Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
"Um, not much. I’m fine. I've just been busy studying," I reply, as if to let him know there’s nothing to worry about.
Despite stories of wild keggers or frat parties that I’ve heard from others who have gone to college, this one has been really tame— boring, even. My school is too small to have fraternities or sororities and I’ve barely even met anyone because I’ve been so busy studying and worry about the baby.
If only Derek knew he had bigger things to worry about when it came to his little sister than college partying!
His appearance here is so out of the ordinary, though, that I’m not sure he just came to spy on me.
Did Steve say something to him?
Did he tell Derek that we hooked up?
I bet he did and probably says that he regrets it.
And yet that wouldn’t make a lot of sense. I don’t think Steve would out us to my brother because he knows he would be really upset. That was the main reason we couldn’t see each other after that one night.
Or at least it was the reason he said.
Maybe Steve was just coming up with an excuse to not have to see me again.
Don’t think like that, I tell myself.
I’ve never had any reason to think Steve would hurt me and I have to take things at face value. The situation called for secrecy which is why I haven’t heard from him since then.
Still, I try to think of any other reason for my brother's visit but come up blank. Derek turns to me and holds out a plastic bag.
"I've brought you a present, " he says.
I walk forward and take the bag, feeling surprised once again.
"It's a new phone," he blurts out.
I open the bag eagerly. It really is a brand new phone, with a gift ribbon on top of the box.
"Wow! This is… wow. This is amazing. Thank you,” I mutter in shock.
It’s definitely a surprise. I'm aware of how pricey phones are. That's why I've had my old one for so long. Even my friends aren't able to afford brand new phones, despite having their parents pay for nearly everything they want.
"Yeah, you've been working hard so you deserve it. I should tell you that I added this phone as a new line of service under my plan. You're going to have a whole new phone number and everything," he explains.
That disappoints me, because now I’ll have to change my number everywhere, but I'm so excited about the phone that I don't want to seem ungrateful.
As if reading my mind, he says, “I’m sorry. It was just cheaper that way and it’s the only way I could afford it.”
"No worries. It’s not a big deal. This is truly awesome. Thank you, brother!" I exclaim.
I hug him.
"Yeah, you're welcome," he replies, smiling. “I’m just so proud of my little sis for getting into college and even getting a scholarship. I wanted to save up and buy you something you deserve.”
Tears threaten to spill out the sides of my eyes when he says this. I wonder how disappointed he will be when he finds out I'm pregnant.
I shouldn't think about that right now, though. If I do, I'll cry.
This situation is just too emotional. I'm afraid my pregnancy might ruin everything. I can more or less guess that he’ll be against it, because of how hard I worked for this scholarship. I also know he'll be furious about Steve being the father.
That's a conversation that can definitely wait for a later time, though. One of the reasons I haven’t told anyone except for Janice is that I don’t want anyone trying to change my mind.
I definitely want this baby—I just have to wait until I’m further along to get support because I don’t want to be talked out of it.
We stop hugging and Derek says, "Okay, well, I'll let you get back to studying. I just wanted to bring you that.”
"Okay, thanks again. Are you sure you don't want to eat or anything?" I ask, being polite. “I only have a bit of canned soup here in my dorm, but I do have a microwave and those bowls you helped me bring. Or we could go to the campus cafeteria.”
"No, thanks, I have things to do at home. Keep up the good work and I'll check in on you again soon," he says.
He leaves abruptly, closing the door.
I don't know what to make of his bizarre behavior.
Maybe he's still mad about Steve leaving?
Jealous that he got a spot on a pro football team, and upset that he himself didn’t?
I decide not to dwell on it any longer. I don't want to ruin the moment or think about negative things too much right now.
I got a new phone and it’s time to set it up and play with it, I remind myself.