Three Weeks, Nine Months, A Lifetime

Chapter 4

See? Very quick update:) enjoy!

*****

“You did what?” I nearly shouted.

            Paul held up his hands, eyes wide with dramatized fright. “You really want me to repeat myself?”

            I wrapped up my history notes and slapped my brother on the shoulder. “Don’t you even try that. You freaking told someone, Paul! Now everyone’s gonna know!”

            “I told one guy. And you know Daniel. Yeah, he was kind of surprised at first, but he took it well, even said he was impressed you’re keeping the baby. Yeah, Tissa, impressed by you. You remember the crush you had on him.”

            Disgusted, I hit Paul on the shoulder again. “Like three years ago! You had no right! This is my problem, Paul. It’s not a big game for me. I’m actually pregnant. What were you even thinking?”

            “That I trust my friend! Come on, calm down. It’s not the end of the world.”

            I rolled my eyes and refused to say anything else. We were waiting for the school bus to come, but I was suddenly dreading the day; sure, Daniel wasn’t a part of the group of gossipers in the school, but he still talked. Everybody talked once in a while.

            Including Paul.

            I shot him another glare; he looked back like he had no idea what he had done. As soon as the bus arrived, I darted inside and took a seat near the front, plopping my bag right next to me so that Paul would be forced to sit near the back of the bus, with Frank.

            There weren’t a lot of seats on the bus to begin with, and we were the last ones to be picked up, so manipulating the seating arrangements was easy. I ignored Paul when he stopped by my seat for a few seconds, finally getting the idea that I wasn’t going to forgive him so easily.

            Throughout the entire ride, I focused on the outside world drifting by, biting my lip while I noticed life moving on, different people in different bodies, thinking same but different thoughts. Because everybody had their challenges.

            I hadn’t realized my hand had found its way to my stomach until the bus stopped at our school gate, and then I casually dropped my hand to my side, standing up.

            Frank approached me once we got off the bus with this big smile on his face, like he knew something I didn’t. I rolled my eyes and started walking away, but his deep voice stopped me. “Hey Tissa. I heard.”

            I looked at him, noticing the big pimple on his nose. “Good for you, Frank,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. My eyes tried to find Paul, but it seemed like he had disappeared. Some students who had been looking my way turned to face another direction as soon as they caught my searching eye. “It seems like everyone knows,” I said.

            “I am sorry,” Frank told me.

            “Um… thanks.”

            He smiled some more, as if that mouth could get any bigger. “So when you’re big, you’ll be just as fat as me. How about that? Fat friends.”

            And just when I’d thought, for a split second, that Frank had changed.

            “That would be nice, Frank,” I said. And then I walked away.