Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

After a successful meeting with my GP and midwife, I was still feeling a lot more positive. Some of the things they said scared me a little bit, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to what was coming, but there was so much to focus on, I wouldn’t have any time to worry. Immediately afterwards, Auntie Julie took me shopping to stock up the cupboards with folic acid supplements and food the doctor had recommended to me. It just seemed so unreal; I found it impossible to believe that in less than eight months from now, I would have an actual baby. My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my phone.
“Sorry, one minute,” I muttered, leaving the room.

“What was that about?” Auntie Julie asked when I returned.
“I got the job,” I squealed, running to give her a hug.
“Honey that’s great,” she smiled warmly, “When do you start?”
“This Saturday,” I told her. Instantly, I started panicking about pretty much everything. I’d rushed into everything so fast, barely even thinking about it. Would I actually enjoy it? With the GCSEs, and now the baby, would there even be enough time for me to work?

Saturday soon came and all my worries turned out to be pointless. There were only five of us working there in total. So far, I’d met Sally the owner, obviously, and Brianne, a nineteen year old that I instantly clicked with. She was so sweet and explained basically everything I needed to know. She was tall and slim, with perfect skin and bleach blonde hair. I guessed she was one of the popular people that was always surrounded by guys, but for some reason, I wasn’t at all intimidated by her. Conversation came naturally and my first day overall went surprisingly well.

After a successful day at work, exactly six weeks since I got pregnant, the guys all went round to Rowan’s, and they said I should come too. Rowan lived by himself, owning a tiny little flat. It was cosy and tastefully decorated, and I felt very content.
“Hey, how are you gorgeous?” Cyrus asked, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m alright thank you, you?”
“I’m great,” he grinned, “So have you figured out who the daddy is yet?”
“Not yet,” I shrugged, surprised at the way he made it sound like a game, but in all honesty, I was beginning to think I’d never find out. I’d just have to live with the embarrassment of telling everyone I don’t know who the father is.
“We need to work this out, okay, what guys were at the party?” Ellis asked.
“Jeez Ellis, that’s not gonna work. There were probably about sixty guys at the party,” Cyrus chuckled.
“Well do you have any better ideas?”
“Nope,” Cyrus sighed, and I laughed.
We spent the next half an hour going through pretty much every guy at the party and trying to work out exactly where they were at the time I went upstairs, but since all of us but Rowan were whacked out our minds, it was hard to piece everything together. Somehow we managed to cancel about seven people out of the equation, but that was as far as it went.
“When’s your due date?” Layton asked, pretty much the first thing he’d said all day.
“March 3rd,” I told him.
“That’s alright I guess. At least when you go on study leave, and take your GCSE exams, the pregnancy will be over,” Rowan explained.
“True,” I smiled. I’d never really thought of it like that, and yeah, he was right, at least the baby wouldn’t come during an exam or something.

That Wednesday was the last day of school before the six week holiday. I was looking forward to having the first fun and carefree summer of my life, maybe the last now that I was having a baby.
“Alright, you two coming up the beach tonight?” a boy in my year asked me and Mel as we headed out of school. Mel looked at me, a pleading look on her face.
“Sure,” I smiled, as Mel threw her arms around me.
“You absolute legend, thank you so much,” Mel grinned. Needless to say, social gatherings weren’t exactly my thing, but I decided it was worth a shot since I would be a lot more limited once I had the baby.

Two hours later, Mel and I were on our way to the beach. When we arrived, there was a group of about twenty people sitting in a group underneath the pier. I could already see people were beginning to get drunk, and for a minute I wondered if this was a good idea.
“Come on, it will be fun,” Mel grinned, sitting me down next to her.
“Perfect timing Princess, you can come and get the fish and chips with me,” a guy said to Mel, and I flinched, wondering why everyone called her that.
“Yeah, good one Luke,” Mel frowned, getting to her feet and grabbing a beer.
“What about you then?” Luke asked, turning to look at me.
“Umm…sure,” I muttered, forcing a smile, as I got to my feet and headed up the beach with him. Anything was better than sitting with a bunch of drunks.
“So you live with your cousin right?” Luke asked casually.
“Yeah,” I said quickly, hoping he wouldn’t get suspicious.
“You’re very…quiet, what’s the deal with you?”
“I just don’t like people knowing every aspect of my life.”
“So the rumours are true,” he laughed.
“What?” I gasped, alarm bells ringing in my head.
“Relax,” he smirked, hitting me playfully on the arm.
“What rumours?”
“I was joking,” he smiled, and I decided he had a nice smile.
“What rumours?” I persisted.
“I heard that you’re pregnant.”
“Shit, where did you hear that?” I gasped. How the hell had word got out? I knew people would find out eventually but not this early on.
“Just rumours,” he frowned, “It’s not true, is it?”
“No, no,” I said quickly, but clearly too quickly because he knew I was lying.
“I’m not gonna tell anyone Jenna,” he promised.
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s not my secret to tell.”
“Thank you,” I smiled, and I meant it. Although I believed him when he said he wouldn’t tell, I couldn’t help but fear he wasn’t the only one that knew. To my relief, he didn’t ask any more questions. I expected him to ask who the father was, how it had happened and so on, but instead he simply changed the subject to something a lot less sensitive.

As we headed back to the rest of the group, laden with fish and chips, I saw a figure leant over the edge of the pier, staring down towards us. It was a thin dark haired man, with a distinctive scar above his eyebrow, and I recognised him from somewhere. He’d come into the shop on Saturday…and he had been standing by the school gates when I came out the other day. Was he following me? One word rushed through my mind. George. He swore revenge, and now he’d sent someone for me.
“I have to go,” I cried, throwing the food into Mel’s arms and running home as fast as my legs would carry me.