heal- tom odell

The next couple of days had somehow flown by. Before I knew it, it was Friday night, and I was in the car with Tobias on the way to tonight's football game.

"I can't believe you're pregnant, Hope." My mom had told Toby the news, so when I got home, he was waiting for me on my bed. Aside from my parents, he was one of the people I was the most scared to tell.

Tobias was a typical big brother, and he was extremely protective of all of his siblings. I had no clue how he would react, but I just didn't think it would be good.

"Toby," I warned.

"All I'm saying is that I can't believe it. I'm not yelling, am I?" He turned to look at me from the driver's seat. His eyebrows were raised, and I could see the tension in his shoulders and the way he clenched his jaw.

"I don't want to talk about it." Toby scoffed but didn't say anything else.

I was an anxious mess in the passenger seat. Today when Layla and I had gotten to school, we noticed two things right off the bat: Connor had moved parking spots, and he was wearing our school's black and white football jersey.

Connor and I still hadn't spoken since I kissed him. I didn't know what to say or do. The pleading texts that I had sent to him had fallen on deaf ears, and it was eating at me. I thought our kiss was good – he literally kissed me back – but I guess he didn't like it.

When we got to the stadium, it was packed. Football was a big thing at our school, and the whole town practically came to the games. Everyone was excited to see Tobias, so I left him to talk to his friends and went to find my parents inside.

My mom never missed one of her kid's sporting events, and my dad always used the time to socialize and talk about his campaign. But I couldn't help but notice all of the stares I was getting as I walked into the stadium.

"Nice ass Hope!" A voice coming from behind me yelled. A boy that looked like a freshman or sophomore was laughing with his friends.

Nice ass? He obviously isn't looking very hard, because unless pregnancy has already drastically changed my body, I have no ass.

My mom waved her hand at me as soon as she saw me. The smile on her face only grew as Tobias joined me. She loved having all of her kids around, and right now, we were all here – minus Raeanna.

"Hope, Layla looks so good in her uniform!" She gushed.

"I'll be sure to tell her Momma."

From beside me, Toby elbowed me and pointed towards the field. "When did Harding decide to play?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "We aren't talking."

"When did that happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What do you want to talk about?" He groaned.

The national anthem began to play soon after, and then the game started. Beau was actually playing, which was a shock to me. I honestly expected to watch him ride the bench the entire game, but I was happy his hard work was paying off.

Connor was also playing, and he was playing extremely well. He had scored once during the first quarter and again in the fourth. Connor's family was sitting a couple rows to the right of me, and each time he got the ball, I could see the excitement that pulsed through them. Even Tobias had mentioned how well Connor was playing.

The way he sprinted every time he got handed the football gave me butterflies. How he smiled when he took his helmet off, and his teammates patted his back after a good play. I had a tendency to smile when I saw him smile, and even though we weren't on good terms, I couldn't help but grin.

When the seconds ran out in the fourth quarter, and the clock rang out, the whole stadium erupted in cheers. The final score was 52-6: a blowout. The student section, full of my ecstatic classmates, rushed the field and joined the football team in their celebration on the field.

As I started to make my way down the bleachers, Troy Madison, a tall lanky boy from my grade, came up to me. We weren't really friends, but we had taken numerous classes together in the past four years. 

"Hope?" He nervously looked around.

"What?"

"I've been looking for you all night. I overheard Jack during pregame, saying something about-"

"Hope!" Layla shouted from behind the fence on the track. Her eyes were frantically looking over me as if she was scanning me to make sure I was okay.

"What?" I looked between her and Troy in confusion.

"Hope... they're out." Layla's voice was practically a whisper, and I almost didn't hear her over the roaring of the crowd.

They were out. Jack actually did it. He really did it.

"Oh my God," my voice was strangled. Fear surged up in my throat, and I clasped my hands together to try and stop them from shaking.

I understood why everyone was staring at me now. Why that guy had told me my ass was nice. God, everyone knew, and I was just sitting there oblivious to it all.

"We need to go." Layla was frantically grabbing her cheer bag and throwing her things in it. "We need to go right now."

She came over to me and wrapped her hand around my forearm, dragging me behind her as she pushed people out of the way. My whole body felt numb, and I frankly didn't know how I was still standing.

At the top of the hill, we ran into some of the football players that were trickling out of the locker room. By the looks of it, Connor had already changed, and he was getting ready to go home. His bag was thrown over one shoulder, and he had a gigantic grin on his face. But as he looked over at Layla and me, his lips turned down into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Don't even think about it, Harding." Layla stuck her hand out and kept walking.

Seeing him only added to the anxiety I was feeling at the moment. If he didn't hate me yet, he was about to.

"Lay..." I murmured. I could feel the bile rise in my throat as Layla rushed us to her car.

"We're almost there, H. It's gonna be fine."

"I'm gonna puke." I bent over, and sure enough, I threw up all over the parking spot next to Layla's car. Layla was behind me, gently rubbing my back, and I could hear her whispering that everything was going to be okay, but I knew that it wasn't. 

Over the pounding in my head and Layla's whispers, I could faintly hear footsteps approaching.

"Connor leave us the fuck alone," Layla growled out. "Please." 

"What happened?"

It was quiet for a moment before Layla spoke again, this time her voice softer and quieter. "The pictures are out."

Those four words alone sent another wave of nausea through me, and I heaved again. This time, the tears that I had been holding back began to fall down my cheeks.

"Hey," Connor crouched in front of me, and he held the side of my face in his palm. If I wasn't busy throwing up and crying, I would have pushed him away from me. "Please look at me."

As much as I wanted to yell and argue with Connor, I couldn't help but relish in the comfort that he radiated. For as long as I could remember, he was a staple in my life, and I felt protected when he was around.

Connor smiled at me and tucked my hair behind my ear when I finally looked up at him. "Let's get you out of here, okay?"

"Hope," Layla spoke up. "I can take you home if you don't want Connor to take you."

I looked between the both of them and shrugged at her. I didn't really care where I went at this point I just wanted to go to sleep.

"Why don't you just come over Layla? We can watch movies all night, and it'll be like old times."

Layla stared at me for a second before turning towards Connor and nodding. "Okay."

I could tell that she was worried about me. Layla and I had been best friends for so long, and she knew me better than I knew myself. She was waiting for me to break and be an emotional, crying, booger snotting mess. Just wait, I thought. Give me a couple of hours, and I'll be a mess.

What a fucking shit show.

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hi guys! this another one of my chapters that just is not my favorite :( but is till hope you enjoyed it! comment below where you're from!