Chapter 14

Harper

"I feel like I can't say anything with Harper here." Roy suddenly said, causing multiple people from the table to look at him.

"What, you think I'm going to judge?" I laughed, raising my eyebrows.

"Bud, Harper can hold her own with a group of guys." Noah spoke up, a grin forming on his face. "She's cool like that."

"You've got pasta sauce on your chin, loser." I snorted, reaching over to wipe it off with my thumb.

"Hands off, I was saving it for later." Noah pouted, licking it off of my thumb.

"Gross, man." I grimaced.

"See you've been together for less than a week and you're already acting like you're married, what the hell." Mick laughed, shaking his head.

"I've been with Anna for three years and we're not even this close." Roy shook his head as well.

"Hey, rules." My dad suddenly spoke up, making his presence known.

Noah gave me a wink but we tried to keep our distance for a bit.

"So, we're playing West High this week." One of the other seniors spoke up. "Gonna be tough."

"They've got that group of brothers that are total beasts." Someone else agreed.

"No that's East High. West High has the girl quarterback."

"A girl quarterback? Impressive." I laughed.

"That's what you tune in to?" Mick rolled his eyes.

"Oh dear God..." My dad suddenly said, his attention on his phone.

"What?" I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Your mother is here." My dad said quietly, his face growing pale.

"What?" I asked in shock, my stomach twisting. "Don't pull a joke on me."

"Excuse me." He said as there was a knock on the door. "Harper just... Fuck." My dad whispered, walking towards the door.

Noah and I exchanged looks.

"Well it was nice knowing you." He whispered, pushing his hair back from his face.

"RIP us." I sighed, leaning over to give him a quick kiss before turning to watch the events at the door.

"The fuck was that?" Roy laughed, giving us weird looks.

"Julia I-"

"Where is she?" My mom asked loudly.

"Julia now isn't the time to-"

"I would like to see my daughter, please." My mom said harshly, cutting my dad off again.

"Get down." I hissed, shoving the top of Noah's head down as he slid under the table. "Shush all of you." I said to the team.

"I am in the middle of a football dinner, Julia, this can wait until later. You are the one who sent her here after all."

"And clearly that was a mistake!" My mom's shrill voice got louder as she stepped into the kitchen. "I received a very interesting phone call this morning, Harper."

"Hi, nice to see you again, how've you been?" I asked with an overly sweet smile. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

"You've been seeing him again!" My mom said loudly.

My stomach sunk.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"What?" My dad repeated, looking confused as hell.

"Mrs. Patterson called, said she saw you two at the movies last night!" My mom yelled. "I sent you here to try and fix your life Harper, not-"

"She was with her boyfriend last night, Julia." My dad sighed. "I know for a fact she wasn't-"

"Oh no she wasn't. She was with that ass hat who knocked her up, Robert." My mom hissed his name in a condescending tone. "Some father you've been lately."

"Okay we can all talk about this rationally, okay?" I said quickly. "Dad can we please go into your office?"

"Yes I think that's a very good idea. Boys, keep eating." My dad said. "Julia, let's go."

I followed my parents down the hall with a sick feeling in my stomach.

"Explain." My mom hissed as the door shut.

"Yes, I was at the movies with my boyfriend, mom. But I highly doubt it's what you think. There might just be a resemblance between him and who you think but I don't think that it's any reason to-"

"Harper Lawrence, I have seen you nearly throw your life away once, I will not let you get involved with anyone else over this, understood?" My mom hissed.

"You will not 'let' me?" I asked with a laugh. "You're joking, right? I make my own damn decisions!"

"Well clearly not good ones! You are not to see him ever again, understood? I will find out!"

"We've been through this before, mom! You don't own me! You threw me out, remember? I'm with dad now and I swear to God you are not coming back into my life!" I yelled, crossing my arms.

"No boyfriends." My mom said seriously, turning to my dad. "Robert you better enforce this. I will not let some guy ruin her life."

"I highly doubt that will happen." My dad sighed. "I know the guy she's seeing. He's very respectable, been on my team for two years..."

"I don't care how 'respectable' this guy is, they all seem like that at first!" My mom protested. "I will not let some guy ruin her life like that God awful Noah Keller did."

