Replace Me (Kin #2)(2)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Sky was quiet and she got that way when she didn’t know what to say.

“Sky, I’m done with Shayne. I’m not being with someone that I can’t trust. He isn’t worth my time and effort if he can’t even man up and admit his wrongdoings. Obviously, he’s got too much going on in his life to want to make an effort with me.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me. “I love him, you know. It’s hard walking away from something that I still want to have. How do people do that?”

“You don’t want my opinion on that. I mean, I was supposed to let go of Ford and move on, but we all know I couldn’t. I guess it takes time.”

I sighed and wondered what I was going to do with my time. “Do you want to go out? We could catch a movie or go shopping? Anything would be better than sitting around here thinking about the amazing sex that I’m never going to have again. I don’t even know if I’m more upset about breaking up or not being able to sleep with him again. We were so compatible in that category.”

“Right now?” She was whispering something and I could hear him laughing again, through the muffles. “We’re kinda in the middle of something.”

“Gag! For real, I didn’t need to know that.” I looked around my room, which was nothing to make a big deal about. Clothes were strewed all over the bed and floor. “I guess I’ll clean my room or something. God knows I can’t sit around and dwell on being boyfriendless and horny.”

“We never told you that you had to break up with Shayne. If you still want him, go for it. I won’t love you any less. I hate seeing you miserable.”

“I’ll love myself less and I don’t want that. We’re done. I’m hanging up now, to be depressed without having to hear the two of you banging each other and being so happy. Enjoy your night and call me in the morning, when you’re dressed and not in a bed.”

After we’d hung up, I felt even more depressed over the situation. For months I’d been so happy. Shayne seemed to be the kind of man that I wanted to be serious about. I’d already cried my eyes out several times and felt like they had doubled in size from swelling.

It was easy to say that I wanted nothing more to do with Shayne. Inside, it was destroying me. I wanted to crawl in a hole and disappear. The problem was, I knew I had to stay strong. Sky had been through so much and as sad as I was for myself, I wanted to be happy for her and Ford.

So, I did something drastic. With my phone already in my hand, I called my provider and had my number changed. Then, I erased his number and deleted him from my social networking page.. It was drastic, but needed to be done.

Then I cried some more.

A few hours later, I had changed into a pair of sweat pants and was eating ice cream out of the container. Sure, it was cliché, but I didn’t care. I was twenty-one years old, jobless and now alone. I was pathetic!

With my life in such a sudden disarray, I began to think about what I could do to change things. Instead of being negative, I decided that it was a perfect opportunity for me to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. My friends were already starting their careers and fully vested in college, while I’d dropped out and done nothing productive, but filled my closet with sexy outfits to wear for a boyfriend that no longer existed.

Two days later, and a lot of sleepless hours, I was sitting down in front of my mother, letting her know that I’d made the decision to go back to school. This time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I was determined that my new goals were going to help me get over Shayne and move on with my life.

Chapter 2

Shayne

A few weeks after the whole episode with my cousin, I got a call from Ashley. I’d wanted to ignore her attempts to contact me, but knew that it would result in her showing up at my door.

My brother, who still didn’t have a clue about the pregnancy, was excelling his ass off at college. His coach was impressed, as was my father when he heard all about it. My parents made a huge deal about us making the trip up to his college to see him play in the first game of the season.

During the drive, I thought about a million ways I could break the news to him. No matter how I did, it wasn’t going to be easy. In fact, I already knew what he was going to say. Parker didn’t want a baby spoiling his dream. He’d beg her to abort, so it wouldn’t ruin things for him.

Since I’d managed to keep the truth from my dad, and my uncle hadn’t spilled the beans, I felt it was necessary to handle the problem before it escalated. Of course, being that my cousin wanted nothing to do with me, I didn’t have anyone to run things by with. The mistake that I’d made had caused my whole life to fall apart.

Where I felt like Lacey was just another girl I was banging, I was beginning to contemplate that maybe she’d been more. I thought about her all of the time and hated that I couldn’t have her.

I knew it was a shallow assumption, but I’d never been turned down by any female. As much as it frustrated me I knew it wasn’t realistic to think that I could have everything I wanted in life. I still missed her and it pissed me off that I did.

As soon as we pulled up to the college, my mind finally eased from Lacey to all of the fine ass that was walking around the campus. I must have been too obvious with my lingering eyes, because my sister smacked me a couple of times. I laughed it off and kept enjoying the scenery.

My brother was in a co-ed dorm which separated male and female tenants by floor. Since we had been invited, he’d made sure his room was pristine, on account of our mother flipping out over it. She put the t in tidy and hated when things were an inch out of place, at home.

Parker introduced us to his roommate before leading us on a tour of the campus and surrounding areas. We finished up the tour at a local restaurant where he’d gotten a part time job. My stomach turned when I thought about how responsible he was. I’d never studied my brother’s actions enough to consider that he always did the right thing, when it came to his life.

Then I knew.

Parker wouldn’t want Ashley to terminate the pregnancy. He would want to keep the baby and even possibly do the right thing, by dropping out of school and taking care of her. It was what my father had done when he knocked up my mother with me. Sure, they were still together, but sometimes I wondered what his life would have been like if he hadn’t married my mom.

They bickered a lot and I wondered if it was because deep down they resented each other.