Summer's Last Breath

Part 37

"Earth to Erin."

Noah's voice intruded on my thoughts. Thoughts filled with images of Jamie's green eyes and his bare skin and the way he'd absolutely consumed me for the last thirty-six hours.

"What?" I blinked, not wanting to let those images go just yet.

"Never mind. You haven't heard a thing I've said."

"I'm sorry." I was sitting in the passenger seat of the Bronco, and my head lolled to the side, my mouth lifting at the corners. Noah had one hand on the wheel, and a few strands of his hair had escaped the confines of his ponytail and blew on the breeze.

I hadn't been ignoring him on purpose. I was understandably distracted. I was coming off of my honeymoon for goodness sake—a perfectly dreamy honeymoon. A dream I'd groggily awoken from this Monday morning and been forced back into the real world. For a second, with the morning sun shining weakly through the open windows, Jamie's arms had tightened around me, and I'd thought about quitting school. But I was determined not to become any more of a statistic by adding high school dropout to my resume. If Jamie disapproved, he hadn't shown it, but he couldn't hide his apprehension when he'd kissed me goodbye earlier. He'd wanted to drive me to school himself, but I seriously doubted I could make myself get out of the car if Jamie were in it. And maybe I was a little apprehensive too. Though I had been expecting things to feel different at school, I remained hopefully optimistic about the reception I would get from my classmates. I was pregnant. I was married.

Big whoop, right?

Ally had asked if she could post a few pictures from the wedding on her Instagram and I'd said yes. After seeing the two hundred and thirty-nine likes her collage had generated, which included of a close-up of her bouquet and one of Jamie and I kissing, I'd assumed that meant people genuinely liked it.

Once Noah and I pulled into the parking lot, I wasn't so sure. The change was subtle. The smiles cast my way had a different slant, and there was almost a sarcasm attached to the well wishes that came from my classmates.

"Hey, Erin. Congratulations." This from Charlene Goodson, accompanied by a smile before she gave Noah a slow once over.

"Thanks," I said and kept walking, my spine tingling with awareness under the eyes following my progress to my locker.

The feeling never went away. It only intensified as I sat in my desk during geometry and then during history, and I swore I could feel the touch of everyone's eyes on my skin.

And Noah, it seemed, had taken it upon himself to act as my bodyguard. On most days, I'd run into him a few times in the hall, but today he'd shown up everywhere I turned, making it a point to walk me to my classes. He'd sat with me at lunch and now, as I made my way to art class, he'd come up behind me, walking so close I could feel his body heat. He was taking his brother-in-law duties very seriously. It made me wonder if Jamie had asked Noah to look after me. I made it a point to find out and, if he had, insist he call Noah off. His hyper-defensive countenance was drawing stares.

"I don't think the bodyguard routine is necessary."

"Well, I do. I don't like what I've been hearing today."

I sighed at his doggedly determined tone.

"I'm not the first girl to get knocked-up this year." I was the second. People had talked about Tory Holbrook too. And the gossip had quickly run its course. "They'll talk and they'll get bored and move on."

Most of what I'd endured today had been bearable. A few sly whispers, condensing smiles, and judgmental looks, but I figured those were par for the course in Dealing With Teenage Pregnancy 101. If today was as bad as it would get, I'd proven I could deal.