shuhaige
Chapter 51: Who’s The Father?
“I don’t like receiving excessive attention from others, and I don’t like the idea of putting my entire life on the stage to perform for the public. I’m sorry. I’ve gotta go.” Scarlett left her seat and walked out of Stella’s office.
Before she had reached the bus station, Scarlett received a call from Niki.
“What’s up, girl? I never expect you to call” Scarlett was a bit surprised.
Niki had always been the most successful in their dorm in her career and relationships too. She was the Student Union vice president and the leading debater of the school’s nationally ranked debate team. She was lively, cheerful, and caring, and she had many friends from departments too. Undoubtedly, she was much more popular than Scarlett in the department, but that didn’t get between their friendship. Neither cared about such trivial matters.
“Go for an interview with you? Where is it?” Scarlett asked.
“In Wisetown, forty minutes by train. You available today?” Niki was a bit worried because she knew that Scarlett had got some fame recently. She didn’t want to expose Scarlett to the public like that.
“Well, okay, where are you?” Scarlett thought it would be better to accompany her. Westown was a dangerous suburb of Irving– it was ridden with drugs and crime. There were always news reports from the town about homicides and incidents of sexual assault.
“I’m already at the railway station, you can just meet me here!” Niki’s voice regained some of its usual brightness.
Scarlett agreed to meet Niki at the station. Then, she called Francis to tell him that she might be back late tonight. Francis didn’t say anything and was probably too busy to care about her anyway.
Scarlett hurried out of the villa and jumped into the Uber she’d ordered just now. When she arrived at the railway station, Niki spotted her immediately and waved at her, urging her to buy a ticket.
“When is your interview?” Scarlett was pushed forward by Niki.
“Early tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, Jesus. I thought your interview was gonna happen today! So why do we have to be in such a hurry? It’s just 4 p. m., babe. It’s not even tourist season or anything, I’m sure we would’ve gotten a ticket…”
Sure enough, the carriage was almost empty, and there were fewer than a dozen passengers. Scarlett was about to ask her which company she was interviewing for, but she turned around to find Niki had already fallen asleep. She sighed and pulled out the coat from her backpack to cover her.
Niki turned her head slightly, and tears rolled down her face. Scarlett was looking down at her phone and didn’t notice it.
#ScarlettMorris had been listed on the trending hashtags for several days with high clicks and heated discussion. No wonder Stella was so eager to sign her, considering her public attention and commercial value. Plus, Stella has been enjoying all kinds of resources with Francis’s power. Therefore, as long as Scarlett nodded in agreement, the easy days of staying in bed counting money all day would soon become her reality.
She leaned against the window, looking at the trees passing by along the railway tracks. She wanted money indeed, but there were two things that she valued more than money. One was Skyler, and the other was freedom. She knew that an individual without money or social capital could scarcely have freedom in this cruel world. Yet, even on her hardest days, she still sought freedom in her insignificant life. Hopefully, she wouldn’t regret her choice…
***
Niki had already booked an Airbnb online, so she and Scarlett just took a cab directly to the hotel after getting off the train. Scarlett was thinking about her own mess along the way, so she did not notice anything wrong.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.
The Airbnb was nice, better than most college students can afford. It didn’t compare to that fancy hotel Chuck had taken her to in Hong Kong, but this was real life. This was not fantasy.
When they entered the room and put their bags down, Scarlett said, “I didn’t know we were gonna spend a night here, so I didn’t bring anything with me. I’ll go downstairs to buy some stuff later. Anything you need?” Scarlett pulled open the curtain. It was almost dark outside.
“I’m pregnant.”
Scarlett almost pulled down the curtain with a sudden stumble. She looked back at Niki with an extremely startled face.
“What did you just say?”
Niki sat on the bed, obviously much calmer than Scarlett. She looked up at Scarlett and said, “There is no interview at all. I am pregnant. I was too afraid to get an abortion in Irving, in case someone saw me entering the clinic, so I made an appointment to get it here instead…”
Scarlett’s mind had gone blank.
“Who’s the father? Is it your boyfriend? Or were you…” Scarlett could not say the word.
“No, it wasn’t rape. I wasn’t forced into anything. It’s my boyfriend. Actually, my ex. We were both drunk, and it just happened.”
Scarlett’s face turned dark. She said, “Niki, what the fuck? Why didn’t you use a condom? Oh gosh. You should’ve just told me, Niki, you didn’t have to lie to me and say you had an interview. Scarlett paused for a while and continued, “But most importantly, you know an abortion could damage your health, right? And what if this clinic in Wisetown is sketchy and they don’t do it right?”
Niki looked up at Scarlett, and her eyes turned watery. “Do you mean I should give birth to the child instead?”
Scarlett shook her head, “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I just want you to think twice before you do anything. You shouldn’t just jump into a man’s bed because of his stupid sweet words!”
Niki jumped to her feet. “So even you look down on me, huh? Yeah, as if you are all pure and clean, and I’m the only goddamn dirty slut! So what if I had sex and got pregnant? People make mistakes, okay?” She kicked over a stool and fell back on the bed.