It's been a whole month since that day in the play park where Josh and Nessa had the fight. Neither of them have spoken nor crossed paths with each other since and the same goes for Nessa and Mad's. Although she was upset with her best friend for telling Josh, Nessa had no real reason to be mad at her, she did what she thought was the right thing. Mads on the other hand couldn't see past Nessa being willing to abort Josh's baby without his knowledge and has been icing her out ever since.
Nessa is nearing the end of her first trimester and the only person she has to turn to is Taylor but even she isn't much help. Marissa however, has been giving her some really good advice at the appointments and she's helped in some ways.
After much consideration about how she wants the outcome of this pregnancy to turn out, Nessa has come to the decision of giving her baby up for adoption when it's born. Taylor has agreed to allow Nessa to move in with her and do homeschooling for the rest of the year. Her parents were confused with their daughters sudden change of heart but they eventually agreed to let her do as she pleases. It broke Nessa's heart, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to live her senior year the way she'd planned to for so many years. She wouldn't have her best friend by her side. No prom. No graduation with pretty dresses and caps and gowns. Instead, she would have swollen feet and disgusting food cravings.
Sighing while unbuckling her seatbelt, Nessa opens the car door, pushing it shut seconds after. Her parents let her have the car for tonight as they're going to be working late and Julian is staying with a friend.
Despite it being Friday night, Nessa has plans to stay in and pack her things. She's moving in with Taylor on Sunday and she officially starts homeschooling on Monday. How fun.
Loud music and flashing strobe lights cause the girls insides to churn as she walks along the sidewalk. Nessa looks down at the address written on the back of her hand as she crosses her fingers and prays that the house she's on her way to isn't the one throwing the party. Much to her dismay of course, Nessa's worst fear comes true when she stands on the front lawn of Avani Greggs house.
The front door swings open just as Nessa reaches for the doorbell. A drunk Nick Austin comes staggering out and lands on the porch with a loud thud and exaggerated groans.
"Nick? Oh my god are you okay?". The concerned girl crouches down, putting her hand on his head, her thumb caressing his forehead.
"I'm good, tripped over my lace" he whines, pointing to his untied shoelaces. Nessa stifles a laugh before sitting down, crossing her legs into a basket and bringing the boys limp foot towards her.
Nick lays with his arms over his head as he tries to refrain himself from puking all over the porch. He shouldn't have had those shots. Not a single one.
After double tying his laces, Nessa helps the drunk boy to his feet. "You need a ride home?" She questions, tilting her head to the side.
Unable to keep his balance, Nick wraps his arms around Nessa's shoulders, causing her to hold him close to her, the smell of alcohol wafting in the air surrounding them.
"Woah there" she laughs. If it weren't Nick, Nessa would have left his drunken ass on the porch swing but luckily for him, Nick is one of the only pops that Nessa actually likes. He's always kind to her, always talks to her, and whenever she needs a ride home from school, he's the first to offer. After Mad's of course.
Nick smiles sloppily, his goofy grin making Nessa smile back too. He unwraps one arm and tucks her underneath his other. The two of them stand face to face, Nick feeling the cold night air sober him up.
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them causes the two to separate slightly, Nicks arm still around Nessa.
"Heyyy sup Richards" Nick greets the very annoyed looking Josh. He doesn't seem to catch on to Josh's hostility.
"Austin" He acknowledges, his stare never leaving Nessa- not even for a second. "Blake will drive you home, you need to sleep".
Nick shrugs his shoulders. If he's being honest, a glass of water and his own bed does seem very inviting right now. Letting his arm fall, Nick takes Nessa's hand, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles before giving her a small wave goodbye as he gets escorted away by an amused Blake Gray.
The silence settles in when the boys leave and it's only Nessa and Josh standing on the porch. Her smile fading, Nessa wraps her arms around herself as she feels the cold surround her where Nicks warm body was only minutes ago.
"What're you doing here? I thought parties weren't your thing" Josh asks, his tone neutral.
