Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Sixteen

It was three in the morning when Ms. Lin's screams echoed across the hall.

Skylar bolted to her mother's 'bed', A.K.A the couch, heart jackhammering. Thankfully, she was OK. Ms. Lin even had a huge smile on her face. It wasn't a scream, but rather a squeal of delight. Apparently, the baby had kicked.

"Nieu, feel, feel!" Ms. Lin sprawled her daughter's hand across her belly, which now, at sixteen weeks, looked like Skylar's own bloated belly after a carb-filled meal. The smile on her face quickly melted. "Nieu? What's wrong? Why you look so sad?"

"Oh. Nothing. Just stressed. A lot of homework."

"Tsk, tsk. If you have homework, why you still seeing that boy? Focus on school. No time for relationships."

"He's not my boyfriend, ma-ma." Skylar rolled her brown eyes, but a pit dropped in her gut as it did whenever Kaden crossed her mind. She had laid awake all night, not a wink of sleep passing through. Kaden's mood had rapidly changed on and off like a light switch. He seemed very... engaged... in the kiss, and then once he found out the reasoning, his entire demeanor switched. It's obvious he was mad at her. After school that day, he wasn't at her lockers by usual. After taking a peek in the student parking lot, she saw his black pickup truck long gone as well. No texts or calls. Was that the end then? Did he decide that they were over? Now that Summer confirmed she was no longer in love with him, he had no use for her. Her sole purpose beforehand was to disguise herself as Kaden Brook's girlfriend, just long enough for her to back off. And now she had. Which left Skylar useless and unwanted. Just like before.

But the memories they shared were long ingrained into her memory. He was a genuine friend to her, and she liked to think that it went both ways. Did she really mean that little to Kaden as she thought?

At least tomorrow was Saturday. She wouldn't have to face him for another two days. If he didn't try to contact her, then she wouldn't either. There was no point in giving energy if he wouldn't reciprocate. For now, she decided to give the whole situation some space. Maybe that was all he needed. After all, they'd been spending nearly every weekday together.

"I have appointment tomorrow with Aaron. Find out if baby is boy or girl." This perked Skylar up.

"You should have a gender reveal party!"

"Ha?" After quickly explaining in Canto, Ms. Lin frantically shook her head. "No, no, no, I have three children already. Four is enough. I know how to raise children, no need to make the new child such big deal!"

"Can we at least do something small? Like cutting open a cake or popping a balloon to reveal the colour?"

"No."

"But, ma-ma, this is Aaron's first baby, remember? And given your age, it's probably also his last. Come on, make this a special memory for him."

Ms. Lin readjusted her position so she was lying down sideways on the couch. "Since when do you care about Aaron and his special memories?"

Kaden's words came back to her: give him a chance. No matter what happened with Kaden, Skylar couldn't deny his positive influence on her life. And he was right. Aaron was going to be a huge part of her life, that part was out of her control, but what she could control was her current relationship with him. That was something she wanted to fix, and if Kaden hadn't prompted her to do so, then Skylar wouldn't have even suggested the baby shower to begin with.

"I just think it would be fun to do a little party." Skylar shrugged, all nonchalant.

"Hm. Go to sleep, nieu."