[COMPLETE]
When Hanna Haddad embarks on what's supposed to be another uneventful summer as a lifeguard on Cape Cod, a trip to the past comes as an unnerving surprise. The discovery of her estranged mother's journal opens up the world of tragedy and...
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"How are you holding up?"
A week had passed since Stella had broken the pregnancy news, and I'd spent much of it trying to coax her out of her house to prevent an otherwise inevitable spiral of depression. She'd finally agreed to have dinner with me after work at one of my favorite burger shops by the beach.
"I don't know," she mumbled, picking up a French fry. She dipped it into the small cup of ketchup, once, twice, and then a third time. She eyed it with disgust and put it down on the edge of her plate. "I'm just...nervous, scared, confused? It's like I'm feeling a million emotions and none at all at once."
I darted my gaze between her untouched hamburger and my half-eaten one. And my entirely eaten plate of fries. "You should eat, Stella. For the baby, at least."
"Ugh, don't say that." She tugged her fingers through her hair and slid her elbows down the table. "It makes it feel so real, you know? I don't feel pregnant. I don't have morning sickness, and I'm not showing yet obviously. I have this window for—what—a couple weeks? Months? And then I'll really have to own up to the fact I'm literally pregnant with the child of a man I dated for four months."
"To be fair, you did meet him a year ago."
Alex had been new to the team last summer, and he'd hit it off with Stella pretty quickly. After lifeguarding season had ended, they hadn't seen each other again until a college party in January.
The rest was history (inside Stella).
"Thank you for trying," she bit back, shooting me a glare.
"So, are you gonna eat those fries because I did pay—"
Before I could finish my question, she jumped to her plate's defense and pulled it towards her. "So," she began, picking up her loaded burger and sinking her teeth into the stack of meat, lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes. "How has work been without me? Any spectacular rescues happen since I've been gone?"
"I saved another senior citizen's bladder?"
Stella didn't understand what I'd meant at first, taking a few seconds to start cracking up. "Who do you have to sit with now?" My cheeks turned pink just at the thought of Jesse. Stella narrowed her eyes as she sipped her drink, a smirk growing on her lips over her straw. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Don't tell me it's who I think it is."
"Yes, it's Jesse," I said, taking the last bite of my burger. I chewed it slowly, trying to avoid Stella's waiting stare. It made me want to spill all my thoughts, but something told me to stay quiet, a looming feeling that I needed to slow these feelings down.
"You know what, I'm not even going to ask any questions because the look on your face says it all," she said, laughing to herself. "Ah, Hanna, I've been waiting a long time."
"Um, Stella, am I seeing things?" I tilted my head up and to the side, squinting.
Sure enough, Alex and Jesse ate dinner together about four tables away. They seemed more engrossed in their burgers than the possibility of a conversation, basking in almost palpable silence.
