Chapter 17
Francesca's POV.
I froze where I sat, not knowing what to say or think.
It was as though his words choked out air from my airway and my lungs.
The taunting silence that ensued in the treehouse threatened to make me mad, and I was scared that I wasn't going to walk out sane.
I watched every one of his gesture, desperately hoping that he would tell me that he was applying for stand-up comedy, and he was using me as a test subject.
I would get mad, but at least I wouldn't get broken.
But there was nothing from him.
Nothing but a straight, emotionless face that held no hopes of a take back.
Or was I the one who didn't hear him well?
"What did you say, Emilio?", I questioned, hoping that he would put me out of my misery.
But he didn't.
"The sex didn't give you ear problems, Francesca. You heard me the last time. I'm breaking up with you."
"But... But...", I got up from the ground immediately, getting restless. "What did I do wrong? Tell me, and I promise to apologize. Just tell me-"
"Wait a minute", he looked at me like i was some strange alien. "What did you think this was? That we were going to be happily ever after? That we were going to ride to the sunset after a loving wedding?", He questioned, and suddenly cracked up in laughter when he saw the stark confusion on my face.
"They told me you were a fool, but no... You're a dunce!", He taunted when he finally calmed himself down.
"Wh... What?"
"Take a look at us, Francesca. Take a look at us! Have you ever seen a popular kid fall in love with a nerd for no reason? You're nothing but a bookworm with no social life whatsoever, and I have a reputation to keep. I'm sure you're a hopeless romantic, but permit me to announce to you that relationships like this only happen in the movies."
I opened my mouth to say something, but I was too dumbfounded to even say a word. I had waves of a million emotions overwhelming my being. It felt like my nervous system was shutting down.
"So... You never loved me? All of that was a lie?"
He groaned and shook his head. "Do you really want to know that bad? Okay fine. You're a challenge."
"A challenge?"
"Yes, baby. I've fucked all the girls in our class. All of them except you. We're about to graduate, and my friends reminded me that I had to fuck every girl in the class to be the real king of dicks. I knew you wouldn't fall if I made a casual advance, so I decided to go unconventional and go romantic first. Now that I've had what I wanted, I need to stop pretending and move with life-"
"Emilio!!", I screamed in rage and hurt. "I fucking gave you my body!! You took my virginity!! How dare you take advantage of me like this?! What did I do to deserve this?!", I fired questions at him, not bothering to clean the tears that were rolling down my face, even though my eyes were too blurry to see him clearly.
"Look, things happen, Francesca. Stop making a big deal out of it. You enjoyed it, and so did I. And so will the next person after the next person that goes in there. I'm sorry, but I don't date hoes."
His words hit me like a fucking truck against my chest, and couldn't do anything but watch as he kissed me on the forehead before leaving the warehouse.
My once perfect world was crashing down, all because I believed in love.
*****
The next few days that passed, I'd been feeling dizzy, and today wasn't an exception.
I woke up today feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I also had a headache, but since I had no one to complain to, I just took painkillers and kept on living my life.
We had exams, and today was the most important paper.
I read a little, but not as much as I wanted to.
I managed to get to school, but I was feeling way worse than I was feeling earlier this morning. It was only a few minutes before lessons would start and everybody was chatting in the hallway.
I felt weak, and I had pains everywhere. I couldn't focus on anything because of the headache and dizziness.
And all of a sudden...
"Oh my goodness!! That girl is throwing up!!", Someone screamed in horror. Everyone in the hallway stared at me as I kept on vomiting. My legs couldn't hold me anymore, so I fell to my knees as I kept throwing up.
"That's disgusting, dude!!", a random person said.
What the hell was happening to me?!!
No matter how many times I tried to stop,.it just kept coming.
"The janitor would not be happy to see that", another hooted and they laughed.
Some of the students looked in horror, some jeered at me, some stared in pity, most of them were videoing the whole thing with their phones. All until a teacher called them in order and helped me up.
"I need to call your dad. Meanwhile, let's take you to the school clinic", she said as we walked away from the scene.
The last thing I remember was being led into the school hospital before being knocked out.
****
"Pregnant?!! My daughter, pregnant?!! How?!!, my father questioned the doctor in shock.
"That's what the results show, sir. We suggest that you take it easy-"
"How did this happen?! When did you have the free time to have sex?!", He turned and questioned me.
He immediately stood up from the corner of the hospital room and walked to her.
"Francesca, please tell us... Who did you have sex with?", The school principal pleaded.
From the way she sounded, I guessed they wouldn't be that angry.
"It... It was... Emilio"
"What?!!!", my father screamed in shock.
"You slept with who?!! When? Was it... Was it the one you claim to be in love with?"
"The same Emilio who was transferred out of the county by his father?"
My father and I both looked at the principal, confused as hell.
"He hasn't been to school recently, and when last I called his father, he told me Emilio wouldn't be studying here anymore", he confessed.
"Fucking hell!!", I shrieked in horror.
"But that's not the situation at hand now. The NGO in charge of her scholarship heard that Francesca is pregnant, and that she failed the compulsory subject by her absence today, so they immediately withdrew her scholarship. They won't be supporting you financially anymore", he explained to us and it took us a second or two to digest it.
"This girl has destroyed me", my father shook his head in regret.
"Father, I swear I didn't know what came over me-"
"I asked you for this one favor, but you used the opportunity to fuck?", He questioned, his eyes full with tears.
"My father, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional-"
A big slap from my father shut me up immediately.
"You're a shame. Your sick mother would be disappointed in you!", he spat and walked out of the hospital room.
****
Three days had gone by, I wished the ground would open up and swallow me.
All eyes in school stared at me in some kind of way whenever I walked past them. Somehow, word spread that I was pregnant. They just didn't know who was responsible. Everyone avoided me like I had leprosy. Being invisible sure felt better than being ostracized.
Home wasn't any fun either. My father decided to give me only one square meal a day, and he doubled my chores. I barely had time for myself, and I went to bed most nights, starved.
I finally had the time after closing hours to ring Emilio.
I'd done this a million times before now, but I was lucky he picked up this time.
"What do you want?", His harsh voice irritated my ears.
"Where have you been?"
He didn't answer my question, but I heard loud music and voices of excited ladies in the background. "Are you with other women, while I'm suffering here?"
"You haven't explained while you're calling."
"I'm pregnant."
"And so?"
I was stunned. "And so?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Come take responsibility of course! Do you know what I've been through in the past few days?!"
"You'll have to be strong, because you'll go through more. My father put me on a one way trip to Brazil. You'll never get to see me again, Francesca. Stop calling my number and move the fuck on, bitch!"
The line went silent.
With shaky hands, I pocketed the phone and allowed tears to roll down my eyes.
The only mistake I made was falling in love with someone.
Now I'd lost everything.
Everything I worked hard for, was gone.
I nodded my tears and cleaned my tears.
I came to one decision to save myself from this mess.
"I need to abort this thing in my tummy."