Faults [ft. Chresanto August]

Nineteen.

I pushed the basket through the crowded aisles of the grocery store. All the information that Avery threw at me the other day was really weighing down on me. I mean, is that how people would look at me when they found out that I was messing with a married man? Her whole ora was off, but it had been off before I even found out about the affair.

I have my reasons for sleeping with him, I need to make ends meet. Of course that was before I got this job and now I don't really need his money. A little extra money never hurt anybody though.

Avery is actually a great person, we eat lunch with each other everyday now and she even invited me to go out with her this weekend. It feels nice to have other friends besides Chris and Brianna. It's just been us three for so long I had never tried to mingle with anyone else. My motto had always been "no new friends" and "you can't trust anyone" for so long. I can actually see us being good friends.

"Chanel?"

I turned my head into the direction of the mystery voice and my eyes grew wider than my face. "J-Jared?"

"It's me in the flesh baby," he said and walked over to me engulfing me into a huge hug.

We pulled away about two minutes later and he just stared at me. "What are you doing back here?"

"That's all you have to say after seeing me?" He laughed, but I was still in shock. I never thought that I would see him ever again.

"I'm sorry, I'm just shocked."

Jared was my very first serious boyfriend; I guess you could say he was my first love. We started dating my sophomore year up until we graduated and he moved away right after. He didn't want to leave, but he had no choice since he didn't turn 18 until a month later.

"Chanel, are you listening?" Jared spoke, taking me out of my thinking process.

"Oh sorry, what's you say?"

"I said how have you been?" He looked at me sort of confused.

"I'm fine- when did you get back here?"

"I moved back a couple years after we left, I came looking for you at your mom's but she said you had moved out a month earlier." I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm in an apartment."

"Oh-" he stopped mid sentence and noticed the baby in the basket. His face went pale, "I-is that your baby?"

"Uh, yeah. Are you okay?"

"How old is she?" His face was still a little pale, but he looked like he had been thinking.

"8 months, why?"

"You remember that party went to after senior year? The one that everyone was at when we graduated," he asked with a face full of hope.

I nodded, flashbacks of that night filled my mind. The main one being me waking up in bed naked and multiple people being there.

"Uh, can we go over here? There's something I need to tell you that may be very crucial information to you," he said, pulling me over to where there was no one.

My face grew hot out of nervousness about what he was about to tell me, and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like most of this information.

"Well," he scratched the back of his neck. "You remember that party we went to after we graduated?" He chuckled nervously.

"Can you just get to the point please, what you have to tell me can't be that bad." I knew I was lying, but I just wanted him to release whatever he was trying to tell me.

"Well, that night you were drunk a-and I was pretty sober. You were kissing all over me and dancing on me and I was getting a bit turned on."

I nodded to let him know that I was listening and that I wanted to him to continue talking, but I froze when he finished his story.

"W-what did you say?" My eyes were probably bigger than my entire head.

"We had sex and I didn't wear a condom, Aubree is probably mine."

"W-what?" I asked confused, but my confusion soon turned to anger. He tried to touch me but I moved away. "How could you know this and not say anything? You just up and leave when you know that there was a possibility of me being pregnant."

"Look I was scared, I didn't know what to do? I told my parents what happened and they said us moving would be the best thing, my conscience was eating away at me so when I became legal, I moved back down here." He sighed and leaned on the shelf. "I'm sorry Chanel, I am."

"Look, this isn't the right place for us to talk about this so how about we go back to my place and talk about this?"

He nodded and followed behind me.

.

.

"So you're telling me that your baby's father just popped up out of nowhere and now he wants to get back together and start a family?" Avery asked, sipping her coffee.

I nodded, "something about how we should be together for Aubree or whatever."

"How do you feel about that? You said he was your first love right? Do you think you should get back together with him?"

Avery and I had became so close over the past weeks, we talked about everything and she even came over a few times. She met Aubree and they adore each other.

That was a good question, Jared was my first love and maybe a relationship would make everything better; but why should I change my ways for him?

"I don't know A, he just pops up and tells me he knew I could be pregnant but he left 'cause he was scared. What the hell is that?" I roll my eyes.

She began to get up and clean up her spot, "I don't know Chanel." As she began to walk away, she turned around. "Think about what's best for Aubree."