Broken Mirrors | All American

thirty two

"Do I really have to go?"
Dillon whined.

"Yeah, man. Coop is depending on us. And it'll give me and you a chance to hang out. You can finally tell me what's really bothering you."
Spencer offered.

"Ain't nothing bothering me."

"I used to say the same thing, Dillon."

"Wow. I love how you quit football and everybody's fine with it. But as soon as I speak something from my opinion about anything, I'm a problem."

The friends glanced to the brothers then returned to their conversations. Shortly after, Liv and Asher arrived, greeting the others.

"All right. The squad's all here."

"So what's the plan?" Asher inquired.

"I am not being a third wheel to those two." Jordan protested causing Spencer to chuckle.

"Ash can roll with me and Dillon."

"Are you going?" Dillon asked Sydney.

She glanced around the room, shaking her head.

"Uh, no.."

"If Sydney doesn't go, I don't go." He stated.

"Dude, come on, that's not fair." Spencer said.

"You wanna talk about fair?!" Dillon shouted.

Kia quickly moved from her seat to the space next to Dillon.

"We can go to that new fro-yo place." She offered.

Dillon continued to glare at Spencer until Kia playfully nudged him.

"Fine, but I want as much as
I can get."

"You got it."

The group made their way out the door; Darnell greeted the others as he entered the house.

"Hey, keep an eye on Syd for me, man." Spencer whispered to him.

"What's up? She okay?"

Spencer sighed, looking across the room to his girlfriend.

"No... I don't think she is."

Sydney closed the notebook, quickly sliding it into her bag. The boys watched her with concern.

"Hey, I gotta..." Spencer trailed off.

"Yeah."

Darnell locked the door behind Spencer's exit, making his way over to Sydney.

"Wanna go shopping?"

Sydney looked him, crossing her arms.

"With what? We're literally two broke teenagers."

Darnell laughed.

"I ain't broke. I don't know about you but I got a stash somewhere."

"Oh yeah? You got my expenses then?" 

He looked away as if he hadn't heard her.

"That's what I thought. And as much as I like you, Darnell, I don't need you to babysit me."

"Babysit? What?"

"I know Spence asked you to keep an eye on me, he's just that caring.. I'm good, D."

"Okay... Your mom's death isn't still affecting you like Spencer? Is that why you've been running off?"

"Respectfully, I don't wanna talk about that."

"Get up, then. We all see you moping around, in this.. funk. We already got Spencer done with football, I'm not letting you go down that hole too."

Sydney sighed, sitting back and listening to his words.

Meanwhile, Savannah nervously fiddled with her fingers as she stood outside of Roman's office door.

She could hear him barking orders on the phone, his tone sending chills through her body. Her hand slowly pushed the door open with her feet stepping into the room.

"I don't pay you to ask questions, I pay you to get the fucking job done."

He ended the call, opening the incoming email. His eyes skimmed over the name before landing on Savannah.

"You need something?"

She gulped, scratching the
back of her neck.

"Uh, what was that about?"

He oddly looked at her.

"The call? Something you don't need to know. Do you need help with something or you gone stand there?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes at his tone before speaking.

"I'm pregnant."

"Bullshit. How?"

"I don't know."

That was, in fact, a lie..

"You don't know? After all these years of being infertile, suddenly you're pregnant... Something don't add up."

"I wish I could explain science to you, Roman. The thing is, I can't so don't go blaming me."

Roman groaned, shaking his head.

"All of these babies from different mothers.. I'm starting to get a headache, whew.."

Savannah stood quiet, unsure of what to say next.

"So, this baby is mine?" He asked.

She scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Yeah! You're the only one sticking your dick in me!"

"Lower your tone." He calmly said, leaning back in his chair.

"My tone? We were married, Roman! I hate to bring it up but why did Lauren get open arms with her pregnancy? Why does our miracle baby have to be such a disgrace and turned away before they even have a chance?"

Roman clicked the computer's mouse, closing the tabs before clicking back to the email.

Savannah ranted, flailing her arms and calling him names. Roman had tuned her out, shockingly reading the entire message.

"Are you even listening to me?!"

He sighed, scrolling down to the video file then looking to a pissed off Savannah.

"I have the footage of Lauren.."