LOVE, LYDIA ▹ STYDIA AU

SEVEN

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PHARMACY
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      I TAKE A STEP through the front door, a pile of envelopes crunching under my feet. My eyes widen as I look below my boots. Is that an American stamp?

Without even stepping inside my house I lift my boot, grabbing the envelope that was now decorated with a smeared footprint and eagerly rip it open. I quickly unfold the letter, my stomach filling with a mixture of anxiousness and anticipation.

"Dear Miss Martin, congratulations! We are pleased to offer you a seat at Boston University!" I exclaim in excitement, joy filling me. "Oh my god, oh my god, no way, oh my god!"

After jumping up and down a good few times, squealing in glee, I dart out of my front gate and across the road to Stiles' house. This was it, everything was going to plan. Everything was going to be just fine—more than fine, in fact, it was the best it had ever been.

As soon as I reach the front steps I rapidly knock on the door, panting. Thank god I would never be forced to do exercise at university, P.E was one of my worst subjects I have ever been forced to endure in my life.

The door opened to Stiles' sister who looked particularly bored as she loudly chewed on her gum. I desperately wanted to push past her and rush to Stiles to tell him the news but unfortunately, my manners got in the way.

"Oh, hey, Claire, is Stiles in?" I ask, panting for breath.

"He's...tied up." She says hesitantly.

"Oh, I can come back." I offer but secretly hope she'd let me in anyway, there's no way I could wait.

"He'll be down in about three minutes?" She guesses, letting me inside. "Cup of tea?"

After a short while, Claire came in with two cups and sat them on the coffee table. I muttered a short 'thanks'  as she kicked her legs up onto the couch, flipping through a magazine. I began to wonder what Stiles could have been doing that was so important that it couldn't be interrupted for a few minutes, especially considering my news—he'd be so happy, this was exactly what he wanted!

I was ready to ask Claire what the hell was taking him so long when I heard a continuous thumping coming from upstairs. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and leaned forward to look upstairs in curiosity. That was when I heard the distinct sound of, what is that? moaning? It was coming from I'm presuming Stiles' room. The voice seemed unfortunately familiar. Oh god.

I turn to Claire, wide eyed. "Oh my god, is that...?"

"Malia." She nods, typing on her phone as if this was a daily thing.

I come to a sudden realisation as I remembered Claire's previous words.

"So, when you said he was..."

"Tied up."

"You actually meant..."

"Tied up."

I immediately jump from my seat on the couch.

"Any second now." Claire sighs, beginning to mimic Malia's words as she practically screams them. "Oh, Stiles. Where did you learn to do that?"

A wave of nausea then washes over me, I feel like I'm going to be sick. No, I really am going to be sick. I immediately reach for my bag and retch into it, everything in it suddenly coated in a thick, putrid smelling sludge.

"I know, it's so gross." Claire agrees, shaking her head.

How could Stiles do this to me? Sure, I was getting cosy with Jackson on prom night but only because I though that him and Malia would have been doing the same thing right next door. I don't know how I feel about Stiles but just thinking of him and Malia overwhelmed me with dread. This is all too much, I can't take it.

Without another thought, I dart out the front door.

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     SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Sure, hearing Stiles and Malia getting intimate wasn't pleasant but was it really vomit worthy? A little. Regardless, I decide that it was worth worrying over, which is why I was walking into a pharmacy in the pitch black. I pause at the door, the green glow of the light up cross above my head creating a ring of light around me. Before I can decide against going inside, an invisible force seems to shove me through the doors, that invisible force being the mob of shoppers bumping into my back.

The small shop is filled with a thick layer of cigarette smoke and there was ear shattering rock music shooting from a radio in the back which made me want to be pulled back into the crowd of people outside. The atmosphere was intimidating to say the least. I cautiously took a step out from behind the shelf by the door and called out.

"Hello?"

The piercing sound of glass shattering rings through the store, causing me to flinch.

"Fuck! I'm coming!" A voice yells from the back of the store.

A girl around my age with a mass of wavy brunette hair and a long sleeved shirt with some sort of foreign symbols on in rushes to behind the front desk, she has a doe like face but had an attitude that easily seeps through it. She has a cigarette hanging from her lips which she pulled out when I reach the desk.

"Are you supposed to smoke in here?" I ask, doubtful.

"My parents own the place. They want me to help out? I'll set the terms." She retorts and I nodded, not sure how to reply to that. "What's up?"

"Oh, right." I say, tightening my cardigan around my body and wrap my arms around my torso. "Um, I've been feeling sick like, every day. Maybe you could just give me a pill or something..."

The girl pops the cigarette back in her mouth and pulls a clipboard off of a hook.

"Any diarrhoea?"

"No."

"Fever?"

"No."

"Stomach cramps?"

"No."

"Well, have you missed a period?" She asks, plucking the cigarette from between her lips.

I hesitate, staring at my worn out boots. This was exactly what I had been trying to avoid. Maybe my disappointing prom night had been a lot more life changing than I had been dreaming of.

"Yeah." I answer reluctantly, avoiding eye contact with the girl.

She takes a pregnancy test from the shelf beside her and sat it on the desk in front of me and I stared at it in disbelief. I took the pill, there was no way. Not me, I wasn't like that, I couldn't be a teen mum. I couldn't be. Could I?

I shake my head furiously, eyes still glued to the box. "Uh, no."

"Virgin?" She asks, seemingly shocked.

"No, but I took the morning after pill." I argue, shaking my head so much it felt like it could rip off my neck at any time, as if I was a rag doll.

"Ninety percent safe, ten percent is the catch."

No, this wasn't me. I wasn't like that, I made one stupid mistake. One really stupid mistake. I gave the girl a pleading look and she looked at me sympathetically.

"There's a loo here if you want to use it." She offers and I nod my head slightly, still in denial.

This may be the most life changing thing to happen to me. The most life changing thing to ever happen to me was in a cramped pharmacy bathroom. I could feel my life slowly turning to shit.