Paite chapter 1 [FINAL DRAFT]

okay, here's the final draft of Paite. Enjoy!

First Life

 

 

 

One moment, everything was perfect. Then, only an instant later, things became disastrous.

“You’re pregnant?” Taylor asked.

Three months before, when Bekkah had confirmed her fears, a million questions had flooded her mind.

The most prominent one: How would Taylor react?

Bekkah had procrastinated for months, telling herself it couldn’t be true. She told herself she wouldn’t have to tell Taylor. There was no baby. She was just overreacting.

She wasn’t.

Bekkah knew what Taylor was thinking. She could see it in his eyes. She recognized that look. These were the same worries she had mere months before. Bekkah was only fifteen. This couldn’t be happening.

Taylor shook his head furiously.

“What are we going to do?” he asked, helplessly, as he collapsed on his bed.

“Well, We can’t tell my parents…” Bekkah started, as she took a seat next to him.

Bekkah placed her hand inside Taylor’s; she knew that it was scary to find out you were going to be a parent soon.

“How long have you known?” Taylor asked, suddenly.

Bekkah paused; this was the part that she had been dreading. Three months was too long to keep a secret like this. Taylor would probably have a heart attack when he found out.

Three months before, Bekkah had considered many options:

She could get an abortion, though; she wasn’t sure how she would do that without letting her parents know.

She could fess up to her family and have the baby, only to raise him or her in Lucielle.

Or she could go to Paite.

Bekkah had been too scared for too long. She knew that once she told Taylor things would go downhill. He would want to tell their parents. He would want to get things under control.

Bekkah didn’t see this as a controllable situation. She had gotten pregnant, and now she had to do what was right for her baby. No questions asked.

“Bekkah… How long?”

Taylor’s pressing tone dragged Bekkah from her thoughts.

“Three months…” she said, quietly.

Bekkah let one hand drift down to her swollen abdomen and stroke the small, barely visible bulge that seemed to be taking over her life.

“Three months?” Taylor gaped. “Bekkah… Why didn’t you tell me?”

Bekkah took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I—I was afraid of what you’d think,” she said.

Taylor stood up, suddenly, began to pace. He did that when he was upset. He paced around the room, as if it would fix his problems to keep walking.

“What I would think?” Taylor questioned. “Bekkah, this is my fault!”

“What?” I Bekkah demanded, getting to her feet. “Taylor, it was me! I should have… I should have… Well, I shouldn’t have gotten pregnant.”

“Like you could help it,” Taylor snorted. “It’s all my fault, Rebekkah. Don’t try to hide it, I kno-“

Bekkah cut Taylor off, her voice full of rage. “Do not call me Rebekkah!” she shouted. “And, stop being so hard on yourself. I’m just as much to blame as you are.”

Taylor rubbed his eyes, as if he were deep in thought.

“It’s not that, Bekks,” Taylor began. “I’m the adult here. I should have known to stop this before it started.”

Bekkah felt a throbbing pain on the inside of her chest.

“Are you saying that you… regret what we did?” Bekkah asked timidly, as she took her seat on the bed. Bekkah felt like more of a child in this moment then ever before. Suddenly, the world felt to… big. Here she was, sitting on, Taylor’s too big bed, in his too big room, with her too-big-secret rotting her from the inside out.

“Of course I do,” Taylor snapped, coolly. “You’re pregnant, Bekkah, and obviously, you don’t understand who serious this is. I should have thought this through… You’re just a kid…”

Bekkah buried her face in her hands and felt the tears begin the flow before she could stop them. She needed Taylor to understand. Even since they had met, Taylor had been the only one who really got it. But, now… things were different, and Taylor was the one who didn’t seem to understand.

“Look Re—” Taylor paused, before correcting himself. “Look, Bekkah. I know that this must be really hard on you… I’m being insensitive… What can I do?”

Bekkah shook her head.

Part of her was furious at Taylor. He had said he regretted sleeping with her. And, he had called her a kid. There was something different about hearing those words come from Taylor. Taylor, who had always made her feel more like an adult. Now… she was just another child. A child with too many responsibilities and not enough time.

“You can’t do anything now, Taylor. What’s done is done,” Bekkah gulped. This wasn’t why she came. Bekkah had come to say goodbye to Taylor. She had made her decision about her future, and she knew she couldn’t stay here.

