43. Beth is Pregnant.

LARA.

"Maybe if you're vigilant enough, you'd see that the whole scene Tony caused after Beth left was unnecessary. Why is he so pained that she left? She's not even his babe! And I get that she's your best friend, but don't you ever, because of that, scream at me. Is that clear?!"

Grace's words kept resounding in my head ever since that night. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. It was bothering me so much. Truth be told, why was Tony that pissed that Beth left like that? That was why I took his phone and tried to call Beth on it. If there was anything suspicious, I would have known when she picked up the call, but everything seemed quite normal.

Yet, I couldn't take my mind off it. I've been pissed with Tony since then and have refused to visit him. One thing I knew was that sooner or later, he would come back to apologize to me. Tony can't do without me because of how much he loved me, so there was no way we had a fight, he would always come running back to me.

The fight with the girls made me feel a little lonely too. I had not seen any of them around for a while, and I could tell it was due to the argument we all had the other day. So, I decided to invite the girls over and talk everything out. Our clique had grown so much more than fighting one another over little things like that.

My front door opened and Grace and Janet walked in together, followed by Yeesha. I cleared my throat before standing up to welcome.

"Hey, guys!" I said to them as they walked into my sitting room.

"Hi," both Janet and Yeesha replied, but Grace didn't. I could tell that she was still annoyed. That was one thing about Grace, she was hot-headed and doesn't easily let things slide. But the moment you apologize to her, she'd let it all go. And that was the thing, I wasn't ready to apologize to no one. It would give them the impression that I was wrong.

"It's been a while, guys. Thanks for coming," I said, trying my best to start a conversation. "I guess we have to wait a little for Beth. She said she'll be here soon." I said to them.

"Why did you call this meeting or whatever you called it in the text message you sent?" Grace spoke for the first time since they got there.

"We haven't been together for a week or more now, and I've missed you all. Didn't you guys miss me too?" I asked her, trying to look for ways to make her calm down.

"Do you think that's the right thing to say? Shouldn't you at least apologize?" Grace asked.

"Apologize?" I said and scoffed. "For what exactly?"

"You ought to, Lara. This time, you were at fault in a lot of ways, and just because you think yourself higher than the rest of us doesn't mean we don't deserve an apology for how you spoke to us in front of your man and his brother." Janet replied and Yeesha nodded.

"And if you ask me, you need to stop acting like you're the boss of us. It's tiring a lot. We're all grown-ups, Lara." Grace added.

I wanted to counter their words, but I chose not to. I decided to maintain peace between us because I didn't have other friends, and continuing a rift between them will only affect me more. I was the one who loved partying most, of all of us, and parties aren't always great without them. So, I did what they wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, guys. I am." I blurted out.

They looked very surprised to hear these words come out of my mouth, and I could tell from the expression on their faces. I rolled my eyes but made sure none of them saw me. Just as they were about to speak, the door opened and Beth came in.

Thank goodness.

"Hi, guys!" Beth said and dropped her purse on the chair, then sat down. "Sorry, I'm late again." She said.

"Lara just apologized, just do the same," Grace said, not bothering to explain what happened after Beth left that day.

"Apologize? For what?" She asked, a confused stare on her face. Then she turned to face me. "You apologized? Wow, that's a first." She said, making me glare at her.

"Whatever," I said. "Just apologize and let us all move on."

"You still haven't told me what the apology is for," Beth replied.

"We fought the other day because of how you left. Everyone here was pissed." Yeesha said, staring at her.

I could tell from the expression on Beth's face that she wanted to argue. I was sure she wanted to tell everyone that she wasn't at fault in any way and she wasn't going to apologize. So, as she was about to speak, I nudged her. She glared at me and I tried to use my eyes to motion to her to let it go. She rolled her eyes and then faced the girls and apologized.

"I'm sorry," she simply said.

"Good!" Grace said and stood up. "Let the fun begin!" She said and the girls cooed.

Grace connected her phone to the Bluetooth of my sound system, and in a few seconds, she began to blast music from it. Wizkid's Essence was the first one she played. That girl could never get over that song. She was obsessed with both the musician and the song itself. I excused myself and went to the kitchen to do some stuff.

I got back to the sitting room with a tray of fruits in my hand. While the other girls had begun to dance and had gotten carried away, I noticed Beth was nowhere around, but her purse was on the chair. That means she was still here but had probably gone inside.

"This girl and not wanting to have fun," I said and sighed. "Let me go drag her here," I muttered to myself and headed over to my room upstairs.

I checked my room and the toilet, but she wasn't there. I checked the guest room, and she wasn't there either, but as I was about to leave, I heard her voice coming from the toilet. I was about to call her name and pull the doorknob and walk in, but I stopped when I overheard something.

"Isn't there something I can do to stop this vomiting thing? It's annoying me," she said. "Must everyone know I'm pregnant?"

My mouth went wide open in shock, and I gasped as I heard what she had just said. "Beth is pregnant?"