Broken Hearts

by S. G. Sonysa

  I called Allison, my older sister, and told her everything. Allison agreed to come for a visit in the evening to distract Hailey.

  I opened my closet and searched for the box. When I found it, I opened it and took out all the money that I had been saving up to get my favorite sports bike, which dad refused to buy me.

  I wanted to buy it before I would come home permanently from the boarding school, but it could wait. Now I needed the money to proceed with my plan to make Hailey smile. I called my friend Mike and asked him to pick me up.

  When I came back from shopping, I found Allison sitting with mom on the couch.

  “Allison come with me.” I pulled her up from the couch and dragged her upstairs to Hailey’s room.

  Hailey was still curled up lying on the bed and probably crying.

  I switched on all the lights of her room, and yelled, “Surprise! We have something for you.”

  She sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes to wipe the tears then looked at me with a smile.

  “Hi.” She mumbled.

  “Hey. How are you feeling?” Allison asked her.

  “I’m fine.”

  But I knew she wasn’t fine.

  I jumped up on her bed with the gifts, and said, “C’mon, open them.”

  She moved lazily, sluggishly and opened the first bag that contained the box of chocolate that she liked and a very cute, fluffy white teddy bear holding a heart. In the center of the heart “smile” was printed in bold letters.

  She giggled and hugged the bear tightly.

  “Thank you, Cam,” she said, kissing the bear.

  I nudged her to open the other bags, and she rolled her eyes at my eagerness but opened it.

  And boy she wasn’t just giggling anymore. No, she was squealing, jumping with happiness and believe me it was worth all the money.

  She looked at me with a shocked expression on her face, and asked, “You got me a laptop. A laptop! Really?”

  Allison and I both glanced at each other and smiled at Hailey’s reaction to getting a laptop. For other people in this house and me, the laptop was no big deal. Everyone in the house had their own laptop, mobile, and other gadgets to use except her. I was literally shocked after knowing that. I mean, c’mon, we were living in the twenty-first century. Everyone had their own laptop and cell phones. So today, I thought, “Why not give her a laptop, which she can use whenever she wanted. It’ll entertain her when she’ll miss me and need a friend.”

  She thanked me, again and again, it was like she forgot about what happened today, which was good.

  I asked her if she wanted to learn some new functions of this laptop. She eagerly nodded her head, and I showed her some new apps and functions.

  “Hailey, I need to go and pack my bag because I’m leaving tonight. Take care,” I said after some time, hugging her.

  She nodded.

  “I’m going to miss you, Cam. Please, come back soon,” she said, hugging me back.

  Then I left her with Allison in the room.

  ***

  Allison

  After Cameron left us in awkward silence, I glanced at Hailey.

  “Are you really fine?” I asked her, staring at her swollen eyes.

  She nodded, but her eyes were telling another tale.

  “I heard you’re expecting. I hope you don’t mind Hailey, but it’s really difficult to understand. How and when did you both become this close? Did Chase confess his undying love or was it just attraction between you guys that lead you both to have sex? And why didn’t you guys use protection? Did you both plan to have a family? These questions are jumbling up in my mind so please tell me,” I asked her.

  She looked hurt, confused, and mostly broken. Different emotions played on her face in those sixty seconds. She moved closer to me like she was going to tell me some secret.

  “Allison, you are like an older sister to me. Do you trust me when I say that I don’t have any answers to your questions?”

  I was confused by her answer.

  “What do you mean, Hailey? Just tell me when did you both have sex?” I asked her.

  Her face suddenly exploded with a blush. She looked embarrassed and shy.

  “I… I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t know anything. I have no idea how I became pregnant,” she said.

  I was shocked and scared to ask her anything anymore.

  “Hailey, do you mean to tell me that you don’t know what lovemaking means? What goes on between husband and wife in the bedroom after marriage?”

  “I don’t know anything but I read a few things from books, and they didn’t make any sense,” she said with innocence.

  “Have you been living under the rock your entire life? Why didn’t your mother tell you and give you the safe sex talk?” I asked her.

  I was appalled at her mother for not giving her daughter a proper education.

  Hailey looked so flustered and tears brimmed in her eyes. Instantly, I regretted what I said a few seconds ago.

  She glanced at me, and said, “My mother and I weren’t close to each other. Emily was always too busy to spare me time. I had no friends, and I was dumb in class, so maybe that’s the reason I’m so clueless about simple things, which everyone knows. I was homeschooled and didn’t learn things like other teenagers, so to say that I was living under the rock was right.”

  I didn’t know what to say after hearing her. I was beyond frustrated and angry at everyone. We were living in the twenty-first century, and still innocent people like Hailey existed.

  “Hailey, I’m guessing you never had a boyfriend,” I said.

  At my question, she flushed again, and her small act confirmed my suspicions.

  “I never had a boyfriend or any involvement with a boy… uh.” She looked so embarrassed while saying that like it was a crime.

  A girl could spend thirty years and stayed a virgin. I didn’t mind, but she should have known about this.

  I just didn’t know how to explain everything to her, but I tried. I explained everything to her then she told me she didn’t remember having sex. I cried at her answer.

