ears

something so stupid?" he wailed, standi

, threatening to spill over, but she knew this was the one moment she had to stand her ground against her father. After a

d to her mother, who sat crying softly in the dark leather three-seater armchair. Sarah's h

oke. But it wasn't. Sarah had committed an act considered abominable by their

d. No one could understand the connection they shared: how he seemed to know what she was thinking bef

ice jolted her back to

alone in this situation? "I don't know right now," she sta

know? Does he even know abou

t to calm the storm. "We can't tell anyone about this," her mother insisted. "It has

mean? We don't even know what this child is going to look like-a

teadied. "We will figure it out," she assu

e been her sanctuary now felt like a cage, one built by her carelessness. She was going to spend th

ing the hallway walls for support, her vision blurred. She wondered if the baby inside her was causing this sev

ing onto the pink two-seater couch. The fur pricked her face uncomfortably, but she w

ets and decorative pillows that she tossed onto the rug to make room for herself. She pulled the white blanket over her head, but it fel

-

Sarah exclaimed from her closet as h

st a skirt!" C

r worn before," Sarah replied

once you wear it then,"

r as she tried to do her makeup. "I need an

You need a brown or champagne shade to make them pop," she said, grabbing t

ool, their mothers' friendship practically forcing them together. Despite their differences-Clarke's ou

in their junior year-when Sarah had almost been roofied-she had s

Although Sarah was two months shy of her eighteenth birthday, she wasn't going to miss it. Not when the

r two worlds mingled, and Sarah was fascinate

teen, was more casual about it. For the first time, she was

hat showed off her toned stomach. She paired it with black leather boots and styled her long curly hair in a half

wboy boots. She initially wanted to wear a cowboy hat, but Clarke shot that idea down. "Girl, yo

they both lo