The sound of the school bell still echoed as I closed my backpack and started walking down the empty hallway. My body was already getting tired too easily — it was no longer possible to hide the belly that grew with each passing week. Five months. Five long months since I made the mistake of giving in to a memory that still burned: Michael Kaiser.

Before I could reach the school gates, I felt a sharp tug on my hair, making me turn with a cry of pain.

— “You think I’m blind?” — his voice was filled with rage. — “Ever since you disappeared, I knew something was off.”

— “Let go of me, Kaiser!” — I tried to push him away, but he was already dragging me into an empty classroom.

He locked the door and pinned me against the wall, his eyes burning with fury.

— “What the fuck is that in your stomach?”

I stayed silent, trying to hold back the tears. He noticed. His expression changed, like he’d just been punched in the gut.

— “...Is it mine?”

I nodded slowly, barely brave enough to do it. He took a step back, like he was disgusted.

— “You’ve got to be kidding me.” — he laughed bitterly. — “You stayed silent for five months and now you show up like this? What, were you expecting me to just accept it?”

— “I didn’t want you to know,” — I whispered. — “You hate me, Kaiser. I thought it’d be better this way.”

He stepped closer again, this time with a darker look in his eyes.

— “And you were right. I do hate you.” — he spat the words like knives. — “And now you've given me one more reason.”

My eyes burned, the tears finally falling. I should’ve expected this. I should’ve.

— “I’ll take care of it. Alone. I don’t need you.”

Kaiser stared at me for a moment. The anger was still there, but there was something broken in his expression.

— “Fine. Do that. Because I never asked for this kid. I never asked for you.”

And before I could say anything else, he opened the door and walked out, leaving only the echo of his words and a pain burning deeper than anything else.