tw: mentions of sexual assault, slightly sexual content
Three weeks passed.
Ophelia was released from the hospital. But the baby was not. According to the doctor, Justin, her son, wouldn't be released for two more months.
Ophelia had gone through a lot in her life, but hearing that her stress caused Justin to be in an incubator for months, causing him to have almost no skin contact and no one to hold him, might have been the most devastating thing ever.
But she had people around her to tell her that it wasn't her fault.
Justin was there, the older Justin. Tony was there. Zach was there. Estella was there. Marisa was there. Her parents were there, now that her father finally got a flight in from Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen were there.
And Scott was there.
Scott had worried Ophelia. He was distant at first while she was still in the hospital. But the hesitation went away. At least, it did as soon as the cords did. The cords and IVs that had previously wrapped around Ophelia's arms and injected her with medicine were gone, no longer needed. She was healing. And so was Scott.
He visited her everyday. And it filled Ophelia with more happiness than she could have known. He was around whenever she needed him, and she was lucky enough to never feel lonely. Not once in the hospital was she ever left alone.
But...he always left at the same time.
When she went to see the baby.
Justin, the baby, was four weeks old now, and Scott hadn't seen him once. And...he didn't seem to want to. Ophelia told herself he was more concerned for her than anything else. But there was a look in his eye whenever she spoke about the baby. Scott would get distance, and Ophelia didn't recognize the emotion playing in his eyes. But it wasn't one she liked on him.
But now, finally, she was out of the hospital. She was home. And apparently, so was everyone else. Her parents, Justin and his mother, Zach's family, Estella, Marisa. Everyone just suddenly started showing up all the time as she stayed on bed rest.
Scott wasn't a frequent visitor at her house though. He called her every night, and they spoke on the phone for hours, but he didn't come by that often in person. One reason being they both knew her mother wouldn't take kindly to another boy being around.
And he was dealing with legal trouble. He had been filing a motion against the school, which tried to terminate him. They claimed since he didn't quit in formal writing, it was a termination, not quitting. So he had been driving to the city everyday, trying to straighten out some paperwork. Mrs. Jensen went with him. She was his lawyer.
But besides all the obvious terrifying coincidences, Ophelia felt...okay.
Because even though her baby was at the hospital, he was safe. That was the safest place for it to be. And she was glad if anything went wrong, he was surrounded by professionals.
Because the people at her house...they were not professionals by any means.
Breast feed the baby. Bottle feed the baby. Let them cry. Don't let them cry. Do this, don't do that. Then the next person would tell her the complete opposite.
Ophelia wasn't even with the baby at home, and she already felt like she was so far behind in taking care of him.
Apparently, she was supposed to register the baby for preschool already. That's how long the waist list is for the good schools.
But Ophelia had a long extra week off spent resting at home where she debated everything. Actually, she wasn't resting. She was working. She needed clothes, diapers, formula. Since apparently even if she wanted to, she was taking too much medication to breastfeed, which only made her feel like more of a failure as a mother. Her body was designed to be able to nurse a baby, but it couldn't. There wasn't a moment that passed that Ophelia wasn't on her phone, online shopping or looking up articles about raising premature children.
Then, finally, a full month had passed. One entire month since she had gone into premature labor.
And Ophelia's doctor informed her that her csection surgery had healed almost completely.
She was glad. At first.
Until she learned what this meant.
According to the state of California, she was now able to go back to school. And legally, she had to. Because her doctor considered her too well for another note excusing her.
So one month after that awful, traumatizing drill, Ophelia found herself back in that school parking lot.
She sat in the passenger seat of Justin's car, staring at the building.
The boy tried to crack a joke. "Hey, you think you're nervous? I have a math test today that I haven't studied for at all."
She barely cracked a smile. "Oh, Justin..."
"Look, everyone's really looking forward to you coming back," Justin pointed out.
She didn't know if he was telling the truth, or if he was just saying that to make her feel better. He always tried to make her feel better.
"Yeah," she breathed. "Maybe."
She looked down at her phone, checking her messages.
"Anything from Scott?" Justin asked, reading her immediately.
"Not for a while," Ophelia explained.
"He still in the city with my mom?"
"I think so," she told him. "He called me this morning, wishing me luck. Haven't heard from him since." She had loved hearing his encouragement.
And just his voice in general.
"I'm sure things are fine up there," Justin said. "I know court cases seem scary, but my mom's done a million."
"Yeah, scary..." Ophelia let out a deep breath, looking towards the school. "Scarier than this?"
He laughed. "No. Guess not scarier than high school."
Ophelia still hadn't decided whether or not to take Liberty High School to court, but she already felt guilty about how much work people had to put into the idea.
She continued staring at the building through the windshield. "Think I'd get in trouble for skipping my first day back?"
Justin said, "No. But, everyone would probably notice."
"Great," she said, sarcastically. "Glad everyone's concerned now."
"It'll be fun," Justin tried to say. "Look, you get to hang out with everyone again. Even Marisa, your second best friend."
Ophelia chuckled. "God, I should never have said that to you." Calling Justin her best friend was something he refused to let go.
"How about you go to one class, and if you don't like it, we'll ditch."
Ophelia let out a long sigh. "Okay."
"Okay?"
She huffed. "Okay."
"Okay!" Justin said, clapping his hands together once. He got out, running around the car, opening the door for her, knowing she wasn't willing to push it open herself. She stepped out slowly.
Ophelia didn't like the way people noticed her so quickly as she walked towards the front door. She tensed, seeing people point over, muttering to themselves. It felt like the day the tapes were first published online.