Bekkah just couldn’t face telling her parents that she was pregnant. Especially not with Taylor’s child. He was older—eighteen to be exact—and he was a Satanist, Pentecostal enemy number one.

Taylor was the last person that Bekkah’s parents would want her to be around, and if they got word that their daughter was pregnant with his child, they would never be able to forgive her. Let alone forgive him.

On top of that, Bekkah couldn’t imagine raising a child in Lucielle. She had always dreamed of getting out of the city and starting her own life. She would just have to start it a little earlier than planned.

It’s no big deal, Bekkah told herself. There’s nothing to worry about. I can do this.

Lies.

“Taylor… I told you that I couldn’t tell my parents…” Bekkah sighed, looking down at her shoes. “I have another idea…”

Taylor looked up at her, meeting her glance with his blue-green eyes.

“What is it?”

“I think that I should go to Paite,” Bekkah mumbled.

“What?” Taylor shouted, suddenly his arms were around Bekkah, and his mouth was pressed against hers, his kiss so ferocious it seemed as if he were trying to hold her in place.

“No, Bekkah, no…” Taylor whispered frantically in her ear. He rocked back and forth, his face in her hair, his hands holding her body close. A few months ago, Bekkah would have found Taylor’s touch electric. She would have been happy to be here in his arms.

Now, it felt as if this embrace was nothing more than a place where their fears could mix. There was nothing here. Nothing.

“Just don’t leave me… Please…” Taylor pleaded.

“Taylor, I—I can’t stay here. My parents…”

“Who cares?” Taylor asked. “You don’t want to tell them about this?” He asked, motioning to Bekkah’s stomach. “I’ll handle it. Just don’t leave me.”

“Taylor, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Bekkah said, shaking her head. “And even if you were to tell my parents, do you think that that would make things better? They’ll hate you even more if they get the news from you. And, they’ll never except this.” Bekkah sighed.

Bekkah could tell he was trying. Taylor was trying so hard to hold it together. He was trying to make Bekkah think things were okay.

Like that time on the helicopter… He thought he could calm her down… He thought he could convince her to stay.

Not this time.

This was different.

“Bekkah,” he said, suddenly stern. “You can’t leave me. I’ve already lost so many people to Paite… Steve, Lisa, Rachelle, Lia, L’wren.” Taylor ticked the names off on his fingers. “I can’t loose you too.”

Bekkah was crying harder now. The sobs were escaping her lips weather she wanted them to or not. How could she tell him no? How could she just walk away from him? Why was it so hard to do the right thing?

“Maybe… Maybe… I could come with you!” Taylor said, suddenly. “We could leave together. We could both go to Paite. I could see my sisters, and my brother, and my niece, and L’wren. We could all be together…”

But, Bekkah was shaking her head. It couldn’t be that way, and they both knew it.

“You have to stay…”

“Why?”

“Don’t play dumb, Taylor, you and I both know that you couldn’t do it.”

Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, I ‘couldn’t do it’?”

Bekkah knew she shouldn’t have said anything. Taylor would not go down without a fight.

The truth was: Taylor was no father, he was too self-involved. Even Bekkah knew that. Taylor couldn’t take care of a baby. He couldn’t even take care of himself.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with it,” Bekkah said, quickly.

“Neither should you.”

Bekkah sighed. “But you don’t have to,” she explained. “You’re not physically connected to this baby, Taylor. You don’t have to be a father. And,” Bekkah stuttered. “I don’t want you to.”

Bekkah could hardly stand to watch Taylor tear himself apart the way he was right then. His blue-green eyes were watering just like they had been the first time they had met. He looked so genuinely upset. Bekkah couldn’t stand to think that she had hurt Taylor.

He had gotten her through everything.

Bekkah was alive because of Taylor. He had saved her that day on the helicopter.

What a poor way to repay him.

Bekkah gulped and pulled herself to her feet. “Taylor,” She choked out. “I’m going to Paite, and I-I want you to stay behind… Goodbye.”

With that, Bekkah turned on her heal and fled from the room, leaving Taylor alone on the mattress. She had to put her own feelings aside now.

She had to do what was right for her baby. No questions asked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[nemmm]

Amazing.