Charlie
911 Words
I was freaking out. What if Rudy hated me because of this kid? What if Noah didn't tell him? What if they were up there plotting against me? So many other questions filled my mind, yet I didn't let any of it show. I buried all of my worries beneath the surface.
Erys and Maia finally joined us, oblivious to anything that had happened. They hadn’t even realized that the guys left and came back. They were so entranced with each other, it was hard not to think of them as a couple, and only friends with benefits.
Rudy rushed down the stairs quickly, pulling me out of my thoughts. Noah wasn't behind him. I hoped she was coming soon.
"It was nice to see you girls, but we should really get going," Rudy said, avoiding eye contact with me.
Quinn and Hakim seemed disappointed.
"We just got here," Hakim whined.
“Alright, you and Quinn stay, I’ll head out with Rudy,” Erys volunteered.
"Well that was odd," Amber commented as they left abruptly.
"What's odd is that Noah isn't down yet," I remarked.
"I'll go see what's going on," Jordan went upstairs.
My instincts were to follow Jordan, or better yet, go find Noah alone, but I knew to give Noah her space. If she wanted me there, she would let me know.
Instead, I invited Blaire over to hang out with us. She said she was already on her way to the beach, so Amber, Maia, Quinn, Hakim, and I decided to join her there. In pushing my worries aside, I had a blast. I had almost forgotten what was going on inside of me.
Blaire and I headed back to her place alone after a long day. When we got inside, we sat in her room, still in our bathing suits. I happened to look down at her arms, stomach, and thighs. She followed my gaze to see what I was looking at, and immediately understood.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Scars lined her arms, stomach, and thighs. The ones on her arms were rather fresh, probably only a few days old. I had known about people cutting themselves for years, but I had never seen it up close before. I was surprised at myself for not noticing earlier. It broke my heart to see someone I had grown so fond of in such a short period of time in so much pain that she had to physically hurt herself to feel better.
“Don’t ever do this again, okay?” I pleaded, tears filling my eyes.
“I don’t think I can agree to that,” she trailed off.
“Would you be safer somewhere else? Say, my place?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t do anything in someone else’s house.”
“Pack your things, then. We’re having a sleepover.” I decided.
Maia greeted us eagerly at the door as we arrived, no questions asked. Jordan announced that they were just about to put on a movie. Noah was already sitting on the couch, so I went to join her in her lap, with Blaire sitting beside us. Unfortunately, I couldn't ask Noah about what had happened while we watched the movie. However, I could tell that there was something bothering her. I tried cuddling with her to make her feel better, yet even though she smiled, I could tell that it didn't work. Even when the movie finished, I couldn't talk to her. Noah said that she would sleep in Jordan's room so that Blaire could sleep in our room. I would ask her about it the next day.
As I was settling in for bed, Blaire already sound asleep beside me, I got a text from Rudy. I opened it reluctantly.
"Hey, I heard about the baby. Just abort it. It will make things easier," it said.
Tears came to my eyes quickly. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do yet, but knowing that if I did decide to keep it, I wouldn’t have Rudy’s support, hurt me deeply. Of course, I understood where he was coming from, but to say it so bluntly just showed how disinterested he was in me, despite his previous claims that he wanted to date me again. I thought about this as I silently cried myself to sleep.
Noah’s voice woke me from my dreamless sleep. She urged me to get up as we were running late for the doctors appointment she scheduled for me. I didn’t want to go, but I also didn’t want to disappoint her. I wasn’t ready to face this reality, but I knew that I had to. I told Blaire where I was going, but left Maia, Jordan, and Amber in the dark. I would tell them, soon, but until I knew what to do, I didn’t want to bamboozle more people with this news.
“I’m scared, Noah,” I whispered to her when we got to the clinic.
"Darling, you'll be okay," Noah soothed me, causing me to give her a little smile.
The doctor called me into his office without further ado. I gulped, took another look back at Noah, who was smiling at me encouragingly, and made my way into the office.
- Writer
