by Shana Norris
“She’s pregnant?” I asked, my voice rising to a shrill shriek. Rory stood, reaching for my shoulders.
“Shh!” he said, looking past me toward the front of the store. “You have to keep quiet about this. Paisley isn’t ready to tell just yet. She will soon, when she has the courage to do it.”
“She can’t hide this forever,” I said. “She’s not even seventeen. What does she expect to do?”
The man from the front desk appeared at the end of the aisle, peeking at us with his eyebrows raised high. “Can I assist you two with anything?” he asked, looking between us curiously.
I realized I probably sounded like a panicked child. I cleared my throat, shaking my head. “No, everything’s fine. I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’ll be going now.”
“Kate,” Rory started. But I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. I wove through the aisles of vintage items and out the front door into the humid summer air. A slight breeze lifted the ends of my hair, blowing them against my shoulders as I stood on the sidewalk. The world felt different now, like something had changed dramatically.
Paisley was pregnant. I couldn’t imagine it, another life growing inside her stomach. It made sense now, all of the loose sundresses and oversized T-shirts she’d been wearing.
How long would it be before she finally told her parents the truth? And what would she do once the baby came?
I couldn’t expect her to make the right decisions on her own. She needed someone to talk some sense into her.
I climbed into my car and dug my cell phone out of my pocket. I pushed at the Contacts button on my phone, looking for Billy’s number. My car was sweltering, so I rolled the windows down as I pressed the button to call Billy. I pressed the phone to my ear, hearing it ring once.
A click on the other end. “Hey, Kate,” Billy answered. “What’s up?”
“Billy,” I said, my mouth suddenly dry.
I swallowed, the words caught in my throat at the sight of my frightened eyes in the rearview. I could lie to Billy, make up some silly excuse for calling just to say hi. My hand wanted to slam the phone down. This wasn’t my news to tell. But I knew Paisley couldn’t handle this on her own. How could she know what to do?
“Paisley’s pregnant,” I said, before I could talk myself out of it.
There was silence, both from the guy on the other end of the phone and from me.
“What did you say?” Billy asked finally, his voice crackling through the phone line.
“Your sister,” I clarified. “She’s pregnant. Two or three months. I’m not sure. I just found out. She hasn’t told anyone, not even Mimi or Pop. I found out from someone else.”
“Are you sure?” Billy asked. “Have you talked to her about this?”
“No,” I admitted. Doubt billowed in me. “But I’m pretty sure. This person wouldn’t have a reason to lie about this.”
Billy let out a long breath over the phone. “I can’t believe she’s gotten herself into this mess. How irresponsible can she be?”
“I don’t know what to do,” I told him.
“Don’t tell her anything,” he said. His tone was harsh. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Be the big brother I should have been long ago,” Billy stated firmly. He said good-bye and I stared down at the phone in my hand, wondering if I’d done the right thing. But at this point, I didn’t know what else I could have done. This was a problem bigger than I could handle.
When I looked up out the car window, I found Rory’s angry green eyes staring at me from outside the passenger side door. His face and neck turned bright red.
“How could you do that?” he asked in a low voice.
“I had to,” I declared. “Someone needs to talk to her.”
“I’ve been talking to her!” he roared, spittle flying from his mouth. “I got her to talk to Jeremy again. I’ve been keeping an eye on her. What the hell do you think you can do more than I’ve already done? What good is telling her jackass brother about this going to do? She needs to make her own decision without someone else telling her what a terrible person she is.”
“He’s not a jackass,” I snapped, crossing my arms as I glared back at him. “Don’t talk about my family like that.”
“And what is Paisley to you? Huh? Isn’t she family, too?”
My car roared to life as I started the ignition. “She needs someone who’s not you, Rory.”
Rory leaned forward, his head inside the open passenger window and his hands gripping the door so tight that his knuckles were white. “Maybe what she needs is someone to support her and love her, even if she has gotten herself into a major situation. Isn’t that what your grandparents did for your mom when she got pregnant with you?”
