Finding Fate

by Keelan Storm

  Bridgette leaned forward in her chair. “Okay, now, kids. We need to talk.”

  * * *

  The silence in the treehouse was deafening. Annie lay back on a beanbag to button her jeans, and Jet stood off in the far corner, buttoning his Hawaiian print shirt and looking anywhere but at her.

  Annie wanted to cry. She knew he was upset, but she didn’t know how to fix it. “Babe,” she decided to try.

  He sighed and went stare out the window when she chickened out. “Nothing?” he asked. “You can’t tell me anything?”

  She gave the slightest shrug, her fingers going to trace the cuticles of her toes, hating herself for ruining things, again, especially when they’d actually been able to sneak away today.

  Jet’s shoulders tensed, not knowing what to make of her silence. He just wanted her to talk to him. He couldn’t fix things if he didn’t know what was wrong. “There’s got to be something. I mean, am I that bad at it?” he started, finally turning to face her. “Am I doing something wrong? Do you not want this anymore? Us?” he asked, pointing between them, desperately searching for an answer.

  Annie cringed a little at his words, but jumped up, needing to reassure him. She clutched his arm, refusing to let him look away again. “No, babe. Please, don’t ever think that. I love you. This has nothing to do with that. And no, you are definitely not bad at it.”

  She felt at least some of his tension leave, and she took the moment to grab his hand. He looked at her with those ocean blue eyes so full of sadness and confusion, and it made her ache to know it was because of her.

  “So I’m doing something wrong then?” he asked, almost hopefully. “Just tell me, and I’ll fix it.”

  “No,” she shook her head, her messy ponytail loose and bobbing from what they’d just shared. “It’s nothing about you. It’s all me; I swear,” she promised.

  “Then tell me, Annie,” Jet begged. “Things haven’t been the same for months. You tense up almost as soon as we start. Your head’s not even there sometimes. I know when you’re into it and when you’re not, and it’s a lot of not lately. Then today you faked it?” he shook his dark head in disgust. “Even if I never get you off again, don’t you fake it with me. Ever. Nothing about us has ever been fake.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “I’ve been messing up, but in my slight defense, I wasn’t sure what the problem was at first either. Then it was just embarrassing and stupid, so I didn’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry.”

  Jet nodded, relieved that they might actually get somewhere. He pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her, needing her comfort despite their tension.

  Annie pulled back and tugged at his hand, leading him back to their favorite beanbag. She paused for Jet to sit, and took her spot on his lap. “I really feel stupid about this,” she started.

  “I’m not judging.”

  She smiled. “I know. The deal is, I’ve been nervous and tense and all caught up in my head every time because I’m afraid of getting pregnant like Izzy.”

  His brow scrunched in confusion. “But you’re on,”

  “It’s not working right,” she interrupted his stumbling. “My cycle’s acting all weird with it, and my doctor’s already had me try three different kinds. Not to mention if I don’t take it regularly, it’s not as effective either.” She sighed. “I’m watching Izzy go through all of these changes, and I’ve made myself way too paranoid about it.”

  Jet nodded, doing his best to understand as he pointed out, “We are still using condoms, though.”

  “Yeah, and I keep telling myself that, but,” she paused, chewing on her bottom lip.

  “But you’re still afraid.”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, at least I know what I’m working with, now,” Jet thought as he smoothed the pad of his thumb over her lips to still her bite. “I’m glad you told me. We’ll figure something out,” he assured her.

  She nodded again as her Fitbit buzzed. “Where are y’all?” she read the text at her wrist, nerves immediately starting to swarm her stomach.

  “Sweetheart, calm down,” Jet said to her for the umpteenth time since they’d transferred to the Dearly’s back porch to wait for their friends. “You’re worrying too much about this. I’m sure Izzy will be too excited about baby news to get upset about it.”

  Annie stopped pacing to give her boyfriend a look that said ‘you have got to be kidding me.’

