Heartbeat

Chapter 3.

— Aria's POV —

"What do you mean you don't know?!" I hear my best friend screech through the phone and I wince, pulling my phone away from my ear and putting it on loud speaker instead. If I'm going to be screamed at I may as well keep the hearing I have.

"Look, I was tired, and maybe a little bit tipsy still, I don't really remember much after I came." I tell her, grabbing my lip gloss from my bedside table. As the weather turns cooler, my lips have become chapped, and I hate it.

"Oh, so he was good in bed?" Lillie questions, and I roll my eyes. He was really good in bed, but I aren't telling her that.

"I'm not telling you any more details unless you help me out, come on, Lils, what do I do?" I panic. I'm usually so safe with sex, this has never happened to me.

"Okay, fine. Does it burn when you pee? And do you need to pee a lot?" She questions, and I nod my head along to both.

"Yeah, what do I do?!" I almost scream at her, and she giggles to herself, only making me more frustrated.

"Sounds like a UTI."

"Damn it!" I lay back down in my bed in a huff. I'm so annoyed with myself, I'm usually so careful.

"This is why you should always pee after sex."

"I know, I know. I was just-"

"Tired, I know." She says, and I let out a sigh. "You should go to the clinic, they'll give you some antibiotics, and while you're there get tested just in case."

"No, we used a condom, don't worry."

"Did you?! I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot to do that either." She has me thinking for a second, and really, I can't remember, but surely I wasn't that stupid to not use protection. I've never had sex without a condom before, I would've known the difference, surely.

"Look, I'm not that stupid."

"You sound hesitant."

"He wore a condom!" I tell her so certain of myself, and she chuckles to herself.

"Okay, fine, but still, go get tested just in case, you know condoms can split." She tells me, and I grumble. I don't want to be an adult today, and I really don't want to go to the clinic. "So, now I get to grill you for details."

"Okay, so." I go to start but my sister Eleanor comes creeping into my room with a sly smile. "Eleanor is here, I've got to go, I'll ring you tonight."

"Aria this isn't over!" She says, and I smile to myself, ending the call as Eleanor climbs into my bed.

It's been a week since the party and five days since Lillie left for college, her classes start tomorrow so all morning we've been on the phone catching up. I've had the most annoying symptoms haunting me all week, so when I left to go to the bathroom for the third time in an hour, Lillie got curious.

I suspected it was a UTI, but I just wanted to close my eyes and ignore that what was happening to my body just wasn't, but she's right, I need to go to the clinic. It's the last thing I want to do, it's humiliating, but I've just got to remind myself this happens to a lot of people.

Eleanor has been extra clingy lately since she got home from school on Friday so we've been hanging out all weekend, watching movies and doing each others makeup, so I'm not surprised when she crawls into my bed, getting herself comfortable.

Mom's on night shifts this weekend so I've got the kids today as she sleeps in preparation for another shift tonight. It's not all bad, they're amazing company and always keep me on my toes, but I am dreading having to kids today if I'm going to the clinic.