Touched by Angels (Angels Everywhere #3)(43)

“Hannah?”

She swallowed tightly.

“For the love of heaven, where have you been? Don’t you have a clue what time it is? Your mother and I have been half sick worrying about you.”

All through the afternoon, Brynn noticed that Suzie Chang’s eyes avoided hers. Although the teenager didn’t contribute freely to class discussions, if Brynn called upon her, Suzie would willingly share her thoughts.

Often Brynn had been grateful for Suzie’s contributions. Her other students tended to get sidetracked easily. Brynn had come to rely on Suzie to subtly steer the topic back on course. Reading the teenager generally wasn’t difficult, and Brynn knew from the way Suzie’s eyes brightened when she had something she wanted to say.

It wasn’t that way this afternoon, however. Suzie seemed to be trapped in a world all her own. Knowing the girl was miserable nearly broke Brynn’s heart.

Brynn blamed herself. It had been wrong for her to look into scholarship possibilities without first discussing the idea with Suzie. Her intentions had been good, but in the process she’d somehow managed to hurt the girl.

The bell rang, and Brynn stopped Suzie on her way out the door.

“Could I speak to you for a few moments?” Brynn asked, hoping her voice didn’t betray her worries.

“I can’t this afternoon, Miss Cassidy,” the teenager mumbled, her head bowed.

“It’ll only take a moment, Suzie.”

The room emptied, and Suzie stood just inside the classroom, her gaze fastened to the floor. She trembled like a frightened rabbit.

“It’s about our discussion from the other day,” Brynn began. “Remember I asked you if you had any plans for higher education.”

“I can’t go to college, Miss Cassidy.”

“Suzie, if I said something to offend you, then I’m truly sorry.”

The teenager bit into her lower lip, then slowly lifted her head. She offered Brynn a weak smile. “You didn’t offend me. I was honored that you felt I . . .” She paused, and her dark eyes filled with tears.

“Suzie?”

The girl turned away and would have rushed from the room, Brynn suspected, if she hadn’t stopped her.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Brynn asked gently.

Suzie trembled as she ran the back of her hand under each eye. “I don’t want to trouble you with my problems.”

“It’s no trouble,” Brynn assured her gently. “I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

“You can’t help me, Miss Cassidy. No one can.”

“I can try.” With her arm around Suzie’s shoulder, Brynn steered the girl to her desk and handed her a tissue.

Suzie’s thin shoulders shook with repressed sobs. “Oh, Miss Cassidy, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“The first thing is to dry your eyes. There isn’t anything so terrible that you can’t tell me.”

Suzie looked up and studied Brynn as though to gauge her sincerity. Brynn met her look without flinching. She hadn’t a clue why Suzie was so unhappy. Naturally she had her suspicions, but she hoped it wasn’t as traumatic as the girl seemed to feel.

“I can’t go to college,” Suzie announced on a wobbly, emotion-laden breath. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to graduate from high school.”

Brynn waited, giving the teenager the freedom to continue without the interruption of questions.

Suzie stiffened and looked away, as if meeting her eyes were more than she could manage. “I haven’t told anyone.” The words were low and filled with trepidation.

Brynn gripped the younger girl’s hand, and Suzie squeezed her fingers hard enough to cause her pain.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

The news shouldn’t have surprised Brynn, but it did. Suzie didn’t have a boyfriend at school—in fact, to the best of Brynn’s knowledge, the only social activity Suzie had ever participated in had been the dance at the church.

“How far along are you?”

“Almost six months.”

“Six months!” Brynn couldn’t disguise her surprise.

“I realize I barely show. . . . I’ve lost weight because I didn’t want anyone to know. I was afraid if my father found out, he’d make me have an abortion,” she said in a rush, her voice barely audible. “I don’t want to kill my baby.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“I want this baby, Miss Cassidy. I love him so much already. When I first realized I was pregnant, I thought I would die; then later, after I felt him move . . . it was such an incredible feeling.”

“The father?” Brynn didn’t want to pry, but surely the baby’s father should be helping Suzie with some of these difficult decisions. Surely he could stand with her when she told her parents.

“I . . . haven’t told him either.” This was admitted with the same downcast look Suzie had worn earlier.

“But, Suzie . . .”

“He’s got his own troubles, and I don’t want to burden him with my news.”

“Burden him?” Brynn couldn’t keep the irritation out of her voice. “Suzie, this child is his responsibility, too. You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone. There are decisions to be made. For one thing, you won’t be able to hide your condition much longer.”