The Night That Changed Everything

Chapter Twenty Nine

You know, maybe I should just go and wait for Damion after all, but then again, he did say that he won’t be long and I’m pretty sure there are hundreds of people in Long Beach that have the exact same car as Derek – I have nothing to be afraid of.

I take a deep breath and steady my step as I continue to walk towards the car, trying to catch a glimpse of the figure inside of the car without it being obvious that I’m looking. The person looks out directly towards me and my heart begins to race as staring straight at me, is Derek. Holy shit... not now.... please not now. My blood runs cold, my mouth is dry and I feel faint as he steps out of the car once he sees me and begins walking towards me as if walking with purpose, leading my heart to race faster with every step. He is almost unrecognisable as an unkept stubble lines his usually well groomed face, his greasy brown hair in need of a haircut as it hangs untidily across his face, and bags rest under his eyes, indicating that he hasn’t slept in days.

“Hey,” he says, sounding uneasy and desperate as he sinks his hands into the pockets of his dark blue jeans and stops a meter or so in front of me.

My heart leaps into my mouth and I can’t seem to find my voice but I simply stand there blinking rapidly, my eyelids matching the rate of my heart. I then close my eyes for a moment, trying to collect myself and slightly wishing that when I reopen them he will be gone. But those types of wishes only happen in the movies because when I reopen them he’s still standing three quarters of a meter in front of me, his dark and wild brown eyes staring straight into mine.

I can’t hide the horror in my voice as I ask, “How did you know I was here? Were you stalking me?”

“You look beautiful,” he says, completely ignoring my question as he takes a step closer to me, which leads me to hesitantly take a step back.  

“Derek, I really don’t have time to talk right now,” I explain, “I’m sorry.”

I begin to walk past him but he forcefully grabs hold of my right arm and I freeze in fear as his nails dig into my skin, but he then relaxes his grip and lets go of my arm.

 “You never have time to talk,” he states, his voice deadly quiet as he positions his self directly in front of me which serves to block me from moving. “When have you ever answered my calls? Returned to any of my texts? Huh?”

“I’ve already said all that I’ve got to say to you,” I say, my voice rising. I then let out a sigh to stabilise my voice before looking directly into his eyes, “Talking will not change anything. We can talk and talk, and sit over dinner and talk some more, and I can answer all of your phones and we can even talk some more, but that is not going to change anything,” I explain.

“Is it him?” he asks, a snarl spreading across his face as he stares directly at the lifeguard station, “Is he stopping you from talking to me?”

I shake my head and burry my head in the palm of my hands before driving them through my hair in frustration, trying to withhold a growl. Hesitantly, I reach out and hold his hand with one hand and look at it. “I know that you’re hurting and that you regret what you done and I appreciate it, but you have got to leave me alone and put everything that we had in the past,” I say. I then look at him and continue, “I’m having a baby, Derek, and I do not have time to focus on what we were, or what happened between us and I just need you to respect that.”

“Is it mine?” he suddenly asks as he stares down at my stomach which leads me to let go off his hand, “Because something doesn’t add up here,” he continues, but this time staring right at me. “We break up and then all of a sudden you’re pregnant for this random guy. I know you, Kayla, and you are not the type of girl to sleep with any guy after knowing them for what, five minutes?” he says, shaking his head, “So tell me the truth, is it mine?”