Are You Happy Now? - Part 1 (COMPLETED)

Chapter 11 - Part 2: "Second Chances"

Continued from previous chapter...

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Atlanta

"Oh my God! Natalie, are you okay?!"

Kate rushed over and shook Natalie's shoulder. When she had seen the results of her home pregnancy test, she had fainted. Thankfully, since she'd been sitting on the bed when she fainted, she didn't appear to be hurt.

Kate shook her shoulder harder, calling out her friend's name, she was out cold. Kate knew that fainting wasn't a big cause for concern, and that she'd wake up soon. She covered Natalie with a blanket and sat down at the desk, watching over her friend worriedly.

Kate thought about what had just happened. She couldn't forget how scared Natalie had sounded on the phone when she had called her. Natalie had asked her to come over right away, and of course she had. Kate had an afternoon class, but something told her something big had happened so she decided to skip it. Natalie hadn't wanted to tell her on the phone. When Kate had come over, Natalie admitted she thought she may be pregnant and had started crying uncontrollably. Kate hugged her until the crying had subsided, then had driven to the pharmacy to get a pregnancy test. For the first time in her life, she didn't know how to help her friend. Being older, she'd always felt a bit protective of Natalie. Now Natalie was facing one of the scariest things a girl can face, an unintended pregnancy, and Kate felt helpless as to how to comfort her.

Slowly, after a while, Natalie came to.

"What...happened?" Natalie said groggily.

"Thank God," Kate said, getting up and sitting on the bed next to Natalie. "You fainted! I was so worried."

"I what?" Natalie said, slowly sitting up in bed. She turned towards Kate.

"I had the strangest dream. God, it was so scary. I dreamed I was pregnant."

She shook her head and laughed. "God, it felt so real."

She looked over at Kate, confused. "Wait, why are you here?"

Kate didn't have the heart to tell her it hadn't been a dream, that according to the test, she was pregnant. She looked down at her hands and sighed.

It slowly dawned on Natalie. "Wait, it wasn't a dream...was it?"

Kate looked up at her and bit her lip before replying. "No. It wasn't. You're pregnant,"

She got up, and walked over to the test she'd left on the bathroom sink. "Or at least according to this, you are..."

Natalie looked like she was about to faint again, so Kate rushed over to her. She sat down next to her and gave her a small hug.

"Look, Nat. These things aren't always right. How about we take you to the clinic near campus?"

"Okay," Natalie said quietly, taking a shaky breath.

"Hey," Kate said, "look at me."

She took Natalie's chin in her hand and turned her head towards her. Seeing the fear in Natalie's eyes, Kate smiled reassuringly.

"It's going to be okay, alright? I doubt you're pregnant. It's probably a false positive."

Natalie nodded her head numbly. Kate had this way of making you think she knew what she was talking about.

"I really hope you're right."

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The drive to the clinic was a quiet one. Kate had called ahead and requested an appointment. Luckily, there had been a cancellation that day. Natalie hadn't said one word the entire ride. Kate kept glancing over at her as she drove, worried. Natalie just stared out the window.