They stepped inside, and noticed even more how people seemed to stop and stare at her.
"Hey," Justin said, lowly as they passed the metal detectors. "Trust me, things'll seem normal again in seconds. Things'll be easy."
She didn't think so. Especially not with the way the security officers stared at her. It's like they knew she's the one that fucked up the drill, and they knew she was the one they had to deal with.
"Easy. Sure."
She may have believed that, if she had been able to make it more than ten feet down the hall before being stopped.
"Ms. Tristano." Her name was called from across the hall. She turned, surprised to see Principal Bolan calling for her. He was standing outside the main office. "Can I see you in my office please?"
Justin grimaced. He didn't even pretend to have hope about this. "Oh, yikes. Maybe tomorrow it'll be easy."
*****
"That was so unprofessional," Mrs. Jensen complained. She walked out of the meeting with Scott. "They threatened you. They literally threatened you. They told you if Ophelia didn't back down, you'd face consequences. That's a threat."
Scott sighed, staying silent.
They walked to his car in the parking lot. They were in the sitting, at probably the millionth meeting this month with the official school board n
"What the fuck?" Mrs. Jensen cursed. "You know what, I hope Ophelia decides to sue, just so we can give them a 'fuck you' back."
Scott got to the car, lowly muttering, "But if she sues...they're gonna say I was terminated, right? They're gonna try to spin things and say that I harassed her?"
Mrs. Jensen groaned as she got into his passenger seat. "Probably. The bastards. But we can fight it, you know? I mean, they almost got her killed. They almost got her and the baby killed."
Her and the baby.
Her and the baby.
Scott started up the car.
His mind raced with thoughts of Ophelia.
He was always thinking of her.
But...her and the baby?
It was hard sometimes, but he had to remind himself that Ophelia and the baby were a package deal now.
Nothing he could do about that.
*****
Ophelia sat uncomfortably in the office chair, shifting back and forth.
"Ophelia," Bolan began. "Can I just begin by saying how grateful I am for you to be back here. We're all thrilled by your fast recovery."
Fast recovery. Is that what it was? Three weeks in a hospital and one week on bed rest?
She blinked. "I wouldn't say it was fast."
"My wife had actually been out of commission for two month after her c section," he told her. "I'm glad your body is healing at a faster speed."
Her body was healing? It didn't feel like any part of her had healed.
"Am I in trouble?" she asked him.
"No, no, no. Of course now. I actually called you in here to tell you that I have personally spoken to all of your teachers," Bolan explained. "And we'll be retesting you on the content learned in the last couple months, since you revisited Liberty last fall-"
"What?" Ophelia stared blankly at him. "Retesting me? Why? What did I do?" She felt her heart start beating faster with anxiousness.
What would happen if she rested badly?
Oh god. Was she going to be held back?
"I've done all my work," Ophelia said. She was doing homework in the hospital. "I'm not behind on anything." Again, she asked, "What did I do wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing. I just noticed that you were keeping steady A's at Hillcrest, and not at Liberty."
"So-So I have to be retested?" Ophelia panicked. "That's not fair."
Bolan took a deep breath. "I made the decision that, if you would consent to it, this testing could alter your past grades."
"What?" What did that mean? Fail her for classes she passed. "I don't understand."
The principal looked down at his collapsed hands, before looking back at her.
"I realize that...due to circumstances...you were unable to put the same time and effort into schooling as most students. And it wasn't your fault. If you chose to, I'd love to give you a chance to remake those A's you were earning at Hillcrest."
Ophelia stared at him, still not understanding.
"I want to test you because I know that you'd be able to get better scores now. And I think it's only fair we allow you to do so."
"Oh..." He would be testing her to help improve her grades. To turn her failure into passings. She didn't know what to say. "Thank you, Principal Bolan."
He just nodded, watching her.
"I, um...Is there anything else?" she asked.
Bolan hesitated. She saw him glance at the door, then back to her. "I understand that today is the last day for you to accept the school's initial offer. Otherwise, you'd be taking us up in court."
She was surprised he knew that. But it was. Today, she had to decide. Take the offer. Or take them to court. And it was the deadline, but it was still a decision she wasn't willing to make.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's the last day."
"Can I plead my case, Ophelia?"
No. Because if he asked her kindly to not sure them, she wouldn't have the willpower to. She sighed. "Principal Bolan-"
"Don't take our offer."
She blinked, surprised. "What?"
"Don't take our offer. Take us to court. Get as much as you can."
"Why are you-"
"I assume that what I tell you in here can stay between us?"
She nodded, still slightly confused. "Yeah. Of course."
Bolan leaned back in his chair. He had this distant look in his eye. "I've always tried to get to know all the students here. I like knowing what's going on. Who's friends. Who's siblings. And..." She saw his eyes falling all around the office. "I remember the day the two of you were first brought into my office."
She didn't have to ask who 'you two' were. She knew he was referring to her and Montgomery.
"I believe you guys were caught skipping class together. Is that right?"
She bit her lip, and nodded.
"You two were young. Thirteen and fourteen, I believe. And personally, I saw it as interesting. The best academic student dating the best athletic student. You two of you seemed to like each other. Enough for him to take your detention for you."
Ophelia didn't remember until now, but Montgomery did serve two detentions instead of her serving one.
"Sometimes, I wonder...is this school really what made that kid turn out the way he did?"
Ophelia stilled, but continued listening carefully.
"Bryce Walker was a kind freshmen, and he ended up committing evil acts that'll live on at this school forever."