"They aren't. I'm supposed to pick up something from Avani for our photography project but I wasn't aware she was having a party tonight so I'll just get it tomorrow" she says in a low voice before turning around and making her way down the steps.
"Bambi wait" the boy calls, standing on the stairs.
When he calls her the nickname she's hated for years, Nessa can't help but feel relieved. She never thought that she'd be happy to hear that stupid name slip past his lips. Maybe he doesn't hate her completely.
"Come inside and hang for a few. I'll get Avani for you".
Nessa nods, walking back towards him. She may as well get what she came here for and maybe there's a chance Mad's will talk to her too.
The two head inside in silence, making their way through the busy living room and down into the basement where it's less crowded and quieter than the upstairs area. Two of the guys from the football team stand at the top of the staircase, they've been given strict instructions to only let the pops downstairs. Nessa can't help but roll her eyes at the cliche-ness of it all.
"Nessa! Glad you could make it" Avani smiles, hugging the shorter girl. Nessa braces herself for the impact, her arm shielding her stomach.
She didn't do so well hiding the subtle move as Josh furrows his brows at her actions while the two girls break away from each other.
"Stay right here and I'll get those notes for you" The slightly buzzed girl smiles sweetly before disappearing.
Nessa nods her head, standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes wonder off to the large couch in the corner where she spots a certain blonde, cuddled into Jaden and laughing at Quinton as he gets destroyed by Noah Beck at Just Dance.
As if the blonde could sense she was being stared at, Mad's looks up- her laughter dying down when she sees the brunette she's tried to avoid for weeks now. Not because she hates her or that she doesn't want to be friends anymore but because she doesn't know who her best friend is anymore. The Nessa that Mad's grew up with would never have handled that kind of situation so poorly.
"Yo Ness, you down to play?" Griffin asks as he sets up the truth or dare game he and Kio made earlier. They documented the full thing on their snapchats. It was interesting to watch.
Shrugging, the small girl makes her way over to one of the couches, ignoring the burning stares she's receiving from both Josh and Mad's. Nessa takes a seat on the arm of the chair, pulling down the sleeves of her hoodie.
"Okay you start" Olivia says, nudging Anthony.
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As they all start playing the game, it's starts off mild and innocent, nothing too explicit. Nessa gets dares to do shots but she passes, using the fact that she's driving as an excuse. A few of the dares are on the lower level of the scale but it all changes quickly when Bryce picks a dare card and his face drains of color.
"Man who came up with this shit?" He mutters as he starts to unbuckle his belt.
Nessa's eyes widen, her mind pulsing with thoughts as she tries to distract herself from the boy stripping in front of her.
"Here you go" Avani says, interrupting the moment. She looks over in Bryce's direction- shaking her head with disappointment before handing over a yellow folder to Nessa who is thrilled to be getting out of there.
"Hey where you going party pooper?" Addison asks, tugging on Nessa's sleeve. The dirty blonde pouts, her question grabbing the attention of everyone surrounding. Surely Nessa isn't leaving, right?
Hesitantly, Nessa clutches onto the folder in her arm. She doesn't want to make it seem like she can't keep up with them or that she doesn't want to be here but she's pregnant and moving in two days. She's busy.
"Ads give her a break, she's probably busy with packing and stuff for moving on Sunday, right Ness?" Avani says, trying to help her out but creating a million problems instead. Nessa appreciates the effort though.
All eyes are on Nessa as Avani's statement soaks into their ears, questions circling, confusion arising. What does she mean Nessa's moving?
"You're moving?" Mads asks, her voice weak. It hit her like a school bus. Her best friend is leaving and she was too busy being childish to be there for her. Her heart breaks while she waits for an answer, hoping that Avani got it all wrong.
Sheepishly, Nessa holds her arm, nodding her head. "I'm moving in with Taylor on Sunday and I'm being homeschooled starting Monday" she confesses, everyone's expressions unreadable.
