Chapter 10
Napa, California
For the first time in Ella’s life, she was bored.
The two weeks since she had last seen Ben had dragged.
Without the buffer of schoolwork, she had very little to occupy her mind.
She continued to help at the diner, and she picked up some extra shifts at the Henley Winery.
Every time she rode past the barn where she and Ben had made out, her heart bled.
She found herself missing Ben more and more each day.
Of course, they talked each night, but he was in the middle of midterms and was very distracted.
Some days, Ella thought she would go mad missing him.
Only knowing she would see him again soon kept her going.
To help pass the time, Ella decided to spend a few days at Julia’s house.
It had been a couple of years since they had spent any real time together.
Ella had enjoyed their shopping trip so much that she called and asked if she could come over one night and hang out.
Ella found she loved staying on her cousin’s couch so much that a visit that started out as a one-night sleepover turned into a two-week mini-vaca with Ella still going to work every day, of course.
Julia had an eclectic group of friends. She dabbled in local theater, and most of her friends did as well.
Ella quickly learned that theater folks were a brand unto themselves.
Ella loved meeting them and learning about their lives.
With them, no topic of conversion was off limits.
They talked about everything from politics, which thanks to Ben, Ella now knew a lot more about, to the latest Hollywood gossip, which she knew nothing about.
The most fun thing about being with them was how entertaining they were.
At any given moment, someone might break out in a song-and-dance routine right in the middle of a store, a restaurant, or on the street.
The world was their stage, and they were taking their fifteen minutes.
One could not possibly be bored around them.
A new group of interesting friends was not the only advantage to staying with her cousin.
The freedom that came from staying in her cousins’ apartment was amazing—no loud brothers, no bossy sisters, and no one expecteding her to help with dinner, laundry, or babysitting.
Every night Ella went out with Julia and her friends.
It was fun dressing up, staying out late, and not having to worry about school or parents.
Ben had been happy for Ella to have time with her cousin.
He teasingly reminded her that she was his and not to let any other guy turn her head.
She laughed. It was comical to her because most of Julia’s friends were gay.
Also Ella wondered how Ben could think anybody could hold a candle to him.
He was and would always be her redheaded stud of a hero.
The Wednesday before Ella was to meet Ben in San Luis for the third time, Ella had her first visit to a gynecologist. She arrived at the clinic thirty minutes early to do paperwork.
She had not even thought about the fact she would need to provide proof of insurance or that her parents would be getting a statement from the insurance company.
Making a mental note to be watching the mail in the coming weeks for that, Ella provided her dad’s insurance information but paid the deductible herself.
Because this was Ella’s first gyno visit, she was a little bit nervous and overwhelmed.
She had to do all the normal things like pee in a cup and answer a ton of embarrassing questions.
Ella knew it was silly to be wigged out about answering questions about her period and sex life.
She was still having a hard time even believing she had a sex life.
But she did, and if she wanted to keep having one, this was part of the process.
As she was quickly learning, sex was a grown-up thing that required grown-up behavior.
Her doctor was a beautiful young woman in her early thirties who was hugely pregnant.
Ella’s first thought was once again relief that she was not.
“Hello, I am Dr. Karly Jones.” Shaking Ella’s hand, the doctor said, “I see this is your first gyno visit with us.”
Ella nodded and said, “Yes.”
“And you are requesting an IUD? Is that correct?”
Again Ella nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Okay, let me just take a minute to review your lab work, and we will get started.” The doctor sat down on the rolling stool and began flipping through Ella’s chart. After a moment, the doctor looked confused and asked, “How sure are you about the date of your last period?”
“Completely sure,” replied Ella. “I was freaking out because I was worried I might be pregnant. I was so relieved when I got my period that day is tattooed in my brain forever.”
“Was it a normal period?” asked the doctor, still giving Ella a strange look.
“Well, hmm, come to think of it, it was kind of shorter than normal. But a short period is always a good period, so I did not think too much of it. Why? Is there a problem?”
Now, Ella was starting to worry. She had a period. She knew she had. She saw it. Why was the doctor asking her all of these questions?
“Well, Ella, your hCG levels are elevated. You tested positive on our standard pregnancy test. It is rare to get a false positive. However, if you are sure, we can do another test. Let me order another one. I will be right back.”
It felt like 1,000 years passed as Ella sat on the end of that exam table, draped in a paper gown, waiting for the doctor to come back and tell her everything was okay.
That whole time, she prayed harder than she ever had.
The test had to be wrong. It had to be a fluke.
She could not be pregnant. She just couldn’t be.
When the doctor returned, Ella could tell by the look on her face.
The test had not been wrong. The nuns were right. Ella was doomed.
Seeing Ella’s anxious face and how close to tears she was, the doctor softly rubbed her hand along Ella’s arm for comfort as she said, “Well, I am sorry. It was not a false positive. You are definitely pregnant.”
The doctor continued talking, but Ella did not hear another word. All she could hear were the words, “You are definitely pregnant,” bouncing around in her head.