Cami's Decision Read online

Cami slammed her locker shut and dashed into the girls’ restroom with Marissa following closely behind her. For the last several weeks this was something that had become a regular routine for her.

  Marissa ran her fingers through her hair a few times before applying more mascara to her thin eyelashes. “How do you feel this morning?”

  “Terrible. I can hardly keep anything down,” Cami replied while standing over the toilet.

  Puke.

  She vomits so much. It’s a wonder she’s not dehydrated, Marissa thought.

  After her every morning puking session, she noticed that Marissa had not asked her usual questions. Did you tell your mom that you’re pregnant? Nope. Why not? Because I don’t want her to know.

  Cami knew that if she told her mom, she would get the help that she needed, but she was just so scared. She didn’t want her to think that she was a complete failure just because she’d made a stupid mistake. However, she did realize that she needed to tell her but she just couldn’t shake the fear of her mother hating her. On the other hand, she wanted the baby to be happy and healthy; and if she did all that she could do to ensure that, then there wouldn’t be any guilt on her part. If she didn’t, she’d feel guilty which was how she felt now.

  As she washed her hands, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Marissa standing beside her. She really was a true friend and Cami loved her for that.

  “Marissa,” she began. She dried her hands before continuing, “I need to tell you something that I’ve been thinking about.”

  Cami watched her slip her cell phone into her purse. “What is it?”

  “I’m going to tell my mom that I’m pregnant.”

  Marissa smiled. “It’s about time and don’t worry. After you tell your mom, you’ll feel like extra weight has been lifted off your shoulders.”

  “One less thing for me to worry about,” Cami said as they exited the girls’ restroom together.

  Little did Cami know that she would soon have a lot more to worry about. Unbeknownst to her or Marissa, someone had managed to overhear their conversation.

  Later that afternoon, as Cami sat down in the living room, she wondered what she would say to her mother. Maybe she should just come out and say it: “I’m pregnant.” She rested her head on the couch. She knew that she would be disappointed, but she needed to tell her. Her hope was that one day her mother would be able to forgive her.

  She jumped when she heard a knock on the front door.

  “I’ll get it!” Kaci said while running to the door.

  “Is Cami there?” she heard a familiar voice ask.

  Kaci slammed the door without saying a word.

  Cami instantly sat up and turned around. “Was that River?”

  “Does it matter?”

  Cami jumped to her feet and quickly made her way towards the door. “Yes, because I need to talk to him.”

  Kaci sighed. “You’re not in love with this guy, are you?”

  “I was never in love with him,” she lied.

  “Glad to hear that.”

  After Kaci walked upstairs, she opened the front door and saw River still standing there.

  “Can I talk to you?” he asked her.

  She crossed her arms. “About what? Do you want to talk about your fiancée or your baby that’s on the way?”

  “Cami...”

  “River, I use to think that you were one of the smartest people I had ever met.”

  “So you think I’m a loser? Interesting...”

  “Let me finish. We had sex. Several weeks later you dumped me, got a new girlfriend, proposed to her, and now she’s pregnant.”

  “Can we leave her out of this?”

  Ignoring his question she asked, “How can you fall in love with someone so quickly and then propose? Is there something in this for you?”

  He quickly turned away from her and focused his attention on a passing car.

  “Do you get access to something if you marry her?”

  Still no reply.

  Cami chuckled. “You think I’m stupid, don’t you? Well, I’m not. That’s why I know everything about you, her, and the baby.”

  River turned his attention back to Cami who he wished would shut up for one second so that he could explain his side of the story. “What are you talking about?”

  “That baby is not yours and you know it,” she retorted.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

  “Do you love her that much that you would actually marry her knowing that she’s pregnant with another man’s child?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he continued to lie.

  “Well, then I guess I’ll have to have a talk with her about the wonders of a pre-nuptial agreement.”

  “Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to ruin my life?”

  “Ruin your life?! You dumped me—the girl that really loved you. Then you started dating her. I loved you. I would have never hurt you. Ever! This girl can get any guy she wants. You’ve only dated her for several weeks. How do you know if she really loves you?”

  A look of uneasiness settled onto River’s face.

  “But I do give you two thumbs up for dumping me. You have allowed me to see who you really are. Now that I have seen the real you, it makes me more aware of the things that I don’t want in a guy.”

  He chuckled nervously. “You got me all wrong.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” he added. “I’m not a bad person.”

  “I didn’t say that you were a bad person.”

  “You certainly think that.”

  “Think what, River?”

  “That I’m a bad person.”

  Cami sighed and glanced towards his car that was sitting in her driveway. “Just leave.”

  “Look, I’m sorry that you’re still hurting because of the breakup. I’m just not in love with you anymore.”

  “You don’t have to be because I’m not in love with you either. I do want to tell you something else…”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Marry her. I want you to marry her. You’ll have access to her money which will also be a plus for me.”

  “You do know that you’re not making any sense, right?”

  “Excuse me?”

  River’s face turned serious—more serious than she had ever seen before. “You listen to too much gossip. Who feeds it to you anyway?”

  Cami frowned and before she could say anything else River continued, “I overheard Adriana tell someone over the phone that I wasn’t the father of the baby.”

  She listened closely.

  “Afterwards, I confronted her about it which led to us arguing. Then, I just…” He paused as if he couldn’t believe that he was about to this, “broke up with her.”

  She didn’t know what to make of the news that her ears had just heard. Did the end of Adriana and River signal a fresh new beginning for them? She couldn’t think about that right now. Her mind was now debating whether or not now was the right time to tell him that she was pregnant with their first child. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could feel her heart pounding inside of her chest. It was now or never.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said in a low voice that was barely audible.

  River’s eyes widened. “What?”

  This time she opened her eyes and found blue ones piercing her soul. “I’m pregnant, River,” she repeated but this time in a louder tone.

  Kaci emerged from behind the door. “What did you just say?!”

  Cami froze. This cannot be happening.

  “You are not pregnant with his baby.”

  “Yes, I am, Kaci,” she confessed to her younger sister without looking at her.

  Kaci stepped out of the house and made her way towards River. “You raped her, didn’t you?”

  River sighed and shook his head. Not this crazy girl again, he thought. “No, I would never...”

  “Do you know wh
at your problem is? You never listen. That’s your problem. I told you to stay away from my sister but what did you do? You came around her anyway and as a result, she’s pregnant. I’ve hated you since the day I first met you...”

  “Kaci, shut up and get in the house!” Cami yelled.

  Kaci turned around to face her older sister with a huge frown plastered on her face. “I don’t know what you see in this guy. I don’t even care if he is the father of this baby, but he is not going to be a part of this family. Ever!”

  She loved Kaci to death but honestly she could be a little scary sometimes. She hoped that she would come around. Kaci didn’t have to like River, but eventually she’d have to understand that this had nothing to do with her. Cami certainly didn’t intend for her to find out before she had a chance to tell her mom.

  Now she had to tell her mother before anyone else did. She sighed to herself. Why did things never go as she planned?

  Chapter 8