She could almost, almost have been convinced, even then, that it was just another one of those weird six-degrees things, like maybe her mom had known someone who'd known someone or her dad had been working round there – something bizarre but explicable. Almost— until Lyra made that joke about partying with frat boys, and Carla— she couldn't hide it fast enough; she blanched.
That— no.
That didn't make sense.
She was pregnant at eighteen, she was a teen mom fresh out of high school, when would she've even had the chance to—
"Charo." The video on Carla's end jumped unsteadily, as though the hand holding the phone was trembling. Her voice dropped to a tight almost-whisper. "Honey, I need to— how do I turn off the video?"