  “I’m serious.”

  “I am, too. You know she hates it when I interfere. Remember last summer?” She started pacing again.

  “Okay, yeah. I’ll give you that, but she and Tucker were really excited about that appointment today.”

  “And then I killed the happy vibe! Oh, she’s going to be so mad.”

  Jet put his hands on her upper arms to stop her pacing. “Annie, look at me. It’s going to be okay. We did it because we love them.”

  “Tucker will get that, but Izzy?” she argued.

  Jet dropped his hands and let her resume pacing. Calming her down was a lost cause at this point. He sat down on the padded wicker loveseat, the seat cold through his khakis, and waited.

  It wasn’t long before the fence’s gate opened, and Izzy and Tucker stepped through, his hand placed on her back in a way that showed he was trying to keep her calm as she stared fixedly at the ground, her shoulders tense and jaw set.

  “Maybe I did underestimate their reactions,” Jet realized as he exchanged a quick, panicked look with Annie, their friends still stoic and unspeaking as they took the chairs opposite.

  Annie took the spot on the loveseat next to Jet, her bottom lip pressed between her teeth. The waiting was driving her crazy. She just wanted to get the yelling over with. “Izzy, look,” she started.

  Izzy held up a hand, stopping her sister’s words short.

  Annie shut her mouth and waited for the explosion that was sure to come.

  “That was the second worst conversation we have ever been put through.” Her words were quiet but filled with irritation.

  “What was the worst?” Jet asked.

  Tucker and Izzy gave him a pointed look of exasperation. “Do you really have to ask, man?”

  “Oh.”

  “So how mad are you?” Annie asked tentatively, surprised at the lack of yelling.

  “Well…” Isabel drug it out, enjoying seeing her sister squirm a little. “I was going to ask you to plan Destiny’s shower, but after what her aunt and uncle put her parents through today…”

  “Baby shower? Destiny? Destiny!” It clicked as Annie sorted through the information. “It’s a girl?! Y’all said you weren’t going to find out!”

  “She surprised us,” Tucker laughed at her reaction.

  “That’s awesome, dude,” Jet congratulated with a fist bump.

  “Extremely awesome!” Annie jumped forward to hug Tucker and then wrap her arms around her sister. “I’m so happy for y’all! And I’m really sorry that we sent them in behind your backs. We just love you guys, and we want what’s best for you.”

  “We did it before you and I talked,” Jet explained to Tucker. “Neither of you were making any plans. We had to do something.”

  “We know, man. That’s why we’re not more upset about it.”

  Izzy pulled out of Annie’s hug, still tense with irritation. “We’re just upset that you fed us to the parental lions. You can plan the shower, sis, but if you ever do anything like that to us again,”

  “I won’t hold her back,” Tucker finished.

  “Deal,” Annie agreed.

  “Fire?” Jet offered, noticing Izzy start to shiver. She nodded, and he got up to grab the supplies to start the fire pit while Tucker ran inside for drinks and snacks.

  “S’mores?” he suggested, holding up the trio of sweet ingredients from the doorway.

  “Yes!” Izzy gushed.

  “I’m so relieved that you’re not more upset abo
ut this,” Annie sighed as they all settled back around the fire to roast their marshmallows.

  “I tried to tell her you wouldn’t be, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Oh, trust me, Jet; I was. Tucker had to talk me down before we came over.”

  “Like I said…I won’t hold her back next time.”

  They heard a noise from behind them and found Tabitha peeking through the back door. “Hi, everybody. Tyler said he saw y’all back here, and I needed to talk to Izzy.”

  “Oh? Here, join us,” Isabel eagerly patted an open chair by the fire.

  “No, it’s okay, Izzy. I don’t want to sit,” she said quietly.

  She didn’t want to push too much. Tabitha had hardly spoken to her since she’d found out about the baby, but it seemed like there was something on her mind. “Okay, well, what did you need?”

