Page 55 of The Long Way Home

“And I won’t,” I told her firmly. “I just need to know definitively first.”

An hour and a half later, she walked back into the room with a file in her hand and a serious look on her face. She sat down across from me and looked up.

I knew the answer before she said it.

I knew it before I came.

Twelve tests don’t lie, and neither did my blood test.

“You’re pregnant,” she told me.

“Okay.” I sprang off the bed I’d been lying on all night.

“Magnolia, wait—” Sarah tried to stop me.

“Thank you.” I turned back to give her a grateful look.

And I was grateful, truly, but I had about forty seconds left in me before I lost it.

I ran to my car, cried the whole way home.

I crept back into my house, but bumped into Marsaili passing in the hall.

“Magnolia.” She shook her head. “It’s 3:30 on a school night—”

“—I’m sorry,” I barely choked out.

“Are you crying?” she asked, reaching for my wrist.

“No.” I flinched away from her.

“Did you and BJ have a fight?” she pressed.

“No.” I shook my head again. “He’s just vomiting so I came home.”

She watched me, looking for a reason to doubt my story.

“I smell like vomit—” I shook my head. “I need to shower.”

I locked the door. I showered. I cried until morning.