~ Becca ~
Mrs Hale doesn’t hug me when I walk in.
She studies me.
Like she suspects something.
The lunch was supposed to be simple. Just her. Just me. But the others were here.
But the air feels tight. Heavy.
“Its been a while you look tired,” she says.
“I’m not.”
She tilts her head slightly.
“You’ve lost more weight.”
“That happens when you're busy.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I sit down slowly. Cross my legs. Controlled.
Across the dining room, raised voices leak in from the hall.
Brielle’s voice.
Shrill. Panicked.
“I’m not hiding it anymore!”
Stephen’s voice follows. Lower. Furious.
Mrs Hale doesn’t flinch.
I do.
Barely.
“She chose a dramatic time to announce,” Mrs Hale says calmly.
“She’s pregnant?” I ask, like I don’t already know.
Mrs Hale watches my reaction c