She tensed even more, her mind falling to Hannah. And Jessica. And the club house. She thought of Bryce in that club house.
"If you think at all that our school was somehow responsible for what Montgomery De La Cruz did, or how he turned out...I think you should take us to court."
How could she respond to that? "Principal Bolan..."
"I know it seems like this school is heartless," Bolan told her. "That drill was cruel. And-And how could we have allowed that to happen? But, Ophelia, what you have to understand is...I've had to watch four of my students be buried in the last few years."
Jeff Atkins. Hannah Baker. Bryce Walker. Montgomery De La Cruz.
"I thought this drill would stop an attack from happening, but what happened to you was inexcusable. And, if it means anything at all, I want to offer you most most sincere apology."
She hesitated. "...My lawyer said I can't accept any apologies." As in, Mrs. Jensen advised against it.
"I understand."
She stared at him. "Principal Bolan...I never blamed you for the drill." He looked up at her. "I know it was the new security officer. We'd be suing the school board, not you." She didn't know why, but it felt important that he knew that.
He nodded. "Yes. Of course."
"...I don't even know if we're suing. I still haven't decided."
"You should," he told her, finally. "Trust me, the school is willing to give a lot more than they offered just to keep up their reputation."
Ophelia took his words seriously.
"Now, that I've...said my peace...I hear you had a boy."
She blushed lightly. "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Justin. Not-Not with Justin. Obviously. But-his name is Justin."
"Justin? Interesting role mode you're giving the kid."
Ophelia laughed. "He's alright."
"And do you...have any photos of this Justin?"
Ophelia smiled to herself, nodding quickly as she pulled out her phone.
*****
"So what happened?"
She jumped, startled as Justin went up to her, throwing an arm around her.
"Justin! Don't grab me like that," she scolded.
He pulled away, throwing his hands up, acting like he did nothing wrong.
"Did he threaten you? Say he'd flunk you if you sued the school?"
"No." Actually, the opposite.
"Then what'd he say?"
"It was a private meeting," she told him. One she'd mention to his mother, her lawyer, not to Justin.
"Yeah, yeah," Justin said, rolling his eyes.
"I showed him pictures of Justin," she said, with a smile.
"Any I haven't seen?"
She rolled her eyes, but let out a small laugh. "No."
"Ophelia!" Diego came down the hall, a few of his boys behind him.
"Sup, Ophelia?" Luke said, coming up as well.
Diego put his arm around her shoulder. "How you feeling?"
Ophelia smiled at him. "I'm good, Diego. Thanks."
"Sure," Justin muttered, "Push my arm off, not his."
"What class you got first?" Diego asked. He started walking down the hall with her. "We'll walk with you."
"I've got her," Justin said, pulling away. "We've got English."
"Yeah, I'll go with Justin," Ophelia said with a small laugh. "I'll see you guys at PE."
"See ya, O!" They yelled after her.
She smiled to herself as she walked away with Justin. "I feel so popular."
"You've always been popular," Justin told her.
"Yeah, but I used to be popular in the way people made fun of me. Now I'm popular in the way people like me."
"People always liked you," he said.
"If they liked me, then what do you call boys who used to tease me about how far me and Zach would go?"
"That meant they really liked you, in a sexual way."
She rolled her eyes again.
When lunch came, she found Estella and Marisa, who were overjoyed to see her.
"Who's driving you home today?" Marisa asked.
"I am," Justin put in. Because of course he was there too. He was always there now.
"Why?" Ophelia asked.
Marisa shared a smile with Estella. "No reason."
"Well, you guys could always join us," Ophelia said. "We're stopping at the hospital to see Justin."
"The other Justin," Justin put in.
"The name thing is getting a bit confusing," Estella said to them. She smiled. "Maybe we should think of nicknames?"
"You're right," Marisa agreed. "We could call this Justin, I don't know, old Justin?"
Justin scoffed. "Old Justin?"
"Less important Justin?" Marisa countered.
He forced a laugh. "Funny. How about godparent? Since I'm a godparent. And Estella's a godparent. And you are too, right?" He pretended to realize, "Oh shit, no. You're not."
Estella and Ophelia shared a laugh.
Marisa sent him a sharp look. "How about Rehab Justin?"
"Oh, oh, that's classy," Justin scoffed. "How about a nickname for you? How about-?"
"Hey, hey, hey," Ophelia said, laughing a bit, stopping the arguments in its tracks. "Maybe we can give the baby a nickname. I mean, all baby's have nicknames, right?"
"We could just call him Baby," Justin suggested.
A loud thunk was heard as Diego suddenly sat at the table. "Who we calling a baby?" Charlie and Luke sat down as well. "We calling Charlie a baby for how defensive he gets over his nipple guards?"
"What?" Marisa frowned. "Nipple guards?"
Charlie blushed. "Hey, they protect my sensitive skin."
"Your sensitive nipples," Luke taunted.
The boys laughed.
Estella cringed. "Ew."
"Why's there stigma over men having sensitive nipples?" Charlie asked. "We all have the same skin."
"What about Ophelia's?" Luke asked. "Isn't there a damn baby chewing on those?"
Ophelia choked on her own spit, her face growing red with embarrassment.
Diego snorted. "Jesus, Luke!"
"Woah!" Justin yelled. "Leave Ophelia's nipples out of the conversarion-"
"Leave me out of this conversation completely please," she said, stammering, still embarrassed.
Estella added, "Ophelia's not even breastfeeding yet-"
"Stop giving them more information, Estella," Justin told her.
