Summer Secrets

Chapter 1

As Maya loaded her last suitcase into her cherry red Toyota Camry, she took one last moment to reflect on her first year of college. She was beyond excited for the first day of school to come during her summer vacation but that excitement faded at a fast rate after the first week of classes. She realized that she wasn't as prepared as she initially thought she was and that college was a lot harder than she was led to believe. Her first semester involved a promiscuous roommate who had a different guy over every other day and struggling to keep up in her classes. Without her best friend Shay and her boyfriend Caleb around to help lift her spirits, Maya found herself struggling to get out of bed some days. It wasn't until she went home for Christmas break and heard how well her friends were adjusting that she decided to turn things around. Sure she wasn't able to get straight A's during the spring semester but she did learn to manage her class work much better and she found ways to keep. Maya also decided to switch dorm rooms and she lucked out by finding an upbeat roommate who turned out to be a caring friend.

But now, it was time to go back home and listen to all of her friends share stories about how well their spring semester had gone. Once Maya got into her car, she found herself anxiously gripping the steering wheel as she thought about how good it would feel to be in Caleb's arms again or how just seeing Shay's face would put a smile on her face. It also wouldn't hurt to see the rest of her friends from high school.  She wasn't as close to some of them as she was to Shay and Caleb but she still enjoyed their company.

After two and a half hours and a smooth drive, Maya found herself pulling up to her parent's home. The first thing she noticed was how the front yard had been transformed into a sea of flowers. Her mom was constantly telling her that she was bored now that her only child had gone off to college. But she was not expecting to come home and see beautiful shades of pink, purple, and yellow along with other colors. Especially after recalling all of the times her dad would joke about her mom's lack of a green thumb by saying that the only thing she successfully kept alive was Maya.

Once she had finished taking in the rest of the yard, Maya unlocked the front door and walked straight to the kitchen. Much to her surprise, her mom's new creative personality hadn't taken over the inside of their house. Everything was the same as it had been throughout most of her life. After calling out for her mom and getting no response, Maya noticed that a bright pink sheet of paper had been taped to the refrigerator. It contained a message from her mom letting her know that she had gone to the store to pick up a few more things for her welcome home dinner.

To pass time until her parents came home, Maya decided to get a jump start on unpacking. Most of her friends weren't set to come home until tomorrow so she would use this time to get things settled so she wouldn't have to live out of her suitcase for most of the summer. As Maya reached into her suitcase to grab another pair of jeans to put away, she noticed that her phone was lighting up on her dresser to signal a new message. It was probably just her mom or one of her friends asking if she'd made it home yet. What she didn't expect to see was a message of betrayal floating across her screen.

"How can you ask me if I'm 100% positive Caleb? I've taken 3 tests and guess what, they all say that we're going to have a baby."