Keep Holding On

Chapter Three

It doesn’t make any sense to me. The only person I talked to was Haley and she would never betray me like that. I hope.

Walking down the halls, I head straight to Alexia’s locker. “Alexia!” I shout, getting her attention. I see her smirk evilly before shutting her locker and leaning against it, waiting for me. “Are you spreading rumors about me losing my virginity this weekend?” I ask angrily.

She nods, “Only they’re not rumors, are they, Elle?”

I frown, “What I did or didn’t do this weekend is none of anybody else’s business.” I state.

“Actually, when you announce it in the courtyard, I’m pretty sure you make it my business.” She says cattily.

“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t announce anything!” I say, utterly confused.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I was just walking up to you and Haley earlier and happened to hear everything clearly. I thought that was you telling me.” She says, not looking sorry at all.

“Damn it, Alexia. This is my life. You can’t just go spreading rumors because you feel like it!” I yell, probably embarrassing myself in the process.

“It’s not my fault you’re a whore.” She says simply before walking away. I gape at her retreating form. Did she really just call me a w***e?

I feel somebody grab my arm and I instantly jump away. “Whoa, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Haley says, holding her hands up.

I nod, looking down at my feet. “People are saying I’m a whore.” I whisper.

“Yeah, well we both know the truth. Let’s get to class and don’t even worry about anybody else.” She says simply, linking her arm with mind and pulling me down the hallway.

The rest of the day is boring, mostly because I can’t help focusing on the rumors floating around. Maybe it’d be worse in a normal school, but right now all I can think is that girls are catty bitches who love gossip. I’d almost kill to go to a different school right now. By the time I get home, I’m exhausted and can’t help myself as I take a small nap.

“Ellie… Ellie… Eloise!” I hear beside me. My eyes open quickly and I see Mom standing beside my bed, looking down at me with a concerned look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask immediately, sitting up too quickly and getting a head rush.

She puts her hands on my shoulders to steady me then feels my forehead, “Hmm no fever. Are you okay? You never sleep after school.” She asks.

I yawn, feeling relieved. “Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just had a long day and wanted a little nap. Nothing major.” I explain, flopping back to my pillows again.

“Alright, I just wanted to let you know that dinner was ready though. That’s why I came up here in the first place.” She says smiling.

I nod and rub my eyes, “I’ll be down in a minute.” I tell her, wanting to wash my face before eating. Cold water always wakes me up a bit.

She heads back downstairs while I walk down the hall to the bathroom to clean up. I groan when I see my reflection. My hair on the left side is really frizzy from how I slept and I have pillow marks on my cheeks. Deciding to just ignore it all, I wash up and head downstairs hoping that tomorrow will turn out better than today did.

***

“So, did you know that you’re running to Nevada to elope with the middle aged man you slept with over the weekend?” Haley asks as she falls in step with me in the hallway.

I roll my eyes. It’s been a week of nonstop gossip. When will the rumors end? “Really? Because I heard that I was having an affair with a married man here in town and just claimed to be a virgin before as to not raise any suspicion.” I tell her.

She shakes her head, linking our arms together. “Where do people come up with these crazy ideas? I swear, if the whole school got together, we could create an amazing lifetime movie.”

“Ooh, we could make the girl have an affair with a polygamous family and she runs away with him to become a sister-wife! Also, we should totally have the setting be an Amish farm.” I tell her enthusiastically, laughing at the end.

Haley nods, “Sounds good, but don’t forget that she needs to stray from her marriage and bring up her bastard child with a Latino drug dealer who beats the s**t out of her.”

Biting back my grin, I agree, “That would be quite the twist, especially if the baby comes out to be the spawn of Satan.”

We both shake our heads and hug quickly before I walk into French and she heads to Spanish. Unfortunately, even in a foreign language class, the rumors still follow me. Alyssa Creet leans forward in her seat to whisper into my ear, “Is it true that you’re pregnant?” She asks.

