Rejected: A love story-Chapter 37: Nathan has a child

"Is this a joke, Mom?" Nathan stared at her, but her face was dead serious. "We just found out..."

"Mom, I don’t sleep around. I’m not that kind of person," Nathan said, his voice firm.

"Natasha would be in the best place to explain this," his mother replied calmly.

"Natasha? Seriously? What lies has she fed you all?" Nathan’s annoyance was palpable.

Natasha slowly walked towards them, her eyes looking tired and her expression sad. "You better start speaking. What nonsense am I hearing?"

"Nathan, stop! She’s been through enough," Mrs. Keith scolded, pulling Natasha close. "Explain to him, my child."

"It all happened when we were still in high school. Remember the time you got drunk at a party organised by the guys in section B..."

"What about it?" Nathan’s tone was impatient.

"You got drunk, Nathan..." Natasha trailed off, crying.

Mrs. Keith calmed her down, encouraging her to speak. "I came over to take you home because one of them called and said you were drunk. I... I managed to help you to the car, but you forced yourself on me, Nathan."

Mrs. Keith wiped Natasha’s tears, calming her. "What nonsense?" Nathan was clearly offended. "Are you accusing me of rape? Mother, you support this?"

"Nathan, she’s telling the truth!" Mrs. Keith said firmly.

"The truth? Oh my goodness, you must be kidding me!" Nathan’s voice rose. "Let me guess: you got pregnant and didn’t say a word about it to me because you were protecting me?"

"I was, Nathan! I didn’t want you to feel bad or tarnish your image at school," Natasha cried, leaning into Mrs. Keith’s arms. "That was the whole reason I broke up with you – because I didn’t want to burden you."

She cried harder, and Mrs. Keith comforted her. "You should be an actress, Natasha, trying to pin another man’s child on me!"

CLAAAP!

Mrs. Keith’s hand landed on Nathan’s face. "Don’t talk to her that way, Nathan! You should be grateful to her for doing everything she did... the least you can do is take responsibility."

"You can all believe her lies, but I won’t stand here and listen to trash," Nathan said, walking out angrily.

Fiona’s POV:

Caleb was calm and composed throughout the ride. Did he know what was going on? Nathan’s mother calling him this morning made my suspicions right. I tried to get information from him, but he didn’t give in. The way he sounded made me believe he was oblivious to what was going on.

We arrived at the school’s parking lot, and for a sec, I just sat there. "Are you okay?" he asked, staring at me.

It was then I realised that I was so used to Nathan opening the door for me that I just sat there. "Oh, sorry. I’m fine," I said quickly.

He smiled slightly. I opened the door, but he held my wrist. "You need to introduce me to your friend, remember?"

"Aha, yes," I said, taking my phone from my bag and quickly sending her a text. Ella replied almost immediately.

Caleb got down like a king whose cabinets were awaiting his arrival. I shut the door as I came down, and just as I thought – students were staring.

’OMG! Isn’t that Caleb? From the Keith’s family.’

’He’s as cute as his brother.’

’He’s so young!’

Of course, what was I expecting? The Keith boys always draw attention and make heads turn.

Ella came out, covering her mouth as she gasped. I watched as she shyly approached us. I had never seen Ella shy before.

"Hi," she greeted, smiling from ear to ear.

Caleb extended his hand for a handshake. "Hi, I’m Caleb."

I could tell he had her charmed already. "Ella," she replied, returning the smile.

They kept staring at each other, and luckily the bell rang. I took Ella’s arm, separating their hands. "We have to go now, Caleb. Thanks for dropping me off."

"I’ll pick you and Ella up," he shouted loud enough for us to hear.

I waved at him from afar as we were already away from the parking lot. Ella and I giggled as we ran to class.

"Girl, he’s interested!" I whispered.

Ella blushed. "Shut up, Fi!"

We slipped into our seats just as the teacher walked in.

Throughout the lectures, I kept glancing at my phone, waiting patiently for Nathan to text me. I felt uneasy, and judging from what happened earlier, something was up. We had only started dating last night – well, apparently this time it was for real.

The rest of the day flew by in a hurry, and the bell rang. Ella and I packed up, leaving the classroom. We both sat down in the cafeteria, and I pulled out my phone to check again for any messages, but there was nothing.

"Everything okay?" Ella asked, staring at me.

I slipped my phone back and nodded. "Yes."

"Come on, girl, you’ve been staring at that phone since forever," she teased.

"It’s nothing, just checking if Nathan texted," I replied, trying to play it cool.

"My friend is hopelessly in love," she shook her head in disbelief.

"El, I suspect something is wrong. The whole family is acting strange – well, except Caleb."

"Like strange strange? Or strange in what way?"

"Very strange. This morning, his mom called him aside to talk to him while we were about to leave."

"Or maybe you’re just overthinking it," Ella suggested.

I shrugged. Maybe she was right. I looked around and noticed everywhere was quiet – that was unusual.

"Speaking of which, why’s everywhere so quiet?" I asked, folding my hands under my chest.

"Have you forgotten? Your troublesome stepsister is absent. Ever since Nathan almost expelled her, everyone has started minding their own business."

"That reminds me, why did he change his mind about the expulsion?"

"I said some mean things to him during my breakdown, so he decided to suspend her instead," I explained.

Ella nodded, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Guess that’s a good thing, then."