"Let's-Let's change the topic!" Ophelia said. She felt frazzled. She pulled her jacket over her body. "We're trying to think of a nickname for Justin."
"Justin?" Diego laughed. "We're got plenty of names for him."
Justin rolled his eyes.
"She meant the baby," Estella said, softly.
"Oh!" Diego's eyes widened. "...Got it! JT!"
"JT?"
"Justin Tristano?"
"Yeah, but sometimes I go by Justin Tristano," Justin tried to say. "It's still confusing."
"JT sounds like a killer football name," Diego told Ophelia.
"Or a basketball name," Luke pointed out.
Estella said, "He could go by his middle name."
Ophelia hesitated, her smile slowly falling.
"Enrique! I like it," Diego said, nodding with a grin.
"Thats after that awful baseball player Monty liked, right?" Luke joked, causing a few people to laugh.
Ophelia gulped.
Yeah. It was that player Montgomery liked.
It was Montgomery's choice of name.
And it hit Ophelia again that it wasn't just Montgomery's name. It was Montgomery's son. And it always would be. No matter how much closure or time passed, Justin Tristano would always be half Montgomery De La Cruz.
Justin watched Ophelia carefully. He saw the distant look forming on her face. He spoke up. "Hey, you know what? JT sounds like a good baseball name too."
Ophelia blinked, Justin's comment ceasing her thoughts, which were about to spiral out of control. She finally caught her breath.
"Shit," Diego agreed. "It does."
"Hey, hey, hey," Luke suddenly said. "His middle name is Enrique. His initials are J-E-T. Let's call him Jet."
Diego smiled. "Yo, Jet's cool-"
"No," Ophelia said, panicking for a completely different reason now. "I am putting my foot down on that one."
"Jet's cool," the boys insisted.
"Why isn't JT cool?"
"Juju," Charlie said. "That'd be cute."
"Oh, yeah!" Estella agreed.
Marisa spoke up, "Can't you boys respect the mother's decision?"
Diego suggested, "How about we call him a bunch of different names and see what he responds to more?"
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "You guys are stressing me out already."
"Justin is a nice name," Marisa said. She nodded to Justin. "How long is this one gonna hang around? Sooner you get rid of him, sooner the confusion ends."
"Funny," Justin said, scoffing.
"He's not going anywhere," Ophelia said. She added, "Especially since his mother is offering to do my court case for free."
"Wow..." Justin said, shaking his head. Ophelia just laughed.
"So it's official?" Charlie asked, picking up in her words. "You're suing the school?"
Ophelia sighed, admitting to herself and everyone her final decision, "Yeah. I'm suing the school."
*****
"Ophelia's suing the school," Mrs. Jensen announced as Scott drove her back from the city. She looked at her phone. "Just got a text from her." The woman smiled. "I'm so glad. That school needs to get its shot together."
"Oh..." Scott tried to keep a straight face. "Yeah. Great."
Mrs. Jensen glanced at him. "Listen, I'm sure if you spoke to her about this, and explained what you have at risk, maybe she could set up a private meeting instead of going straight to court-"
"It's okay," Scott said. "My reputation gets ruined here it's no big deal. I'll just...I can move."
Mrs. Jensen frowned. "I still think it's important to at least tell Ophelia what's really been going on."
Scott felt guilty, like she was suggested he'd been lying to her. "She knows."
"She knows we're hassling with them about your termination. She doesn't know they've threatened to go after you personally."
"I don't care," he said, again. "I mean...No, I don't care. Whatever gets out...Whatever."
Mrs. Jensen watched him carefully. "Scott, is there anything specific that you're worried about?"
"Like what?"
"Did anything happen between you and Ophelia that might cause your reputation to get ruined?"
Yeah. They fucked while he was a school staff member and she was a student.
Not only that, they fucked on a school trip when he was supposed to be chaperoning her.
Scott hesitated. "I don't feel comfortable talking about that without Ophelia."
Mrs. Jensen asked, "Is there any particular reason why?"
"I just-I don't know what she's comfortable sharing."
Mrs. Jensen nodded, and let out a sigh. "While I'm glad to see you respect her privacy, I really need to know if there's any major aspects they can use against you. Not Ophelia. You."
"Can't you ask us while we're together?"
Mrs. Jensen nodded. "Yeah. That'll work."
Scott continued driving.
"Let me ask you something," Mrs. Jensen started. "Why did you start working for Liberty?"
"Coach said he needed help."
"You took time off from school to work a job you didn't need? Why? Just because your old coach asked you to?"
Scott hesitated. "I, um...No. I just wanted to help out. Because of everything that happened."
"Okay," Mrs. Jensen said. "I'm sure people will understand that."
They drove more. Scott stared out the windshield.
"Actually..."
Mrs. Jensen looked over.
Scott let out a deep sigh.
"I came back for her."
Letting out a slow exhale, Mrs. Jensen sent him a soft smile. "I figured."
They continued driving.
"You know, she had a big crush on you," Mrs. Jensen said.
Scott perked up a bit. "...Really?"
"I remember at a football game she...well, I shouldn't be sharing stories without her around either."
Scott scoffed, and let out a laugh. "Yeah, whatever."
They got to the Jensen house. She noticed Scott staying in the car.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah," he said. "I got something to pick up."
"But you're coming back for the-"
"Yeah," Scott said. "Of course. I'll be back soon."
Mrs. Jensen told him, "Ophelia will be thrilled to see you."
Scott waited until she left to let another loud sigh.
