Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) Tarrah Anders (i am malala young readers edition .TXT) 📖

“You came! You really, really came!” A very pregnant woman shrieks from across the room. She’s almost unrecognizable, but I see hints of my old roommate as I watch her waddle closer with her hands up in excitement. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen her natural hair color, but now a beautiful blonde stands in front of me. She’s got freckles across her nose and wow, her breasts are humongous.

“Hey you, when are you due?” I ask as she leans in and does double cheek air kiss.

Becky rubs her belly and smiles. “Two weeks,” she smiles, looking down.

“You need to be sitting! Please sit.” I grab a chair from a table nearby for her.

“Nonsense. Sitting hurts, after all. My inner parts are so scrunched up that whenever I sit, I need to pee, and then it’s tortuous to get up and Wayne is never close by when I need the help to get up, so walking and standing is good. I don’t want to pee my pants today. Who’s this handsome devil that you brought with you. I told Cass that I didn’t want any strippers.”

“Very funny. Becky, I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Rogan. Rogan, this is my old friend, Becky.” I point back and forth between them.

“Rogan, nice to meet you.” She leans in and takes his hand. “Rogan, why do I know that name?” She says to herself.

“Anyway, thanks for having us.” I say quickly, just as Becky’s eyes go wide and she looks at him.

“You’re not the Rogan? Are you?” She asks.

Rogan nods as Becky grins. “I’m going to assume that you have heard of me.”

“Well, all the more pleasure to meet you. I’m happy that you guys found your way back to one another. I have to pee. We definitely must chat later.” She pats me on the shoulder and waddles down the hall.

“So, you talked about me to her?” Rogan asks.

“I might have.” I shrug.

We walk around the space holding hands and I suddenly felt a range of emotions. I fight back tears and hide my sniffles. I felt like shit and each time that I look over at Rogan, a fresh wave of guilt ransacks my thoughts.

He could have had all of this. We could have had all this.

We were so dumb back then.

As the day went on, we ate plenty of miniature foods and did a lot of smiling. We made a lot of small talk and oooh’d and ahh’d over the cute baby presents that the eager parents received.

Even though neither of us had to work tomorrow, we passed on further plans in the city and instead came back home to Sunnyville.

“You okay?” Rogan asks as we pull up to my place.

I don’t immediately answer him until he reaches for my hand.

“I think we need some time apart.” I whisper.

“What?”

“I think that we should break up.” I say a little more confidently, looking at him.

“Here I am, thinking that we had a great day, in the city, with a few of your friends. Did I miss something?” He asks.

“Going to the baby shower was a mistake, we shouldn’t have gone there, at least not together.”

“That makes little sense. What happened today that put this in your head?”

“The whole situation, Ro.” I reply.

“I’m not following.”

“We almost had a baby, but then I ruined it. That, today, could have been us. But we didn’t make it that far, because I royally fucked up by getting high that night.”

“I thought we were past this?”

I put my head in my hands and take a deep breath.

“What if all of what happened back then was supposed to happen, because we were never supposed to be together? Not then, and not now. What if coming back home was a mistake? I mean, I couldn’t get my parents to think any different of me. Why would I think that you would forgive me for my sins, for leaving you for not telling you what happened back then?”

“Why? Why? Seriously, Kindra, why? Are you fishing for compliments, or are you fucking serious? Why? Because shit happens. We were kids back then, we made a lot of mistakes, but then we made a lot of good come out of those mistakes. Look at us. Back in high school, you had no clue what you wanted to do with your life, and I wanted to work at the record store for as long as they’d have me. But now, now we’re fucking professionals in our field. You’re a nurse, damnit, and I’m a fucking doctor. A fucking doctor! Who would have ever thought that? You can’t make this shit up. We were fuck up kids, who made something with their lives.”

“So what?” I mumble.

“So, sure, that could have been us today, but it’s not. And maybe we lost that baby for a reason. We needed to be apart in order to become something better.”

“I can’t do this, not right now. I think that we need to take a break. We can be cordial at work, I’ll even see if I can switch up my schedule, but I think that today really fucked me mentally, and I think we need some time.”

“We had eleven years apart, and now you want to add more to that?”

“I can’t explain the amount of guilt that I have right now. I hate myself for what I did to you, to us.”

“Then why are you doing it again?” His voice raises.

“Because I’m trying to do the right thing this time.” I shoot back to him.

“The right thing.” He says as if to himself as he shakes his head.

“You may not understand, but please, just know that I need this.”

“What about what I need?” He asks, grabbing my attention back to him.

“What I’m doing is for you, what if I’m no good for you?” I sniff.

“I should be the one to judge that,” he retorts.

“I’m sorry.” I tell him.

“No, I’m sorry.”

I get out of the car