  “Besides to go so we can talk.”

  “Jet!” Annie cried and reached over to swat his knee.

  Isabel gave him a look and turned back to his sister. “Ignore him.”

  “I always do,” she grinned.

  The older girl smiled back. “So what’s up?”

  Tabitha immediately began to look nervous but went ahead, “I was just wondering…you see, I’m going to the movies with some friends tomorrow, and I was hoping you would help me pick out an outfit. You always look really pretty.” She added the last statement as an explanation.

  “Of course I will,” Isabel responded enthusiastically, happy that Tabitha was warming up to her again. “I’ll come by and help you in a bit.”

  “Great! Thanks, Izzy!” Tabitha cried, giving her a quick hug before running back home.

  “What was that about?” Tucker asked when she left. “She seemed awfully nervous about going to the movies with friends.”

  The twins shared a look and rolled their eyes. Guys were so clueless. “It’s not the movies she’s worried about. There’s a boy,” Annie explained.

  Jet coughed, spitting out bits of S’more as he shot up straight. “A boy?!”

  “Don’t you dare embarrass her,” Isabel instructed, taking a bite of the gooey treat she’d just constructed.

  “I don’t want to embarrass her. I want to keep her away from boys,” Jet retorted, big brother mode still on high alert.

  “Why?” Annie asked. “We were her age when we started dating.”

  “No, we were thirteen.”

  “She turned thirteen last month.”

  “But,”

  “No, don’t be a hypocrite. So are you two going to tell us what you decided?” Annie asked, cutting Jet off before he could argue anymore. “Are you going or not?”

  “Going,” Tucker replied.

  Annie clapped her hands excitedly. “Yes! I knew it! College is going to be so much fun!”

  Isabel shared an incredulous look with Tucker while Jet stared at Annie. She turned back to her sister. “Um, sis, I don’t think you’re seeing the whole picture here.”

  “Sure I do. We won’t be able to live on campus now, of course, but that’s okay. The point is that we’re going!”

  Jet shook his head at his girlfriend. He hadn’t realized she was so deluded about what would happen.

  “No, Annie, we’re not,” Tucker said firmly.

  “But,” she faltered, “you just said you were.”

  “I meant, we’re going to attend college, not that we’re moving away to do it,” he explained.

  Annie looked crestfallen. “Oh.”

  “Annie, think about it,” Isabel said, getting up and sitting at her sister’s side. “Tucker and I are going to be parents. Babies are expensive, and I don’t think school loans are intended for babies. We’re going to have to work.”

  “I actually just asked Stefano about working at the shop,” Tucker added. “I’m going to start working the counter next week. Izzy’s even going to be interning at the cake shop with my mom a few days a week.”

  “Okay, yeah, but you can get school loans to help cover rent. You’ll just have to work to cover Destiny’s things.”

  Isabel shook her head. She had to make her sister see. “Annie, why would we make it harder on ourselves than it has to be? By staying at home, we don’t have to worry about rent.”

  “What about basketball? Are you still doing that, Tucker? Surely one of those scholarships would help.”

  “Basketball is still on the table, at least for now. So is Izzy’s dance audition.”

  “Dance audition?” Annie sat back, confused.

  “I’ve got an audition for Baste Academy in May. Leo and I are trying to get in, and the scholarship is great, but it will be a ton of work if I get it, and Tucker’s schedule will be crazy and packed. Annie, we’re trying not to let everything we want get derailed, but to make that happen with a baby on the way means getting as much help from our families as we can, at least at first.”

  “Baste Academy? Why didn’t she tell me anything?” Annie wondered. “But Jet and I want to help you, too. We can babysit.”

  “Sometimes, yes. But only when you visit because you’re going to school, too.”

  “But what about our plans?”

  “Annie, those went up in smoke about five months ago,” Tucker said, his voice dismal. “We’ve got to make do with the new reality. Izzy and I realized that a while ago. You need to, too.”