She would be thrilled. And that's the only reason he was coming back.
Because, honestly, he'd do anything to not have to.
There was a party that'd be happening at the Jensen household in an hour. And that's all Scott wanted to pretend it was. Just a regular get well soon party.
He'd pretend it was nothing more.
*****
School ended, and Justin took Ophelia to the hospital to visit JT, the name in which she insisted would be his nickname, no matter what anyone else said. Because she was terrified they'd start calling him 'Jet'.
It wouldn't bother her except for the fact that if people called him 'Jet', they'd only ever get him jet and plane toys to play with. Jet toys, maybe clothes with jets on them, maybe jets on his room wallpaper. And Ophelia really wasn't ready to start giving him a theme for everything yet.
It was a quick visit, Justin insisting they left so that the baby could sleep. Ophelia didn't understand. That's all the baby did when they were there too. He would sleep, and Ophelia wouldn't be able to take her eyes off him for even a moment. Of course she took at least ten more photos.
Most people thought premature babies were ugly. Either she was lovestruck, or her baby was the most amazing exception.
"Justin, stop driving so fast," she criticized him after they left. "We're not in a hurry."
"You're not in a hurry. I'm late."
Justin drove her home. He was supposed to have her there twenty minutes ago.
"For what?"
"Just-" He held his hand out. "Just be patient. We'll get there."
"Maybe. If we don't crash."
He rolled his eyes. Finally, they pulled up to his house. She frowned. "Thought you were taking me home."
"Yeah, yeah. Just come on."
She got out, looking around. "Why are there so many cars here?"
"Come on," he said. He took her to the door of the side yard.
"Are we sneaking in or something?"
He pushed her lightly, and she stepped in through the back.
"Am I not supposed to be here, what are you-"
"Surprise!"
Ophelia stumbled back, completely caught off guard at the large ambundance of people in the backyard.
Luke held up his hands. "Happy Birthday!"
Diego shoved him back. "It's not her birthday, idiot." He nodded at Ophelia, smiling. "It's her baby shower!"
Ophelia's mouth fell open. She looked at Justin. "What? A baby shower?"
"A little late," he said, shrugging. "Sorry about that."
Estella greeted her with a gift in her hand. "This is for you. Open it now."
Marisa stepped in. "Wait, wait, gifts go on the table."
"She'll like this one." Estella smiled widely. "Open it now."
"I-"
"Hey, Ophelia!" Diego called out. "We've got hella booze for you over here."
"Um," Mr. Jensen stepped up. "Actually, I thought we agreed no alcohol."
"Come on," Mrs. Jensen whispered to her husband. "This is her last chance to drink before she has to start breastfeeding."
"She's eighteen, she shouldn't be drinking at all," he muttered.
"A baby shower?" Ophelia asked again. "I...I already had the baby."
"Which makes it much easier to decorate," Marisa said. Ophelia noticed the yard was lit up with blue.
"We have a lot of gender reveal stuff," Justin said. "Because we actually preordered a lot. We also have, like, five bottles left of non alcoholic wine."
Ophelia couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my god."
Tony walked up to them. "Ophelia, my parents have about six boxes worth of our old baby clothes they want to send you."
"Oh," Ophelia smiled. "Thank you so much. I'll-I'll give them a call later."
"I have so many brother and cousins, we have just about any article of clothing you'd ever need," he explained to her.
"Hey, O," Diego started. He handed her a beer without missing a beat. He got this curious look on his face. "I made my mom buy a bunch of maternity shirts for you, like, two months ago. Do you think you could still use them?"
"Oh. I could just wear them as...regular shirts."
Unfortunately, having a baby didn't mean the extra weight left with it. She'd love shirts with extra material around the stomach, especially since it'd hide the light bandages she had over her nearly healed stitches.
Diego smiled. "Right. Right. That'd work."
"Yeah, my mom had a lot of maternity stuff we bought," Justin said. He hissed. "Sorry that we have them too late."
"No, no it's fine," she laughed.
"Yeah, Ophelia could always get pregnant again," Estella said.
"Um...I think I'll hold off on that for a while," Ophelia said, quickly.
"Justin's already trying to act like your baby daddy," Luke joked, coming up beside his friend.
The people around her all stilled at once.
Ophelia knew why. No way someone would ever be able to mention the father without everyone immediately thinking of Montgomery. And no way it also wouldn't immediately bring up what he did to Ophelia.
Didn't that just suck? That literally the smallest thing would bring her back to that moment?
"Luke," Diego criticized. "Don't be bringing shit like that up-"
"No," Ophelia said quickly. "It's fine."
Diego continued, "No. No one should be talking about-"
"I like the jokes," Ophelia said. She nodded. "Yeah. Just-I mean, I don't want to think about, um-"
"We get it," Justin said.
She didn't want to think about Montgomery at all. But maybe the more they mentioned the word 'father', the easier it'd be to hear.
"Yeah," Diego agreed. "We won't talk about him." Ophelia felt appreciative. "We'll just talk about how Justin think he's some kind of father."
The boys laughed at him.
"I'm the god father," Justin tried to say. "I hold some responsibility."
"You become responsible if the actual responsibile people die," Marisa pointed out.
"I think Justin is plenty responsible," Ophelia tried to say.
Diego and Luke snorted.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Justin said. "I decide who gets more playing time in the last game."
Ophelia looked around. The talk of football pulling her mind elsewhere. "Hey, have you guys seen Scott?" She turned to Justin. "Thought he was with your mom."
Justin glanced around. "I thought he was to."
