The Broken Girl (Lonely Girl Book 2) (17 page)

Let’s make every second count, babe.

Keegan

Inside
, there is a dried Thistle and a note.

Becca,

I’m sorry I haven’t been the person I was when we first met. I wanted you to stay that night in
the airport, and not let you get on the plane. But begging you wouldn’t have been fair. I never want to be the person to stop you. I wanted me to be that person, the one that made you want to stay. You have no idea how badly. But seeing you there I knew you need this. I’ll see you in the fall, Becca.

Keegan.

My mind is reeling from everything in the note. I never knew the extent of what I had done to her
, but seeing it now in the letter brings it all home for me. My heart still feels all those things, whether my mind does or not. My phone beeps and I know I have a text. Grabbing it, I see that it’s from Charlotte.

Becca is leaving in the morning.

My heart jumps into my throat and I feel the panic set in. No, she can’t leave. I need her to see this. She deserves to see this; even if she hates me, she should know what she meant to me then as well as now. Running out of my bedroom with the notes in hand, I grab my keys off the counter and open the door. Sarah is standing there just about to knock. She smiles at me and my blood turns cold. I don’t have time for this.

Moving around her
, acting as if she isn’t there, I shut the door and start walking away, leaving her eyes wide at my display.

“Key
,” she says.

“Sarah
, I don’t have time for your shit, I have to see Bec,” I say without thinking.

She is stomping behind me. “What is it about her? She’s just some whiny bitch. What’s she got that I don’t have
? Why do you all run for her?” she yells.

I turn and walk right up to her. “She has a goddamn heart
, that’s what she has. This is all some game to you. You are screwing with people lives, Sarah. Does that not bother you? Bec has everything I will ever need, and you would never have something I’d want more than her,” I yell back. She gets this sick twisted smile on her face, causing me to believe I just said the wrong thing.

“I’m pregnant.” She says
this in a tone that I’m not sure would qualify as happiness. She thinks she’s won by this statement.

Turning around
, I walk back to my apartment, shut the door in her face, and lock the door. Pacing in the kitchen, I think of just walking out and going to Bec anyway but she deserves so much more than this.  I won’t weigh her down with more shit that is entirely my fault. Grabbing my phone, I call the only person I can think of.

“Man, Sarah’s pregnant. I know it
’s screwed up. I’m not saying I didn’t sleep with her but I have to ask. Could it be yours?”

Becca

After everything with Keegan, I just needed some ‘me’ time. Jake understood, but I never thought he’d do something so drastic. The plan was for him to come with me to Europe for my art program but then out of the blue
, he changed his mind. Jake decided that he thought it would be better if I did this alone. I just need to get away and be ‘Becca.’ He wants me to get my head on straight before I jump into anything. Telling him I was sorry that I couldn’t stay and that I was running away yet again was one of the hardest things I’ve ever said to Jake. I hate that I run but it’s always been fight or flight for me. Fighting wasn’t something I was ready to do just yet. He just told me to go and have an amazing time and he would see me too. So, I sat in the airport and said goodbye to Jake and Alec for six weeks. Charlotte and Drake came with me, of course. She wanted to see her family and Drake wanted to be with Charlotte.

I’d love to say that I talked to Jake often
, but the longer I was gone, the more distance came between us. When my program finished I called Alec and told him I wasn’t coming home for another three and a half months. Somewhere in the six-week course, I decided that I wanted to see if Scotland was my new home. I looked in to schools there for me to attend quietly, without Charlotte or Drake. I didn’t want them to know or slip up around Alec. Charlotte and Drake headed back early to get settled in. They are moving in with Alec, and when I say moving in, I mean into a one bedroom. Together. I’m beyond thrilled for them. They are perfect for each other. To think back on the Drake I met and who he is now is mind-boggling.

When I stepped off the plan
e, I was shocked to find that no one was there waiting for me. I hadn’t asked anyone, but I kind of expected it. I told Charlotte I was going to stop by their place before going to the dorms and get the rest of my things, but I still thought Jake or Alec would be here. Grabbing my bags, I exit the airport and get into a cab, giving him the address. When I pull up, nothing looks like it’s changed. I know I have. This summer was eye opening to me as to who I really am. Before I left, I decided on a school and even looked at attending as early as this winter semester.

Some of my paintings are even hanging up in a gallery. I was offered a full
-time position and I seriously thought about taking my professor’s offer. Painting does something to me. It’s freeing. I’ve never felt more like myself than when a brush is in my hand. Also, I started photography and love playing with the images later. Distorting them and creating something new is a new type of art I’ve began working with these past few months.

Putting my key in the door
, I can hear people inside but I think nothing of it. When I walk in and see everyone there, for a brief second I think it’s a surprise party until they all turn around looking pale and shocked that I just walked in the door.

“Hey
, guys,” I say, happily.

Alec comes up and hugs me tightly. “Sorry
, Becca. I must of lost track of time. Let me take you right over to the dorm and get you settled in.”

Looking over my brother’s shoulder
, I see Jake and Keegan watching me. “Alec, what’s going on here?” He doesn’t say anything.

“Becca, let
’s get your stuff in Alec’s car. You must be exhausted,” Charlotte says. Drake is standing next to her and I can’t get a read on him either.

