Rising From the Ashes

12. Fight

Nick’s lips felt soft against mine, his mouth tasting minty as I ran my tongue along his bottom lip. I felt lost in the sensation for several seconds, the music and the people around me disappearing as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. Finally, Nick pulled away, smiling softly as his eyes met mine. I heard several cheers around me – probably some of my friends that were hoping we would hook up.

“That was incredible.” Nick whispered into my ear, his breath against my skin causing a shiver to run down my spine.

“Mhm.” I agreed, letting him pull me in for another slow dance. We swayed in comfortable silence for several minutes, until I pulled away from him. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. I’ll meet you back here?”

“Sure.” He shrugged, giving me another cute grin before he headed off toward the refreshment table.

I walked out of the dancing hall and toward a bathroom in a side corridor, teetering unsteadily in my heels as I took slow, painful steps. I could already tell that blisters were starting to form on my feet. Suddenly, I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder, the strong grip causing pain to ache all the way to my collarbone as the hand whipped me around.

“Are you just going to screw every guy you see, you fucking skank?” Jace screamed at me, his face inches away from mine. I shivered in uncontrollable fear as I looked around, realizing the small hallway was empty as everyone was busy dancing or taking pictures with their friends.

“We’re broken up, Jace.” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “You’re the one who dumped me for Melissa. Why do you care?”

“I didn’t dump you for Melissa.” He spat, his grip on my shoulder tightening more at my defiance. “I dumped you because you were a dirty slut, and you’re proving me right.”

I felt tears well up in my eyes. Gathering my will, I screamed at him again. “Don’t talk about me like that! I’ve looked at no one but you when we were together, and I can date who I want now that we’re broken up!”

“Dating? Is that what you think this is?” Jace sneered, letting go of me like I was contagious. “I made my mistake trying to date you, but no one else ever will. You’re only good for one thing, and that’s why he’s still around. He’s going to leave as soon as he gets what he wants, and that won’t be long.”

I felt a tear slide down my cheek. As much as I was trying to convince myself that he was wrong, his words were making sense: why would anyone want me? I had nothing to offer after Jace, I wasn’t pretty or popular, and on top of that, I was pregnant. As soon as I remembered that thought, my eyes widened as I looked at Jace again. I didn’t want to tell him, but he deserved to have a role in his child’s future. Even though I haven’t decided what course of action I would be taking yet, I felt like this was the right thing to do. I took a deep breath.

“Jace…” I trailed off. “I have to tell you something. We can talk about all that later, but this is really important.”

“What are you going to waste my time with now?” He snapped.

“I…I…I’m pregnant.” I blurted out. Jace stood still, staring at me unblinkingly. Hoping for some sort of reaction, I rambled on. “I don’t want you to take me back or anything, I don’t want stuff from you, I just thought you’d want to know that this is what happened and now you’re going to be a father and…”

I was interrupted as Jace slapped me hard across the cheek, causing me to scream out in pain and bite my lip, blood welling up from my teeth marks. I looked at him through blurry, tearful eyes.

“You think I’m going to believe you, you fucking slut?” He screamed, not looking at me as he paced the small hall. I noticed a girl from grade twelve that I didn’t know sneak into the bathroom behind me, clearly as scared as I was. “You probably just want to go after my money with some other guy’s kid! You really think I’m going to fucking believe you? I made sure nothing like that would happen!”