Ophelia excused herself after a few more moments of conversation, setting her beer down, finding Mrs. Jensen.
"So sorry the party's late," Mrs. Jensen said to Ophelia, giving her a light hug. "I told Justin to go earlier. I said it should've happened months ago."
"Oh, no. It's perfect. It's amazing. Honestly, it's so sweet," Ophelia gushed. "Hey, do you know where Scott is?"
Mrs. Jensen checked her watch. "Oh, he's not back? He dropped me off and said he had to get something."
"Oh. Okay. Um, do you know when that was."
Mrs. Jensen gave a sorrowful look. "I think that was about two hours ago."
Ophelia felt her smile fall. "Oh, okay. Okay. No problem. Um, thank you for the party. And the gifts-"
"Have you opened the gifts?"
"No. But I'm sure they're great."
"We got you a stroller," Mrs. Jensen said. "Here, I'll show you."
"Yeah, of course!"
On the way, they were stopped by Marisa again. "Ophelia, hey, let me show you something."
"Of course! Just one minute," Ophelia said, laughing. She acted frazzled, but in the reality, she felt embodied by all the attention. She loved it, because it was all positive.
Another half hour passed.
Justin wasn't kidding about the gender reveal decorations. There was a balloon for her to pop, a string for her to pull, a cake for her to cut into.
She kept an eye out the whole time, hoping more people would show up. More specifically, one person.
"O, come here!" Estella called out for her. "Come on, let me show you this drawing my abuela did of Justin. I sent her photos and she's in love."
"Oh, wow," Ophelia said, looking at the phone. There was a beautiful sketch of the baby. "It's beautiful. You know, she should come visit. And meet him."
Estella hesitated. "She lives all the way in Texas. I don't know if she can handle the drive."
"We could buy her a plane ticket," Ophelia offered.
"I wish. She doesn't have citizenship, so she's terrified of getting on any plane."
"Tell you what," Ophelia said. "Maybe this Christmas we can go down there with him. And...we could even take your mom."
"That'd be awesome!" Estella said. "My mom hasn't visited her family in ages."
"You gonna be the woman with the crying baby on the plane?" Justin teased.
Ophelia shoved him back. "Whatever. I'll just make you come and hold him."
"Hey!" Diego yelled. "Reed's here!"
Ophelia's heart picked up. She turned, seeing Scott step out of the sliding glass door leading into the house.
She smiled, widely, holding up her hand to wave.
And then, he stepped aside, and someone walked out behind him.
Honor.
Ophelia felt surprised, but recovered quickly, meeting them in the middle of the yard. "Honor! I thought you had band practice today!"
"Scott picked me up," Honor said. "He said you were having a baby shower today."
"Yeah! Why don't I introduce you to my friends?"
"I met them at the hospital," Honor told her. Her tone was blank. It'd make anyone else think she was upset, but Ophelia knew that was just her natural voice.
"Oh," Ophelia looked around. "Are you hungry?"
Honor shrugged. "Sure."
Diego offered her to show her where the food was. Ophelia almost sot interjected, but she saw the playful blush her sister had when talking to Diego. Had her little sister had a crush on any other senior, Ophelia would gotten protective. But she trusted Diego not to indulge her. She let him lead her away.
Ophelia looked at Scott once her younger sister stepped away. "You...got Honor?"
"Yeah. Figured she'd want to come." Scott scratched the back of his head. "I'm really sorry it took so long. I went to your house, and your dad was there and he would not stop talking."
Ophelia spared a laugh. "I know the feeling. How'd things go with Mrs. Jensen today?"
"It was, you know, alright." He shrugged, and smiled at her. "How was school?"
"You know, alright," she mocked.
Scott laughed lightly.
"I didn't see Zach today," she mentioned. She knew it was weird to mention it, but she didn't feel comfortable saying it to anyone else. "...I was hoping he'd show up here. He didn't."
"Probably didn't know about it," Scott said. "Or else I'm sure he would've been here."
"I'm glad you're here," Ophelia told him, honestly. "I've been waiting for you."
"That's good, because I'm gonna be bothering you the rest of the night."
She laughed.
Scott looked around. "Can I ask you sowmthing?"
She shrugged, teasing him. "I suppose."
He leaned in, a mischievous smile on his face. "Am I allowed to kiss you here?"
Ophelia blushed. She shrugged again. "I don't know. Do you want to?"
Scott bit his lip. "Yeah."
She stepped closer. "Yeah. Okay then."
Scott leaned down, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek. Her blush deepened. It was an innocent kiss, one that made her feel all types of not so innocent feelings.
She turned swiftly when she heard a loud wolf whistle. "Ayo, we know who the next baby daddy is!"
Ophelia gasped, stepping back. "Luke!"
She laughed as Diego and Charlie shoved their friend.
She turned back, her laugh dying in her throat as she watched how pale Scott's face went.
"Shit," she breathed. "Hey, he's just messing around-"
"Yeah, I know," Scott said. The look of uncontempt stayed on his face. "I'll, uh..." He stepped away from her. "I'm gonna go talk to Mrs. Jensen for a minute."
"Okay," Ophelia said. She tried to smile as she said, "Hurry back!"
He just nodded, scratching the back of his head, like she was making him nervous.
"Hey, relax," Marisa said, coming up to her.
"He seems...not well," Ophelia commented.
"Well, he's a guy. Guys don't like being attached to babies."
Ophelia winced.
"But luckily, your best friend does. So here-" Marisa put a red solo cup in her hand. "-have a drink with me."
