Page 46 of SnowBound

“Oh, you look better,” Ellie greeted me, perched on her bed, applying flashy blue nail polish to her toes. “That green mask you’ve been wearing in the last few days is mostly gone. Rosy cheeks are a good look on you.”

I sighed. “I thought I was doing fine. Until I got sick minutes ago and a girl asked me if I was pregnant.”

Ellie blinked. And blinked again. “Wait. She did? How bold.”

“Yep. And told me about her roommate who got knocked up. When I replied she was wrong about me, she eyed me like I was an idiot and left. The nerve.”

“Gurrrl, you would tell me if you were pregnant, right?”

I slouched on my bed facing her, my towel still wrapped around me. “Ellie, how can you believe such nonsense? You’ve been here every day since I caught that bug. You’ve seen Jessica and Shana unable to go to class either. Come on, don’t jump on the rumor wagon. The three of us aren’t all magically pregnant at the same time. Fake news is so last year.”

She sighed. “I had to ask. As your best friend, it’s my duty. In case you have a doubt.”

I threw a pillow at her. She raised her hands in surrender, the nail polish cap between her teeth.

“Okay, you’re forgiven since you had my best interests at heart.” I wiggled my finger in her direction. “Finish your art thingy. I’ll get dressed. Maybe you could paint my nails next. I’m feeling almost back to normal. Today is the day I’m returning to class.”

She arched a brow. “You sure?”

“Yes. Stop worrying about me. I’ll be all right. Even Mr. Matthews’s boring class sounds amazing right now.”

“Okay then.”

I rummaged through my closet for something to wear.

In my head, the gears started running at high speed. Even though I tried to brush it away, the question haunted my thoughts. Are you pregnant?

Yeah, right. Me, the girl without a boyfriend and still hung up on Andy, the guy I met days before Christmas, whom I’d never see again. His tousled dark hair and the scruff on his jaw. The build of his shoulder or the way he held on to me as if I mattered to him. His kisses. His permanent scowl that vanished when he looked at me, like really looked at me. We shared our souls for a night, and I could have gotten lost in the depths of his eyes. They were so mesmerizing, like he could see me. The real me. Oh god. Just the memories were enough to send a swirl of heat to my lower belly. And those hours we spent together, I knew they would stick with me forever. A sad smile stretched my lips at the idea we would never cross paths again. I didn’t know his full name, and we hadn’t shared our contact info. I had to forget about him. The sooner, the better.

Flashbacks of our time together still invaded my waking hours. Perhaps forgetting him wouldn’t be as easy as I thought it would be.

Weeks later, reminiscing how special and beautiful and desired he made me feel still sent my heart into overdrive. Melancholy filled me. I’d replayed that night multiple times in my head since we went our separate ways. When I boarded the plane that flew me away from him, I’d bawled my eyes out. For what could have been. And what I had lost. Even though, in all honesty, I never really had him. But, for a few hours, it felt like I did. Thinking about Andy always messed with my feelings. Tears prickled the back of my eyes. Sucking a breath to erase the emotional turmoil taking over me, I picked up a pair of jeans and my favorite sweater, hoping the comfort would ease my internal storm.

Being sick and feverish could explain why the thought of him was sending me into a spiral. My entire self was weak from the virus I’d been battling. It had nothing to do with the man to whom my heart belonged for a night of harmless fun.

This was ridiculous. I was being ridiculous.

For some reason, I couldn’t push away the words that girl spoke as I finished gathering my stuff and Ellie colored my toenails in a peachy-pink hue. We walked to our first class of the morning, and the crisp air did nothing to cool down my complicated feelings this time.