  “Hailey, did you sleep with Chase?” I asked her.

  “No, I didn’t sleep with him. I sleep in my own bed every night.”

  At that moment if someone asked me to jump down from the Eiffel Tower, I would have listened.

  “Hailey, please try to remember.” I begged her.

  “I don’t remember anything,” she said, shutting her eyes.

  I looked at her with pity and sadness. I was angry at fate.

  “If you ever need me, then please, don’t hesitate to call me. Take care of yourself and the little one growing inside you. You need to be strong and to think wisely from now on.” I kissed her head and left her room.

  I found Chase sitting on the bench in the backyard and went outside to talk to him.

  My mind was full of questions, which only he could answer. I quietly sat beside him on the bench.

  He glanced at me then sighed.

  “Chase. I… uh was with Hailey in her room, and we talked about this entire situation,” I told him.

  He looked at me with his eyes wide open but kept his mouth shut.

  “Chase, I know it’s your personal life, but I don’t get it. When did you get attracted to Hailey? When did you both become so close to each other? I mean we noticed how you treated her all these months,” I asked him.

  The emotions of guilt and regret appeared on Chase’s face at my questions.

  “Promise me, Allison. You won’t tell a soul what I’m going to share with you,” he said, staring into my eyes.

  I nodded my head, and said, “I promise, Chase. Whatever you’re going to tell me will stay between the two of us forever.”

  He was satisfied with my answer, and said, “You remember Hailey and I went to this party when Mom and Dad left for Chicago with Kate?”

  I nodded my head, and he continued.

  “A few boys spiked the drinks and food wit
h drugs. I thought I was drunk and she was too. We had no control of our bodies, and one thing led to another thing. After that, we ended up in bed. And I have been avoiding her since that day. I felt guilty, and I was embarrassed to talk to her,” he said, looking at his feet.

  I gasped after knowing that they were drugged when everything happened between them.

  But if Chase remembered that night then why didn’t Hailey remember anything?

  “Oh God, Chase! Hailey doesn’t remember anything. She has no idea what happened between you two,” I yelled in shock.

  “What do you mean she doesn’t remember anything? We were both drugged, and I was drunk too, but I remember everything. Then why doesn’t she?” he asked me.

  I shook my head, and said, “She doesn’t have any memory of the night you spent together. She is confused and blank.”

  Chase rubbed his face with his palms and shook his head.

  “It means she was drugged with something that leaves no trace of memory when you wake up in the morning,” Chase said in disbelief.

  “No, it means someone wanted her to forget everything in the morning. Someone deliberately gave drugs to her that night.”

  Chase cursed under his breath.

  “Yes, Al. It was Britney. She is obsessed with Sam, and when he was giving more attention to Hailey, she got jealous. She wanted to hurt her that night. And that’s why she was given that specific drug to make her forget everything,” he mumbled and pulled his hair in anger.

  “I’m so sorry, Chase,” I said, putting my hand on his arm.

  I pitied my brother at that moment. He looked so lost and heartbroken.

  “I don’t know what to do to make everything okay. It seems like whenever I love someone their life gets destroyed,” he said.

  I knew he was blaming himself for everything,

  “You need to focus on your heart, Chase. Stop listening and looking at things from others’ perceptive and find your own. Let your heart guide you.”

  He hugged me like he used to do when he was a kid.

  Chapter Twenty

  I Will Live For Him

  Hailey

  [Two months later]

  It was midnight. Everyone was sleeping soundly in their rooms, but I was wide awake in the night like an owl.

  My nights were mostly ruined courtesy of my weird cravings. Tonight, I was craving for some ice cream. The craving was not weird this time, but the timing was. I felt like someone was sending images in my mind, making my mouth water at the thought of ice cream.

  I had a habit of doing weird things, so at that moment, I did the weirdest thing I could think of and closed my eyes then started praying loudly.

  “Please Santa, I know it’s not Christmas, but can you give my present before Christmas? I don’t want much, just some chocolate chip, vanilla, strawberry, and cookie dough ice cream,” I said loudly, standing beside my window and looking up at the sky.

  I went back to my bed and slumped down on the bed with a pout on my face when I didn’t see Santa coming.

  “Tell me baby boy what should mama do. What do you say, baby, should we sneak out from this fancy prison and have some fun? Would you like to have an adventure with your mom? Huh?” I said, placing my hand on my baby bump.

  I loved talking to my baby. It was not weird, okay, a little bit weird. I knew he cannot answer me yet, but I could assure you that my boy was a good listener.

  You must be wondering why I called my baby a boy. Actually, I had a dream last Sunday, where Chase and I were in the garden playing with a very cute little boy. It was a beautiful dream and awakened hope inside me. Since that day, I had been calling my baby a boy.

  I hoped he was a boy because if my baby turned out to be a girl, it would be awkward on my part after his or her birth as I had been calling him a son.

  I looked at the walls and sighed. I hadn’t left this room since the day my mother-in-law found out about my pregnancy. She had cut me out of the family. She wouldn’t allow me to eat with anyone. Amy would bring my meal to my room every day.