Ophelia smelled the drink, and cringed. "God, this smells strong."
"Obviously. You haven't had a drink in a year. Once JT gets out of the hospital, you'll have to breastfeed. So, please, drink while you can."
Ophelia hesitated. "Maybe a little." She tried a sip, and gaged. "Oh god, can't we put coke in here or something?"
"We'll put some in the next one."
Ophelia's eyes widened. "How much are you giving me?"
"Enough for the last year."
"Hey!" Justin came up, taking the cup from her. "She can't have anything strong, she's on medication."
"I just won't take any tonight," Ophelia said, grabbing it back.
"You are such a bad influence," Justin told Marisa, who scoffed.
"I'm just trying to make her have a good time!"
"She's having a good time."
"I am having a good time," Ophelia agreed. She took a sip, gagging again. "But...maybe one drink wouldn't hurt."
It wouldn't have.
Had she stayed at one drink.
But Justin was right, Marisa was a terrible influence. As was everyone else there. Between her girlfriends and the boys on the team, Ophelia lost track of everything she had. She didn't have any full cups, just small tastes of everything, meant to reminder her of the feeling of each alcohol while she could still have them.
Scott stayed sober, as did Justin. Both boys watching her, amused, as 'drunk Ophelia' tried to keep 'normal Ophelia' speech. She tried staying polite and attentive in conversations, even when she couldn't stay focused on what anyone was saying.
Justin liked watching her act like this. It reminded him of how she used to act, back in the parties at Bryce's house that he would have each week.
She had been so talkative, and outgoing, and friendly when she drank. And then, at the end of their freshmen year, she accidentally sat on a boy's lap. She thought it was Montgomery, but it wasn't. And, of course, the boy didn't want to correct her. So she stayed on his lap, until the real Montgomery spotted them.
Justin remembered being in the pool house, stoned out his mind, and watching Montgomery drag her out of the house. They all heard him yelling at her outside, before they abruptly drove off. He didn't know what happened, but he did know Ophelia was never talkative after drinking again.
Not until tonight.
Scott stepped in quickly when someone told her to jump in the Jensen's pool, and she almost did so. Then, when it was dark, she was so obsessed with keeping everyone happy with her, that she practically did everything the boys asked her to. Which was stupid card games and stupid little dares. Scott stepped in again when she was dared to mix vodka and whiskey together and take it as a tall shot.
That would've made her sick. So Scott decided that was the time he'd excuse her from the party, wishing everyone a farewell, and leaving Mrs. Jensen with figuring out how to get these teenagers to leave her house.
He got Honor and Ophelia home, taking hold of Ophelia's hand as they stepped inside.
"Hey, are you parents home-?"
"Shhh," Ophelia said, loudly.
"Ophelia you shushing me louder than I was talking."
"Shh! You want to get caught?"
Scott shut up. "No."
Now, he was paranoid of being heard, and being kicked out. Because he wanted to stay and hang out with Ophelia. If even for just a little bit longer.
"Be very quiet," Ophelia told him as they stepped in. Scott held his breath.
Honor walked in first, giving a quick, "I'll see you tomorrow," to her sister.
Scott felt his heart racing as he went to the stairs. He whispered, "Should we sync our steps? So they only hear one person coming up?"
Ophelia laughed. "Yeah. Okay."
They went up the stairs, carefully. Scott still held his breath as they stepped down the hall, into her room.
"Great job," Ophelia complimented.
"Are they gonna come in?" he asked, locking the door.
Ophelia sat on the bed, and shrugged. "Probably not. They're actually not home."
Scott's mouth fell open. His voice rose. "What? Why the fuck did you have me being so quiet?"
She laughed. "I don't know. It was funny."
Scott rolled his eyes.
"Hey..." She rose to her feet. "Come sit with me."
Scott looked her over, smiling. He let her pull him towards the bed.
"Are you drunk?" He knew she had been, but he took her and Honor to a fast food restaurant before coming home, filling her with more water and food. He waited until she was semi normal, knowing if they did get caught by her mom, she needed to at least seem sober.
Ophelia scoffed. "No. I'm not drunk. How much of a lightweight do you think I am?"
"You're all over me," he laughed, feeling her hands caressing his face.
"So?" she asked.
"So why are you touching me so much if you're not drunk?"
Her hands fell to his arms.
She laughed, offended. "Why do you think I'm touching you?"
"Because you've been drinking."
"No," she scoffed. "Because..." She scooted closer, putting her hand on his leg now. "Because I'm trying to figure out if you're, you know...in the mood."
"In the mood?" His eyes widened. "Shit, you mean.." He laughed. "You are drunk."
She laughed again, hitting him lightly. "I'm not even tipsy."
"You're trying to put me in the mood while your sister's down the hallway," Scoff whispered.
"She won't hear. She never heard me and Zach and he was loud-"
"Ew! Why would you tell me that?"
"Scott, I just..." She smiled again, and shrugged. "It's okay if you're not. I just wanted to know."
"Wanted to know if I was in the mood to have sex with you?" He chuckled. "Ophelia, I am always in the mood to have sex with you. But you don't normally act like this-" He pulled her hand off him, which had traveled to his inner thigh. "-so I'm positive it's because you've been drinking."
"Scott," she whined. "You want me to go find a breathalyzer?"
He looked away, laughing.
"Scott..." she teased, turning his face back towards her. "It's okay...I want to."
"Yeah, but-"
She teased, "Yeah, but-" She cut herself off by kissing him. Her parted lips making it easy for his tongue to access her mouth, deepening the kiss in seconds. Her touch was intoxicating.