“What is going on here,
and why are you trying to rush me out of here? I get that I’m not Keegan’s biggest fan but that was five months ago. I can be an adult about this. We are all going to have to be around each other now with school and hockey season,” I say to everyone.
“Well, I’m so glad to hear you say that, Becca.” The voice makes my hair on the back of my neck stand up. I look to Drake first and he is just looking at me with such pity. Sarah just walked in and I wish that were the only shock. Her hand is on her belly.

“She’s pregnant
,” I say.

Sarah laughs and just shakes her head. “Well
, aren’t you so smart.” Her voice makes me want to hit her and I take a step forward, but Charlotte gets in my way.

“Becca
,” she warns.

“So
, I hope this answers why they were trying to rush you out of here. They’ve been arguing for days about how to tell you this,” Sarah snickers.

A light turns on in my head and I realize the only way her being knocked up would affect me is if it were Keegan’s. My heart plummets. I’d love to say my summer away made the love I had for him disappear
, but it didn’t. This is the final nail in the coffin for him though.

“Okay
, so when I said what’s going on you were trying to figure out how to tell me Keegan knocked up Sarah. Well, it’s none of my business what goes on between them, since he’s moved on and so have I.”

Both Keegan and Jake look to me at the same time. “You’ve done what?” They
question me in unison.

Charlotte saves their feelings. “Relax
, unless she met someone in the last ten days, she didn’t mean there was actually someone else.” I wouldn’t have been so nice as to spare Jake and Keegan’s feelings. Keegan screwed up all on his own. Jake, although we barely talked in the last month, even before that, it was just small talk.

“Well
, there was her professor,” Drake adds. Charlotte elbows Drake and I glare at him.

“Your professor?” Alec says.

“Drake is being a little over dramatic. My professor did ask me out once after classes had finished.” I emphasize
once
so that my brother starts breathing again before I continue. “I said that it wasn’t the right time for me to be getting involved, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. It just meant I wasn’t ready. I worked at one of the galleries his work is in.”

Drake starts laughing at the quietness around me. “Really if that kills the mood
, let’s drop the other bomb right now, Becca. Tell them about the painting.”

I cringe because I know this is going to be an issue. “Well
, not that it’s anyone’s business but he painted a portrait of me and it became quiet an important piece to his collection. It’s being showcased in a collection that’s touring right now.” Jake and Keegan are watching me closely. Alec just looks confused until he seems to move on from this.

Jake looks at me oddly. “What were you doing in the portrait
, Becca?” Drake starting chuckling hysterically again and I make a mental note to kick him later.

“None of your business.” What I did in Europe is no one
’s business.

Sarah is giggling and I look to see her on her phone. “Well
, Becca, aren’t you the little hottie.” Everyone looks to Sarah. “What I just googled her program and they have it on here what her professor is showcasing. Then once I clicked it, I could see his work.” Keegan grabs her phone from her. When he looks, his face goes red. Jake and Alec follow suit, looking at her phone.
“Before you three have an aneurism, you can’t tell it’s me and nothing is shown,” I say, hoping to make everyone relax.

“You
are naked,” Alec says.

“No
, my back is to the picture so you can’t see my breast or my bottom, which is covered by the sheet.” Keegan is silent and it’s a good thing because he has nothing he can say.

“You got naked for your professor who asked you out
, but you wouldn’t go on a date with him. Think you have that backwards, Becca. He should buy you dinner before you get naked for him,” Jake sneers.

“Jake
, really. I thought that out of everyone, you would understand the beauty of her portrait. It’s beautiful and I am so proud of her. You have no idea what it took for her to do this, and the fears she had to overcome,” Charlotte defends.

“No
, Charlotte, it’s fine. He’s allowed to be angry. But maybe if he had talked to me about what was actually going on in my life, instead of small talk, he’d have known,” I shoot back.

“Alec
,” I say softly. My brother needs to understand this.

“It’s beautiful
, Becca. I know you would never do something if it was of ill taste,” he says. I hug him. Alec will always be one of my biggest supporters, but he’s tied with Charlotte, of course.

“Keegan
, I know this will be awkward but if you and Sarah are happy, then that’s all that matters.” Keegan goes pale and quickly looks at Jake before looking back at me, but I still notice.

“So no one is going to tell her
,” Sarah says. I back away from them all; they all know something and are hiding it from me.

“Bec, I’m not with Sarah.”

My heart sinks when I look at Jake.

“Becca,
we didn’t know how to tell you. We wanted to figure everything out first.” No, not Jake.

“You
are with Sarah. What the hell! I went to Europe and came back to an alternate reality.”

I saw
his confusion. “No, I’m not with Sarah.”

“Okay
, now I’m just confused.” My heart has recovered to the shock it felt when it thought Jake and Sarah were together.

“Bec, I could be the father
,” Keegan states. I’m not shocked because I knew they had slept together.

“Becca, I may be the father.” My brother
then says.

“What?”  My brother has moved in front of me. I turn away from them right into Jake’s arms and he hugs me. If Alec is the father
, I will never be rid of Sarah.

“Oh
, come on now… let’s not forget the best part, Jake,” Sarah laughs.

My head looks right up into his eyes
, begging them to tell me something.

“Becca, I love you.” My heart seems to be dealing because those words make me hopeful.

“I could be the father too, Becca.” Just like that, my heart is shattered on the floor by Jake’s words.