Cry For Me

Chapter 26

Life always had unexpected turns, that much Andrea knew from experience. Hers had been a series of mishaps and misfortunes over the last year or so, but despite all of that, there was one positive thing that had come out of it. And that was the child she was carrying in her womb.

There now existed a bond, a connection between her and the baby. Whenever she felt alone, all she had to do was stroke her bulging belly and remember that she wasn’t at all lonely. Today she’d felt the first kick and it was magical. Even though it had happened during one of her boring classes, it made her chest surge with a cocktail of emotions, mostly good ones but there was of course that fear that existed; the fear of ever losing this child.

A few weeks ago, she’d come close to losing it (the gender was still a mystery as she had refused to know) and since then, she been on high alert. Of course, she’d not wanted to have this child, but now those senseless feelings had long faded, and she’d put on the proverbial shroud of maternity; she wore it with pride even though she was still confined in the four walls of her parent’s mansion. But unlike before, here she felt secure. Out there, there were wolves who wanted both her and her child gone. She could sense it, and in her heart of hearts, she had a feeling something tragic would happen sooner rather than later. 

Slaving away at her AP Biology flashcards, her door burst open, and her head craned to the side to see who had dared to enter her room without knocking. When she was met with the inglorious sight of her best friend clad in the Charlton Academy uniform and looking mightily pissed, she flinched back in fear at the intensity of the death glare she was receiving.

Salvador popped in a second letter, waving a metaphorical white flag. “She’s forced me to bring her to you. I swear, I tried to resist but she held me in a headlock. I had to do it, otherwise I’d have ended up in the ER,” he said with a grimace, pulling down his collar to show her the red marks on his neck. Yikes.

“Well, now I guess I have to strangle the both of you now. You’ve been M.I.A on me for the past three weeks, what the f—k Dos Ramos? You better have a good explanation for this,” Aliyah fumed, her nostrils flared.

Andrea sighed and stood up from her desk before turning around so that Aliyah could see her, better yet, her pregnancy bump. Aliyah’s eyes widened to saucers and her jaw dropped to the floor. Salvador pivoted in his heels and strode out, shutting the door behind him. It was bad enough he’d brought her there, and now he was going to leave Andrea alone to deal with this. That little bastard…

“I…was not expecting this,” Aliyah muttered in disbelief and Andrea chuckled before going over to her bed so take a seat. She couldn’t stand for long anymore; it made her feet feel sore. Patting the space beside her, Aliyah shuffled over to the spot and assumed the offered position. She cleared her throat and loosened her necktie. “Now I understand why you left Charlton, but Andrea, you could have at least told me.”

Andrea sighed and crisscrossed her legs. “I was embarrassed alright? It happened so fast, one second I thought I was in love with someone and the next we had a casual fling which resulted in an unplanned pregnancy and talks of an arranged marriage,” she said, and for the first time in months, she felt relieved that she had someone to talk to about this, a person who wouldn’t judge her too much.

Aliyah also crisscrossed her legs and faced her best friend. “Alright then, tell me everything.” Andrea then proceeded to narrate all that had happened since she met Omar, how they’d begun their summer romance, hooked up and the subsequent nasty aftermath, leaving out some minor details. All the while, Aliyah’s facial expressions morphed from incredulity to sympathy and finally anger.

“Are you saying that somebody tried to kill you and the baby?” she exclaimed in unbridled fury, her eyes blazing. “When I found out who did it, tried to end the life of my sister from another mister and that of my nephew/niece, I’ll gut them like a fish!” she bellowed ferociously. Andrea laughed so hard that tears sprang out of her eyelids, earning a slap from Aliyah on the knee “Don’t laugh, I’m so f—king serious about this. We need to find out who did it.”

“Well, doctor said it could have been food poisoning,” she pointed out.

Aliyah gave her a flat look. “And you honestly believe it was? I bet you it was probably this Omar guy’s dad, or one of his brothers. From what I know so far, they are a bunch of snakes. I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Andrea bit her lip and nodded. Those were her same sentiments, but she was just afraid to share them because if it turned out to be true, there was no doubt in her mind that her father would make sure there would be no marriage between her and Omar. Having the same fate as her sister Ximena had bothered her to no end before, but now, she wanted to be tied to Omar forever. Even if it wasn’t the most conventional way of doing it.

“It’s hard, Ali. But I think I’ll be safe here until the baby is born. Nothing can happen to me as long as I’m with my family. Anyways, what’s been happening at school?” she asked, switching the topic.

Aliyah groaned and covered her face with her palms. “Other than the fact that I might be failing Calculus, nothing out of the ordinary. There hasn’t been much drama these days, which is a total bore. School used to be so dramatic but now, all the trouble causers are quiet because their grades will determine whether they graduate in a few months’ time or not.”

“What about Rhett and Sydney?” Andrea found herself asking about her two arch nemeses. The thought of them not wreaking havoc at school didn’t bode well with her. If they were not doing that, then what the hell were they up to?

Aliyah shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t see them much these days. They’ve been flying under the radar for some time now, but when I do see them, they are always acting weird. Like a bunch of undercover spies,” she replied flippantly. A second later, she snapped her fingers. “Oh! This afternoon, I watched them being picked up by a black SUV with tinted windows. It was some Jason Bourne type shit. Like dude, we were all flabbergasted by it.” Now that is indeed very weird. 

Andrea furrowed her eyebrows upon hearing this. “Who do you think they were talking to? CIA? FBI?” Aliyah snorted.

“As if. It’s probably just some stunt they pulled so they’d compliment their feigned badass persona. I wouldn’t be too worried about it. Now, you need to show me what this Omar guy looks like, if he was actually hot enough to get the pious Andrea Dos Ramos to pop her cherry,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Rolling her eyes, Andrea got up from the bed and retrieved her phone from her study desk. She unlocked it and clicked on the gallery icon, where she scrolled through the albums and found the pictures she’d taken with Omar some months ago whenever they snuck out together. She handed her phone to Aliyah, who looked like she would drool upon seeing him.

“Okay, that is one undisputedly f—king hot man. Now I understand why you went for an older guy, he’s totally better than all the little boys as our school, even Rhett!” she squealed in an impressed tone. 

Andrea tried to play it off and resumed her seat. “I guess he’s okay,” she said offhandedly and began to examine her manicured nails. Who was she kidding, Omar was smoking hot, no question about that. 

Aliyah nudged her. “Stop acting unbothered. This guy, well this Arabian prince, is into you from what I gathered. I would give anything to be in your position. Hell, I’d have a hundred of his babies if I had to,” she laughed, and Andrea smiled at her. “So, when’s the wedding?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s up in the air at this point. My mum and dad had a huge fight about it, but I guess after the baby is born. It’s funny how I always thought you’d be the first one to get knocked up between the both of us, and yet, here we are,” she droned sarcastically.

“Well, at least he’s a dashing billionaire. You’re living the Wattpad life, sis. Own it.”

Yeah, I guess I should own it. 

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Another Tuesday, another chapter. I don't really have much to say about this one, but don't hesitate to let me know what you think in the comments!

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~Deetronite