“You do know how this works, right?” She furrows her brow, but I see the concern in her eyes. “Boy meets girl. Boy fucks girl without protection. Boy gets girl pregnant.”
“Yes, I did sex-ed in high school.”
“Just checking.” She raises both hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot the voice of reason.”
“It’s don’t shoot the messenger.”
She grins at me and pulls a small, slim box out of the pocket of her voluminous cardigan. “So, I’m safe to give you this then.”
It’s a pregnancy test.
I stare at it but don’t take it from her. “Ariel, I…”
“Have you seen the size of your breasts?”
I peer down at them. It’s unnecessary because they feel the size of soccer balls squashed between my arms.
“When did you last get your period?”
Tears sting my eyes. I’ve been so consumed by disappointment, so angry at myself for falling for my boss’s Irish charm like a naïve teenager, that it completely slipped my mind.
“I don’t remember.”
Ariel squeezes my hand. “I blame myself for being a shit friend.”
“You’re not a shit friend, you’re the best.” Tears spill over my bottom lashes now, and I wipe my cheeks with my fingertips.
“I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve noticed sooner, spent more time with you than with Tristan.”
“It isn’t your fault, Ariel. You’re the only person I know who can make me smile when I really want to cry.”
“You’d have noticed if I was pregnant though, right?”
I shake my head. “This is me you’re talking to. I barely notice when you’re in the room. Sorry.”
“Strangely, that makes me feel better.” She grins.
“Besides, it isn’t morning. I’ve probably got a virus or something.”
“You tell yourself that, baby girl.” She hauls herself back onto her feet and drops the pregnancy test into my lap. “You can do this while you’re thinking about it.” She hesitates by the bathroom door. “And don’t even think about putting it off. I’m not letting you out of this room until it’s done.”
Ariel comes with me for the ultrasound. Moral support. She’s also on tissue and therapy duties. I can barely function from one day to the next, so I haven’t thought about The Future. It’s a concept that applies to other people. My life has been on hold since I met Bash Murray, and now it’s catching up too quickly,gaining speed, and hurling rocks at me as it cackles at my shit luck like a demonic witch.
We had sex twice.
Two times.
Two times in the space of forty-eight hours.
Okay, so I know that once is enough, and I should’ve mentioned to him that I don’t use contraception, but it all happened so fast, and in the heat of the moment, it was the last thing on my mind.
That’s how accidents happen. Even my thoughts have adopted Ariel’s voice.
It’s how accidents happen toother peoplethough. It wasn’t supposed to happen to me. I’m at college. I’ll be forty before I pay back my student loan, and my parents are too busy with their midlife crises to help.
And I can’t even think about telling Bash Murray that he’s going to be a father.
It’ll be the classic gold-digger conversation.
