The Bad Boy’s Tutor: Hidden Masks Book 1

by Arthurs, Nia

  She rubbed her chin and then her glasses, prolonging the moment.

  Monique lost patience first. “Is Marissa okay?”

  “Marissa is great,” she said. “Just a sprained ankle. It will heal in a few weeks.”

  “And the baby?”

  “What baby?” The doctor pinned me with pale grey eyes.

  “Our child. Marissa is pregnant.”

  The doctor snorted.

  My temper flared. I should report her for malpractice or something. That kind of dismissive behavior was totally unprofessional.

  “She was bleeding,” Monique said. “That’s not a good sign.”

  “It’s a good sign if you’re seventeen and menstruating.”

  “Menstruating?” I balked.

  The doctor shook her head. “Marissa is not pregnant.”

  25

  When Love Lies

  Monique

  I watched James pace the waiting room. His black hair stood on end. He mumbled something unintelligible and then shook his head as if countering his own argument. He’d waffled between extreme anger and confusion for the past fifteen minutes.

  I cautiously approached him. “James?”

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” he mumbled to himself. “She showed me the pregnancy test.”

  “James…”

  “Was it fake? Did she steal it from an actual pregnant woman?”

  “James!” I screamed.

  He froze. Looked at me. Chaos reigned behind those deep brown eyes.

  I put a hand on his shoulder. “You should sit.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Marissa’s mom will be here soon.”

  “Her mom?”

  I nodded. Earlier, a nurse came and told us that Marissa had filled out the information form. Since she was a minor, her guardian had been called.

  “You haven’t met her yet, right?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “You should calm down and gather your thoughts together before she arrives. I’m sure she’ll have a lot of questions.”

  “I have a lot of questions,” he grumbled.

  I slipped my arm around his head and led him toward the chair when a figure burst into the waiting room. She was short and thin with long brown hair and green eyes. I studied those eyes and realized I’d seen them before.

  This had to be Marissa’s mom.

  James seemed to have the same thought because he froze. “Ma’am?”

  “Where is she?” The distraught woman sped toward us. “Where’s Marissa?”

  “She’s inside. The doctors say she’ll be fine.”

  The woman took a few steps forward and then stopped. Both James and I observed her carefully. She turned slowly and then walked back to us, her steps as hesitant as her gaze. The clip of her heels against the tiles was punctuated in the silence.

  She stopped a couple inches from James, staring him down. Her focused inspection made me squirm, but something in her expression told me she was just as nervous as the rest of us.

  “Are you… my daughter’s friend?”

  “Friend?” James’s eye twitched. “Yeah, I guess.”

  She finally dropped her gaze. “I don’t mean to be rude. It’s strange to finally meet you in person. Marissa’s shown me pictures, but…”

  “Pictures?” I coughed. Creepy.

  “You’re in a band, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “She listens to your music all the time.” As if it wasn’t clear enough, she added, “Mar’s a big fan.”

  I glanced between Marissa’s mom and James. She did realize that—for all his looks and talent—James was just a normal high school student, right?

  “I… don’t know what to say.” James glanced at me. “I had no idea Marissa had been following my band like that.”

  “Yeah.” She bobbed her head.

  Awkward silence fell.

  I stepped forward and gestured to the hospital room. “You should go in. Marissa’s waiting for you.”

  “Have you seen her yet, James?”

  “No.”

  “Come in with me.”

  “Alright.” James took my hand tightly.

  Marissa’s mom made note of it and her smile turned strained. I figured her invitation hadn’t included me, but James seemed none-the-wiser and I didn’t want to be the one to break it to him.

  When we walked in, Marissa’s eyes flew straight to her mother. She wore a hospital gown and her leg was raised and wrapped in gauze. She ran a hand through her thick blonde hair and grinned.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “I’m okay.” Marissa caressed her stomach and looked James straight in the eyes. “We both are.”

  I felt him stiffen beside me.

  Marissa’s mom cleared her throat. “Sweetie, we’ve talked about this.”

  “Stop it, Mom,” Marissa hissed.

  “But you’re not—”

  Her eyes hardened. “I’m tired of your lies. Don’t mention anything in front of James.”

  “Mention what?” James demanded.

  Marissa’s mother eased away from the bed and whispered, “My daughter… thinks she’s pregnant.”

  “I can hear you, Mom.” Marissa sighed. “This isn’t in my head. I’ve missed two months of my period and I have morning sickness.” She grinned at James. “Don’t listen to her. She’s delusional.”

  What the heck is going on here?

  Since James seemed too uncomfortable—and Marissa’s mother seemed too frightened to speak, I did. Trotting closer to the bed, I spoke softly but firmly. “Marissa, did you notice blood on your pants when you changed into this gown?”

  She stiffened and swiveled her head away from me.

  I followed her line of sight. “Did you?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Marissa, that stain means you have your period. That means you’re not pregnant.”

  “She’s never been,” her mother spoke up.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m sorry, honey, but it’s the truth.”

