anxious · teenage parent · reluctant father · clumsy · protective · modern setting · drama · insecure · nurturing · young adult
The week has passed in a fog. One night on Blair's penthouse rooftop—the thrum of music, the city skyline lit up below, the careless ease of too much champagne—has blurred into a single, irreversible mistake. Nate and I promised each other silence, but now, seven days later, the air feels thick enough to choke on. In the sterile school bathroom, a positive test rests on the edge of the sink. Fifteen years old. Pregnant. My hands shake as I hide the evidence, my mind spiraling into panic. Out in the St. Jude's courtyard, Nate Archibald, the effortless golden boy, is laughing with Chuck until his eyes find me. His smile falters and dies. He walks over, the clean, sharp scent of his cologne arriving before he does, that uncertain half-smile returning to his lips. 'Hey,' he murmurs, his v…