The cathedral held more people than I had expected, and the despair of those grieving around me was too much to withstand. The more I sensed their dejected emotions, the tighter my lungs became.

“I need some air,” I whispered to Lucas, who was seated next to me with a solemn expression as he listened to Bruce’s mother speak to those in attendance.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just really need to get out of here. This is too much for me.”

“Alright, I’ll come with you.”

“No. Stay here. I’ll only be a minute.”

I squeezed my way through the row of Jerome’s mourning friends and made my way out of the church, walking up a block to further distance myself from the overwhelming depression. Leaning my body against an iron fence outside of a park, I looked up at the blue, cloudless sky. The pleasant breeze that passed would have soothed my spirits had it not also whipped up an eerie chill.

Scanning my surroundings, I spotted nothing but normal pedestrians and cars driving by until my eyes landed on a certain someone crossing the street.

“Oh, hell no,” I couldn’t help but voice.

Robyn walked in the direction of the church until I cut her off. “You’re not going in there,” I sneered, now standing toe-to-toe with her. “You’re not gonna disrespect my dead friends like that. You never cared about them, you just wanted to get close to my boyfriend, you hoe.”

“I never cared about them? They told me I was cooler than you,” she snapped back, her words piercing my heart. “Yeah, you heard me right. They actually had fun with me around. I didn’t pretend to be some mother-like figure and stop them from pulling pranks on people. I joined in on the fun, something you’d never do because you’re—”

My sudden gasp put an end to her rebuttal. I covered my mouth with my hand as my eyes grew wider at the sight of her torso.

“Y-your stomach. H-how did your stomach grow so much after only a few days?”

“It doesn’t matter. This is my child, and Lucas is the father. You’re not going to keep us apart.”

“You’re lying. That’s not Lucas’s baby, and I won’t let you accuse him anymore.”

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A luster of white aura radiated in my left hand until a chakram was manifested. Robyn smirked at my proposal to fight.

“Your little hula-hoop is adorable, but I hope you’re not threatening me with it. You really want everyone out here to see you throwing down with a pregnant chick?”

“If it means saving my boyfriend from a life with you, I sure as hell will.”

Accepting my challenge, she summoned her scythe in her right hand. “I should’ve killed you in the hospital when Lucas left me in the room with you.”

“Lucas would never bring you to see me. I’m done believing your lies. You claim a person can only manifest one desire, but you have that scythe—for whatever reason—and that demon spawn in your stomach. If that baby is real, it should still be around after I do this.”

I was ready to strike with my weapon when a familiar voice caused me to stop and turn my head.

“What’s going on here?”

Lucas approached us, his face crinkled in irritation at Robyn’s presence. When he got closer, his eyes began to widen in disbelief at the size of her belly.

“No way. Is this a joke?”

“A joke?” Robyn retorted. “Do you want me to lift my shirt up?”

“Please don’t,” I begged. “Desiring Lucas’s child just so he’d be with you is sad as hell. You need a life.”

“No, what’s sad is that you can’t accept reality even when it’s right in your face. Well, he did tell me you were the gullible type.”

“That’s enough. I’m tired of this,” Lucas shouted, pulling me away from Robyn to confront her himself. “Robyn, our friendship, association, or whatever the hell we called it these past few weeks, is over. I don’t care what the results for that test were. The bottom line is that I never had sex with you. The band is done, which means we’re done. I’m doing things solo now, so I don’t ever wanna see your face again unless I have to in school. That’s it.”

I had expected her to yell back in rage, but all I sensed was her sadness increasing the angrier he became.

“How can you say that after everything we’ve been through?” she questioned him. “You would throw me and our child away for her? Even after all the moments we shared, this is how you treat me?”

Lucas appeared flabbergasted. “Are you nuts? What moments? From a year or two ago?”

“Yes. Our memories. You don’t get close to someone and then kick them to the curb when you’re bored and frustrated. We had moments together that I’m never going to forget. You can stand there and act like our past doesn’t mean anything to you because she’s around, but I know the truth. You will be mine, and you will be the father to our child.”

“Lucas, let’s go,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Robyn, you can dream of having his baby all you want, but he’ll never love you. Get over it or end up alone with a child who won’t have a father.”

We turned away from her and began walking back to the church until we heard a screech. I looked back to see her kneeling on the ground and holding her stomach.

“Something’s wrong,” she cried out in pain, gaining the attention of a few people passing by.

“Lucas, maybe we should—”

“No,” he said to me, uncaring. “Leave her be.”

Mixed emotions circled in the pit of my heart as we walked away. I was happy to see he wanted nothing to do with her, but I couldn’t help but feel concerned about her well-being. The feeling came as a surprise to me, but what shocked me more was Lucas’s complete disregard for her suffering.

I had never known him to be so heartless.