  “When did you know?” James asked.

  Marissa said nothing.

  “When did you know? Before you told me? After?”

  Marissa stared at her sheet.

  James raised his voice. “Answer me!”

  The mother flinched, but didn’t scold him for yelling.

  “The doctor said,” Marissa clutched her hands together, “they said the pregnancy test was inaccurate.” She lifted her chin and spoke passionately, “but I looked it up. That test rarely gives the wrong diagnosis. I knew they were all trying to trick me.”

  Marissa’s mother sounded tired when she explained, “She really does believe she’s pregnant. And she is showing the symptoms. The psychologist called it ‘placebo effect’, the power of her own mind changing reality.”

  Placebo effect?

  “I’m sorry.” The older woman hung her head. “I wasn’t aware that she had told anyone about this. I figured it was something we could handle on our own.”

  James walked to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall. I studied him. Clenched jaw. Narrowed eyes. He was a few seconds away from giving into his rage. I walked over and wrapped my arms around his waist.

  He was trembling. Hard.

  “It’s okay.” I placed my head against his chest. His heartbeat thundered in my ears.

  I couldn’t begin to imagine what he was feeling. For over a month, James had been mentally preparing for a child that never existed. Freaking out over what to tell his parents. How to plan his future.

  All for some twisted mind game.

  He must be devastated.

  But he couldn’t unleash that anger on Marissa.

  “I know what she did was despicable,” I whispered. “But she’s a victim too.”

  He shook his head.

  “James, look at me.”

  He did though I could tell that I only claimed half his
attention. “It’s okay.”

  When I turned around, I found Marissa crying on the bed. Her mother was comforting her, but it wasn’t doing much good. Instead, the senior was focused on James who was, very clearly, falling apart.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to.”

  James swallowed and then whispered to me, “Let’s go.”

  I followed him through the door, out into the sunshine and finally into his car. He didn’t say anything as he dropped me home. My cell phone was quiet all night too.

  I wondered how he was doing.

  I picked up my phone a hundred times to call him, but I wasn’t sure what to do. What did James need? Comfort? Distance? I didn’t know him that well to take a guess.

  The next morning, I headed to school and waited in the parking lot for James to arrive. When I saw his car pull up, I rushed it.

  He got out and looked surprised to see me. I raked him over with my gaze. He seemed composed, calm. Was it just another mask?

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hi.”

  “This is a nice surprise.” He bent over and hugged me.

  I squirmed and glanced around the lot filled with students. “What if someone sees?”

  “Let them.” He rested his cheek against my hair. “I wanted to do this so bad last night.”

  “Why didn’t you come see me?”

  He pulled back. “I had a lot to process. It still feels weird thinking I’m not going to be a father.”

  “Are you disappointed?”

  “I don’t know. A little. I’m also relieved.” He pulled me in for another hug and kissed me on the temple. “From here on, there’s only one woman I want to impregnate and that’ll be in the far, far future.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “I said far in the future.”

  “Yeah, but who said I’d allow you to impregnate me?” I winked and pushed him away. “I’ve got to head to class.”

  James chuckled low behind me.

  * * *

  At lunch, I met up with Angie and Harley.

  “Where’s your shadow?” Angie teased.

  “Uh…” How do I say ‘visiting his non-baby mama in the hospital?’ “Busy.”

  “Is he with Marissa?” Harley growled.

  I jumped. “How did you—I mean, no.”

  “You’re lying, Mo.”

  “I’m not,” I squealed.

  “Your voice always goes super high when you lie.”

  I spoke with a rasp. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Did you say Marissa?” Angie stared into the sunshine with a glint in her eye. “There’s this weird rumor going around campus about her.” Angie waved us in. We huddled close. “You know Marcus from English?”

  “The one that always stinks of weed?” Harley asked.

  “Yeah, him. He was messing with Regina Hall. She’s on the cheerleading team. I honestly don’t know what he sees in her because she’s really not that—”

  “Angie! Focus.”

  “Right.” She furrowed her brow. “Anyway, Regina told Marcus that the whole cheerleading team thought Marissa was dying.”

  “Dying?” I gulped.

  “Yeah, she was puking in the morning and came to practice all pale and tired in the evening. When they asked her about it, Marissa said she was fine. They thought she was pregnant, but then she got her period. She was walking around with stained pants all day yesterday.”

  “Why didn’t anyone tell her?”

  Angie shrugged. “Anyway, everyone thinks Marissa has some unknown disease.”

  “No way,” Harley said. “Did James know about this?”

  “Well…”

  “Guess what,” Angie said.

  “What?”

  “Marissa didn’t come to school today. I heard she’s in the hospital.”

  I laughed nervously. “Come on, guys. You can’t listen to rumors. They’re so unreliable.”

  “You can always find a bit of truth in gossip.”

  Harley looked thoughtfully at his pizza slice. “If Marissa’s really sick, she won’t be able to come back to school or graduate.”

