The Lunacy of Tyler Lockhart ✔️

Chapter Forty Three - Past

Past 

Victoria

Three more weeks passed...

Three weeks of my brother trying to locate the father of my child, three weeks of endless arguments with my mother, three weeks of her calling Tyler a 'coward', three weeks of me quitting the Cheer-leading team.

No matter how many times I told myself that it didn't matter if Tyler would accept the baby or not, I kept thinking about it for hours and mostly when I closed my eyes. Archer told me I wasn't alone in this but it still did not stop me from feeling utterly lonely.

I went to school as usual. Apart from Noah and Archer, Kayla was the only friend I told about my pregnancy. She was shocked at first, but then was really understanding about the entire situation.

As if things weren't already difficult for me that the principal decided to make it worse. I went to complain to Mr. Wallace about Harper's bullying incident as soon as I went to school the next day that I was discharged from the hospital. He'd been kind, and understanding as usual, and then he proceeded to tell me that he couldn't just expel someone if they didn't have enough proof.

And I sat there in front of him, completely shell-shocked.

I'd been locked up in the janitor's closet for over six hours, and I knew who had done it and all they could come up with was 'we need proof!'. I asked them to check the surveillance cameras and he told me that due to some technical issues, the cameras weren't working for that entire week so basically they had NO FUCKING FOOTAGE. To top it off, Harper complained that I was making up a story to get her into trouble. Mr. Wallace said they needed time so the management could investigate this further.

I left the Principal's office feeling stupid about myself.

Was it even possible that Harper's family had bribed the school somehow? Everyone knew that Mr. Wallace was a fair man, and he didn't let injustice happen when he was around, although it was entirely possible that he was being pressurized by a superior in the school committee.

Harper's father made donations to the school, so it was no wonder that the school wanted to sweep the entire incident below the rug. I mean, they did that all the time for Ty because his dad practically "owned" the school.

So three weeks later, here I was, sitting alone outside the cafeteria eating a homemade lunch. The weather was nice today, and I felt a calming relief to watch the serene lake that overlooked the school. Some kids were studying under the large tree, art students were painting, others just chilling, everyone seemed so happy and unaware of problems faced by the other.

I took a bite of my turkey sandwich, and couldn't help when my gaze diverted towards one particular table in the indoor part of the cafeteria. I stared at the only empty seat at the Hockey team's table and tried my best to pretend it was okay that he wasn't here.

Bringing up his name was also becoming difficult.

I'd come to realize that there was no point in me getting worried sick about something that I had no control over. I could think, and think, and exhaust myself but nothing was going to change. I'd learned to be numb to my situation. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter that he wasn't here, but it did. It was so glaringly obvious that I needed him, and not just because I was pregnant with his baby but because I loved and cared for him.

I thought he felt the same way. I remembered the day before he disappeared, I thought he loved me deeply as much as I did him. He hadn't said it outright but there was something in his eyes that day when he'd made love to me in his giant truck, and the way he'd snuggled up to me in that blanket and said we were "forever".