate me. You don't even have to keep the baby." he says and I gasp at his words.

Even though I wasn't ready for this baby, I would never consider abortion. Never.

"I don't hate you, you're my friend Ty. And I'm keeping this baby. Better you than a stranger right?" I say to lighten the mood and he chuckles .

"But you'd rather it be Danny's, wouldn't you?" he quietly asks, and I look down, not answering him.

April walks back to us.

"Can I come back now? The ladies made me leave because I wanted to taste their food." she whines and we laugh. She comes back to sit down with Tyler and I.

**

Oh my gosh. Of course they had to come too. Danny and Lena suddenly came and decided to sit on the mat to the right of us. Lena looked at us and rolled her eyes. Danny's eyes lingered on Tyler for  a second before he looked away. They sit down on their mat and Lena places a kiss on his lips, which he happily returns. I would never get used to that. Lena looks at me and sticks her tongue out. I roll my eyes and look away.

"Ignore her, alright?" Tyler says to me, holding my hand. I nod and I begin to feel dizzy again. I think I was a little hot. I ignore it and sing along to the music.

"Do  you want cranberry juice?" April asks me, as she holds some in her hand. I decline her offer and Tyler raises his eyebrows.

"You never say no to food." he says and I shrug.

"I haven't been hungry lately." I say and he sighs, looking away. Next thing, I feel lips on my cheek. I turn to see Tyler places a kiss on my cheeks. I raise my eyebrows to ask why and he smiles.

"I still care about you. Don't think about Danny, alright?" he states and I don't respond. I think about Danny almost everyday.

"Dance with me." he says and helps me up. I smile and hold his hands. I  think dancing would be helpful.

We start to dance and he twirls me around as I giggle. I notice that Danny is looking at us and I quickly look away. I have to stop thinking about him. As I twirl again, I notice something shiny on Lena. I look closer and see my necklace around her neck. The friendship necklace Danny gave me.

I know I threw it back at him but I can't believe he actually gave it to her to wear. Well, now I know how much our friendship meant to him.

I stop dancing and I hold my head. I feel so lightheaded. I can barely stand up.

"What's wrong? " he asks, and I shake my head, unable to answer. I start breathing heavier and he holds my shoulders.

"Anima?"

I fall to the floor and everything goes black.

***
I feel something cold pressed on my forehead. I open my eyes and look up. April, Tyler, and even Danny are standing above me. April whispers 'thank God ' and removes the wet towel from my head. Both Danny and Tyler hold their hands out for me to grab, and me being petty, I grab Tyler's hand. Danny takes his hand back and awkwardly smiles.

"Hey what happened?" April asks me and I shrug.

"I've been dizzy."

"Because you're not eating. Do you know how dangerous that is for you right now? " Tyler says and I feel embarrassed.

"You have to eat, Anima. " Danny tells me and I roll my eyes. He has no right to tell me what to do.

"Chale, back up. This has nothing to do with you. " Tyler says and Danny glares at him.

"I should really --"

"For once, both of you shut up, please. I don't need this right now. " I exclaim and they quickly stop.

"Anima, please, eat, okay?" April calmly tells me and I slowly nod. Tyler is still holding onto my arms.

He looks at my scars and cocks his head.

"What happened?" he asks and I pull my hand away.

"Scraped myself at home when I fell." I lie and Danny gives me an unreadable look. I look away and sit back on my mat.