scary, considering I’d fought my last fight just a week before.
I fought pregnant...
The scary thought made me cringe while waiting to reach my floor. And even scarier was not telling a soul. I did not give permission for the clinic to communicate my visit to the athletic department. I didn’t want Trisha to know. I didn’t tell Samantha, even though she’d told me about her being pregnant. I didn’t want anyone in my head, telling me what to do. Because I always wanted a baby, I’d been afraid to tell Ashton all this time. No way would he want a baby, going into the League. Ashton wouldn’t want a baby out of wedlock, damn the League.
The elevator dinged and, tired, I waited to open my eyes. Eventually I pushed myself to step off, needing to pee before crashing.
My feet stopped. Eyes zooming in on one of the dozens of sheets of printing paper.
Tori the dog is also Tori the whore. She fucks your man and smiles in your face.
They were hung up by tape all down the hallway. People were outside of their rooms, reading, waiting, and snickering. When they saw me, a hush fell over the whole floor. Still, I could hear snorting and, “Look!” They didn’t pretend to not have been waiting. All around. The posted papers were on both sides of the hall.
Stiffly, I kept a quick stride to my room. Storming inside, I couldn’t close the door fast enough. My back and head slammed into it as I fell to my knees, my stomach churning, biggest nightmare settling in.
“Shit!” I whispered hard, startled by Samantha standing over her bed.
“She was here, as I’m sure you know.”
“Aivery?”
“Of course, Aivery. Why wouldn’t she be? Everyone knows how she is about Ashton, and how Ashton used to be about her.” She stopped stuffing clothes into a suitcase, turning to me with a pinched forehead. “Until last fall when you came here. Is that when you two got started?” My mouth fell open, but no words could be found. “Never mind.” She went back to her clothes. “I don’t want to give you another opportunity to lie to me.”
“I don’t lie to you.”
She turned my way, face pale and eyes red. “You don’t, do you? So when I asked you if there was something going on between you and Ashton back in December, before break, your denial wasn’t a lie?”
This couldn’t be happening. “It wasn’t like that, Samantha.” I stood to my feet, feeling nauseous as hell, nervous juice bubbling in my belly.
She shook her head. “Don’t waste your breath lying. Aivery came here earlier, spilling everything. You went home with Spencer on Thanksgiving and Christmas break? You spent his birthday with him? So Ashton Spencer is the guy you lost your virginity to, as you so proudly told everyone on Macen Beach. Ashton Spencer, the guy who was practically married to that evil bitch before you came.”
“Why are you packing?” I tried changing the subject. “Can we sit down and talk?”
“Oh, now you want to talk? I basically begged you to be honest with me, judgment-free back in December. But cool Tori will never be cracked. I’ve invited you out with my friends, defended you in your face and behind your back. I thought we were, at least, friends!”
“We are, Samantha! You are my only friend here.” I quickly considered how much of a lie that was.
All these months, Ashton had been trying to prove to me how he was a true friend. Yeah, I trusted him with my body, but I couldn’t see him as a friend, which led him to the point of taking me to a damn sex club where I could have been arrested and/or had my boxing career jeopardized. “You have always been a good friend to me, Samantha. I’m sorry you don’t feel like you have.” Stupid tears dropped from my eyes.
It must have been contagious because with one look, Samantha began to cry, too. “Well, finding out that your friend has been fucking the most popular guy on campus under your nose isn’t reassuring. But don’t worry about me. I’m leaving today.”
I sucked in a breath. “Today? We still have two weeks of classes left.”
“I’m pregnant, Tori!” she whispered hard. “Did you forget that?”
“Two weeks!”
“Dre doesn’t believe it’s his.” That shit dazed me, causing me to take a few steps back. Is that what these college niggas was on? Denying relationships? More tears spilled from her eyes. “Yeah. So, two weeks of