Chapter 18
College- 6 years ago
"What do you think?" I asked Lennox as I twirled inside our room.
"Edgy yet very classy. How do you manage to do that Soph? It's like you've gained curves in all the right places girl look at those BOOBS!" Lennox asked as she shut her laptop off and tossed it to the side gawking my body.
I looked at myself in the mirror and appreciate my newfound curves. Truly, it was Freshman fifteen kicking in full gear but I wasn't complaining. I was stick thin a few months ago and I saw myself that I was growing curves in all the right places.
"Awesome. You ready to go?" I asked her as I finished brushing my hair.
"Sure thing, girlie. Where is this place at anyways exactly?" She asked as we made our way out of our dorm where we were greeted to both Reese and Xander.
"Not sure exactly. Looks like we're about to find out," I stated winking at her as we walked down to greet them.
"Hey babe," Reese stated grabbing Lennox in his arms.
"You ready?" Xander asked grabbing my hand and tugging me to him.
"Just to make sure you and Lennox both have fakes right?" Xander added looking at me to Lennox.
Lennox shook her head, "Don't worry. We'll get it sorted." Xander added pulling me in for a kiss.
"You don't want to grab a heavier jacket?" He asked pulling away from my lips.
"My leather jacket not good enough?" I asked looking down at my outfits. I was wearing black jeans, black leather jacket and a pair of sturdy platform boots.
"It's more than good, I just don't want you to be cold on the ride there," He added rubbing my arms up and down.
"It's the beginning of April. We'll be lucky if it just doesn't rain on us," I stated kissing his cheek while grabbing my helmet from his trunk on his bike.
"Alright then. Mates we will see you all there," Xander told Reese who was taking a cab.
"Why can't we just all go together?" I asked Xander as they hopped in their cab.
"Do you want to be cooped up in a car with Reese when he's shit faced? Talk about a porno flick I want no part of with him and Lennox," Xander stated fake gagging.
Slapping his shoulder, he laughed as he placed his helmet over his head.
"Get on before I second guess why I even agreed to this to begin with." I said tapping his seat.
He hopped on and roared his motorcycle to life and drove through the city.
I felt my usual grip on him tighten as we went over Brooklyn Bridge.
I could never get over this view.
I threw my hands to my sides and laughed at myself taking In the fresh air hitting us.
I will never protest getting on the back of a motorcycle again in my life.
"Hold on before your sweet ass falls off!" Xander yelled at me causing me to laugh.
"Yes, sir." I shouted back throwing my hands back around his waist.
We rode for another five minutes until we reached out destination.
It was around midnight when we got to what I assumed was a club as apparent by the amount of civilians gathered outside.
"Here we are," Xander stated parking on the side of the road.
Taking off our helmets, Xander walked over to me and laughed.
"What? Do I look crazy?" I asked looking at him confused.
He grabbed my face in his hands and brushed my hair away from my face, "Beautiful."
I smiled at him as he kissed the tip of my nose.
"Come on, you sap." I stated grabbing his hand and walked us away from the bike.
As we reached closer to the building, Xander skipped the entire line causing me to be curious as to what he was doing.
Whispering to the bouncer, he said something about Reese and Lennox and the bouncer immediately let us in.
Confused, I continued walking with him anyway inside the dark filled club.
It was blaring with music and I would definitely be tone-deaf by the end of the night.
"How did you do that?" I yelled at him as we reached the bar inside.
The place was a madhouse with people littered everywhere and strobe lights flashing all over the place. The music was loud yet extremely upbeat, even making me want to dance.
"I've known this place for quite some time. I'm friends with the bouncer and Reese has been here several times too. Lennox knows he just only came here for a beer and would leave." He added,
"Nice. You thought that a night out like this was what I had in mind?" I asked confused.
He shot me a loose look, as if he were trying to lighten the mood.
"I know that we only have what a week left? I know you Soph, and you've been so scared and uptight as of late. I wanted to bring you tonight just to let loose, enjoy this time we have. I don't want to go back home and remember our last times together being so strained with sadness or fear." He stated running his hand up and down my arm.
I slowly nodded, half agreeing with him.
"I didn't think you noticed," I replied honestly.
I thought I was doing a good job at hiding what I was feeling.
"I notice everything about you. Now do me a favor love, and enjoy tonight." He stated shooting me a sad smile.
We hadn't ever talked about our future after graduation, but that we would continue speaking and trying at this.
He hadn't sounded convinced at all, causing me to be worried lately.
"I'll try. But not for you, for the sake of it being some of the last moments we will spend together for a while." I stated.
He shot me an even sadder smile and pulled me to his chest, "You know how I feel about you Soph. That will never change."
Had I really though? I knew that I loved him and I could feel that he had loved me too, but he never validated it.
Never did he tell me those words though.
Feeling his phone vibrate, he grabbed it and sighed.
"That's Reese. He wants me to come to the door. I'll be right back, stay here." He stated leaving me at the crowded bar.
Feeling slight uneasy, I scanned to try and find the bartender. Calling him down, he came over quickly.
