Page 41 of All That Lies Between Us

“Are you sure?” she asks, gripping my hand tightly.

I nod slowly, every day of the past two months connecting in my mind and none of them producing an answer.

“But I have the implant,” I say, holding up my arm and running my fingertips over the flexible little bar in my arm. “I can’t be pregnant. It must be stress or something. I mean, aren’t these supposed to be almost one hundred percent effective?”

“We’re going to the store. Now!”

All I can do is nod as she runs into her bedroom. When she runs back out, she’s holding a pair of bright red sandals. I stay perfectly still on the couch the entire time, the same thoughts circling repeatedly.

It’s just stress. There’s no way I’m pregnant.

She slips her sandals on and grabs my bag on her way over to me. With a look of determination, she yanks me up by my arm. “Let’s go.”

I groan, grabbing my bag from her and following her out the door. We begin walking down the street toward the closest pharmacy.

“Wait.” She stops suddenly. “Whose baby is it?”

“We don’t know that I’m pregnant, Olivia,” I grumble and yank on her to keep walking. “Watch. I’m going to take a test, and we’ll see this is all just a big misunderstanding.”

“Uh-huh,” she mutters, pulling out her phone. “That’s not an answer.”

I roll my eyes and take a deep sigh.

“It would have to be Chase’s,” I say quietly. “Ethan and I weren’t really having sex there at the end.”

“Pregnancy symptoms,” she mutters as she types on her phone. I act uninterested in her search but walk with bated breath until she continues. “Mood swings?”

I shrug.

“Fatigue,” she continues. “Yep. Nausea. Yep. Are your boobs tender?” she asks loudly, and I sigh, grabbing her arm to steer her out of the path of an old woman coming our way. I smile apologetically at her while she shoots daggers at me.

“Can you put that thing away? We’re almost there.” I walk a little faster toward the entrance of the pharmacy. Once inside, I stop, taking a quick inventory of my surroundings. I check out the markers at the top of the aisles until I find Family Planning tucked in the back corner. Olivia grins, snatching up a small black basket and tucking her arm in mine to steer me in that direction.

I feel overwhelmed as I squint down at the pregnancy tests. “Wait, what’s the difference between pink dye and blue dye?”

Olivia just shrugs. Some tests are only a couple of bucks, while others are closer to twenty.

“Do you think the more expensive they are, the better quality they are?” I ask.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe. But could they really sell tests that don’t work?” she asks. I chew on my lip, thinking it over, and she starts grabbing packages and throwing them into her basket.

“That should do it,” she says. I laugh, even though my insides feel like they’re twisted up in a queasy knot. “Now, we need ice cream!”

“Why do we need ice cream?” I ask, trailing behind her to the freezer section.

“We need ice cream to either celebrate you being pregnant or celebrate you not being pregnant.”

She twists her lips in thought as she looks over our options, finally selecting a pistachio and a mint chocolate chip. She holds them up in front of me in question and I nod, holding out my basket for her to put them in.

The woman working the register frowns slightly and then smiles at me. “Not sure which to buy?” she asks nicely. I smile, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. She grabs three of the boxes and moves them to a countertop behind her.

“This will do the trick.” She slides the box over the scanner and plops it into the bag. “Oh, ice cream,” she says. “You’re definitely gonna need that too.”

“See, I told you,” Olivia says, knocking her arm into mine. She grabs the bag. “I’ll carry this. Too heavy for you.”

I stick my tongue out at her as she winks. I’m grateful she’s here, trying to keep me from overthinking until it’s the only option I have.

After I pay, we head back home, arm in arm. Olivia and I are both quiet this time, knowing each step brings me closer to answers I might not be ready for. Once we’re back in our apartment, she puts the ice cream in the freezer and then hands the bag to me.

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