“I am,” he said, standing taller, towering over me. His lanky frame was just starting to fill out.
“No, I will not do that. Yes, I’m scared of what my parents are going to say. My mom will flip, but it’s not an option.”
“Then you’re doing this alone. I’ll never admit it’s mine.”
“Who are you right now?” Tears stung my eyes, looking at the boy I loved the most in the world glare down at me.
I stormed out of the shed and swore if Malcolm didn’t stand by me, we were as good as done.
After slamming the kitchen door behind me, I startled my mother and sister. Mom was making dinner while Meredith read at the kitchen table.
After the conversation with Mal, I’d walked around the neighborhood, trying to clear my head and figure out what to do. I was fifteen, pregnant, and alone. There wasn’t much I could do. I had to tell my mom. She’d know what to do. She’d be disappointed, angry even, but she wouldn’t abandon me the way Mal had.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” My mother took one look and folded me into a hug in seconds. She smoothed my hair as I cried into her chest. The familiar scent of her chamomile shampoo made me sob even harder.How would she see me after this?
“I made a mistake, Mom. I’m so sorry.” I struggled to breathe, the emotions overtaking me.
“Oh baby, there isn’t anything we can’t sort out, right?” She leaned away from me, tipping my chin up gently. There was only sincerity in her eyes.
My sister brought over some tissues and a glass of water. I felt lightheaded suddenly. Sitting at the table, I gripped the edges to keep steady, and my mom pulled up a chair to sit next to me.
“Lissy,there is nothing you can’t talk to me about, you know that.” She placed an assuring hand on my leg.
I wasn’t sure she would feel the same way once I’d said what I needed to. I had to come out with it because if I were certain about anything, it was my mom would know what to do.
I took a deep breath. “I’m pregnant, Mom.”
She gasped and put her hand on her chest, looking over at my seventeen-year-old sister, who looked at me in disbelief. “Are you sure?” Mom gently held my hand in hers. It was such a welcome touch—one I’d grown so used to.
The shame I felt was indescribable. I couldn’t meet her gaze. I’d always been the responsible one. The one with her head screwed on straight. Meredith was hotheaded, always getting into trouble for one thing or the other. But I’d been a fool. I made a life-altering mistake because I believed I was in love. And a few minutes ago, the boy who promised sleeping together would change nothing, rejected me in the very shed we created this baby.
I was wrong about Mal.
He was just like every other guy, out for only one thing.
“I-I took a test. One of the older girls at school got it for me. I used it earlier today, and it was positive.”
My mother still looked shocked, but at least she wasn’t flipping out. I knew she would in her own time and when she had to tell my dad. This was a lot to take in.
“We’ll see a doctor tomorrow to confirm and make sure you get the care you need. You’re not alone, baby.”
Meredith just sat quietly, her head down. She and I had always been close, and she probably wondered why I hadn’t shared this information with her. In truth, I was disappointed in myself. I’d had so many plans for my future, and now things were uncertain.
“Is the baby Malcolm’s?”
“Of course, Mom,” I shrieked. “I haven’t… you know… with anyone else.”
She nodded. “Just asking, honey.” She flushed, rubbing her hands over my cheeks. “We will need to talk to his family.”
“But he—”
A knock on the door interrupted our conversation, and Meredith stood to check who it was. I heardhisvoice and froze. This was not the best time for him to be here. I didn’t want to see him when I was in such a state already.
When he appeared in the doorway, my mother gave him theI knowlook.
“Mrs. King, could I please talk to Alyssa?”
“We’re in the middle of something, Malcolm.” She frowned. “You can come back later.”
