FicWad

A BEAUTIFUL LIE

CHAPTER TWELVE

“If y'all are going to help me, then I want to go home. Now,” Skyla said.

Shannon grabbed her bag and handed it to her. “Do you want another bag?” he asked her.

“Why would I want another bag?”

“You're going to be gone a really long time,” Shannon told her. “And–”

“You expect me to be gone for nine months?” Skyla asked him incredulously.

“If you expect everything to blow over between you and Jared, you'll have to be gone at least that long,” Shannon told her.

Skyla sighed deeply. “I live out there. I have clothes there. So I don't need another bag,” she told him.

“Fine. I'll make the arrangements for you to fly back home.”

“And I'll call my mother to tell her I'm coming back home,” Skyla said. “That way I have a ride.” She grabbed her bag and went to sit in the sun room. She felt an urge to tell Shannon that she wasn't going to go back home just because of Jared. But she was so angry she couldn't think straight. If she told him anything it'd be one big stutter. She heard a rustle of clothes behind her and jumped.

“You have a flight, thanks to Emma. Unfortunately it isn't until tomorrow,” Shannon told her.

“You say that like you're anxious to get of me,” she told him, a hint of depression in her voice.

“Never.”

Later that night when Skyla was going to sleep, she thought over what Shannon had told her and wiped some tears away. He didn't mean it, she told herself. He didn't mean it. But when she thought over it again, she realized that maybe he was anxious to get rid of her. She sneaked silently into his bedroom, where he was snoring away, grabbed his iPhone, and looked at his and Jared's text message history. Sure enough, there was a text from Shannon to Jared about her flight and Jared had replied with “if you are that anxious to get rid of her, just do it.” She didn't read any further text messages because there were none; she hurried and put his phone back on his bedside table as quietly as she could and snuck back to her room.

When Shannon woke up later that morning, he was standing outside Skyla's bedroom door with some breakfast for her. He woke her up by talking loudly: “So. Decided to go snooping around my room and look at my text messages, did we?”

“So what if I did?” Skyla asked him, stretching. She felt extremely guilty about reading his text messages while he was sleeping because he was the one who always gave her a place to stay when she and Jared were fighting.

“I know you did something with my phone, it was at least three inches from where I set it down,” Shannon told her sarcastically.

“Got any proof?” she asked him.

“I heard someone sneaking around my room earlier this morning. It had to be you.” Shannon came in and sat down beside her. “Anyways, you gotta leave later on today and I decided to bring you something to eat so you can be ready when you leave.”

“Thanks.” Skyla grabbed the top of the bagel on the plate he brought into her room and walked out of her room and towards the sun room. “I'll be back, okay?”

“Yeah.”

When Skyla reached the sun room, she stepped out onto the sun porch and called her mother.

“Skyla?” her mother answered.

“Yeah, mom, it's me,” she answered. “I'm flying back out there, will you pick me up from the airport?” Skyla noticed her voice almost had a begging tone to it. She'll berate me when she finds out why I'm coming back home.

“Yes, I will. I'll be waiting for you, okay?”

“Okay. See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”

Skyla walked back into the living room and looked. “My mom is going to meet me at the airport. Now can we go to the airport or is there some special thing you want me to do before we leave?”

“Fine. Let's hurry and leave,” he said. “But you have to tell Jared first before you do anything, and that includes leaving.”

“I thought I wasn't supposed to!”

“Change of plans. Tell him.”

“Shannon!”

“Tell him!”

“Why? Just to be a single mother? I don't want that!”

Shannon sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. “Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. And you can call a cab to take you to the airport.” Shannon stalked back upstairs, but not before yelling down to her, “Just give them your name and tell them that you should have a ticket on hold!”

Skyla was getting choked up and teary eyed, like she did when she was offended and couldn't take her own side. She was about to call and get a cab to come and pick her up when she heard a knock on the front door. She jerked it open and had to keep her mouth from falling open when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

“Can I come in? Or are you just going to stand there staring at me?” Jared asked her.

“I'm about to slam the door in your face and call a cab,” she said sharply.

“I'm sorry for what I said, okay? If you don't want to have sex then you don't have to have it,” Jared told her, following her around.

“Glad you came to that conclusion after I found out I was pregnant,” Skyla told him angrily.

“I wouldn't leave you if you keep the baby. I promise,” Jared said. “You have my word.”

Skyla stared at him. She decided what he was saying was genuine. “Okay. I need to hurry and catch my flight, it leaves in a few hours!”

“Come on, I'll share a cab with you,” he told her. He grabbed both her suitcase and her carry-on bag and when he looked at Skyla he saw that she had her purse ready and a sad look on her face. He leaned over and kissed her quickly and pulled away as the cab pulled up.

“Why?” Skyla asked him.

“Because you looked upset. What's going on?” he asked her.

“I don't... know. Shannon and I got into an argument and he just... it's all complicated, you know?”

“I know. I'll talk to him later.” Jared sighed and leaned back into the seat in the back of the cab. He was uncomfortable with everything Skyla had already told him. Shannon had made her upset.

And Shannon didn't want a thing to do with her now.