An Excerpt from Unforgivable by Isabel Love

There are two sides to every story. You heard Charlie’s side in Unconventional. Read on for an excerpt of Anna’s side. Unforgivable is coming next!!

*Unedited and Subject to Change*

Copyright © 2017 by Isabel Love

Prologue

Anna

16 years old (10 years ago)

Positive? What? This has to be a mistake.

My fingers shake as I open the next box and follow the instructions again.

Still positive.

This can’t be happening. Nausea swirls in my belly and my lunch threatens to make an unwelcome reappearance.

One more time, I take out the pregnancy test, dunk it in the plastic cup I peed in and wait the required three minutes.

Positive. All three test strips have a pink plus sign displayed in the window, staring at me.

I hear my mom’s voice in my head. “You’re far too young to have such a serious boyfriend, Anna. Please be careful. Getting pregnant would ruin your dreams.”

But we were careful. Charlie used a condom every. Single. Time. He promised he would take care of me. We have it all planned out. We’re going to go to college in Columbus so that I can go to Ohio State for their pre-med program and he can go to Columbus College of Art and Design. Then, I’ll continue on to medical school and he’ll start building his photography portfolio. Once I’m a full-fledged obstetrician and he has a graphic design firm, we’ll get married and have four kids. That’s our plan.

But now that’s all going to change. Because I’m pregnant.

Pregnant.

Being 16 and pregnant is not a part of our master plan.

These thoughts float around in my brain, but I can’t comprehend them. I feel my stomach for any bump or difference, but it’s still the same. Of course, my period is only one week late, so I can’t be very far along.

But still. How will I finish my junior year of high school pregnant? How can I go to college with a baby? Med school? Residency? Fellowship? How can I do any of it with a baby to take care of?

The nausea is back, but worse than before. Saliva pools in my mouth and I know I’m about to vomit. I lift up the lid of the toilet seat just in time. My stomach clenches and I wretch over and over again. My throat is on fire and my nostrils burn. The acrid smell of vomit makes my eyes burn. Shit, I hate throwing up.

Even when my stomach is empty, I continue to heave. When they finally subside, I flush the toilet and stand on shaky legs. I brush my teeth to rid my mouth of the disgusting aftertaste and splash cold water on my face, just as my cell pings with a text message.

Charlie: Be there in 5. I got your favorite soup.

I close my eyes and try to hold back tears. How am I going to tell him? He thinks I stayed home from school today because I have the flu. And caring boyfriend that he is, he left school to bring me soup.

Without wasting another minute, I gather up the pregnancy tests and put them back in the grocery bag they came in. I stow them under the sink and rush back to my bedroom. My heart is beating a mile a minute as I get under the covers and pretend to be asleep.

Minutes later, my bedroom door creaks open.

“Anna?” Charlie whispers as his footsteps approach the bed.

I keep my breathing as slow and even as I can. I hear him slip off his shoes, pull the covers up and the mattress dips as he slides into my bed. His warm body presses up behind me and he smooths my hair back. Needing his comfort, I turn towards him and burrow my face into his chest, absorbing his warmth. He smells of woods and spice, and I breathe him in to fill up on his familiar scent.

“Hey, Sweets. You doing okay? You feel warm.” He kisses my forehead tenderly.

I can’t speak past the lump in my throat, so I just wrap my arms around his waist and hold on.

“You poor thing. I’m so sorry you’re sick, but I’ll take care of you,” he tells me. This makes me want to cry even more. “What do you want first? Soup or a sponge bath?”

Despite my inner turmoil, I chuckle. Leave it to Charlie to offer a sponge bath when I’m sick.

He hears me huff and assumes that is my response. “Okay, soup it is. Good idea, this way it doesn’t get cold. Soup first, then sponge bath.”

When I don’t move to get up, he pulls back and reaches for my chin. He tilts my face up towards him and studies me. Even though it’s dark in here, I can see his blonde hair all messed up from his hands running through it, his ocean blue eyes twinkling with mischief and his perfect lips, smiling at me just enough to make those dimples pop. As he takes me in, his smile fades and concern takes over, a wrinkle forming in between his eyes as he studies me. “What’s wrong, Sweets? You look sad.”

I try to find the words to tell him that I’m pregnant. That I’ll likely have to drop out of high school. That our dreams can’t become a reality.

Instead I tell him, “I love you.”

His smile is the sun, beaming down at me. His eyes shine with such love and devotion, it makes my stomach somersault.

“I love you, too. So much. I’m going to make you so happy, Anna. I was thinking about our house. What do you say we have a hot tub in the backyard?”

We do this all the time - plan what we’re going to have in our house. What colors will go on the walls. Every month or two it completely changes, but we love to go back and forth telling each other what we want our home to be like.

Thoughts of our future house make the nausea return. Because who knows if we can ever make our dream house a reality? What kind of future will Charlie have when his baby mama is making minimum wage as a cashier at the grocery store?

What kind of future will this baby have with two teenage parents?

I close my eyes and swallow thickly, nodding at Charlie’s suggestion of a hot tub. Tears fall down my face despite my best efforts to hold them back.

“Hey. Talk to me.” He pulls back to look at my face, noticing my tears. “What’s the matter, baby?”

The words get stuck in my throat and shrug.

He sees my hesitation and grows more concerned. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

I nod, knowing I need to spit it out.

Instead I say, “I’m scared.” This much is true. I’m scared out of my mind right now.

“Of what?”

“I want it all so badly. What if we can’t make it happen?”

“We will do whatever it takes to make it happen. I’d climb mountains for you, Anna.”

“But what if I can’t climb? What if I fall?”

“Then I’ll carry you.” His words fill me with hope. And then dread. Because while he has the strength to carry me, my current situation will only drag him down. I’ll be a ball and chain, preventing him from accomplishing his dreams. He’ll give it all up for me, I know. I just don’t want to be the reason he has to. I don’t want him to resent me.

Whatever it takes.

I’d do anything for him, too; anything to make our dreams come true.

I think I know what to do.

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