50
I slowly close the bathroom door, pulling it until I hear a click. I can’t believe this is happening. What if Abi’s pregnant? Would she keep it?
“I have to go to the chemist,” I announce, walking into the living room.
“Everything ok?” Gaia asks, peering over at me from the TV. She presses mute on the remote. “What’s going on?”
“She’s throwing up again and, ahh, she is a little late.”
“Late for what?”
I raise my eyebrows, hoping she gets the message so I don’t have to say the words. Her lips move from pinched confusion into a surprised O.
I jog out of the courtyard into the parking lot.
I don’t want to be caught by Brooks or Sam.
The last thing I need is their questions right now.
What I need is to get to the chemist and buy my best friend a pregnancy test. We’ve been here before, once, when she was with Mark.
He’d cum prematurely up against her panties, and she freaked.
We had hidden in the shopping centre’s toilet cubicle in our school uniforms, huddled over a pregnancy test. It was negative, and she had gotten her period the next day.
I hope that this is a similar situation, that we’ll be laughing about it tomorrow…
but a feeling deep down in the pit of my stomach tells me that it’s real.
I pick up the test from the chemist and jog back to the apartment, surprised that my lungs aren’t burning as I increase my speed.
“Luna,” someone shouts my name from the stairs.
Shit, I’ve been caught. I tuck the test in the waistband of my pants.
The cashier had asked me if I wanted a bag, and like an idiot, I said no, trying to save the environment or whatever.
Sam walks over. He looks at Brooks’ apartment and ducks behind the trees.
“Hey, Sam. How was your night?” I ask, trying to sound casual, but my words come out slightly robotic.
“It was shit. How is she?”
“She’s at home now,” I reply, and he starts to move past me towards the apartment. “She’s got a stomach bug. Vomit and diarrhea everywhere. I’ll, umm, I’ll call you.” I run away from him and don’t dare to look back.
“What took so long?” Gaia asks, standing up from where she was perched on the edge of the couch.
“I went as fast as I could.” I deadbolt the front door behind me for the first time since moving in.
Knocking on the bathroom door, I don’t wait for a response before I push it open.
Abi sits leaning against the sink, wrapped up in a towel, her hair wet.
She looks up, her eyes searching my hands for the test. I remember the box is tucked into my pants, and I pull it out.
“Can I come in?” Gaia asks, tapping on the door.
“Yes, please,” Abi responds.
Gaia and I stand in the tiny bathroom in silence and watch Abi rip open the box.
She takes out one of the tests, removes the packaging and the cap.
She slides the test in between her legs before pulling it out and fastening the cap back on.
She hands it to me. Only mildly grossed out, I take the test and place it on the basin.
“It says here that we have to wait three minutes for the result,” I announce, reading the back of the box. I set the timer on my phone and place it next to the test.
“He asked me to leave,” Abi says, so quietly I’m not sure I heard her correctly. “He said he needed some space. He said that we were fine, but he asked me to leave.”
“Abi.” Gaia’s voice cuts through the silence like a knife. “If the test is positive, what do you want to do?”
Abi looks up at me as if I hold all of the answers. I try to give her a sympathetic shrug. No one can tell her what she should do.
“I’d have to talk to Brooks,” Abi replies, not answering the question.
“Before you talk to Brooks. You might just want to have an idea of what you want. I know that you love him, but you can’t let him sway your decision.
You have to decide what’s best for you, because–and I’m sorry to say this especially now–but Abi, no matter what you decide, I’m not sure if Brooks is going to hang around,” Gaia says, and Abi’s eyes fall on her hands, which are picking at the loose ends of her towel.
“We’ll be here, though. No matter what,” I say, wondering when the alarm is going to go off. Surely, it’s been three minutes.
“I always wanted a baby. I thought I’d be older, married, and have a career.
I’m going to have to drop out and move home.
But that won’t work. Brooks wouldn’t want to live with my parents.
He probably doesn’t want to be a dad either.
Could I do this on my own? No. I can’t do that.
I have no money,” Abi rambles. I watch her face distort through the stages of confusion and fear as she speaks.
“I can’t do this. Can I do this? What if I don’t keep it?
” Abi raises her eyes, looking back and forth between Gaia and me. “Does that make me a bad person?”
“Oh, sweetie, no. You are so brave, and we will support you. Whatever you choose,” Gaia reassures, reaching out to touch Abi’s arm, and Abi starts to quietly sob. The alarm goes off on my phone, and she jolts back up to attention.
“Luna. Please. Can you look?” I nod, turning towards the sink. I shut the alarm off and take a deep breath before turning the test over.