Novels by Ophelia Vaughn

Lina’s POVClara stared at me with her eyes as though she were reading something on my face.I was able to sense her bewilderment, her anxiety, and the slight suspicion that had come to rest in her eyes. At last, she said, in a low, almost timid voice, “Lina, who was the father?”My stomach twisted. I stood still, struggling to maintain my calm, yet my mind was flying. I might have sworn that I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I opened my mouth but I could not say anything when her phone rang. and she looked at it. “It’s Maya. I’ll just—”“ Take it,” I said to myself, wishing she would go away and leave me to myself a few minutes. I was able to hear her footsteps disappear down the hall and the silence of the room pressed upon me.I glanced at the doctor, and I hardly uttered. “How-how?”He consulted his notes and answered, “I’ll say about six weeks.” He said, answering the question even though I could not complete it.My breath caught. Six weeks. Six weeks ago I had slept wit

LINA’s POV.Weeks went by, and in some way life fell back to something that was normal. School went back to its old beat, days melting into each other with lectures, homework, and small talks at dinner that demanded smiling which I had mastered to do.When Clara inquired about my well being I replied that I was okay. It was simpler than describing how heavy I always felt in my chest, how tired I never appeared to be, or how my mind always kept revisiting the same things I could not bring myself to mention.That afternoon Clara and I were sitting opposite to one another in the school cafeteria. The room was noisy, students talking over each other, trays scraping tables, laughter going up and down in sporadic bursts. It was curiously reassuring, as though the world had not slipped up under my feet in the same way that it did under my head.“I’m glad,” I said and stirred a drink in front of me even though I had no intention of drinking it.Clara raised her eyes on the food she was eating

Dinner was heavier than it ought to have been.The table was laid, all the plates in place, knives and forks fitted in their proper places, everything was in its place, except for one thing.The homewrecker.Me!Daniel was seated at the head of the table and his wife, the mother of Clara was seated beside him.He was healthier than he had been a few days ago. Stronger. He was back to his color, his shoulders were set straight, his face was less serious. He nodded when she spoke, answered lowly when she spoke to him, and whenever she smiled he appeared to melt down in his turn.He still loved this woman!It hurt more than I expected.“This is beautiful,” said Helen, the mother of Clara, looking at the dishes, and smiling at Clara. “You both did a great job.”Clara cheered up. “We tried to make it special.”“Not we, me!” Maya, the younger sister of Clara hissed.She sat very stiff in her chair, her arms crossed, her eyes on her plate as though she could burn a hole in it. She hadn’t tou

Daniel froze behind me.“I’ll get it,” I whispered despite how scared to death I was.I did not wait to hear his reply. I crossed the room, pushed the door open ajar just enough to squeeze through it, and entered the corridor. I shut the door behind me and locked it before Clara could utter another word.She frowned immediately.“Oh, I was not expecting you back.” I grumbled drawing her hand, trying to pull her out of there.“What is your reason in locking your door?” she said.I forced a smile. “I was cleaning. I did not want the wind to blow everything about.”She raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you mind that? And why do you look so…so rough.”I laughed, too loudly. “Since always.”“I was looking for Dad,” she said after giving me a long look. “I checked his room. He’s not there.”I swallowed. “He… um. He was in the garden earlier. That’s the last place I saw him.”Her eyes narrowed. “The garden?”“Yes,” I said quickly. “He said he wanted fresh air.”She hesitated, then shrugged.

Lina's POV The kitchen was as hot as an oven, sweat streaming down my back as I stir the pot on the cooker. Clara had gone to her mom’s and I was left to look after her dad, Daniel, who had sprained his ankle. I had put on little shorts and a slender tank top in order to beat the heat. Just then, my thoughts drifted away to Daniel.He had been so nice since I came to the country as an exchange student- he had opened up his doors to me and made me one of their family. But I had been in love with him years. It was my dirty secret and it made me touch myself at night and imagine his hands rather than mine. "Darm! That man fine." I mumbled.I turned around and there he was, right behind my back and nearer than I had thought. I gagged on a gasp, and a blush crept up my cheeks, and my heart missed a beat. His eyes dropped to my curves, and then they shot up. But my eyes immediately went down there, the bulge in his sweatpants. Fuck, was that a hard-on? For me? No way. I cleared my th