I roll my eyes, “As far as I know, it takes longer than five days to figure something like that out. I’ll keep you posted though.” I say sarcastically before opening my binder and pulling out the homework. Pregnancy really isn’t something that I’m worried about since Tyson had the good sense to use protection.

As the day progresses, I feel myself getting a major headache. I groan as I sit down beside Haley in the cafeteria. “What’s up, Buttercup?” She asks, digging into her sandwich.

I sigh and start picking at my the same salad I have every day. For some reason, it just doesn’t look appetizing right now. “Nothing really, I just have a headache. I think I might be coming down with something… I just don’t feel like myself.” I explain, frowning. I hate being sick, so if this is the beginning of a cold, I’m going to be unhappy.

“Do you want some Tylenol? I have some in my bag.” She says. I nod gratefully, thankful for anything that might help me at this point.

“You’re a lifesaver, Hales.” I tell her, swallowing the pills down with my water. For the rest of lunch, I don’t touch my food, opting instead to lay my head against the table and sleep. Haley wakes me up for our next classes and I can’t help thinking how amazing she is to me. I’m lucky to have her as a friend.

At home, I start scrounging the cupboards searching desperately for a certain box of crackers. “Mom!” I call out, hoping I won’t have to walk through the house to talk to her. Yes, I’m being lazy and rude, but I just don’t care right now.

“Yes?” She asks, chuckling at me as she enters the kitchen.

“Do we have any Cheeze-Its?” I ask, rubbing my stomach.

She frowns, “No, you don’t like those.”

“I want them more than anything in the world right now.” I pout, “Are you sure we don’t have any?” I ask again, hoping for a different answer.

“You can drive to the store to get some if you want them so bad.” She offers.

I smile and nod quickly, “Please! That would be great.”

She shakes her head with an amused smile before digging into the depths of her purse to hand me a ten dollar bill. “Drive safe.” She says, kissing my cheek.

I hug her neck and race towards the door, eager for some cheeze-its. It doesn’t take long to get to the grocery store, but it does take me a while to find what I want. As soon as I see the ice cream, I forget all about what I originally came for and focus on all the other delightful things this store has to offer me.

Sadly, I only have the ten dollars, so I stick to Rainbow Sorbet and a couple candy bars from the checkout lane. The lady ringing my things up gives me a weird look as I dance in my excitement. “What?” I snap, suddenly irritated at her.

She blinks before reciting my total. With only pennies to spare, I pull the bag into my hands and walk away without so much as a word of thanks. I’m sure it’s only the headache talking, but I think I’m a bit moody lately. Figures though, since my time of the month should be soon.

Upstairs in my room with a bucket of deliciousness in my lap and candy strewn across my desk, I sit chatting with Norah.

“Dude, what are you eating?” She asks, looking down to where my lap would be if we were actually talking in person.

I grin and hold the bucket up. “Rainbow Sorbet.” I answer, spooning in another mouthful.

Her nose scrunches up, “I thought you only liked the green kind.” She says.

I shrug, “I saw this one today and it just looked spoke to me like a medley of beautiful flavors coming together for me to eat.” I tell her excitedly as I rip open a candy bar and bite it.

Her eyes widen, “Are you eating chocolate?” She asks in disbelief.

I nod, “Yeah, I don’t know why I never liked it in the past, this s**t is delicious.” I tell her, licking my index finger where some melted on it.

“Are you feeling okay, Kid?” She asks jokingly.

I smile and nod, “I’m wonderful, you?”

“Can’t complain. So tell me how life’s going.” She says, leaning back in her chair.

I begin from the beginning, “Well there’s this rumor going around school that last weekend I lost my virginity, which is true, and now everybody thinks I’m a slut and stuff.”

“Wait, you lost your virginity?!” She shouts, sitting forward quickly, making her head look huge on my laptop.

I nod, “Yeah. I got drunk and had s*x with a guy. I’m not dwelling on it.” I answer.

