The New Boy

Chapter twenty-three

I wake up to someone knocking on the door. I sigh and look over at Jake who opens his eyes too.

"Can you get it?" he asks and I nod. It's only been about six days since we brought Emily home and I swear that child never sleeps.

"Yeah," I say and slowly stand up, trying not to wake up Emily who lays in the middle of us since we don't have a crib yet. I walk over to the door and I open it and see a boy, our age, with straight blonde hair and a lip piercing.

It takes me a moment to relize who it is but when I do, I smile.

"Holy shit, you still live here." Alex says and I nod.

"I do," I say back and he smiles. I hug him and he hugs me back. Just like I have to do with Jake, I have to stand on my toes to barely reach their height.

Alex was my best friend from sixth grade to ninth grade when he had to move with his parents to his dads new job. I slowly pull away and he smiles again.

"You still remember me?" I ask and he nods.

"Of course, how could I forget you." he says back and I lead him inside.

"Did you guys move back?" I ask and he nods.

"Has your dad gotten any better?" he asks quietly and I bite the inside of my lip a little.

"They left me almost two years ago," I say back and he looks around.

"Why?" he asks and I look at him.

"They couldn't handle me," I say and he looks back at me.

"I'm sorry," he says back and I shake my head.

"It's fine really," I say back and he nods.

"So you live her alone?" he asks and I shake my head again.

"Not exactly," I say back and he looks at me confused.

"What do you mean by 'not exactly'?" Alex asks and I look at the bottles that are drying next to the sink.

"I live with Jake and Emily," I say back and he still looks confused.

"Who's that?" he asks and I motion him to follow me. He does and I slowly open the door to our bedroom. I look at Emily who is asleep on my bed.

"That's my newborn baby Emily," I say back and I then look at Jake who is wearing only sweat pants with no shirt. Jake has his arm around Emily and I quietly shut the door. "And that's Jake, my boyfriend." I say quietly and shut the door behind me.

I turn back to Alex and I can tell he's in a bit of shock.

"I thought Jake and Emily were your friends or something." he says and I shake my head.

"Nope," I say back and he nods.

"You know I need a story behind this." he says and I nod.

"I met Jake at school in the beggining of eleventh grade. We dated for about six months then I found out I was pregnant." I say back and he nods.

"That's really cute." he says back and we both walk back out to the living room.

"Your boyfriend wouldn't like kill me or anything for talking to you right?" he asks and I shake my head.

"He's not like that," I say and he sighs in releif.

"Good, he looks like a big dude," he says back and I laugh.

"But what's changed in your life?" I ask and he shrugs.

"Anything compared to yours isn't going to be as good," he says back and I smile. "But if you want to know, we moved back becasue they transferred my dad back here. I live about three blocks away from the school which I will be starting my first day of thwelveth grade at a new school tomorrow, Monday." he says and I nod.

"Did you come out?" I ask and he sighs a little.

"That was more of a phase I guess," he says back and I nod.

When we were in eighth or ninth grade, he came out to me about being gay. It seemed a little hard for me to believe but I still was his friend because it didn't matter.

"Do you want to meet up Monday before school?" he asks me and I shake my head.

"I dropped out when I got about five months pregnant with Emily. Jake still goes though, but I doubt you would want to walk with him," I say back and he smiles.

"I think I'll pass on that," he says and I smile back. "So I take it you've gotten better?" he asks and I nod.

"A lot better. I've been clean for about ten months now." I say back and he smiles.

"Good for you," he says back and I look at him.

"What about you?" I ask and he sighs.

"Around a month," he says back and I frown a bit.

"I'm sorry," I say back and he shakes his head.

"But off this depressing topic, does she cry a lot?" he asks and I smile, nodding.

"All the time." I say and he smiles back.

"So you're really a mom?" he asks and I nod.

"I guess so, it's pretty okay right now, just the lack of sleep is getting to me a little," I say back and he nods.

I hear Emily start to cry. She's been asleep for about six hours straight so I guess that's a long time. It's about 2:30 p.m. now.

"Should you get that?" he asks and I shake my head.

"Jake will get her." I say back and he nods.

"Should I leave?" he asks and I shrug.

"You don't have to," I say and he shrugs.

"Are you sure he's fine with me being here?" he asks and I nod.

"Yes, I promise." I say back and he nods.

We listen to Emily cry for a minute or two then it settles down some. The light whining get's closer to me and I look back at Jake and he's holding Emily. He doesn't notice Alex and I smile at Alex.