Free Spring Unleashed (The Summer Unplugged Series) by Amy Sparling Page B

really.”
    “I don’t know…” she hesitates.
    I make my smile more convincing. Hell, my fake smile has reached such convincing proportions maybe I’ll start to believe it. “Go. I’m grateful for your help but you drove all the way out here and I’m not going to make you suffer just for my sake.”
    “Okay but I’m here if you need me.”
    “I know.”
     
     
    Hana and Ash take turns pushing each other off a donut-shaped pool toy in the middle of the water. My boyfriend is still stuck talking with his boss and although I could go stand with him, I’m afraid someone will ask me something and I’ll be too emotionally distraught to answer. So I head to the shallow end of the pool and sit on the edge, letting my bare feet dangle in the water. I lean back on my palms, tilting my face toward the sky as I pretend to soak up the last remaining rays of sunshine.
    The fear of possibly being pregnant weighs heavily on my mind. Out of both terrible things that happened to me today, it’s completely obvious that my late period is the one I should be worried about. Those stupid emails happened months ago and my late period is happening right now. But I can’t let the emails go.
    I can’t stop thinking about the very real fact that my boyfriend has naked photos of another girl on his computer. Why would he bother giving me a key to his apartment if he still has stuff like that from his past? Why would he plan a future with me and convince me to go to college and arrange a job at the track if he still has girls on the side?
    Oh god. My stomach, which may or may not be implanted with Jace’s child, tightens into a painful knot. If I’m pregnant then I can kiss my future goodbye. My future job, my education…none of it is attainable if I have to raise a baby.
    I glance up from the pool and lock eyes with Jace. He’s all the way across the backyard but I think he smiles at me. I can’t be sure. All I know is that I can’t be here anymore. All of these happy people with their carefree lives and their stupid laughter that keeps getting louder. People don’t cry at pool parties and that’s exactly what I’ll do if I stay here any longer.
    I push myself up from the edge of the pool and slide my sandals on, not even bothering to dry off my feet. I don’t glance at Jace and I don’t look for Becca.
    I just run.
    Hana’s house is next door to the motocross track. I’m all the way through the thin line of trees that separate the two and crossing over the wooden bridge that enters into the park by the time I start to run out of breath. Dirt sticks to my wet feet and rubs painfully inside my sandals but I keep running anyhow. I don’t look back. No one calls my name or runs after me. I doubt anyone noticed that I left.
     
     
    The sun begins to fade, dipping behind the trees at the edge of the motocross track. My legs slow to a walk and then my body stops completely. This place is creepy at dusk. All the massive dirt jumps are shadowed and transformed into eerie lurking monsters. The massive metal bleachers look uninviting and scary without any people around.
    I sit on a sawed off tree stump in the middle of the grassy area where people park their cars during a race. My heart still thumps away under my chest, trying to calm down from the rush of hurt and fear and exercise I just put it through. My face sinks into my hands and I stare at the dirt on my feet, watching as it morphs into blurry shapes under the tears that fall from my eyes.
    Why am I even out here? What the hell am I doing?
    “ Bayleigh!”
    The unexpected sound startles me but I don’t look up because I’d know that voice anywhere. Footsteps get closer and faster as Jace jogs toward me. He doesn’t say anything else and I feel his body brush against mine a second later. He sits next to me on the tree stump. We’re silent for a moment.
    “Becca said I needed to talk to you.”
    I look up. My eyes meet his and I can’t tell what sort of emotion he hides