“ Carter?” I ask, concerned. He’s been staring into space for the past five minutes. He won’t snap out of it. All of a sudden, he shoots up. He marches to the door, unlocks it and marches out, without a word. I stumble to follow him. I race down the hall to catch up to him.

“ Carter?!” I ask out of breath. “ What are you doing?!” He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t even look my way. He’s on a mission. I just don’t know what it is. He marches into the cafeteria. He heads straight for a specific table. I look for someone of importance at the table, and when I see, my heart drops. Jaime. He’s heading for Jaime’s table. He grabs the front of Jaime’s T-shirt in his fist and pulls him out of his seat mid-conversation.

“ Dude what the hell?” Jaime asks trying to pull Carter’s hand off. Carter slams him against the beam in the cafeteria. The sound of Jaime’s head banging against it echoes through the entire cafeteria. It’s so quiet, you could hear if someone’s breathing hitched.

“ You knew.” Carter fumes. “ You knew how much I liked her. And you slept with her? Took her virginity?” Carter says banging Jaime against the beam. “ How could you do that to me?” Jaime attempts to speak but all that comes out is a squeak.

“ Fuck you Jaime.” Carter says and drops him to the floor. Jaime stands up and surprises Carter with a punch square in the jaw. Carter falls to the floor.

“ That’s not all I did.” Jaime says, sauntering over to me. I instinctively back away. “ Tell him, Shay. What else did we do?” He says, looming over me. I give him a death stare. He chuckles.

“ Fine. I’d be happy to tell him.”

Carter rises.

“ You see Carter, not only did I take her virginity, I got her pregnant.”

Carter’s face turns from anger, sadness, disgust, and back to anger all within the space of two seconds. He looks from me to Jaime and walks out. I slap Jaime across his face.

“ What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“ He needed to know.” He says innocently. I roll my eyes and run out of the cafeteria. I catch up to Carter just in time. He gets into the car and starts the engine. I climb in next to him.

The ride is quiet. I sneak glances at Carter. He never returns them. He’s focused on the road and only the road. The car is 85 degrees, yet I shiver. I look out the window at the scenery. I try to imagine myself playing in the lilies instead of stuck in this hell.

“ What happened?” Carter asks. I look up at him. He takes a quick glance and notices my confusion.

“ To the baby. What happened to the baby?” He clarifies.

“ Oh. Um, I miscarried. I had cervical incompetence. And I- we lost the baby.”

“ Oh. I’m sorry, Shay. I am.”

“ Thanks.” I say smiling.

We get to the house and Carter walks inside. He doesn’t even acknowledge me. He walks straight into the house and then into his room. I close the door behind us. I sit down in the living room and try to lose myself in the plants around me. I feel tears forming in my eyes. I let them fall. With those comes a lake of new ones. I sit with my head in my knees and cry.

A few minutes later, I head upstairs to Carter’s room. I knock.

“ Come in.” I open the door and he’s laying on his bed. He looks at me then looks away. I break a little inside.

“ Carter.” I say, walking towards him. “ Please just talk to me. At least acknowledge me.” I take his hand in mine. He doesn’t pull away but he doesn’t look at me either. I drop his hand and climb into bed next to him. We both stare into space for what seems like hours, though I know it’s only minutes.

“ Did you love him?” Carter asks, still not looking at me.

“ Yes. We dated for nine months. How could I not?” I say, not looking at him either.

“ Do you still love him?” He asks, turning his head a little.

“ What?! Carter! No. Why would you think that?!” I shout.

“ You seem pretty hell-bent on making sure he escapes this whole thing unscathed.” He says matter of factly.

“ Because I don’t want you to be the one that scathed him.” I say in the same tone.

“ Okay.” He says, monotone. “ We haven’t been friends for seven years.”

“ Huh?”

“ Jaime and I. When he um, assaulted you he told you it was because for the last seven years I’ve taken everything from him so he wanted to take everything from me. But we haven’t been friends for seven years. Only 3.” Carter says.

“ So what does that have to do with anything?” I ask, confused.

“ Don’t you see? I wasn’t his motivation for that. You were. Or at least the feelings you made him feel were.”

“ What are you even talking about?”

“ Jaime is still in love with you.”

Part 18???? Thanks for reading another chapter!💕❤️