He pulled away, laughing. Nervously. "You're gonna make me feel like an asshole if we do anything."
He couldn't kiss her. Not even if he wanted to. He didn't even want to sleep next to her, and risk accidentally touching her. Because if she was drunk, everything would be non consensual. And if it freaked him out this much, how bad would it make her feel in the morning?
Or worse, what if it didn't bother her at all? Montgomery might have slept with her while she was drunk all the time. He winced. Was kissing her like this making him just as bad as Montgomery?
"How about this?" she asked. "What if I keep the door locked and you spend the night? Then...maybe we can wait a bit and..."
"No way you're this horny," he laughed.
She scoffed. "I'm the one that's-?" She cut herself off, feeling strange saying the word. "Scott, you literally have a...you know."
He blushed. "Yeah, I have a boner. Because you're fucking hot. But you don't talk like this."
"I do," she said.
"You don't act like this."
"Yes, I do," she insisted.
"Because you're drunk."
"Not because I'm drunk just because I'm...you know..."
"No, I don't," he told her.
She stared at him, smiling shyly. "You know...because..."
He still stared at her.
Her face turned red as she moved even closer. "Because I'm just...kind of in love with you."
Scott froze completely.
"And...I don't know, I guess I act a little different because of that."
Scott stared at her as she started tracing circle on his leg with her finger.
"What?"
She bit lip, blushing. "You know..."
"No-No. Say it."
She shifted around, the playful smile not leaving her face. "I just said it..."
"Say it again, then."
She looked up at him, her face dark red.
"I love you, Scott."
His tension fell away. He watched her.
She giggled nervously. "But you know that..."
He touched her face suddenly, turning her to look at him again. "Yeah, I know."
She never felt as giddy and nervous.
Scott took a deep breath. "I love you, Ophelia."
She smiled widely at him. "I know."
He teased her. "Oh, you know?"
"I know."
For a moment, they just sat there, staring at each other, their giddiness causing one of them to laugh and look away every now and again.
"You're saying if you took a fucking breathalyzer test you'd be legally sober?"
"Yup."
Scott hesitated. He smiled again.
"I'll, um, I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
He hurried to put his shoes on. "I'm going to fucking Walplex to buy a breathalyzer."
A bigger smile formed on her face. "I want to go."
"Then get your damn shoes on, I'm leaving in literally thirty seconds."
Ophelia laughed loudly, grabbing her shoes and hurrying after him.
Scott drove to Walplex at a faster speed then she'd ever seen him drive. They got to the parking lot, and he threw the door open. "I'll run in. You stay here."
"Wait, wait, wait," she told him. She grabbed him by the jacket. He stayed, looking at her. She whispered, "Grab some condoms."
His heart beat accelerated. He let out a shocked breath. He nodded quickly, swallowing hard. He stepped out, muttered a quick, "Fuck." Why'd she have to say it like that? He had to pull his jacket down to cover his crotch, and calm down before heading in.
He came out barely ten minutes later, using the breathalyzer to test her right there in the parking lot.
"There you go," she laughed, as they looked at the results. "Legally sober."
"Hmm." He winked. "I liked the way you blew on it."
Her mouth fell open, surprised at the comment. "Really?"
"Really."
She blushed again, deeply. "So...what now?" she asked.
Scott shrugged. "I guess now we'll go back to your house."
She smiled widely. "And do what?"
Scott let out a deep laugh. "Ophelia...god, you need to cut it out."
"What?" she teased. "Cut what out?"
"Wait until we get there!" he laughed. "Jesus!"
She watched him get onto the main road, before suddenly asking, "What if we didn't wait until we got there?" Scott's eyes flew to hers. She shrugged, smiling. "What if we pulled over? Like last time?"
He hesitated, reminding himself that he needed to ask, "Are you even allowed to have sex right now?" Obviously, her lower body was fine because it wasn't a natural birth. But she had stitches, right?
"I'll be careful," she told him.
He bit his lip. "Well, I guess...I guess you're my girlfriend. And, whatever my girlfriend says goes."
She watched as he hit one of the backroads, pulling over to the side.
She stared at him with a smile. "I'm your girlfriend?"
"If that's alright."
She bit her lip, nodding. "That's alright."
"Okay..." He looked at her, his gaze full of emotion.
Again, they were caught up looking at each other.
"So..." she said.
"So," Scott said. He nodded towards the backseat.
She bit her lip again. Reaching forward, she placed an excited kiss on his lips, before climbing into the back of his car, laughing as the two of them figured out how they'd both fit with all the gifts from the baby shower that they forgot were in the back.
But she didn't care about how cramped they were, or how erratic they were being.
She didn't care if she wasn't acting like herself. Because no matter how she acted, she knew Scott loved her. He loved her, and she loved him, and that's all that mattered.
Ophelia kissed Scott deeply, his hands pulling at her clothes, her fingers wrapped around his waste band.
Ophelia concluded, suddenly, that this was, without a doubt, the best day of her life.
And as Scott touched her, tearing off her shirt with his gentle hands, she knew the night was only going to get better.
*****
a/n: literally hateeee how long these updates have been taking. And sorry it's so short! The next chapter should be out a LOT sooner (even though I always say that 😭) I tried to add in some of the nicknames for the baby that yall suggested :)
I literally feel like these chapters take longer because I'm dreading a few chapters that come up near the end. But I will definitely be writing more often to get these out quicker! Also sorry for errors, I've been writing on mobile and the auto correct is deadly