“I’m not the one in trouble here,” I said, tears spilling down my cheeks. “My life is on track. I’m not wasting my life or giving up my dreams because I couldn’t stay away from some guy. I’ve already seen the results of what that does to someone’s life. I’m going to college and I’m going after my dreams.”
“Oh, really?” Rory’s eyes narrowed as he stared back at me. “And since when has it ever been your dream to do math?”
For a long time, I didn’t say anything as I glared back at him. I hated that he could throw that in my face. I wished I’d never told him anything, that I had never talked to him again after I chased him away from my DJ booth that first night at the party.
I wished I could restart this whole summer and forget I ever knew him.
“You’ve made it clear all summer that you’re more interested in Paisley than anyone else,” I said. “Even if it’s really about your best friend. I hope the three of you are happy together.” My hand shook badly as I reached for the gearshift. It took me a moment, but I finally got the car in drive. Rory stepped back, not saying anything else as he watched me. He stood still on the sidewalk with the summer sun making his spiky blonde hair shine like a halo as I pulled away, fighting back more tears that threatened to fall.
At home, I didn’t tell Mimi and Pop what I knew. I didn’t even tell Paisley. I hid out in my room for the rest of the day, only emerging to eat or go to the bathroom. Hunched over my laptop, I worked on a new collection of songs, melding tunes together into something entirely different from anything I’d ever done before. Bleary-eyed, I clicked the mouse button to burn the songs I’d created to a CD.
I checked my phone again, probably for the thousandth time, but it remained silent.
It was late when I finally fell into an exhausted sleep. And then it was bright and early way too soon when I heard a familiar voice echoing through the house the next morning.
My cousin Billy had come to Asheville.
Chapter 23
“Paisley!” Billy called. I found him standing in the kitchen with Mimi fussing over him. He barely paid attention to her, instead locking eyes with me when I walked in. “Is she here?” he asked me.
I shrugged, pushing my matted hair out of my face. “I don’t know.” I looked at Mimi. She was in her dressing gown, and her face was wracked with concern. “Is Paisley here?”
“In her room,” Mimi said. She looked between Billy and me, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening as she frowned. “What’s going on? Billy, I thought you were already back at school. Didn’t you say you had to get there early to go over some things before the semester started?”
“I need to talk to Paisley,” he told Mimi, squeezing her hands in his big palms.
I followed Billy as he stomped down the hall, past the walls of baby pictures of the three of us, along with some of Andrea and my Uncle Blake, too. Our smiling, chubby childish faces frozen in time, giving no indication of the drama we’d one day find ourselves battling in our daily lives.
Without knocking, Billy pushed open the door to Paisley’s room. She was still in bed, the sheet twisted around her legs and her arms stretched over her head, her mouth open a little. As she lay there
on her back in just a thin T-shirt and old gym shorts, I could see it—the small swell of her stomach.
My cousin was pregnant.
“Paisley.” Billy snatched the sheets away from her legs. “Get up, we’re going home.”
Paisley’s eyes flew open and she sat up, blinking at her brother. “Billy? What are you doing here? What time is it?”
Billy looked down at her, standing as tall as his five-foot-nine-inch frame would allow him. His expression was stony and his mouth barely moved as he said, “I know.”
Paisley rubbed her eyes with her fists and gave her brother a confused look. “Know what?”
“That you’re pregnant.”
Behind me, Mimi gasped. I hadn’t even heard her follow us. “She’s what?” Mimi asked. “Paisley? Is this true?”
Paisley’s face drained of all color as she looked up at her brother, like a tiny child looking up at an angry parent. “How did you find out?” she asked.
“That’s not important,” Billy barked. “When were you planning to tell Mom and Dad? Did you think you could hide this forever?”
“No,” Paisley said, her voice cracking on the word. “No, I … I just needed time to figure this out.”
“Is it Jeremy’s?” Billy asked. “Or some other guy you found somewhere around Atlanta?”
