Us Against the World

26. The Billionaire's Girlfriend

After the funeral, Chandini catches a fever.

It might have been because there was a lot of smoke. It might have been because of all the people. It might have been because she spent the entire day in her room sleeping, without waking up to eat or drink. Whatever the cause, Chandini (and by default, me) spend the week stuck at home with each other, transferring germs each time we come in close contact.

Ezra and Felix leave after the funeral, and I'm proud to say that I've been feeling much better. I don't cry myself to sleep anymore, but sometimes Chandini does. That's when she'll come and crawl into my bed to snuggle with me...and that's why we've been home for a week.

We're not lonely, though, and for the most part we actually find a way to stay in the same room without ending up in a fight. Our mediator, as cliche as it may seem, is a gossip news channel that we like to binge under the blankets. It's cringe, and I don't care about half the celebrities they feature, but it's a nice way for us to bond and share our mutual dislike over Cleveland Henry.

Sometimes Ezra's on the show. Chandini loves watching those episodes (and by watching I mean that she loves to tease me about him). He's vague with his information, though, and there's hardly anything that I don't know about him that comes on the TV. He and Felix still come to visit, and Aceline comes once in a while, updating me on the gossip at work and bringing me papers to look over. Thankfully, she and Ashleigh found a way for me to work at home so that I didn't miss anything.

It's the week before winter break that I finally begin to feel like myself. Chandini's fever, which was as dizzy-inducing as a roller coaster, has also vanished and she's back at school (much to her regret and many complaints). Since it's too late to go to work, I text Aceline and we agree to meet up at a nearby cafe to have some quality girl time without the boys.

"You've been traveling a lot," Sam tells me when he picks me up from my apartment. "Is it that rich boyfriend of yours?"

"Don't say it out loud!" I hiss, glaring at him. "And no, it's not. I actually have friends, you know."

"Wow, who'd have thought," he snickers, laughing harder when I give him a slap on the arm. "Chill, Meera, I'm joking with you."

"I know, but you still deserved it."

"Yeah, whatever." He adjusts his sunglasses and zips up his coat. "I'm surprised the media hasn't caught on yet. You'd think a guy like him would have the paps trailing him to the bathroom."

"He has bodyguards," I say. "And I guess I'm lucky? We're trying to keep our relationship on a low profile, but I doubt that it'll stay that way for long. No doubt, some measly tabloid already has an article on us."

"It would be your luck," Sam says. "I hear rumors of it in class, but I've been so busy with my sister that I didn't get time to investigate them."

"Oh? How is she? You mentioned a while ago that she was in some trouble?"

Sam sighs, his gaze defeated. "Yeah, she still is," he grumbles. Coldly, he turns his head to the window, as though he's ashamed to tell his secret while looking at me. "She's pregnant."

I choke on my spit. "What?!"

"Yeah." Sam taps his fingers on the steering wheel. "That bastard boyfriend of hers got her pregnant and left. You should know him. Darren?"

Chandini's ex... "I can vaguely remember him," I mumble. "But damn, seriously? She's seventeen!"

"I know," Sam says. His jaw ticks when we hit the second red-light in a row. "She wants to keep the kid, though her body isn't taking the pregnancy very well. She's gotten as thin as a bone and looks dead, Meers. Her eyes are so dark that it looks like somebody carved her eyeballs out and painted the sockets black."