Jiley Oneshots

A Statistic (i) [a]

Season 3 ~ Miami

Riley suppressed a loud sob as she stared at the white stick in her shaking hand. Through her tearful vision it was clear, there were definitely two lines. She was at least thankful that her roommates (Michelle, Thalia and Giselle) were all out as this meant she could process the news alone. It wasn't something she wanted anyone else knowing.

She stumbled to the en-suite's mirror and clutched the edge of the basin, stabilising herself as she suddenly felt very faint. Her reflection stared back at her through hollow eyes. The test fell from her grip and landed on the marble counter with a light clatter. It has landed upside down so she flipped it over and was once again face to face with the two lines.

Could it be a false positive? Riley had heard of those happening... Granted they were extremely rare but it could happen, right? She sobbed again as she took it all in. How had this happened? They had been so careful. Sure, no contraceptive was 100% accurate but you'd have to be pretty damn unlucky to get pregnant on the pill. Fewer than 100 people get pregnant on the pill each year. She was a statistic.

Suddenly overcome with a wave of overwhelming emotions, she screamed and threw the plastic across the small room. It crashed against the far wall and landed on the floor. Riley joined it, sinking onto the cold, tile and curling up in a ball. She cradled herself like this for several minutes, rocking back and forth while tears streamed down her puffy, pink cheeks.

Her head pounded from the continuous sobbing but she didn't stop. In fact she screamed- louder than she should given the fact that she was in a hotel and people might hear. She screamed again and broke down, her hands clawing are her scalp. To soothe her anxiety she tugged on her hair until it hurt and kept pulling. The pain gave her something to focus on and she channelled her anger into it.

She thought about taking a second test to confirm but didn't see the point. If the first one hadn't have come in a packet of two she wouldn't have, but seeing as it had she did. The second line showed up within 30 seconds. Screw the 3 minutes it was supposed to take. It was laughing at her. Taunting her with her biggest fear.

She was pregnant at 17.

Fresh tears spilled out form under her eyelids and traced the pathways laid out by older tears. Her hands smudged them away, coming back to her knees with mascara painted all over them. She didn't care. The only thing that motivated her to move was the impending return of her friends who couldn't stay out on the streets in Miami forever. Especially as they were all supposed to take to the stage tomorrow in the finals of Internationals.

Riley chewed on her fingernails anxiously as she packed away the evidence, stuffing the used tests into her socks and hiding them in her suitcase under other clothing. She then folded up the card pregnancy test box and tucked it inside her Starbucks cup from earlier that day- the girls wouldn't question it when she threw it out.

The entire time she was stressing about her next moves. Should she tell anyone? If so who? James was out of the question since they had the most important round of internationals tomorrow and it would totally throw him off his game. Should she tell Kate? Technically she was supposed to report this to her Studio Head because pregnant dancers can't compete for safety reasons. But she was so early on no one would be able to tell if she see kept it quiet. Plus she'd unknowingly danced pregnant every round prior and it had been fine.

Doing the only logical thing she could think of, she pulled out her phone and nervously scrolled to find her sister's contact.

"Hey Ri! What's up?" Emily cheerfully answered, "how's Internationals, is the stage huge? I'll be watching online tomorrow you can count on it. I'm so proud of you all for getting this far"
"Emily I need your help" Riley whispered, almost scared of being overheard despite the fact that she has been screaming earlier and was currently all alone.

"Uh should I be worried?" Emily asked, sensing her sister's tone. "Riley what's wrong? Do I need to get on a plane?"
She sniffed as her heart raced like she'd just run a marathon. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, promise?"

"Okay now I'm really worried Riley..." Emily laughed nervously to cover up her alarm.
"Please just promise!" the younger girl begged, "not even mum or dad, or Miss Kate or, or James"
"James? I thought you told him everything" Emily questioned, "anyway, yes I promise. Just tell me Ri I'm freaking out over here"

"Are you alone?"
"Yes!" Emily rolled her eyes impatiently, "stop stalling and just tell me whatever you want to tell me already!"
"I'm p-pregnant" she finally admitted aloud, sobbing again and restarting her headache.

The silence on the line was almost as loud as Riley's screams 30 minutes prior. It ate into her soul and destroyed her from the inside out.

"You're pregnant" Emily repeated calmly. Inside she was freaking out but she had to be the rational voice of reason for her sister's benefit. "You're sure?"
"Yes I'm sure!" Riley snapped, "as if I'd call you in a state because of a suspicion! I've taken two tests"

"Alright, alright, I'm just checking because you do have a flare for jumping to conclusions and overreacting" Emily defended her question. "When did you find out?"
"Like half an hour ago" she cried. "Em I need you to tell me what to do"

"Tell you what to do when? As in right now, or long term like whether you'll keep it?"
Riley sat on her bed and resumed her previous position with her legs tucked to her chest. "I don't know, both? Emily I can't do this. Especially not now, I have to go on stage and compete tomorrow in the finals!"

"Well right now you need to tell James... and Miss Kate. And as for the long term, Riley you know I can't make those decisions for you" Emily explained calmly.
"I can't tell James" she shook her head, "this will mess him up. He needs to have a clear head if we stand any chance of winning and I can't tell Kate before I tell him, that isn't right"

"Maybe it would help him get in the emotion of the dance? It might even benefit your chemistry" Emily suggested, knowing it was a lie. You can't mix dance and personal. And this wasn't just a light hearted bomb to drop on him, this was a life changing bomb that would blow up and frazzle his brain.

"You know it would throw him off of his game" Riley answered. Her voice cracked, "I can't tell him now Em, I can't do that to him"
Emily sighed, "but it's not fair that you have to deal with it alone! It takes two to make a baby Riley, he deserves to be feeling everything you're feeling right now"

This comment brought Riley back to her misfortune, "I was, or rather I am on birth control Em. We were so careful"
"I know" Emily comforted although this was new news to her. "But everything happens for a reason and-"
"Bullshit" her younger sister interrupted, surprising her because she rarely swore. "Fuck 'everything happens for a reason'. That's bullshit you tell people when things go wrong and there's nothing you can do to help"

Unfortunately the conversation was cut short because voices were heard in the hall moments before the hotel room door opened.
"Okay speak to you later Em! Love you!" Riley hastily wrapped up the call. Emily didn't have a chance to reply before she hung up and the line went dead.

"Are you okay Riley?" Michelle asked, walking closer to her friend and immediately knowing she'd been crying based on her swollen eyes and pink cheeks.
"What? Oh yeah I just watched a sappy movie before Emily called and I had a little cry when the main character's dog died" Riley lied casually, dropping her phone onto the sheets and standing up.

She walked to the window and opened it the inch it let her, breathing in the humid Miami air. It made her realise how cool the air conditioning was in comparison. She felt suffocated and claustrophobic.

"I need some air"

Part 2 is already up because I'm too nice to make you wait (I had to split it up because it was way too long)