“Oh my God, Sybil!” I blink. “I can’t believe it. That’s… incredible. You should have told me!”
The excitement slowly dissipates from her features as she turns serious and rolls onto her side to study me. “I don’t want to leave you.”
Sadness washes over me when I consider that in just a few short months, we will no longer be here together. Emotion chokes the assurances from my lips.
“You could come with me,” she proposes. “We could get an apartment together.”
“New York is crazy expensive.” I offer her a sad smile. “And you’re going to need to focus on school. I think a crying baby might make that more of a challenge than you need.”
“Then what will you do?” She pouts. “Where are you going to live?”
“I haven’t quite figured that out yet,” I admit. “Maybe I’ll stay in Connecticut.”
“I guess that makes sense.” She chews on her nail and nods. “Sebastian will be here. And eventually, you’ll have to tell him. He’ll want to spend time with the baby too.”
“Yeah,” I choke out even though it feels like a lie. “We’ll need to work all that out.”
“Sooner rather than later?” she asks hopefully.
“I don’t know when.” I close my eyes and blow out a breath. “I know I need to tell him, but I just don’t know how he’s going to handle this. For all I know, he’s already working on a baby with Megan in New York.”
“He isn’t.” Sybil shakes her head emphatically. “I don’t believe that for one second, Cherrybomb. I know I said all men are dogs, but things are different between the two of you. It’s like magic, or fate, or something. What you had was real, and that doesn’t just go away.”
I nod because I don’t have the energy to argue, and while I know Sybil’s trying to be helpful, I just need to not think about him for a minute.
“Hey, I have a free day next weekend,” I tell her. “Want to go baby shopping with me?”
“Um… hell yes!” she squeals. “It’s a date. No take backs.”
“DID YOU HEAR?” Sybil bounds into my room with wide eyes and a breathlessness that indicates she ran across campus to get here.
“Hear what?” I sit up and glance out the window, wondering if the pyro kids blew up the whole science building this time.
“Mr. Carter is back,” she hisses.
“Holy shit.” I squeeze my hands together in my lap. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” She bobs her head theatrically. “I just saw him heading into the cafeteria. So I asked Ms. Hargrave, and she told me that he’s back for the rest of the year.”
“Oh my God.” I curl my knees into my chest and try to process this information.
“Do you think you’re going to talk to him?” she asks.
“I don’t know.” I blink. “It’s been a long time. A lot of stuff has happened.”
“Stella.” Sybil lays her hand on mine. “I know you’re scared, but I think you have to do this. If for no other reason than he can and should help you. And he will. When he finds out, he’ll do the right thing. He’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
I don’t like the way she saystaken care ofbecause it reminds me of Lila. “I don’t want to be like my mother. I don’t want to be someone he just sends a check to every month.”
Sybil shakes her head. “I know. You aren’t like your mother. You’re nothing like her. But he got you into this mess and he can at least share the burden with you.”
“We both got ourselves into this mess.” I laugh half-heartedly. “I’m not an idiot. I knew the risks we were taking, and I took them anyway.”
“Just promise me you’ll think about talking to him,” she pleads.
“I’ll think about it,” I concede.
But honestly, I’m more worried about seeing him than talking to him right now. It’s been months, and I don’t think I’ll ever get Sebastian out of my system.