Southern Chance - Natasha Madison Page 0,1
been crying, and I’m suddenly concerned for her.
Savannah, Jacob, and Beau have been best friends since birth almost. Savannah’s mom worked for Beau’s mother as their housekeeper. Beau and Jacob just grew up in the same circle since Jacob’s father was the sheriff, and Beau’s father was the mayor.
“Hey.” I smile at her. We are friends, but it’s only through Jacob.
“Hey,” Savannah says, and she walks closer to us. She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. With long legs and perfect hair, you would think she was a model. “I was wondering if I could talk to Jacob.” She looks at me, and I look at Jacob. I know he always protects her, and the bond they have is more sister and older brother than anything else.
“I’m going to head in,” I say. “Come and find me.” I kiss his lips, and he just smiles at me. Walking up the steps, I head into the school and down the hallway toward the gym where the party is at. I see a couple of people I know and stop to talk to them. I enter the gym with the music blaring, and balloons are everywhere. The overhead lights are off, but the DJ has some lights flashing from white to blue to red. I wave to a couple of people and then finally find my friends, who greet me with hugs. We take pictures and joke and laugh. I really don’t know how long I’m in the gym when the whispers start.
“I think she’s pregnant,” one girl whispers, and I look around and try not to feel like they are looking at me.
“You think she knows?” another one says, holding her glass of punch and taking a sip, trying not to stare at me. My neck suddenly gets warm and dread fills me, but I have no idea why. I look around and see eyes focused on me but they dart away once I look at them. Making my way through the people in the gym, I walk down the hallway again back outside, and I see Jacob and Savannah over to the side talking near a tree. Their conversation seems heated, and my feet feel like they are stuck in concrete blocks. No matter how fast I want to run to him, they seem to be going farther and farther away.
Walking down the steps, I spot Beau walking up the steps. He’s wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and a blue bow tie. His black hair is perfectly cut and coiffed to the side. His blue eyes almost look black with the darkness around us. “You clean up nice.” He smiles at me, and his whole face lights up. I roll my eyes and pick up my dress so he can see my worn cowboy boots that I’m trying to hide.
“You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t …” Beau starts saying, almost laughing.
“Take the boots off her feet.” I finish the sentence for him and push his shoulder jokingly.
“Where is the mister?” he asks, and I point at the tree where Savannah and Jacob are. Something about their conversation makes me feel uneasy. I walk past Beau and make my way over to them.
“You can’t seriously be saying this,” Savannah says in a tone that makes me want to get there faster. “I can’t.”
“Hey,” I say when I finally get close enough to them to see that Savannah is crying. “Is everything okay?” I look at her, and then I look at Jacob, who avoids looking at me. “What’s going on?” I ask. My stomach suddenly falls, and I don’t know why. It’s like my body knows something bad is coming and is preparing itself, but my brain doesn’t know. Neither say anything, nor do they make eye contact with me. My hands start to get clammy, and my heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest. “Jacob.” I say his name, and he looks up at me with tears in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” he says. I don’t know if I understand what’s going on. “Kallie.” He takes a step closer to me, but my instinct is to take a step back. “I can explain.”
My mouth gets dry, and the lump in my throat makes it hard for me to swallow. “Someone better say something and something fast,” Beau says when he sees me start to shake, coming over to me and holding me around my shoulders. He shouldn’t