Another World

Three

Katelyn shut the door behind her as she left, leaving me alone in the room. HCG, that’s what she called it. Three long words - Human something - Katelyn had said. That’s why the test took so long. They had to be absolutely sure. I sat down in the corner of the bathroom, resting my head on my knees. This can’t be happening to me. I can’t remember who I am; I can deal with that, sort of, but not this.

How could you do this to me Melissa? How could you be so bloody stupid? This was going to ruin everything. I bit my lip, fighting the tears. Please God, Universe, whatever it is out there; I need you to help me. I felt powerless again. How is this even possible?

What will Zayn say? Maybe I just shouldn’t tell him. But how the hell am I going to hide this? Melissa, you idiot. I stood up and wiped the tears off my face. I looked in the mirror, inspecting the brunette girl looking back at me. My eyes were puffy, I looked like I had just been trampled by a herd of elephants. I don’t remember, it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault, I kept repeating to myself. But it was, I knew that.

“Excuse me? Could you say that again?” Kyle, my father, said shaking his head.

I pulled the thick white bed sheets closer, trying to hide beneath them. Kyle and my mother, Janice, were sitting on some blue chairs on the other side of the room staring at the nurse in disbelief.

“Melissa’s blood came back showing high levels of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. This is a hormone produced highly during pregnancy” Katelyn opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Janice, my mother.

“No. That’s impossible.” She stated

“All three samples of blood taken from her came back positive” Katelyn said

“Melissa… please tell me this is some sort of sick joke” my mother pleaded as she stared at me with her huge eyes “please tell me were being pranked on one of those stupid TV shows you teenagers love so much.”

I didn’t answer her. It wasn’t a joke. I wish it was. She looked back at Katelyn and inhaled a huge chunk of air. She stood up and ran out of the room, sobbing and slamming the door behind her. I swallowed hard. Kyle stood up, breathing heavily. He gave me a look, filled with disgust and disappointment. Then, he too, walked out. The door slammed for the second time and I began to tremble.

“Sweetie, just get some rest. I’m going to talk to your parents.”

I wiped the tears of my face and pulled the covers up, completely covering my face. I turned onto my side and shut my eyes closed as tight as I could.

Melissa, you’re an idiot.

Liam

Having to watch Zayn cry is the most devastating thing I have ever had to do. When Zayn cries, nothing can cheer him up. When Zayn cries, we all cry. I felt powerless; I knew there was nothing I could do to make him smile right now.

Nicole sat on the other side of him. She was muttering words I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t hear anything right now. Have you ever tried talking underwater? That’s what it was like. Everything I heard, I couldn’t understand. I had no idea what the people around me were saying.

I knew Melissa would never consider having an abortion. She once said it was the most disgusting thing she had ever heard about.

What now? She’s only sixteen years old. She’s innocent, she doesn’t deserve this and neither does Zayn. Why them?

I needed to speak to Danielle, my girlfriend. Whenever something went wrong I always went to her. She would say something that would make it okay. Zayn was trembling besides me, I had never seen him cry so much, not even when his Grandfather died during X-Factor last year.

I looked over at Louis, Harry and Niall. They were sitting across from us like pigs. Harry had his head rested onto Louis’ stomach and Niall had his head dumped onto Louis’ shoulder. The three of them had cried too, this was just what they did when something bad happened. They were going to dump themselves onto furniture and not say anything for the next few days.

I heard the door swing upon and looked up to see who it was. Mr. and Mrs. Evans stormed out of Melissa’s room. Mrs. Evans was crying, she had her hands covering her face and ran to the other side of the hall to get Eddy. Mr. Evans looked at Zayn, he was furious. He looked as if he was about to kill someone. His nose was flaring.

This is going to get ugly.

Melissa

I woke up with a massive headache. Cupping my hand over my mouth, I jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom down the hall. I barely managed to pull my hair back before throwing up in the toilet.

There was a gross splashing noise and a smell of rotten cheese and onions hit my face as I felt more come up.

When I finally finished, I let my hair loose and sat back, breathing heavily. I got up, flushed my puke down the toilet and brushed my teeth. I walked back to my room and got back under the warm covers.

I looked up at the clock on the table besides my bed.

3:47AM

I thought about all the things that had happened yesterday. After mom and dad stormed out of the room, Nicole had stopped by. She hadn’t judged me. She had been caring and supportive. She had also given me my laptop, my phone and Melissa’s teddybear to keep me company.

I didn’t want to log on onto my laptop. I was scared of the things people were saying about me. Nicole told me there had been a ton of rumors about my “accident” circling around about me, and they weren’t all that nice. Luckily news about my pregnancy hadn’t come out yet, but I suspect it will soon.

Some people thought I had died, others said I had broken all my bones and was in coma and others thought I was peacefully recovering with my loving boyfriend by my side. None of those were true of course. I was perfectly healthy and Zayn wasn’t here, I hadn’t seen him since he came to see me last time. I sighed. I took my phone from the table. It was a white Iphone 4s. I pressed the screen and the “slide to unlock” screen appeared. I had been staring at the wallpaper for ages. It was of Zayn and Melissa. Zayn was kissing her...me, on the cheeks and I was biting the side of my lip and had my eyes locked on him. It was a beautiful photo, though sadly it didn’t make me remember anything. I wonder what will; a slap in the face, an electric shock…another car crash?

I don’t know what to do. I’m pregnant, and extremely close to the end of being able to get an abortion. What would Melissa want me to do? What if I wanted to keep it, but then I suddenly remember everything, and then I don’t? It was all just too much. I wrapped my arms around my belly and laid on my side. But what do I want? That’s the question no one had asked. They didn’t care about me. It was all about Melissa. Her future, her life etc etc. I gently stroked my belly with my hands. In a couple of hours I would see my baby for the first time. Katelyn said I was around 7 to 10 weeks pregnant, but she couldn’t be sure. I hadn’t talked to Zayn about any of this yet. Nicole had promised she would tell him after she left. I know I probably should have, but I was too scared. I didn’t know the guy, he was a complete stranger to me. I had no idea how he would have responded. What if he became violent?  No, I wouldn’t let that happen. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt my little baby. It was mine. Not Melissa’s, but mine.

“I’ll protect you.” I whispered to my tiny bump, to the tiny life growing inside of me. “It’s just you and me now. We’re on our own but we’ll be alright. I’m not going to let them take you away… I promise."

And with that, I fell asleep, again, this time with a smile on my face and my arms protecting my little bump.