Dom was half asleep in his room the night before he was due back to school, exhausted with his parent's problems. As the heat slowly lifted, he heard his phone vibrate on the night table. He raised his head groggily and glanced at the screen.
'Cal?' He hadn't expected his girlfriend to call so late; she should be at school already. He swiped the screen urgently.
The prolonged silence at the end of the phone made him wary. 'What's up? Are you okay?'
'I have to talk to you.' Pascal's voice was different.
Dom's heart beat a little faster. Everything had been going so great with them lately.
'What's happened?'
He sat up in bed abruptly. He hadn't felt so much for a girl before and hoped this was nothing serious.
'I'm sorry to call you so late, babe, but I've got something I need to tell you,' Pascal said. She hesitated. 'I'm finding it a bit hard.'
Anxiety began to chew at him.
She's cheated on me.
It was the first thing that flashed into Dom's mind. A stupid, childish thought that he immediately regretted. Must be his mother's constant criticism of Pascal, he told himself. Yesterday, she hadn't minced her words about his girlfriend's family.
'Cal, you can tell me anything,' Dom said comfortingly. 'You know that.' He meant it. Pascal was nothing like his mum thought she was. She was sweet.
'I know I can,' she said, 'but Dom, this is going to change everything. I wish I could talk to you about it in person, but I can't.' Dom could hear a quiver in her voice.
'I've just got back from school,' she said. 'My parents picked me up today. I'm not going back this term or...well ...ever actually.'
'What are you talking about?'
Pascal signed deeply. 'I'm just going to say it and get it over with. I know you're going to hate me after this.'
'Whatever you say, Cal, I'm not going to hate you.' Dom said firmly. 'That's just not possible.'
'Dom, I'm pregnant.'
'What the hell!' Dom yelped, holding his chest. 'Is this a joke?' He leaped from his bed, limbs shaking.
'Calm down...' Pascal said quickly. 'It's not yours.'
A wave of sheer relief washed over Dom. He dropped his phone to his chest for a moment, holding it against his chest. He began to pace, his dark shadow following him ominously on the walls of his bedroom. Taking a deep breath, Dom desperately tried to control his cascading thoughts. The inevitable fury arrived.
'What do you mean, it's not mine!' he hissed into the phone. 'Is there someone else you're sleeping with that I don't know about?'
Pascal sighed. 'Dom, I'm almost five months gone. The baby's Ollie's.' He could hear his girlfriend crying now. 'I told him today.' She gasped through her tears. 'He doesn't want anything to do with me or the baby.'
Dom was too shaken to comfort Pascal. He zoned out for a moment. The bizarre tunes of frogs singing outside his window seemed to get louder and louder. The sound of another voice in the background at the end of the line brought him back. He wondered if Pascal was with someone.
Rapidly his mind checked off the facts of the past couple of months. Ollie was Pascal's ex. Ollie used to go to Rosebay but was at Uni now. Pascal had broken things off with him to be with Dom. Or so she said.
That can't have been five months ago. Or was it?
There had been signs. At the beginning of the holidays, the couple had joked together about Pascal's boobs getting bigger. Dom wondered if she'd known then about the baby and kept it a secret from him while he was in Argentina. She must have.
Now, he questioned whether her breakup with Ollie had happened, the way she told him it had.
That strange look she'd had on her face when he'd gone to Windsor to see her before his flight to Argentina made sense now. He had thought she'd be pleased he'd spontaneously driven down to say goodbye, but she wasn't her usual bubbly self.
Finally, his mind settled on his parents and what they'd have to say about this.
Mum's going to be pleased with herself.
Dom realised he'd gone silent, leaving Pascal hanging on the line. Frantically he tried to think of something to say, but she beat him to it.
'Dom, I'm going to make this easy on you and hang up now,' Pascal said. 'I don't want us to say anything we regret.'
There was no danger of that, Dom thought; words seemed to be failing him. Then, the timeline Pascal was talking about fell into place in his mind. If his calculations were correct, she might have ended it with Ollie when he met her.
'Wait, Cal, hang on, please?' he pleaded. 'You're dropping out of school? What about your HSC?' His voice was full of horror. 'You're eighteen years old! Are you crazy? You don't have to have this baby.'
Pascal sighed again. 'My parents and I are fighting, and everything's a mess,' she said as if resigned to her fate.
Dom sat down on the end of his bed to listen to her. His mind frantically trying to make sense of what she was telling him.
'There is simply no negotiating with them on this,' Pascal said.
Dom's thoughts flickered momentarily to the arguments he'd had with his parents lately, about the farm and his father not supporting his Polo. He knew how difficult it was to be at odds with your family.
'Besides, it's too late for anything else anyway,' Pascal said. 'I've got a zoom meeting with my teachers next week...' She was speaking frenziedly now as if her words were carried by a force greater than her. 'They're working out a way for me to come back and take my exams at the end of the year. Technically I'm not expelled, but I'm not allowed on school grounds unattended. It's a bad look, y'know?' She paused, sniffing loudly.
Dom wished he could take her in his arms.
'I would love to see you sometime,' Pascal said, 'but I don't think my parents would let me. I'm scared, even to ask. They're acting like I've killed someone.'
'Why didn't you tell me earlier?' Dom asked. 'I could have helped you.'
'You don't understand, Dom; we're a Catholic family. There never was a choice. We don't do abortions.' Pascal explained. 'I also didn't want to ruin the time we had together. Or maybe I was in denial. I don't know. God, I'm so stupid, I could scream.'
The weight of their situation hung on Dom. He realized then that nothing he could say would comfort her.
'Oh Cal, I'm so sorry,' he said. He could hear her sobbing now. He'd never felt so helpless in his life. 'You need to slow down,' Dom said. 'Take a breath. I'm sure your parents will be there for you when they come round,' he soothed. 'They just want the best for you. They do. Really. This must be a shock.'
Dom thought of Pascal's mum and dad. They were good people, despite what folk in the community said, they'd always been kind to him and made him feel welcome in their home. Maybe her dad's mistakes might make it easier on Pascal in her situation. He understood things. You could talk to him. Briefly his mind went to his own father, for whom storming out of a room seemed to be the only resolution to an argument. Bradly would have lost his mind if Dom had gotten his girlfriend pregnant.
Dom heard Pascal breathing deeply on the other end of the phone. 'You're probably right.' Her voice sounded tired. She sighed. 'I'm going to try getting some sleep. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow, and this nightmare will be over. Y'know, like it was all a dream.'
Dom smiled. That's my girl. 'If only,' he said, 'Rest up, Cal. It won't seem so scary in the morning.'
'Hope so...' she said.
'Night. I love you.'
'Love you too.'
Dom sat in the darkened room in shock. He hadn't noticed the daylight had disappeared completely. He made his way over to the standing fan in the corner of the room and switched it up a notch. The blast of cool air against the sweat on his t-shirt irritated him. He threw himself on the bed and flicked through photos of Pascal on his phone until he couldn't stand it anymore.
Fighting an overwhelming loneliness, Dom stared up at the ceiling, wishing this conversation never happened. A lone mosquito circled his head on a suicide mission. He swatted at it vaguely. Finally, Dom realized he couldn't stay in his room; there was no way he would sleep. Not now. He flung himself off the bed, tossing his phone onto a pillow and strode out the room.