Paisley’s face flushed red. “I don’t sleep around with every guy I see! Everyone thinks that, but it’s not true. Jeremy’s the only guy I’ve been with!”
“Oh, my,” Mimi said, clutching at her chest. She stepped into the hallway, calling out, “Ted? Ted, wake up!”
“You need to pack your bags,” Billy said, walking into the room and grabbing Paisley’s duffel bag that was tossed in one corner. “We’re going home and you’re going to tell Mom and Dad.”
As Billy marched across the room, a thought struck me, making my stomach clench tight: Billy was acting just like I had. I’d had the same reaction, trying to take over Paisley’s life because I thought she wasn’t mature enough to make her own decisions. I knew best, just as Billy believed he did right now.
And the worst part was, I realized just how much of a jackass Billy was being. Which was only slightly less of a jackass than I was.
Paisley stared at me, her jaw stiff. Her hair was a mess, tangled on one side, but she still looked as pretty as always. “You told him, didn’t you?” she asked. Her eyes were glassy as she stared at me. I swallowed hard, but couldn’t answer. “How did you find out?”
I swallowed again, my knees shaking as I managed to croak out, “Rory.”
Betrayal shone in Paisley’s eyes as she frowned back at me.
“Get packing, Paisley,” Billy said, tossing her bag onto the end of her bed. “We’re going home now.”
Paisley leapt to her feet, her face and neck red. “I don’t have to do anything with you,” she snapped back. She glared at me again. “Either of you.”
With that, she pushed past me and headed into the hall, marching toward the kitchen.
“I am not kidding, Paisley,” Billy called after her. But Paisley didn’t stop. A moment later, we heard the front door slam shut.
Billy let out a frustrated growl as he collapsed onto the end of the bed, burying his eyes in his palms. “I can’t believe this,” he muttered. “Although it shouldn’t surprise me. She’s always been so irresponsible. She never thinks before she does anything. Of course she’d get herself into this kind of trouble.”
He looked up at me, the corner of his mouth quirking into a small smile. “Why can’t she be more like you? Responsible and focused.”
I leaned against the door frame, thinking about the hurt in Paisley’s eyes just before she left. Maybe Rory had been right in keeping quiet about it. Maybe Paisley needed to be the one to make all the decisions about this situation on her own.
Hours later, Paisley still hadn’t come home. I hit the End button on my cell phone after I once again reached Andrea’s voice mail.
“No answer,” I said to Billy, Mimi, and Pop as we sat at the little round table in the kitchen. I’d tried calling Andrea a few times to see if she might have heard from Paisley, but I hadn’t been able to get a hold of her. That, of course, wasn’t unusual.
Mimi cupped her coffee mug between her hands, looking at Pop with a worried frown. “Should we go out looking again?” she asked. Her eyes darted toward the kitchen window over the sink, where the world outside was gray from the thick clouds overhead. Nausea turned my stomach, thinking of the stress this was putting on my grandparents.
Pop’s lips turned white as he pressed them together for a moment, considering Mimi’s words. “I’ll go driving around for a bit. You stay here in case she comes back or calls.”
Mimi nodded, her eyes teary as Pop reached over to squeeze her hand. When he left, Mimi rubbed her face with one hand, letting out a long sigh. Her eyes met mine and she gave a soft smile. “This is just … It’s a lot for a young girl to deal with, especially at her age.”
I nodded, staring down into my own cup of coffee.
“It’s Paisley,” Billy said, wrinkling his nose as he spoke. He sat back with his can of Dr. Pepper, one arm hooked over the back of his chair. He looked as if he wasn’t worried at all, even though it had been hours since Paisley had left and we hadn’t heard a word from her. She wasn’t answering her phone at all and her Facebook page had been silent.
“Paisley needs to learn to face up to her mistakes and deal with the consequences,” Billy went on. “All she does is run from everything, but she needs to accept the fact that she can’t run from this.”