  Jet placed a hand on Annie’s knee to get her attention. “Sweetheart, sending in those applications was us helping our friends. What we wanted before isn’t an option anymore. It would have changed with Izzy going to that Academy anyway.”

  Annie sighed. They’d been planning to go to school together for years. Wasn’t there anything she could say to change this?

  “I just thought of something.”

  “What?” Tucker sighed.

  “Get married.”

  “What?!” All three of her friends exclaimed.

  “No, think about it,” she said quickly. “At that seminar back in August, the financial aid rep from St. Peters talked about it. Young married couples with low income, and kids are up for more grants and other money. We could even all four move in together. That would make rent cheaper. Yeah, it would still be hard, but we could make it work.

  “Please listen,” she begged when she saw her friends rolling their eyes at her. “I mean, won’t it be weird? Y’all having a baby together and Tucker having to walk across the street to help or even to just see her? If you get married, it’d be so much easier for you to raise the baby together. You’ve both said before that you’re each other’s future, you’re destined to be together. That’s where Destiny’s name came from, isn’t it? So if you already know you’re going to get married one day, why not do it now? Well, not now now. You’d have to wait for Izzy to turn eighteen, of course, but that’s still way before we would move. There’d even be time to do it before the baby’s born.”

  She reached the end of her spiel then and looked around for a response.

  Jet was looking at her, almost humorously, and Tucker was shaking his head. Izzy had been looking down with her lips pursed, but she raised her head to speak.

  “Are you done?”

  “Yes,” Annie breathed, sure she had to have made some impact that time.

  “Annie, I know you’re upset, but it’s not going to happen.”

  “Why?” she complained. Her voice sounded almost whiney, not wanting to admit defeat but still unable to ignore it completely.

  “I shouldn’t have to explain this!” the pregnant sister thought to herself in exasperation. “Because Tucker and I are not going to rush off and get married just because we have a baby. We’re not even done with high school yet, sis. There’s enough pressure coming our way without having to deal with being newlyweds on top of it.”

  “But,”

  “No, Annie,” Tucker said in a tone that rang with such finality that she had no choice but to give up.

  “Fine,” she sai
d, defeated, her last hope crushed into nothing.

  “I’m going to go help Tabitha now,” Izzy said, giving Annie what was supposed to be a comforting pat on the back and grabbing some of their trash before she left.

  Annie slumped back in the loveseat. How was she supposed to live separate from Izzy? They’d always been together. “Ugh…this whole thing sucks.”

  23

  Heart to Heart

  “Emma, calm down,” Annie whispered to her friend during health class a little more than a week later. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving break, and even though they were all excited about starting the holiday weekend, Emma was so excited she was practically bouncing in her seat.

  “Mr. Girst is getting annoyed,” she added when Emma didn’t relax. The teacher had sent warning looks in their direction several times already, and Annie didn’t feel like giving him a reason to keep them late today.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just so excited!” Emma whispered back. “They’re going to announce Homecoming court nominees before the bell today.”

  “Oh…that’s right.” She had forgotten. Of course Emma would be excited. She’d always wanted to be Homecoming queen.

  After Homecoming was canceled last month, students had put together a petition for a make-up game. They knew it wouldn’t count towards the regular season; the Sharks already knew they hadn’t made the playoffs, but the seniors didn’t want to miss out on the Homecoming traditions. Luckily, Summer Grove had agreed, and the game was scheduled for December before testing began.

  Annie smiled to herself. She had spoken with Megan at the student council meeting yesterday after school, and while she couldn’t share the results, by the grin on Megan’s face, Annie was confident in thinking the effort she’d put into spreading the word for people to nominate her friend had worked.

  She wouldn’t bother to tell Emma any of this. She’d let her sweat it out a bit. It would be more exciting for her that way.

  She went back to work on their assigned paper, quickly flipping through the pages in the text for reference before answering the last short essay question.