"Need a drink?" He asked rushing over.
"You have ginger ale?" I felt sick, as if Xander's uncertainty was physically making me ill.
The bartender looked at me confused, "Sure."
Ten second later, he slid the drink down to me and I immediately sipped on it.
Feeling slightly better, I tried calming myself down.
Everything would be fine. I was just overthinking everything. Xander isn't that guy and he wouldn't just break my heart. What we had was beyond that.
I chugged the rest of my ginger ale down and thankfully felt slightly better.
"Rough night?" I heard someone say beside me.
I looked over and couldn't really mask out his face as it was super dark and the lights kept flashing.
I decided to just nod my head in agreement.
"Your guy shouldn't have left you, you look super pale." He added shouting over the music.
"How would you know? You can't even see me," I replied back shouting at the stranger.
I wish Xander would just come back now.
I waited for about five minutes until I saw Xander's face faintly appear in the crowd.
Thank god.
"I saw you when you first got here. You didn't look quite happy. Let me know if you need wanna change that," he replied winking at me.
Gross.
I completely ignored the guy and turned my back around so that I didn't have to face him anymore.
"Soph!" I heard Lennox scream.
"You made it," I replied hugging her as she got in.
"This place is epic! Holy crap," she said looking around the club.
I laughed. This probably was her first time in a club.
Granted it was mine too, my reaction has been quite the opposite as I was feeling very unsettled.
"Hey, you alright?" I heard Xander say as he walked up to me.
I nodded, "I'm fine." I lied.
He shot me an unconvinced look, "Soph."
"I'm fine," I replied firmly.
I wasn't up for getting upset as it was physically making me feel unwell.
"Alright," he replied dropping it.
"Shots!" Lennox shouted throwing her arms around Reese. He laughed and listened, yelling for the bartender to come.
"What do you guys want?" Reese asked us.
"I'm good, driving tonight. Soph?" Xander asked.
"No, I'm okay. I don't think my stomach can handle any alcohol tonight." I told him.
"What? Come on S, you have to at least take one shot!" Lennox shouted.
"I'm alright. Feeling a little dizzy. If I feel better in a little count me in," I shouted back winking at her.
She nodded not pushing, thankfully.
I felt Xander grab me by my hand and walked us over to the middle of the dancefloor in the club where people were raging.
The DJ was playing one of my favorites, First Time by M-22 and Medina and it was blaring through the speakers.
Xander laughed, "I know you love this song, so dance you fool." He shouted.
I couldn't help but dance to the beat, it was absolutely hard not to.
Who would've thought dancing this mad sober was actually quite fun.
I saw Xander dance just as stupidly as I did causing me to laugh. We literally were the worst possible dancers in here yet we couldn't have cared at all.
Shouting at the lyrics, both Xander and I were acting as if we were auditioning for America's Got Talent.
The DJ quickly changed the song to Higher Love by Kygo and both Xander and I got excited.
We were huge fans.
"It's like they know I'm here tonight or something!" I shouted.
Xander laughed and I had to admire the moment we were in. He was dancing so goofily as was I, with our hands in the air and our bodies moving in ways I couldn't even imagine.
After this song finished, I was just about seconds away from passing out.
"Water, now." I shouted at him and he chuckled, grabbing me to head back to what I assumed was the bar.
"Water for the lady," Xander told the bartender.
After chugging the cup down, I felt better.
"Are you alright?" Xander asked grabbing my face in his hands.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist, "I'm better now."
He shot me a genuine smile and kissed my lips softly.
Kissing him back, I relished in the feel of him. I could never get sick of it.
"Where did Len and Reese go?" I asked pulling away from the kiss.
"I think they went to the bathroom," Xander replied, looking at his phone.
"Definitely the bathroom. Supposedly Lennox and Reese got into some sort of argument." He stated.
"Let me go check on her," I told him.
"I'll come with you," He stated and we made our way through the crowd to the bathrooms.
I spotted Reese waiting outside the female restroom where there happened to be a line.
"Reese, where's Len?" I asked.
"She's in there. Refuses to come out over some stupid shit I said. Tell her I'm sorry and to come out. I don't want to waist the night way arguing." He stated.
Nodding, I let go of my hold on Xander and cut through the line.
I heard a few females behind me b*tch at me for cutting but I wasn't using the bathroom so I could care less.
"Len?" I asked scanning the bathroom for her.
"Lennox?" I asked again.
"In here," she replied opening the bathroom stall.
I saw her eyes that were slightly teary eyed causing me to grow concerned.
"Len, what's wrong?" I asked confused.
She wiped her face with toilet paper and urged for me to come in the stall with her.
"Ugh it's so stupid." She said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I'm late," she stated.
"You're late with what?" I asked her confused.
Laughing through her tears, she clarified, "I'm a week late with my period Soph. Reese knows and was annoyed why I suggested shots tonight."
"Oh Len, I had no clue. Why didn't you say something earlier?" I asked.
She could possibly be pregnant and here we were at a damn club.