"You can't leave without a proper goodbye, how about a get together tomorrow at my house? Just a small group of us, you can even chose who comes" Jaden says, his friends backing up his suggestion.
Nessa smiles to herself, she didn't think they'd care if she left or not. They aren't even her close friends.
"Sounds good, I'll see you guys then".
Nessa turns around, making eye contact with Josh before exiting the basement. She weaves her way through the crowd, and out of the front door. The outside air sends chills down her spine as she walks down the porch stairs and across the yard, nearing her parents' car.
The tired girl fumbles in her pocket, trying to retrieve the keys. When she finally finds them, Nessa pulls them out, looking up from the ground and yelping back in surprise, her hand covering her heart.
"Josh? What the fuck" she yells, panting while trying to calm herself down. What kind of idiot sneaks up on someone like that.
The wide eyed boy feels bad, he hadn't meant to startle her. "I'm sorry, thought you would have heard me...anyways that's not the point" he dismisses.
Nessa raises an eyebrow at him. What could he possibly want.
"I don't know why you keep lying to me but I'd appreciate it if you stopped and just explain now" he says, catching her by surprise.
Confused, she makes a face.
"What did I lie about this time?" She says, her tone bored and expression blank. She's had enough of Josh's mind games. If he has something to say he should just say it.
"I'll admit, you were careful in the beginning but I caught on the second you handed in your note for PE. You've never missed a day of PE not even when you broke your arm and were told not to do it by your doctors so you can imagine my suspicion when you handed over your note to Mrs. Simmons willingly. And then when I was leaving practice the other day, I saw you try to sneak out of the nurses office- thinking you hadn't been seen. And now? You don't want alcohol even though you hate losing at truth or dare, you covered your stomach when Avani gave you one of her bear hugs and you're moving out of the blue? I'm not completely stupid Nessa. I know you're still pregnant".
Nessa stares at the blue eyed boy with utter disbelief. How the fuck did he figure it out. She doesn't know how to feel right now.
"Before you get mad-"
"I'm not mad. It was my own fault. I went off at you that day in the park and you tried to tell me but I refused to listen. I'm sorry for that. But I don't want you to leave. I'm not ashamed that I got you pregnant and you shouldn't have to pack up and move just because you don't want people to know. Prove them wrong, stay and show them that you can complete your senior year and be a badass pregnant lady too" he jokes, trying to make light of the conversation.
The two share a small laugh, their eyes locking.
"I don't know Josh. I don't know if I can" she sighs, shrugging her shoulders.
Still staring into Josh's deep blue eyes, Nessa feels herself start to tear up. Now that he knows, all of the stress and weight of the secret starts to fade away slowly and before she knows it, Nessa has tears streaming down her face. It's been insanely hard for her these past few weeks and she just feels so relieved to not have to hide it from him anymore.
"Hey stop that, don't cry".
Within seconds, Josh walks over to her side and brings the crying girl close to him. He wraps his arms around her, her head resting on his chest. Josh starts to stroke Nessa's brunette locks, calming her down.
"Whatever you decide to do, I want to be apart of it. I want to support you Bambi. My dad wasn't there for my mom during her pregnancy and I'll be damned if I turn out to be anything like that douche" Josh whispers loud enough for her to hear.
With a reassuring squeeze, Nessa nods her head. She was hesitant at first but now she knows that she should never have doubted Josh in the first place. He's really shown that he cares and if he wants to help then who is she to stop him? This is the perfect outcome she could have hoped for. The only boulder they have to move past now is telling everyone. Telling their friends. Telling their parents. But Nessa feels secure, knowing that they'll do it together.
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IM SORRY
for the very late update
had a ~ technical~ problem
we should be good now tho
and two more chapters WILL be posted tonight
anyways josh is cute, stan josh
this chapter is an extra 1k+ words long so
APPRECIATE IT
LOVE U ALL
THANKS FOR BEING P A T I E N T
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