Nate
The silence kept dragging on for what seemed like forever. I knew my mom
pretty well so I knew that if she was being totally silent she was thinking hard
about something.
I looked over at Brittney and saw that she was practically in tears.
“You hate us, don’t you,” I sighed rubbing the back of my neck.
“It’s not that,” my mom said. I could tell that she was very close to tears herself.
“It’s just that I gave you that one rule to follow, and you broke it. I’m not mad or
disappointed, but you two are going to learn from your mistakes.” My mom was
smiling but it was not a nice smile, it was a somewhat evil one.
“What’s that supposed to mean,” Brittney asked quietly.
“It means that you two will make your own decisions and be responsible,” my
mom answered. “I’ll provide you with shelter, and a little bit here and there with
the money situation. Am I clear enough?”
“Yeah, we’ll bother finish high school and college, I promise,” Brittney promised
her.
Brittney and I hadn’t really talked about our schooling.
“Brittney, how exactly do you plan on finishing high school with a baby on the
way,” my mom asked.
“I can do online schooling which will be faster than public schooling. Plus, a lot
less embarrassing,” Brittney mumbled.
“And what about you,” my mom said turning to me. “Do you want to do online
schooling or public schooling?”
“Online,” I answered. “I don’t want Brittney being here all alone in case she
needs something.”
“That’s a great way of thinking,” my mom replied. “We’ll all go into the school
on Monday and talk to the principal. For now, I think that I need some time
alone.”
“I think that we’re going to go over to Kate’s house,” I told her as she left the
room. Her response to that was a thumbs up.
“She hates us,” Brittney sobbed once my mom was out of hearing range.
“She doesn’t hat us, she just needs time to think this over,” I assured her. I
wrapped my arms around her comfortingly.
“No, how could we have been so stupid? We knew that something like this was
most likely going to happen,” Brittney sobbed again.
“Shh, just calm down,” I told her standing up and pulling her up with me. “Come
on, we should probably go and get your prescription.”
“We’re going to walk all the way to the store,” she asked wiping the tears off her
cheeks.
“No, we’ll walk to Christian’s house and see if his mom will give us a ride,” I
said. She just nodded her head in response. We put on our jackets and started
walking down the sidewalk to Christian’s house.
Brittney
I knew that we couldn’t keep relying on other people for rides, especially
Christian’s mom. I mean, I had my learner’s permit and I was almost sixteen.
Mostly, I needed a car, but I didn’t have enough money for one.
“What are you thinking about,” Nate asked me as he took my hand and entwined
our fingers.
“Just about how we need to stop depending on people for rides to places,” I said
honestly.
“I know, but we don’t have any other choice,” Nate replied.
“We both have our permits and we’re both almost sixteen so I think we should
both get jobs and save up for a car that we both can use,” I suggested.
“Let’s not think about it right now,” Nate sighed rubbing the back of his neck.
“We’ll talk about it later,” I said caving in since I really didn’t want to think
about it right now.
“Are you okay,” he asked me as we got to Christian’s house.
“No,” I said shaking my head. I was on the verge of crying like a baby for the
millionth time this week. He wrapped his arms around me and tried to comfort
me.
“What’s wrong,” he asked me confusedly.
“We’re way too young for this,” I answered.
“I know, but we were irresponsible and now we have to be responsible,” Nate
summed up.
“How could we be so stupid,” I asked covering my face with my hands.
“Hey, don’t hide,” Nate said uncovering my face. “We made a choice because we
love each other. Yes, we were stupid for doing what we did, but we can’t change
the past. At least we love each other, though.”
“You prove a point,” I sighed. “I guess that I’m just stressed. I don’t want to have
to depend on people all the time. I want to be able to buy everything that we’ll
need, but I can’t do that,” I said. Tears were threatening to spill over my eyes.
