Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Four

My head was still reeling with thoughts about Callie finding out about me hiding her from everyone and if Xavier found out about her.

What if he already knew? As soon as I had the thought, I shook it from my head. It was possible, but I couldn't think about the outcomes of Xavier already knowing about Callie. I refused to do it; the possibilities would destroy me.

I'm protecting her. I'm doing the right thing.

It was another half hour later when I was finally in line with all my books. The lady who helped me gather them insisted on holding them for me while I waited in line. There were only a couple cashiers so it took them awhile to get to me with about ten other people already waiting.

After a couple minutes of waiting, the door chimed and on instinct, I turned towards it to see what it was. Obviously someone was coming in to get supplies, but it had always been a natural reaction of mine to look towards any door when it opened. I gasped in shock when I saw Eli walk in with his brother. Fuck.

I quickly turned away from them so they would just be able to see the back of a head and I would be unrecognizable. The last thing I wanted was for Eli to see me with a newborn; he might be one of only two people who would put two and two together and refuse to believe the lie. And I wasn't up for a confrontation just yet.

My memories from the day we broke up played in my head and my heart started pounding in my chest. The pain of that day followed the memories and I couldn't help the tears that formed in my eyes; the heartbreak that I felt only increased when I came to the realization that I never got over what happened. I never dealt with it, I always shoved it to the back of my head or forgot about it because I was so focused on keeping Callie safe as she grew.

I was antsy as I continued to wait in line for my turn. This was a mistake. I should have waited to get my books, or just ordered them online. I pushed it too far. After an agonizing five minutes, it was my turn to checkout. I heaved a sigh of relief to be knowing that I would be able to leave soon.

I thanked the two women who had helped me as I put my receipt in the bag and grabbed it. I saw Eli and his brother waiting in line to check out, but they were too busy on their phones to notice me. Thank God. I looked around for a way out of the store, but the only way was to walk past them. The other way had been blocked off to keep the flow of traffic in the store steady.

I was unsure of how well this would go, but I took a deep breath and started making my way. Please don't look up. Please don't look up. Please don't look up. It repeated in my head like a broken record until I had successfully passed by without them noticing.

Before I could make it out of the door, Callie started crying again. I tried to shush and rock her to calm her down until we made it out of there, but she wasn't having any of that. I wasn't sure what possessed me to do so, maybe it was the fear that everyone's eyes were on me as I tried to leave the store as calmly as possible, but when I exited the building I glanced back and as I surveyed the reactions of the stores' customers, Eli and I locked eyes.

My breath got caught in my throat as I remembered the last conversation we had and how closed off and angry he was with me. I tore my gaze from his as I wiped a traitor tear from my face. He didn't deserve to see me cry. I walked off trying to hold back the tears until I got home.

Before heading to the car, I stopped in a restroom again to feed Callie so she would stop fussing. When she was through, I gently rocked her until she fell back asleep. By the time I made it to the car, the tears were flowing steadily.

"What happened that made you shut everyone out?"

"Are you pregnant with his kid?"

"He walked out the door when you started lying."