Charades And Champagne

33

Zoe stared critically at the box in her hand.

        Why is this new? was all she could think about.

        After her shower, Zoe had obsessively cleaned her room – not wanting her mom to guess what had transpired in there. When she was done, she'd slipped into the main bathroom down the hall and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet for the box of Plan B she had vaguely remembered seeing there a while back. Hopefully they hadn't expired or been thrown out by her mom.

        She'd been surprised to find a brand NEW box of pills still in a plastic bag resting in the very front of the cupboard. Zoe eyed the box doubtfully. Her mom would definitely notice if she took one. They'd clearly been purchased pretty recently. If she had to guess, she would've said yesterday or maybe the day before.

        But then again, she really had to take one. There was no question about it. Even her mom would agree that it was the responsible thing to do after ... well, an irresponsible act.

        Shrugging, Zoe broke the seal on the box and pulled out one of the cards of pills.

        Popping one out of its little plastic and aluminum prison, Zoe slipped it into her mouth and washed it down with a glass of water she filled from the sink.

        And almost choked when she heard a voice behind her go, "Zoe?"

        The box fell to the floor as Zoe began to cough violently.

        "Zoe, honey, are you okay?" she heard her mom's voice ask.

        Oh no. Please no, she thought frantically as her mother pried the glass out of her hands and began banging on her back to make the coughing subside.

        When Zoe could finally breathe easier, she began to – very subtly– kick the box of pills behind the toilet. Unfortunately, her mom noticed.

        "Zoe, what are you doing with my after pills?" Natalie asked, deftly picking up the box. She didn't look like she'd just come home from her grandmother's house. She looked like she'd been home all night and had only just woken up.

        Her red hair looked like a bird's nest – just like Zoe's had before her shower. And she was clad in a fluffy white bathrobe.

        "Um ... they fell out while I was looking for some, uh ... tampons," Zoe lied quickly.

        "I saw you put one in your mouth!"

        "I wanted to see what they tasted like!" Zoe said defensively.

        "Zoe," her mom said dangerously.

        "Fine mom! I let Miles spend the night. Happy?"

        "You let ... Have you lost your mind?!!" her mother demanded. "What were you thinking? And you told me Miles went to England!"

        "Well he kind of came back ..."

        "And what? You were so happy you decided to lose your virginity to him?"

        "Technically he lost his virginity too so ..."

        "That's beside the point!" her mom yelled. "How could you let him take advantage of you like that?"

        "Okay now that's not fair," Zoe said. "He was just kissing me until I decided to take his shirt off."

        "Oh God," Natalie said, looking heavenward. "Zoe you're both so young and you didn't even use protection, if I'm right about the pills."