And there it was.

The bombshell.

The big reveal.

The end of my life.

My dad looked like he's just been punched in the stomach.

"I'm sorry what?" He whispered.

I was too shocked to say anything.

My entire body went numb.

My stomach sunk and I felt like my entire world was crashing down.

"Noah Keller...?" My dad said slowly, a frown forming on his face.

"Yes you know him. Noah Keller? Lived a street over? Went to school with Harper? His dad owns the market on fifth avenue." My mom said. "Well the last time she was with him he got her pregnant and that's what started this whole mess. He's the boy that she got tattoos with!"

My dad turned to me with blazing eyes.

"Noah Keller." He said harshly. "Noah Keller got you pregnant. Noah Keller's tattoo isn't just coincidentally like yours..."

"Dad listen I-"

"Harper Lawrence." My dad said bitterly. "You have got some nerve..."

He started walking towards the door but I beat him to it, slipping under his outstretched arm and sprinting down the hallway.

"Noah leave." I said quickly, grabbing the keys to his car from the bowl in the front hall. "Right now, you have to leave."

"Keller!" My dad's voice boomed from down the hall.

Noah's eyes widened.

"Dude! Get up!" I exclaimed, shoving past chairs to get to him. He scrambled up from his seat, tossing his napkin down on the table.

We flew out of the back door into the garage.

It felt like I slammed into a wall, all of the breath leaving my body. I got the sensation I was falling, hurtling through space.

And then I sat up in bed, sweating and hyperventilating.

"Holy shit." I gasped, looking around my pitch black room.

It was a dream.

My mother wasn't here.

My dad didn't know.

We were fine.

We were safe.

Nobody knew.

My stomach twisted and I scrambled out of bed, barely making it across the hall into the bathroom in time.

I fell to my knees as I pushed the toilet seat up, tears filling my eyes as I threw up.

As I was brushing my teeth, I was overcome with a terrifying realization.

"No... No no no no..." I whispered, my stomach sinking. "Oh hell no."

Everything clicked into place and my brain was flooded with a memory that I didn't want to have.

~*~*~

"Why are your eyes all puffy again?" Noah asked, brushing his thumbs across my cheeks as he stepped in front of me.

"Ugh stop." Jasey gagged, slamming her chemistry book shut. "The senior cheerleaders are gonna start mocking you again."

"I don't give a damn what they think. They're jealous I have a boyfriend and they don't." I snapped, glaring at Jasey.

"Answer me." Noah pressed, nudging his knee against mine as he turned on the bench to face me more.

"It's nothing, don't stress." I brushed his hands away, turning my attention to my homework.

"Harper." Noah said seriously. "Are you still not sleeping?"

"I thought you got rid of those nightmares?" Jasey asked as she put her books into her backpack.

"It's nothing." I repeated, stressing the 'nothing' so that they knew to drop it.

"Deal with it." Jasey said to Noah. "I'm late to class." She sighed, pulling her backpack over her shoulder.

"Bye." I smiled as my best friend headed off towards the main building.

"The nightmares haven't stopped?" Noah asked quietly.

"Seriously, drop it." I said urgently.

"Harper." Noah pressed. "This is serious. Remember that website we found?"

"Don't." I told him, my stomach twisting with nerves. "Please don't."

"Hey..." Noah whispered, resting his hand on my arm.

Tears filled my eyes as my hands started shaking.

"I don't want to talk about it." I whispered, sniffling as I tried to look away from him.

Noah pulled my face back to look at him.

"Harper." Noah said firmly, wiping away a tear as it escaped my eyes.

I blinked hard, more tears spilling down my cheeks as my eyes started burning.

I didn't even have to say anything for Noah to understand what I was saying.

I'd been having stomach aches a lot, I was bloated, my hormones were whack, and I'd been craving random foods and eating off the charts. Clearly something wasn't right.

But we're fifteen. We didn't want to admit it.

"Okay." Noah said seriously, his hands trembling as he brushed my hair back from my face. "We'll figure this out."

"We're fifteen." I shook my head. "This can't be happening."

"Harper we're-"

"Our lives are over."

But I should've known... I'd been able to tell for weeks now.

I've never had a nightmare in my entire life.

