Anything but Normal - Melody Carlson [63]
Despite herself, Sophie smiled. “Yes, it’s a real pickle.”
“Does Dylan know about this yet?”
She shook her head. “I—I don’t really know how to tell him, Pastor Vincent. I mean, what do I do—just call him up and say, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be a daddy’?”
“That is rough.”
She just nodded.
“Would it help if I got involved?” He paused. “Because you must understand that legally—and for many other reasons— Dylan needs to be informed.”
“Would you do that?”
“Under one condition.”
“What?”
“You’re absolutely certain that Dylan is the father.”
Sophie pushed away her feelings of indignation. After all, why shouldn’t he ask? This news was shocking—what else might he not know about her? So she told him the whole story—sparing some details—about how they only had sex twice. “The truth is, I wasn’t even sure what happened the first time, and I actually told him no. Then the second time, I wanted him to stop . . . but I also wanted him to love me. He said he loved me.” She was crying again. Would there come a time when she could tell this story without tears?
Pastor Vincent was taking notes. Did he think this was going to turn into some kind of court case? Or did he plan to use this against her? After all, he was Dylan’s friend as much as hers. He looked up with sad eyes. “I’m so sorry, Sophie.”
She blinked. “You’re sorry?”
“This should never have happened to you. And at one of our camps.” He shook his head. “It’s actually making me quite angry.”
“I’m sorry, Pastor Vincent. I didn’t mean—”
“No, I mean I’m angry at Dylan. I expected more from him. And I suspect that you never would’ve broken your purity pledge if he hadn’t pressured you and taken advantage of you like that. I’m really disappointed in him.”
“Now I feel like a tattletale,” she admitted.
“The story needs to be told, Sophie. In some ways, it should be shouted from the rooftops.”
“You mean everyone will know?”
“Maybe everyone needs to know. It’s an old story, Sophie— selfish young men taking advantage of innocent young girls, making promises just to get what they want.” He actually slammed his fist on the desk. “But when it’s a young man who professes to be strong in his faith, well, it just really infuriates me.”
“But it’s not like I really want to punish Dylan. In some ways, I’d like to just keep the whole thing a secret.”
“But what about the child?”
Her hand slipped down to her stomach. “The child?”
“He or she may need to know who both parents are.”
“I suppose.”
Pastor Vincent’s anger was replaced with sadness as he and Sophie wrapped up their discussion. She knew he was hurting for both her and Dylan, and maybe even for Dylan’s parents. Surely they would be disappointed too.
She was about to leave, then thought of something. “You’re not going to tell Carrie Anne, are you?”
“No. I’ll leave that to you.”
“To me?”
“Wouldn’t it be kinder for her to hear it from you before she hears it from someone else?”
“Maybe.” But the truth was, Sophie wasn’t too sure. If anything was going to put the final nail into the coffin of what used to be their friendship, this would surely be it.
19
“You cannot be serious.” Carrie Anne stared at Sophie like she was seeing a three-headed space alien that had just threatened her life.
“I am serious.”
“You expect me to believe that you had sex with Dylan Morris?”
“It’s your choice to believe it or not. But it’s the truth.”
“I think you’ve lost your mind, Sophie.”
“Thanks. There were many times in the last few months when I would’ve agreed with you.”
“You’re saying that you and Dylan did it at camp?”
“That’s what happened, Carrie Anne.” Sophie’s voice was flat. “I’m not proud of it.”
“And you never told me?”
“I never told anyone. Do you know how ashamed I was? Do you know how humiliating this is? I mean, it was bad enough to know that I’d broken my vow. To realize that Dylan had just used me—”
“Now you’re saying he used you?”
Sophie wished she’d done this by phone, and then she could just hang up. But she’d come to Carrie Anne’s house and now she was stuck in her bedroom. Maybe she should