Summer Time Sadness #ATL

Cascade

-Erin.

New-New

" You don't have to prove yourself to anyone Erin, are you sure you really want to do this?" Blinking away the tears in my eyes as I sat perched on the bathroom sink I sighed softly. My fingers trembled as I cracked the door open, but I smiled when I saw her worried face. She was getting ready to leave for work, but not before checking up on me. It was around nine at night and everyone was slowly flooding Cascade as I sat there feeling horrible.

"You want a ride there?" I still needed to mentally prepare myself, so the walk and the bus ride would do me in good. Shaking my head no, I got down and opened the door fully to give her a hug.

"Well I'm a phone call away, but first you need to shower, eat and actually get dressed before you go anywhere." She teased lightly, rubbing her soft hand along my cheek. It was bruised, the skin there puckered slightly from how hard my Father had hit me. She declared she would go give him a piece of her mind soon enough, but first I had to admit something.

The fact that she was a great aunt.

I hadn't visited Nell and King due to school and all these issues, but she recently reached out to me to be apart of a family outing. I wanted her to reconnect with Aunt Eve so King would have more dependable people in his circle as he grew older. He was three now, his birthday being in three months though. When I realized just how old he was, a pain settled in my chest reminding me just how long Jarod had really been gone from this earth.

"Cheer up okay? At least we get to go see King tomorrow." Grinning ear to ear at that, I hesitated for a moment but instantly decided against it when I realized she would be late if I held her any longer. After pulling the curtains and locking the front door, I dropped down to my ass sitting on the floor in a daze. My breathed quickened slowly, as the clock in the room loudly ticked by. Pulling it free from the pocket of my shorts as my phone alarm buzzed loudly on the sink, I shivered feeling goosebumps rise on my skin.

How long had it been again? A few weeks...nearly a month now?

I had known of Rashad for two years and got to know him this passed year as a friend but we've barely been dating and this is how I end this? Starring down at the unmistakable thick lines, I dropped the stick from my hand letting my head thud against the front door. Covering my mouth, I buried my face in my knee's repeating "No" in my mind over and over again as I cried softly. But when my reminder alarm went off, I snatched the other one out my pocket only to scream and chuck that one against the wall.

Of course it did nothing but bounce off and skid across the living room floor but how the fuck was I going to do this? I'm barely eighteen, I barely know him as a boyfriend, I've lost his trust, I don't have my parents support and my aunt is struggling already. I know damn well Nell is struggling, and my job was to make sure she got a comfortable apartment away from all this. I jumped when "Often" by The Weekend blared loudly. I pushed myself off the floor and ran to catch my phone before it vibrated into the sink. Clutching the phone I answered it quickly, relaxing when I heard Veda's voice flood into my ears.

"Girl where are you?" Snatching up the box that contained the pregnancy tests, I read the back over and over again before dropping it in the trash with the tests.

"In hell right about now, and you?" I sighed, rubbing at my puffy eyes.

"I called you yesterday to send my wishes for you, I know you went to see your parents." Rolling my eyes as I turned the shower on, I wiggled the scrunchy in my hair out feeling my hair fall down around my shoulders and upper back.

"I'm sorry, it was all bad yesterday and I just didn't want to talk. Thank you for your care." I smiled into the receiver, as I pulled an outfit from my drawer.