Southern Belles, a Novel About Love, Purpose & Second Chances (9781310340970) by Sarah Anderson

All I wanted to do was
sleep—hoping I would feel better although nothing helped my heart.
I snuggled up to Skylar’s sweater, his scent barely remaining. As
much as I wished I could see him—that things were different—I began
to think it would have been better to never have met him. At least
that way I wouldn’t know the pain and emptiness of a life without
him. The more I thought about him the sadder I felt. I was
paralyzed. And I was afraid if I tried to move on it would mean
that part of my life was over, indefinitely. I didn’t want to hurt
anymore but my heart wasn’t ready to let him go.
    “Do I feel warm CeCe?”
    With her hand on my forehead she said, “no,
but you look pale. How long have you been sick now?” She asked.
    “I don’t know, at least a week maybe. I just
feel so weak sometimes and I can’t stop throwing up.”
    CeCe looked at me seriously. “Char, you’ve
been throwing up, tired, and nauseous for the last week.”
    “I know.”
    “Char, I don’t want to say it, but.”
    “But what?” I blurted out. “Just say
it.”
    CeCe cautiously waited a moment. “It’s been
five weeks since that night and you started getting sick only about
a week ago. You could be pregnant.”
    Speechless, the thought hadn’t crossed my
mind. We were careful. We used protection and it was only once.
There was no way I could be pregnant.
    “You said he used a condom that had been in
his wallet for three years. Maybe it broke. Did you see it before
he buried it in the sand?”
    “No, I didn’t ask to see it.” I said,
frowning at CeCe in disgust.
    “I’m sorry Char. I wasn’t trying to upset
you.” CeCe quickly offered up.
    “I’m sorry Ce—I didn’t mean to snap at you.
I just don’t feel good. I’m stressed, I’m mad and being pregnant
right now is not part of my plan…unless there’s a dog, a ring and
Skylar. My parents would kill me.”
    “I’m sure you’re not pregnant Char. But if
you want I’ll go with you to get a pregnancy test and then you can
cross that off your list and see the campus clinic for whatever
this is.” CeCe proposed.
    “Okay, but I’m wearing sunglasses and your
pink hoodie. I don’t want anyone to recognize me.” I admitted
feeling embarrassed.
    “Maybe I’ll wear my fake mustache.” CeCe
said goofing around.
    “Cecilia Kathryn, this is serious.” I said
as I threw a pillow at her, barely missing her head.
    This was the first time I left the dorm
room, in weeks, other than to go to classes or the cafeteria. As we
crossed the campus to get to the closest drug store I noticed that
some of the trees started to turn a lemony-yellow. I hadn’t really
taken notice of the surroundings since the day we got here. While
we walked arm-in-arm a fresh woody smell, like that of trees after
the rain, lingered in the air. I loved the south. Here and there
other college kids walked past us. I missed being in the outdoors
and realized that my life had come to a halt these last five weeks.
I knew that I had to do something. I couldn’t keep burying myself
in bed all day. It wasn’t what I came here for and I was being a
terrible friend despite my heartbreak. CeCe had been trying to
encourage me all along while I pushed her away so I could wallow in
my sadness.
    “It’s this way.” CeCe said discretely as she
ushered us threw the pharmacy door and towards the aisle with
pregnancy tests.
    I hadn’t been near this section before. I
never thought I’d suddenly find myself in the aisle with birth
control products like pregnancy and ovulation tests beside it.
Trying to conspicuously look and read the boxes to find the best
and preferably least expensive pregnancy test I scanned the shelf
in front of me. There were so many to choose from. One promised
that it could detect pregnancy earlier than all the other pregnancy
test brands. Most of them said results in five minutes or less.
That would be the longest 5 minutes of my life. Some had plus signs
as if to signify me