"I don't think I am. Or I at least hope not. But Reese isn't convinced. He only agreed to tonight because Xander was really keen on taking you out to get your mind off some things. He didn't want to upset him. But as for me, I just don't know." She clarified as I grabbed more toilet paper to pat down her cheeks.
"Len, you have to find out. You can't run away from this." I stated.
She nodded her head, "I know. I need to stop being such a coward. I'm just terrified you know? What if I am? Then what happens?"
"We will figure it out, Len. But you won't know unless you take a test. Have you?"
"No, not yet." She responded.
I nodded my head, "You know what you need to do."
"I know, I know." She said sniffling into the napkin.
"Can you be there, tonight? When I do it? I don't know if I can handle Reese's reaction tonight alone and quite frankly, I don't want it to just be us." She clarified.
"Of course I will. Shit if it makes you feel better, I'll take one with you. In fact, I'll make the boys even take one with us." I stated laughingly.
She laughed as well making me feel just a tad more relieved. If Lennox was pregnant, surely it would be difficult, but her and Reese loved each other.
"You want to go home? I'm not sure it's suitable for you to be here anymore." I told her as I pulled her in for a hug.
"And ruin your night? No. If anything, I'll go home right now with Reese but you got out there with your man. I'll go grab the tests and wait for you at their house," she stated as I pulled back.
"No, I'll go back with you. Tonight was fun even if it was short-lived but this, I don't want you to wait." I told her as I finished wiping her face.
As we got out of the bathroom stall, I made her wash her face and we quickly made out way out.
She grabbed Reese immediately and pulled him for a hug.
Xander shot me a confused look and I grabbed him by the hand, "See you back at the house."
Lennox shot me an apologetic look as Xander and I walked outside with them in front of us.
Once we reached the bike, I knew Xander was going to ask a million questions.
"Why are we leaving? The night just got started," he asked confused.
I sighed and grabbed our helmets from the trunk.
Handing his to him, I spoke, "Len might be pregnant."
His face went from confusion to straight shock, "Oh wow."
I nodded, "Yeah. And she's too scared to take the test so looks we're all taking a pregnancy test tonight."
"Oh okay, yeah. We should head home then. That's huge." He answered.
"It is. But she doesn't sound too convinced. I mean, how bad could it be if she is?" I asked shrugging.
"How bad? They've got their whole lives ahead of them. They just freshman, they are children themselves." Xander responded placing his helmet over his head.
"Yea but it happens. If she is pregnant, it's a child at the end of the day. A child that will have parents that love it no matter what," I replied back confused.
"It's just not ideal, at all." He responded hopping on to the bike.
"A child isn't ideal? What are you even saying right now Xander? Shit happens. They f*cked up. They need to be responsible." I responded annoyed. His views were absolute shit about this.
"Well, let's just hope she isn't then. Or else their lives are really over." He stated as I hopped on the bike and he roared it to life.
I didn't understand his views on it, but their lives would be far from over. In fact they would just begin a new chapter.
Whatever.
We rode in silence and were beat by Lennox and Reese who stopped by a pharmacy on the way.
"Four tests, one for each of us," Lennox stated throwing each of us a pregnancy test as we walked in.
"Oh you were serious about all of us taking one?" Xander asked looking at the thing.
"Yep. If I'm going to pee on a damn stick so are all of you. Now go," Lennox stated ushering us to the bathroom.
Obliging, we each peed on the stick separately and we each held ours waiting for the results to show.
After five minutes, the longest five minutes ever, Lennox shouted.
"Alright, everyone. Check your sticks!" I shouted.
Everyone looked at Lennox to gauge her reaction.
She took in a deep breath as she looked at her results, with all of us growing with anticipation.
"Not pregnant!" She screamed. Both her and Reese sighed in relief and I looked at Xander who smiled at them.
I was happy that they were happy with the news, but either way, it wouldn't have been a bad thing for me.
"Thank god," Reese exclaimed hugging Lennox.
"Just be careful next time kids," Xander stated slapping Reese's shoulder as he threw his sick in the trash.
Lennox grabbed both mine and Reese's and went over to the trash, "What are you doing?" Xander asked confused.
"This was a traumatizing experience but a great ass memory. These, I'm keeping." She stated hugging the tests to her chest and throwing them in her bag.
"Alright, you weirdo." I told her.
"Sorry I ruined your night guys. All of our nights," She said, sitting on the couch beside us.
"Don't worry about it Len," I told her.
"But I'm exhausted, so I'm going to go crash. I've been feeling so off today." I told her as I stood up.
"I'll come with you," Xander stated grabbing my hand and took us upstairs to his room. Locking the door behind, I took went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth with my brush I'd left here a while ago. Washing my face with water, I felt ore refreshed but still off.
The nerves of this separation was really getting to me.
Changing out of my clothes and stripping down to my underwear and tank top, I found one of Xander's sweats and tossed them on and climbed into bed.
Xander climbed in behind after brushing his teeth also, and wrapped my body close to his chest.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked.
"Much better now, thank you." I told him entwining our hands together and pressing my back further into his chest.
"Good. Sleep good, love." He whispered into my hair.