Teenagers, Love and Pregnancy

Chapter 2

"Should I make cookies?" Kelly asked as she leaned over behind me, staring at the pregnancy test sitting on top of a Ziploc bag on the counter.

"What? No. This is not a time for cookies, Kel!"

We were standing in my kitchen. I had taken the pregnancy test and was waiting for the results. For fifteen minutes I had stood with baited breath, staring at the test and waiting for the results to appear. One line means negative, two lines means positive. I repeated the words over and over in my head. One line means negative, two lines means positive.

"But it's taking FOREVER," she whined. Leave it to Kelly to be hungry at a time like this.

"The box says it can take more than thirty minutes for the test to process," I said, studying the now-empty box I gripped in my hand like a lifeline.

"Thirty minutes?" Kelly whined. "But I'm starving."

I ran my fingers through my hair, choosing to ignore Kelly's ever-present hunger crisis. As I pulled my fingers through my blonde locks, clumps of hair came out in my hands.

"Oh my God!" I panicked, thrusting the hair at Kelly. "I'm shedding!"

"Cameron, you need to calm down," Kel said, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Take a deep breath. You're seventeen. You should not be losing hair. You need to calm down."

"Hair loss?! Is that a symptom of pregnancy? It is, isn't it?!"

"No, it's not," Kelly said as she rolled her eyes. "It's a symptom of stress, a.k.a you need to stop freaking out."

"But --"

"Look. If you're pregnant, you're pregnant. If you're not, you're not, okay?"

"But Kel, this could change EVERYTHING if I am!"

"You're right, it could," she said. "But not the important stuff. Your mom and dad will still love you, I'll still love you, and Joey will still love you."

"Speaking of Joey, Kelly, there's something I need to tell you. I don't think --"

As I spoke, I looked down and saw the result window on the pregnancy test start to change.

"Look!" I shouted. "Kelly, look! It's changing!"

One line negative, two lines positive. I kept saying the words inside my head.

We watched in silence as slowly but surely, one deep red line appeared on the window.

One line negative.

My heart was in my throat as I stared at the test, waiting too see if another line would appear.

Slowly and lightly, a second line appeared.

Two lines positive.

I was pregnant.