Since You've Been Gone

chapter 25- shit show

heal- tom odell

The next couple of days had somehow flown by. Before I knew it, it was Friday night, and I was in the car with Tobias on the way to tonight's football game.

"I can't believe you're pregnant, Hope." My mom had told Toby the news, so when I got home, he was waiting for me on my bed. Aside from my parents, he was one of the people I was the most scared to tell.

Tobias was a typical big brother, and he was extremely protective of all of his siblings. I had no clue how he would react, but I just didn't think it would be good.

"Toby," I warned.

"All I'm saying is that I can't believe it. I'm not yelling, am I?" He turned to look at me from the driver's seat. His eyebrows were raised, and I could see the tension in his shoulders and the way he clenched his jaw.

"I don't want to talk about it." Toby scoffed but didn't say anything else.

I was an anxious mess in the passenger seat. Today when Layla and I had gotten to school, we noticed two things right off the bat: Connor had moved parking spots, and he was wearing our school's black and white football jersey.

Connor and I still hadn't spoken since I kissed him. I didn't know what to say or do. The pleading texts that I had sent to him had fallen on deaf ears, and it was eating at me. I thought our kiss was good – he literally kissed me back – but I guess he didn't like it.

When we got to the stadium, it was packed. Football was a big thing at our school, and the whole town practically came to the games. Everyone was excited to see Tobias, so I left him to talk to his friends and went to find my parents inside.

My mom never missed one of her kid's sporting events, and my dad always used the time to socialize and talk about his campaign. But I couldn't help but notice all of the stares I was getting as I walked into the stadium.

"Nice ass Hope!" A voice coming from behind me yelled. A boy that looked like a freshman or sophomore was laughing with his friends.

Nice ass? He obviously isn't looking very hard, because unless pregnancy has already drastically changed my body, I have no ass.

My mom waved her hand at me as soon as she saw me. The smile on her face only grew as Tobias joined me. She loved having all of her kids around, and right now, we were all here – minus Raeanna.

"Hope, Layla looks so good in her uniform!" She gushed.

"I'll be sure to tell her Momma."

From beside me, Toby elbowed me and pointed towards the field. "When did Harding decide to play?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "We aren't talking."

"When did that happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What do you want to talk about?" He groaned.

The national anthem began to play soon after, and then the game started. Beau was actually playing, which was a shock to me. I honestly expected to watch him ride the bench the entire game, but I was happy his hard work was paying off.

Connor was also playing, and he was playing extremely well. He had scored once during the first quarter and again in the fourth. Connor's family was sitting a couple rows to the right of me, and each time he got the ball, I could see the excitement that pulsed through them. Even Tobias had mentioned how well Connor was playing.

The way he sprinted every time he got handed the football gave me butterflies. How he smiled when he took his helmet off, and his teammates patted his back after a good play. I had a tendency to smile when I saw him smile, and even though we weren't on good terms, I couldn't help but grin.