  Amy told me when Chase or my father-in-law would try to see me Eva would create lies to stop them. She would lie to them and say that I was sleeping or taking a nap so they wouldn’t come to see me.

  Eva, my mother-in-law, told me like really told me to my face with a cold glare that she never wanted to see me out of my room. The great thing was that she still took me to the doctor for monthly check-ups and I wondered why.

  Thinking about her, always made my heart ache. Before everything, she was sweet to me and treated me like a daughter. I respected her and thought she would fill the space of motherly love in my life, but that dream was shattered really fast when she slapped me that day. Now, I knew she hated me, and I didn’t like her as much as I used to like her.

  I didn’t get it. Why did my life have to be so difficult? Why did I have to go through all these problems and humiliation?

  Sometimes, I felt like I was a puppet for everyone to use, and they moved my strings however they wished.

  It was like I didn’t have any wishes or any dreams of my own that I wanted to live up.

  Whenever I closed my eyes to get some sleep, I felt like I was drowning in an ocean and it was getting harder to breathe underwater. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to surface back and given a chance to escape this cruel world. But then there was always a shadow pulling me out of the water and making me breathe.

  And I thought it was my baby, my son because when no one would need me, he would need me. He would always need his mother’s love and care, and I decided as long as he needed me I was going to live. I was going to live for him. He was my last hope for life and for my future.

  I didn’t know what would happen when my baby would be born. Although Chase had accepted this baby, he hadn’t shown much care in this past two months. He still avoided me, which hurt me more. I understood it was a lot to take in for him, and he was scared. But at this moment I needed his support because I was scared too.

  Two months ago, when Alison told me about sex, believe me, I had a little seizure. My heart literally stopped beating for a few minutes. Then I read little more and understood how one got pregnant. After learning that, my face exploded in blush, and I started choking. When Amy came to give me food, she was so worried. She told me my face looked like someone tried to murder me by squeezing my neck.

  I was seriously not ready to believe that Chase and I did something like that. And he remembered everything while I forgot every single detail.

  I wanted to remember everything about that night. After I knew what lovemaking meant, I assumed that it happened on the night of the party because that morning I found myself naked on the bed. The bruises I found on my body, which I thought were bug bites were actually love bites or hickeys. Whenever I thought about that night my face heated up, and a shiver went through my whole body.

  ***

  Chase

  I was walking to my room when I heard her voice.

  “Please Santa, I know it’s not Christmas, but can you give my present before Christmas? I don’t want much, just some chocolate chip, strawberry, vanilla, and cookie dough ice cream,” she said.

  I frowned at the word Santa in her prayer.

  Why would she ask Santa for ice creams?

  I didn’t know if Santa heard her or not, but I did.

  I picked up my car keys and went to the nearest mart and bought strawberry, chocolate chip, vanilla, and cookie dough ice cream tubs. I came back home and went to the kitchen. I pulled out a large bowl from the cabinet and placed it on a tray. Then I put scoops of all the flavors of ice cream in it.

  I put the tubs of ice cream into the refrigerator so she could finish them later. I made my way out of the kitchen with the tray in my hand and went upstairs to Hailey’s room then knocked on her door. I didn’t know why I felt so nervous and why my heart was beating like crazy.

  When she opened the door, I stared at her with my mouth agape. She was wearing very shor
t pink cotton shorts, which were revealing her beautiful legs for my hungry gaze, and a white singlet which was molding her perfect body. Her hair was on top of her head in a messy bun showing me that she didn’t put any effort to look this attractive.

  I didn’t know she would be wearing something too sexy when I decided to come here. It was midnight, but she looked radiant and flawless. Her skin was glowing and looking beautiful. The small baby bump was also peeking out from her singlet, and my heart flipped.

  I averted my eyes and looked down, but her beautiful smooth legs came into my view, and I gulped. Suddenly, the weather seemed hot to me, and I felt the urge to sit under the air-conditioner.

  She stared at me with her mouth agape. She seemed to be in shock at finding me outside her bedroom.

  I cleared my throat, and said, “I… uh… I bought some ice cream.”

  I showed her the ice cream bowl in my hand. She pinched herself on the arm and hissed in pain.

  Her face turned red with blush, and then she said, “Uh… ple-please come inside.”

  I went into her room while she shut the door behind me.

  I handed her the bowl, and she took it from me. Her hand lightly brushed against mine and I felt electric shocks where our hands touched. She looked so nervous.

  She said, “Uh… we should sit on the bed.”

  I nodded my head and sat down on the bed. She picked the pillow then placed it in front of her and sat across me. I didn’t know what to say to her, but I had to start somewhere.

  “You should start eating your ice cream before it melts,” I said, cringing internally at my words.

  She looked at me then started eating, but her eyes were still fixed on me like I would disappear any minute.

  “How are you?” I asked her.

  “Fi-Fine.”

  It was really awkward to talk to her after two months.

  “How did you know I wanted to eat ice cream and especially these flavors?” she asked me, catching me off guard.

  I searched my mind for some lie but came up blank.