“Don’t cry, okay,” Nate said. “Come one, we’ll go get your prenatal vitamins and
then we’ll go and hang out with Kate. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like that is what I need right now,” I sighed. We knocked on the door
and a few seconds later Christian’s mom answered it. She looked surprise to see
us.
“Brittney, Nate,” she said, “what do you need?” You could definitely tell that she
was confused to see us.
“Hi, we were wondering if you’d give us a ride to the pharmacy and then to
Kate’s house,” I said hopefully.
“Of course, I was just about to leave to go to Kate’s house myself,” Christian’s
mom said with a smile. “Just let me grab my purse and I’ll meet you out in the
car.” She turned to go get her purse as Nate and I walked her car.
“Ugh, I hate depending on people,” I sighed. I was frustrated with it!
“I know, just wait until he or she gets here you’ll probably be glad that you went
through all this trouble for the baby,” Nate told me with a small smile.
I knew that he was right. I had always wanted a baby I just hadn’t expected that I
would be having one so soon.
“Are you okay,” Christian’s mom asked me as she climbed into the car.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I must have zoned out or something like that.”
“Oh, okay,” she said as she backed out of the driveway. It was a very quiet drive
to the pharmacy, but we all survived. Nate offered to run in and get the
prescription while me and Christian’s mom sat in the warm car.
“Look, Brittney, I can tell you’re scared,” Christian’s mom said when we were
alone. “If you ever need help you can come to either Miranda or me. We’ve both
been in your situation before.”
“What do you mean,” I asked.
“What do you think I mean,” she asked me.
“You both had Kate and Christian when you were my age,” I said cautiously.
“Well, I was a senior in high school when I had Christian, but I think Miranda
was your age when she had Kate.”
“Then how are Kate and Christian the same age,” I asked.
“I’m a year older than Miranda, and when I was in school I skipped a grade,” she
admitted.
“Isn’t your name Krystie?”
“Yeah, it’s spelled K-r-y-s-t-i-e which is different than how it’s normally spelled,” Krystie told me with a smile.
“Well, thanks Krystie,” I said, “for everything that you’ve done for us.”
“You’re welcome,” she told me. “Nate’s coming, but if you ever need to talk you
know where to find me.” A couple of seconds later, Nate climbed into the car.
“I got you a drink too,” he said handing me a cherry Pepsi and one prenatal
vitamin.
“Thanks, you’re the best,” I said, then I kissed his cheek. I would have kissed his
lips if I didn’t feel like I was going to puke. Plus, we were in front of Christian’s
mom so yeah.
“Next stop will be Kate’s house,” Krystie smiled.
“We really appreciate this,” Nate told her.
“I know,” Krystie said before the car fell into silence.
Kate
“Brittney and Nate are her,” I announced as I went to open the front door. The
mover we were currently watching was called Betrayed at 17. I had to admit, it
was a pretty good movie.
“Yeah, and it’s almost four and we’re still sitting here watching movies,”
Christian complained.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him, “I promise that we’re still going on our date.”
“Wow, you two are going to go out on a date,” my mom asked obviously
surprised.
“Zip it,” I said.
“Wait, who’s going on a date,” Nate asked as he walked into the house. Behind
him was Brittney looking a little better than the last time I saw her.
“Me and Christian,” I blushed.
“Wow, look we got Kate to totally blush,” Nate laughed.
“What are you talking about,” Christian asked. “Kate always blushes, or at least
she does when I’m around her.”
“Zip it,” I nearly shrieked. “Brittney, come upstairs with me to talk, and you three
stay here.”
“Somebody’s feeling bossy,” Nate muttered under his breath.
“I want your mom to come up with us,” Brittney whispered in my ear.
“Okay, mom come with us,” I said starting towards the stairs.
“Have fun with your girly talk,” Christian called to me.
“If I had a pillow, I’d chuck it at you,” I yelled back at him, and he didn’t reply.
Brittney, my mom, and I trudged up the stairs and into my mom’s room to talk.