Clearly something was different.

And that something was that I was fifteen and pregnant.

Fucked, right?

~*~*~

I turned to the toilet and threw up again, my mouth burning with the leftover taste of toothpaste and now fresh vomit.

This time it wasn't from the stress of the nightmare, it was fear that history was repeating itself.

I crumpled to a ball on the floor next to the toilet as an audible sob escaped my lips.

"Harper?"

The door pushed open and my dad tentatively walked in.

"Oh my goodness, you're sick." He said suddenly, walking towards me.

"Oh." I mumbled, wiping my cheeks as I pushed myself into a seated position. "I'm fine."

"Hey, hey don't move." My dad said softly, reaching to flush the toilet and put the lid down. "Everything's fine."

"Yeah, dad you don't-"

"Just stay right there." My dad said, his voice low and calm.

I sniffled, wiping my sleeve across the bottom of my nose as I watched him run a wash cloth under the water.

"Here." He sighed, squeezing it out before placing it on my forehead and sitting down next to me.

I instantly started crying again.

Even before shit went down with my mom, she was never this tender and maternal.

"Are you sick?" My dad asked, reaching to squeeze my knee.

"No, I'm sorry." I shook my head, wiping my cheeks again. The tears just wouldn't stop. "I uh... I had a crazy dream and it just made me sick."

"A nightmare? I used to get those when I was your age." My dad sighed.

"Something like that." I nodded.

"It's probably the stress of everything lately. You've had a tough few years." My dad said with a slight smile, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Understatement of the century." I mumbled.

"But hey, things are going to improve from here, okay? Already these past few weeks you've been on track." My dad said.

"How long have I been here again?" I asked quietly, pushing the wash cloth up slightly so I could see him.

"Six weeks or so." My dad shrugged.

I just nodded, wrapping my arms around my stomach as I felt nauseous again.

"Are you gonna throw up again?" My dad asked, lifting up the toilet seat.

I shook my head but my stomach twisted, betraying my intentions.

"Shh..." My dad soothed, reaching to pull my hair back as I leaned over the toilet again.

My throat was raw and burning when I leaned back against the bathtub again, fresh tears forming in my eyes.

"I fucking hate throwing up." I whispered, taking toilet paper from my dad to wipe my mouth.

"Me too, me too." My dad laughed as the toilet flushed. "Must have been some dream, huh?"

"I throw up when I'm stressed." I mumbled. "And just... I've really been trying in school and stuff and I've got a lot riding on some classes, sorry."

"Have you seen a doctor for this?"

"It doesn't happen frequently." I shook my head.

"What was the dream about? If you don't mind me asking."

"It was a totally chill Thursday Night Dinner with the team but then mom showed up and all hell broke loose in her typical dramatic way." I muttered, stretching my legs out too. "Totally benign but just freaked me out. I really like the way life is right now."

"Listen to me." My dad said seriously, reaching to brush my hair back.

It was damp with both sweat and water from the wash cloth but he didn't seem to mind.

"I know I haven't been the most present father in your life, but things are different now. I am on your side no matter where life takes you, okay? Your mom will not be able to turn your life upside down again. I will always have your back and I will always be here for you, understood?" My dad said seriously, his eyes meeting mine. "I've got countless years to make up for and I'm going to do it the best I can."

"Oh dad..." I sobbed, leaning forwards to wrap my arms around his shoulders. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

My dad sighed, gently rubbing my back as I cried into his shoulder.

"Listen... Even if you're feeling better in the morning, take the day off of school. Stay home, watch some Netflix, eat some soup, I'll clear it with your teachers and get any homework that you missed." My dad told me as I pulled back from him.

"Really?" I sniffed, fixing the washcloth on my forehead.

"Really. You deserve a day off." Dad reassured me. "It's a Friday anyways, no big deal."

"Thanks." I sighed, wiping my cheeks.

"Feeling better?" He asked softly.

I was about to say yes, but then I felt the pit that had permanently rooted itself in my gut, the constant reminder of anxiety that shit was not okay.

I shrugged, on the brink of breaking into tears again.

"Right well we'll just sit here until you feel better." Dad said softly, folding his hands in his lap.

"Thanks." I whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere, Harper."