Scars of Love

Natalie's POV Squeaky sneakers against an unyielding polished wooden floor repeatedly echoed through the university gymnasium. That thrumming beat felt especially potent today; it felt like a rhythm that told me I didn't belong. Every thump of basketball rushed through me and squeezed my grip even tighter on the tired notebook pressed against me like a shield.Not that anyone noticed me.No one ever did.Well, except for that time Jake Lawson decided I was funny to laugh at.He was always at the center of the maelstrom-certainly, he was tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, and that hair managed somehow to fall just so, even when sweat-drenched. But hazel eyes gleamed at me under fluorescent lights, and his smile. God, that smile could light an entire room if he wanted it to. And right now, all of Lawson University seemed to orbit around him.You could tell from the huddled bleachers, not for the game, but for him. Jake Lawson: the golden boy. Every shot he made sent the crowd roaring

Natalie's POV“You are pregnant, Natalie.” Dr.Patel said.The word came to me like a fist."Pregnant."It was Dr. Patel's typical calm, practiced way that one must have to use at least a hundred times a day; but in my ears, it was thunder. I could not breathe, could not move.The sterile white walls seemed to lean a little closer, the scent of antiseptic turning sharp in my nose. Pregnant. The syllables echoed and drowned out everything else she said-hormones, options, steps forward. The pulse hammered so hard within me, it felt in my throat.Beside me, Eddie's hand tightened over mine. I turned, searching for a solid expression in his face. The shock was evident as his mouth was clamped tight, but his eyes stayed on me, steady, worried. A flicker of anger crossed his features, but not at me. Never at me."Come on," he said gently, though his voice trembled. His grip anchored me, tugged me up from the fog. "Let's get you home."I nodded vacantly. My body obeyed while my mind was still

Natalie’s POVI struggled to open my eyes, my vision still in so much blurriness mixed with white that it took me a while to understand that the beeping sound was from the monitors next to me ."Eddie?" My voice cracked as it came out, sounding small, like some stranger's.His head shot up in a flash, relief flickering into his tired eyes. "Nat! Oh, thank God." He leaned over and gripped my hand with both hands. "You scared the hell out of me." "Where am I? What...what happened?" I blinked, attempting to shake the fog of understanding from my head.Eddie seemed to close up. He drew a slow breath in, almost as if he was bracing himself with every breath to respond to me. "You were hit, Nat. In the mall parking lot. A drunk driver backed into you and left before anyone could stop him. It was a hit-and-run." The memories flashed through my mind in fragments- tires screeching, bright white headlights, hearing Eddie yell my name. My heart jumped as I felt myself instinctively touch my s

Natalie's POVSomething wasn't right on campus.The air felt sharp.Like every breeze carried whispers.The moment I stepped in through the front gates, I knew I was being looked at, dozens of eyes.It had been weeks since I’d been here. Before, when I was glowing and naive, walked innocently, hand in hand with Jake Lawson, smiling like a fool.Now, I was just... the scandal.I bent down and embraced my bag, and walked into the midst of parked cars. With each step echoed too loud against tiled road, like I was stepping into judgment itself."Is that her?" someone whispered at my back."Oh my God, it’s really her.""She actually came back?"The whispers spread like fire, faster than fire among the students. I did not have to turn to realize that I was being gawked at. Botox girls with fake smiles, boys pretending not to care but clearly enjoying the show.And the first sneer.Whispered. Mean. Recognizable."Hey, look who finally crawled out from hiding."I froze.Cassandra's voice. It

Natalie's POVThe wedding itself was the Lawsons' worst nightmare, plus more, shallow, tawdry, and showy. The kind of luxury that is overweight with roses and decay.I sat in the back of the black sedan while Victoria reapplied lipstick for the tenth time in the rearview mirror at the rear of the vehicle. She perfumed the air with something heavy, smiled like the diamond clasp on her neck.You'll be a good girl, Natalie," she glared over her shoulder without looking at me. "No tantrum, no screaming. Sit there, smile for the cameras, and pretend the Hayes family still has morals in them."Those brutal words cut me like swords beneath my skin. "I never said I'd be making a scene."."You don't have to say it," she growled. "You just do always find a way to embarrass me." She spun her skirt around her legs and gasped for air, as if I were the assignment handed. "Don't blow this, Natalie. In case someone asks, you're happy for them. That's the script. Got it?"After my nod. Still. Taken. U