What Comes After

In the spring, Peter is fired from the school, and rumors hold that he was arrested for engaging with an underaged sex worker. Additionally, he was involved in two affairs with mothers at the school, who then pressured the superintendent to fire him. Isaac refuses to believe any of this about Peter and insists that these are just rumors. Evangeline almost tells Isaac what she knows about Peter but, realizing that he doesn’t want to hear it, storms away from dinner.

Evangeline is supposed to go prom dress shopping with Natalia, but the pregnancy is causing frequent bathroom trips and insomnia, so she cancels. She recalls what happened in Bremerton three weeks before she met Jonah and Daniel. Peter picked her up, but when she wouldn’t reveal her age, he let her out, choosing a girl further down the street. Another man picked her up and paid extra not to use a condom. That man is now more likely to be the baby’s father than Jonah or Daniel since the doctor has officially moved up her due date by three weeks. She gets up to go to the bathroom and overhears Isaac telling George, “This thing with Evangeline. it was a mistake” (312).