Love in a Cup

Chapter Two

Lexi

Finding out I was pregnant two weeks before leaving for college was the last thing I ever would have guessed would happen. The members of my family prided themselves on their perfection. My father served as a state senator, and my mother was the ideal, cookie-cutter wife. We fit into the mold of a polite, political family with strong ties to the community. There were never any scandals, no matter how far back in our bloodline you went.

If only cameras could go behind closed doors, I'd always think to myself.

A baby out of wedlock was going to shatter their image into billions of pieces, especially since my ex-boyfriend decided he wanted nothing to do with me once I received a positive test.

When I had my first appointment at seven weeks along, I decided it was time to tell my parents. It took them exactly five minutes to start screaming and shove me out of their front door. I didn't dare tell them what I thought, which was that no one in the country, or the state for that matter, cared what happened in our lives.

Once my parents decided to cut off my college funds, my original plan was to move into the attached garage apartment at my sister's house. But, since she was married and had children, causing drama between her and our mom and dad wasn't something I wanted to do. I finally convinced her that it was best for all of us for me to live alone for now. When I overheard Sawyer talking about moving out, I figured even if I didn't know her well, she was a better option than living alone.

It took a little under three weeks for us to find an apartment we liked, and, with the help of everyone that worked at The Hut, we moved in a few days later. As embarrassing as it was, I didn't have much, just what I'd brought with me when I moved away for school.

One night, a few days after I'd started working for Parker, a few old friends from home let me know my family had thrown all of my belongings into a rent-a-dumpster. The following day, there was a story on the news speculating about what it could mean, and within twenty-four hours, the media knew I was pregnant.

That night, I received countless text messages from news anchors, people I went to school and grew up around. The worst of the night was when Andy, my ex, texted me to remind me that I was no more than trash to him, and if his name got leaked, he'd make sure everyone knew it.

It wouldn't take long for people to start to wonder if Andy was the father. He was one of two guys I'd dated throughout high school. The only thing on our side was that we'd technically broken up two months before I got pregnant. We'd known we would be states away from each other, so what was the point of staying together?

Of course, I believed his heartbreak, so I handed him my heart to crush.

Thankfully, after contacting a silent lawyer and changing my phone number, things died down. So much so that the college kids had even stopped walking by The Hut to take pictures.

I'd apologized to Parker so many times, but he just shrugged it off and went back to work. Some days, I wondered if anything would ever be able to rattle him, and then Sawyer would walk in. It's like you could visibly see his blood pressure rise with every word she spoke.

Robby and I worked a lot of shifts together in the beginning phases of Sawyer's blueprints. Although Kelly was the one to open the door for me to have this job, it was Robby, Talon's best friend, that told me all I'd ever need to know about my coworkers.

According to Robby, he and Talon passed up on football scholarships to stay closer to home for school. Robby also informed me that Talon walked the line between love-struck and psychopath very well. Surely Kelly wouldn't have still been dating him if he'd been that bad, though.