  “Yeah, poor girl,” Angie mumbled. “We should send her a fruit basket or something.”

  My lips trembled as I struggled to keep the secret from spilling out. “Can we talk about something else?”

  Harley shot me another suspicious glance, but he let me off the hook. For once. As the conversation moved into our upcoming midterms, my mind raced.

  Marissa was sick, but not in the way Angie and the rest of the school were thinking.

  I had no idea what her future looked like. I was just grateful James and I were no longer in it.

  26

  Stamped With A Kiss

  James

  I met Marissa at her place. When I stepped inside, the empty spaces and the moving boxes stunned me. Mrs. Brian, Marissa’s mother, was bending over a stack of glass plates. She straightened and offered a welcoming grin.

  “Hello, James.”

  I stepped cautiously inside. “Did I come at a bad time?”

  “No, we were just finishing up here.”

  I glanced around. What was going on? Was Marissa moving because of what happened?

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Mrs. Brian leaned against the banister. “And the answer is no. This is not your fault. It’s not my daughter’s either.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She sighed. “Marissa’s father and I divorced a long time ago.”

  “She told me.”

  “Well, she didn’t take it well. I wanted a new start out of this town, away from these memories but this house and her school were Marissa’s safety blankets. I put up with it as much as I could, for her sake, but I needed a fresh start.”

  “So you were planning the move a long time ago?”

  “I did.” She tilted her head. “That’s when Marissa informed me that she was pregnant.”

  I straightened. “Are you saying…?”

  “I’m sure she thought she was killing two birds with one stone,” Mrs. Brian said, gesturing to me. “She could secure the attention of her crush and force me to stay in Pine Hill.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Yes, well, neither did I. My daughter was very unfair to you. I’m sorry you were dragged into all this.”

  “Don’t apologize.” I squirmed. “It was kind of my fault too.”

  She nodded. I was glad when she didn’t point out the obvious. If I hadn’t slept with Marissa, she would never have accused me of being the father of her imaginary child.

  “You can go up now. I’m sure Marissa will be happy to see you.”

  “Thanks.” I headed upstairs and slowly turned the corner. Marissa’s room door was open. I saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, her head hung low and her blonde hair covering most of her face.

  I knocked on the door.

  She glanced up, but her usual smile was missing. “Hey.”

  “Hi, mind if I come in.”

  She gestured to the moving boxes across from her. “Be my guest.”

  I sat on one and, when it sank in, I sprang to my feet. “I think I’ll stand.”

  She smirked.

  I smiled too. “Marissa—”

  “Wait,” she threw up a hand, “before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m not crazy. That’s… that’s not how I want you to remember me.”

  “I didn’t say you were crazy.”

  “It might look that way though.” She played with the hem of her shirt. “I really like you, James. But I see now that I took things too far.”

  Inventing a pregnancy definitely fell under the ‘too far’ category, but I didn’t want to rub it in her face. Monique had been gracious with me when she heard about the ‘baby’ and I figured I should pass it on.

  “Don’t beat yourself up, alright.”

  She nodded, hope in her eyes.

  I quickly ad
ded, “But don’t lie about being pregnant again. It’s not fun for the guy.”

  She laughed. “Got it.”

  I stepped toward her. “We good?”

  “Yeah. You deserve to be happy, James Sawyer.”

  “So do you.”

  I smiled and left the house.

  My chest expanded on a deep breath. After all the craziness, the only thing I could think about was holding Monique, burying my nose in her wild curls and forgetting the rest of the world even existed.

  Traffic was so bad getting back that, for a while, I wondered if I would reach her by nightfall. When I finally got to school, it was already late. I decided to ditch the rest of my afternoon classes and wait for Monique in the library.

  I texted to let her know where I was and then kicked back and took a nap. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night thanks to the ‘I’m pregnant, sike!’ situation.

  A gentle wind on my face woke me up. I cracked my eyes apart and saw Monique with her head next to me on the desk.

  Her beauty struck me. I soaked in her warm brown skin, her brown eyes ringed by thick lashes, her nose and those beautiful, plump lips.

  “When did you get here?” I asked, my voice husky from sleep.

  “A while ago,” she whispered. “You’re cute when you drool.”

  I shot up and wiped the side of my mouth. “Did I?”

  She laughed. “As your tutor, I have to warn you that ditching classes is a bad idea. As your girlfriend, I’m glad you got to catch up on your rest. How was Marissa?”

  “Better. She’s moving.”

  “Moving? You mean on her feet or out of town?”

  “Out of town. Her mom thinks she convinced herself she was pregnant to have an excuse to stay here.”

  “Wow.”

  “I know right.” I propped my head up on the table and looked at Monique. “Does that comment about ditching class mean you’re my tutor again?”

  “I still owe you a few more days.”

  I grinned. “And after?”

  “We can negotiate. I think I can be convinced to give you a special discount.”

  “Fifty percent?”

  “I was thinking more like two.”