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Then he introduced me to Vanessa, Rachel, Samuel, Howard, and Howard’s wife Ana. They all seemed quite nice, but I was still shaken up by what had happened with Camellia and I was unsure how much I was willing to trust someone else again.
Every part of my mind seemed to be screaming. About doubt. About what Camellia had said to me. About what had happened at that party over three months ago. About Lucas and if he really did love me.
“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Rachel said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“Oh, you have?” I asked, feeling a bit light-headed. I knew that they could probably tell that I wasn’t quite all there at the moment. They were all smiling at me too and all I could think of was Camellia’s smile when she first cornered me.
“Of course!” Rachel gave me a kind smile and squeezed my hand in her own.
“He talked about you. A whole lot,” Vanessa said, putting her arm around Rachel. “Like a little kid with a crush.
Both Rachel and Lucas blushed. I wondered then if Vanessa and Rachel were a thing or if they were just flirting.
“Don’t listen to them,” Lucas said.
“Oh no, listen to us.” Samuel had a playful smile on his face. “We can tell you all the dirt on this guy. He came to us the moment he started crushing on you. And, let me tell you, it was pretty cute. He could probably talk about you for hours.”
“Is that true?” I asked, turning to Lucas.
He blushed and looked down at his feet. “Maybe. I did talk about you quite a lot. But what else was I supposed to do? I liked you a lot, but I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“I liked you a lot too,” I said, reaching across to grab his hand. He looked up at me with an encouraging smile. “For a long time. I was also worried.”
“See, you little lovebirds really had nothing to worry about,” Samuel said, putting his arms around both of us and squeezing us together. “You were scared for no reason.”
“I think we were scared for quite a good reason,” Lucas said. “She was such a good friend and still is. I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose that. But thankfully she did tell me eventually.”
“That she did,” Vanessa gave me a wink. “We were wondering how Lucas worked up the courage to tell you that he liked you. But it turns out he didn’t work it up at all, because you told him first.” She threw her head back in a laugh. “It’s precious, really.”
“I think it’s sweet,” Ana said, giving me an encouraging smile. “I never would have had the courage to tell my Howard that I liked him. So thankfully he did it.” She squeezed his hand and looked up at him with such an adoring and trusting expression.
I found myself wishing then that I had that kind of trust for Lucas. Because while I knew better than to believe her, I couldn’t deny the fact that Camellia’s words had put doubts in my mind.
Was it really right to go into a relationship with Lucas when I was about to have a child? Was it right to give him that responsibility?
And, more than anything else, would we last?
16
Lucas
I could tell that there was something off about Bernadette. Though I wanted her so badly to like my friends, to see how much fun they could be, I also knew that she seemed like she needed some space and some time alone.
I hated that Camellia had come, that she had said things to Bernadette to make her feel like this. To make her look down when she laughed and look sad even as Samuel was telling one of his funnier jokes or as Rachel gave her a hug.
I wanted to make things better, but I had no idea how to go about doing it. It was beyond me, especially because I still didn’t know all of what Camellia had said to her.
I pulled her aside for a second, ignoring the strange looks that I was getting from my friends as I did so.
“Hey,” I said, my eyebrows coming together in concern. “Do you need me to send people home? It doesn’t seem like you’re feeling good.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s clearly not. You’re not acting like yourself at all.”
“What Camellia said just really shook me, that’s all,” she said, but I had a feeling that was not all. I could tell from her voice, her expression, the way she was carrying her shoulders.
“Wait, Camellia was here?” Vanessa asked, clearly having listened in on our conversation.