Running my fingers over the edge of my coffee mug where beads of moisture were trapped from the rising steam, I kept silent. Regret filled me like steam. Maybe I should have tried to talk to Paisley myself before calling Billy. Paisley had been telling me the truth when she said nothing was going on between her and Rory, she just hadn’t told me the entire truth.
But a baby. This was bigger than I could deal with. Paisley hadn’t even turned seventeen yet. What was she going to do now? Could she really have a baby? Did her boyfriend want to have this baby? And if they didn’t want to have it, what then? Could Paisley handle the impact of her decision, whatever path she chose?
It was all too much for me to think about. My head spun dizzyingly from all the questions floating through my mind.
My phone buzzed. A text from Ashton appeared on the screen. Any word?
Nothing, I texted back.
That sucks. Are you still going to Greensboro?
I looked up at the iron rooster clock hanging on the wall above us. It was almost noon. Yes, I texted back. I need to go.
Good luck, Ashton texted. Carter and I will keep driving around town looking for Paisley.
Mimi saw me looking at the clock and glanced up at the time also. “Oh, Kate, you need to get going soon,” she said. She stood up, taking her mug to the sink and pouring out the coffee she’d barely drunk before turning back to me. “Do you need a snack or anything to take with you?”
My interview for the scholarship was at three o’clock and it took about two and a half hours to drive to Greensboro. I’d waited all week for this moment and now it was here and I felt … numb. Heavy. Like a rock was sitting deep in my stomach, unwilling to move or fall out.
I shook my head, pushing my mug away. “No, thank you. I’ll just stop and grab some lunch on my way there.”
Billy grinned wide at me, his posture and behavior suddenly doing a one-eighty from where it had been just a moment before. “You’ll knock ‘em dead, I’m sure of it,” he told me. “You’ve got this thing nailed, and they’ll be throwing that scholarship at you before you even walk out of the room.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to laugh, but it came out more like a frog’s croak. “I’m sure. I still never mastered my speech, but hopefully my tongue doesn’t twist up too much while I talk.”
Billy waved his hand, dismissing my concerns. “You’ll be perfect.”
He seemed so carefree, like the fact that his pregnant teenaged sister was missing didn’t bother him too much at all.
“We should try calling Rory,” I suggested, reaching for my phone. “He’s a friend of Paisley’s from back in Atlanta. Maybe he’s heard from her.”
Billy sneered. “I know Rory Garrison. He’s nothing more than one of those losers Paisley likes to hang out with. The guy’s an idiot. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay far away from him.”
I sat frozen in place, my mouth hanging open as Billy insulted Rory. I wanted to ask what made him call Rory a loser. I’d only known him for a few weeks, but I had already seen so much passion in Rory, so much love for music.
Billy reached over and squeezed my arm. “Don’t worry about Paisley. I’ll go out looking for her. I’m sure she’ll come home soon, and then I can drag her back to Atlanta and make her face Mom and Dad.” He rolled his eyes, then smiled at me. “Mimi, it’s a good thing you have two responsible grandkids at least.”
Something tingled on the tip of my tongue, words I wanted to say but couldn’t figure out exactly how. They weren’t polite.
Billy waved at me one last time. “You’ve got an interview to get to. Go!”
With that heavy numbness still settled deep in my gut, I forced myself to my feet and walked down the hall toward my room to grab my things.
Billy was right about one thing: I couldn’t do anything about Paisley right now. And if I wanted to make things better for Mimi and Pop, I needed to ace this interview. It was one of the least things I could do to provide some security to our lives, something we all needed right at that moment.
Chapter 24
Thunder rumbled across the mountains as I got into my car, tossing my messenger bag with my note cards into the passenger seat. As I turned the key in the ignition, I pushed thoughts of Paisley out of my head and backed into the street, then headed for the interstate to make my way east toward Greensboro. Thinking about Paisley would do nothing for me except add to the already agitated and nervous state I was in. I had to ace this interview to get that scholarship and make everything better for Mimi and Pop. That was the most important thing in my life at the moment. Paisley had gotten herself into this mess, and it was her problem to deal with, not mine.