“Dude, how can you not be dwelling on something this huge?! Are you okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’m totally fine. Really, I am.” I finish when I see her disbelieving look.

“Well if you need me to, I can kick some serious ass.” She says, crossing her arms. I grin and nod, knowing better than most what one of her slaps can do. That’s what I got though for taking her brand new shirt and ‘accidentally’ spilling grape juice down the front.

Suddenly, I nod and slump down in my chair, feeling the effects of the junk I just ate. “I’m really tired now, Nor. I’ll call you tomorrow?” I offer, hoping she won’t be offended.

“Alright. Get some sleep, Kid.” She says with a grin before the screen goes blank and I feel a little lonely. Thankfully, a good night of sleep can take care of that.

In the morning, I wake up feeling like I’ve hardly gotten any sleep at all, but when I look at the clock I see that it’s nearly 11:00. With a gasp, I sit up in bed and hurry to get ready. I have nowhere to go, but I’ve always been such a morning person that it’s incredibly weird that I didn’t wake up early.

Throwing on a pair of skinny jeans, a dolman sleeve top, a pair of ankle boots, and an infinity scarf, I skip downstairs. “Morning.” I say happily.

Mom looks up from the book she’s reading on the couch, looking surprised. “Don’t you mean afternoon?”

I grin, “I suppose that works too.”

“Were you up late last night or something?” She asks loudly as I walk into the kitchen.

“Nope. I haven’t been feeling too well lately though, so maybe my body was just catching up with me.” I suggest.

“Well I hope so, I don’t want you getting sick or anything.”

“I totally agree.” I say, walking back around the corner with an apple in my hand. “I think I’m going to hang out with Haley for the rest of the day. I should be home later though, okay?” She nods and waves me away as I head to my car.

Haley and I spend all day eating junk food and watching movies on Lifetime Movie Network. It’s the best way to spend time with your best friend. Unfortunately, the movies were sad. When we were watching one about a little boy who grows up in foster homes his entire life, I look over to Haley. “I don’t think I could ever do that to my kid.” I say.

“Well I don’t think they gave him up for adoption with the intention that he’d never find a home.” She says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes, “I don’t mean that. I just think that the only way I’ll ever know that my kid is safe is if I’m the one taking care of it. I couldn’t just leave it all to chance. If I gave it up for adoption, I’d have to know the family or something… but that kind of defeats the purpose since I wouldn’t be able to just sit back and watch the kid grow up without me, you know?”

She nods, “I get what you’re saying. Have you ever thought of baby names?” She asks randomly. I laugh and nod.

“I think about baby names all the time. Do you?”

She nods and twists on the couch to get a better look at me. “Yes, whenever I hear a cool name, I’m like ‘I should totally name my kid that’.”

I smile, “Me too. What have you picked out so far? I know that mine are always changing though.”

“Right now, I like the name Seattle Margaret for a girl. I know that it sounds kind of weird, but there’s a ring to it. For a boy, I like sturdy names, like Jack or Todd.” I smile, liking how quirky Seattle would be for a girl.

“Those are adorable. I like Campbell Grace for a girl and Sterling Presh for a boy. My grandma’s middle name is Grace and my grandpa’s Mom used to call him Precious which shortened to Presh. People called him that his entire life.” I tell her. I know that no matter what the first names are, those middle names will stick.

“Aww, I love those middle names… well and the first names too, but the middle are sweet. I only worry about what my baby daddy will think.” She says, grinning.

I roll my eyes, “I’m the one who has to be a host to the little life sucker. He has no say.” We both begin laughing, knowing that I’m mostly serious even if I said it sarcastically.

Another movie later and I feel the need to get home, “I’ll see you Monday.” I say, giving her a quick hug.

“See ya, don’t forget to do your math homework. If you don’t do it, who will I copy off of.”

I shake my head as I walk away, thinking about how serious she probably is.