Broadwing | S. Wilson

Prologue - Lost at Sea?

Prologue - Lost at Sea?

The campus bar had a stupid name. It was so stupid in fact that most people attending the Washington college didn't remember its name and simply referred to it as, "that bar down the way with the stupid ass name." Not to mention that the inside was always a little bit below par. There was always a certain degree of uncleanliness inside the bar, and some of the staff were creepy, but they had the best prices for miles around, and cheap alcohol was important for college students.

For Astrid Turner, a history major, and her best friend Allison Holmes, it was their go-to party spot on Friday nights. This particular night was a little bit different than most others that the two best friends spent at the bar.

There were a bunch of other young adults around their age at the bar that didn't attend their college. They were all a part of the US Air Force. And how they got there wasn't exactly something that was at the forefront of Astrid's mind.

What was at the forefront of Astrid's mind was how Allison had ditched her at the bar and her friend had the only key to their off-campus apartment. 'You don't need your key,' Allison had said, 'we'll stick together like always.' Oh, what a lie that had been.

A sigh escaped her lips as she stared at her glass, wondering the probability of people not seeing her fly up to the open window of their fifth-floor apartment.

"Your eyes are blue like the ocean, and baby I'm lost at sea."

Astrid turned to the source of the voice, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear, she saw one of the Air Force guys giving her a charming smile. He had dark skin, warm brown eyes, and close-cropped black hair. He was cute, despite the devastatingly cheesy pickup line he had just delivered to her.

"That is probably the cheesiest line I have ever heard," Astrid replied, "I hope you didn't think it was going to work."

"Got you talking, didn't it?" he asked, and Astrid couldn't help but smile, "and smiling, too. I think I'm doing pretty good here. I'm Sam."

"Astrid," she said, shaking his hand.

***

She had known that something was wrong. That something was up. But as Astrid sat on the edge of the bathtub, staring down at the pregnancy test in her hand, she couldn't dare to believe that what she thought was wrong was a baby just beginning to grow.

The one person that she had been with in months and she gets pregnant? What kind of bad karma had she gathered up? There was no way she could finish her last year of college pregnant and with an infant. She just couldn't do it.

Her thoughts turned to Sam. Wonderful, amazing Sam, who had taken her out to breakfast the morning after and then took her to his favourite park where they ate muffins and sipped coffee and talked. Then he had walked her home and they had parted just like that, without exchanging contact information because they had known, somewhere deep inside themselves, that they had to go their separate ways.

And now she was pregnant and there was no doubt it was his and no way of telling him.

One tear slid down Astrid's cheek as she sat there, wondering what she was supposed to do. Wasn't it bad enough that her life was already complicated enough with the... ailment that she had been born with? Now you had to add on an early pregnancy without the father in the picture?

"Astrid?" Allison called. She was home from work. Astrid quickly wiped away the tear.

"In here!" she called back.

"What are you doing in here?"

In response, Astrid simply held up the pregnancy test. Allison's jaw dropped and her hand came up to her mouth in shock. The brunette hung her head, not daring to look at her friend.

Knowing how she was feeling with only a look, Allison sat down next to Astrid and looped her arm around her. Astrid leaned into her and tried to stop the shaking in her hands.

"Sam?" Allison asked. Astrid had gushed about Sam when she finally returned to the apartment, so her best friend knew all about her one night stand.

"Yes," she replied in a small voice.

"And there's no way for you to-"

"Tell him? No."

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna keep it?"

"Of course I am... I couldn't bring myself to not keep it."

"Obviously, I can help take care of it once you give birth, and we can probably work out some sort of system so that someone is always here with it. Maybe we could get somebody else to move in, that way there's three of us and-"

"No, Al," Astrid said, standing up and leaving the bathroom.

"What, 'no'?" Allison asked, following.

"There's no 'working out a system', or 'getting somebody else to move in.' I can't manage school, a job and a pregnancy and infant. I can barely manage school and work as it is, how can I possibly add a child onto that?" Astrid asked.

Allison looked shocked, "well you can't drop out."

"Of course I can, Al."

"But you have one year left before graduation! You've spent three years working towards this and so much money! You can't give it all up, Astrid!" Allison protested.

"Yes, I can, Allison!" Astrid shouted, getting fed up, tears brimming in her eyes once more. "It's the only thing I can do!"

Her friend looked down in defeat and sighed, "fine, but I'm still helping out."