“Don’t be sorry, he’s a loser. You should’ve seen the way he acted when she told him. Even if he wasn’t the one who got her pregnant, he shouldn’t have talked to her that way. He doesn’t deserve her. Or me.”

I felt horrible for not being there for Marci. “How’s she doing? Is she okay?”

“I think she’s fine. I mean, the BBs aren’t talking to her, but that’s, like, a perk if you ask me. She ate with us at lunch. She told us that you’ve known.”

“Oh, look, about that …”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t your secret to tell.”

“Speaking of secrets … ,” I said, and spilled everything to Cole. When I was done, I felt about a thousand times lighter.

After class, Doc called me up to his desk. “You were five minutes late to class, Serena. If you want me to excuse it, I’ll need a reason.”

“You don’t need to excuse it,” I said.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay. Fair enough.”

“I went to see Parker at lunch, but I was late because I was kissing Anthony Beck in the parking lot.”

Doc’s eyebrows shot up. He clearly hadn’t expected me to be so forthcoming. Just a few days ago, I probably would’ve lied to him or tried to turn my visit with Parker into some kind of humanitarian outreach. But that was when I thought secrets were protection. Now I knew secrets were really just Band-Aids that never allowed the cuts beneath them to heal.

“I’m afraid kissing isn’t excusable. Fun, though,” he said with a grin.

Since I was being honest, I figured it would be a good time to get everything out on the table. Literally. I pulled Baby Charms out and placed it on his desk.

“This is Kori’s,” Doc said more than asked, but I nodded anyway.

“She wouldn’t have kept it this long,” I said in way of explanation.

“Hmm. Maybe you’re right.” Then he looked back at the flour sack. “Do you know what this project was really about?”

“I thought I did, but to be honest, I really don’t. I’m guessing it wasn’t supposed to teach us the responsibility of childbearing.”

“No. It’s a flour sack—who would I be kidding? But I’d hoped at some point you’d ask yourselves—why am I lugging this burden around? Is it just because someone else told me I had to? How much else am I lugging around for someone else? Just because?”

I looked down. Here I was carrying two of the damn things—how stupid was I?