The Kissing Booth: New Love

Alternate Chapter 22

A/N – I'm going to try something a little different here.  This chapter is going to be an alternate chapter within this story.  Hopefully, it doesn't make things too confusing.  This chapter starts after Chapter 21, the chapter with the pregnancy scare.  In this version, the original chapters after 21 haven't taken place, so June never walked in on them and they haven't told anyone else about their relationship yet.  I'll have at least a few alternate chapters, maybe more depending on what you guys think of them.  Thanks to @Tsklareski for suggesting an idea I couldn't resist! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on this one!

And for everyone reading Same Time Next Year, it will probably be another week before I have an update on that one. I had a very slow writing week and I'm still trying to work through some ideas in that one.

Elle
I know I shouldn't have done it.  At the time, it felt like a little white lie, something that would straighten itself out before Noah ever knew the difference.  I just couldn't stand the look on his face, I could tell how anxious he was and I wanted to fix it for him.  Noah likes things to be orderly and structured.  He likes to know what is coming his way and meet it with a plan of attack.  Any time he's faced with an obstacle, he works through it in his head - what it will take to fix the issue and coming up with all the possible outcomes.  I could see his mind working through the issue as we talked and I could see how freaked out he was getting. He had too much coming up with his future that I wasn't going to let him do anything stupid to mess it up right now.  So, I sent him that text. The one I realize now I never should have sent.  The one that was a complete lie. I really thought everything would be resolved and I would never have to tell Noah I had lied, but I realize now that is not going to happen.

Elle – Good news – I got it this morning!

Noah – So, you're not pregnant?

Elle – No!

So maybe it wasn't so much of a little white lie as a straight up lie.  I didn't get my period that morning when I texted Noah and told him that I had.  When I answered that no, I wasn't pregnant, I had no way of knowing at the time whether that was a true statement or not.  It was a hope on my part. In fact, it's a week later and I'm still holding out hope that it was the truth.  That I'm really not pregnant.  Although, at this point, it feels more and more unlikely.

I'm not even sure what made me lie to Noah. Why I'd couldn't let him take me to get a test the next day as he suggested.  I just hated causing Noah all that stress when I didn't know for sure there was anything to worry about. He was so supportive when I told him, as I knew he would be. But I could tell after the little time he'd had to think about it that he was ready to alter his entire future to be with me and our possible child. And I wasn't about to let him do that.  When I talked to Lee before bed that night, Lee even brought up Noah.  He said how weird Noah was acting during supper, how upset he seemed.  Lee made a joke about him running out of girls to chase after at school or something stupid like that.  But, I thought Noah must really be upset about it if Lee noticed, Lee never mentions Noah when we talk.  I knew it was because of what I had told him that he was so upset and I wanted to do what I could to make him feel better. 

After waiting a week, I decided I had to find out.  Early this morning, I borrowed my Dad's car and drove across town to a drug store to buy a pregnancy test.  After speeding home, I ran up to my room passing Dad and Brad in the kitchen without saying a word.  Once I peed on the stick and set the timer on my phone for the 5 minute wait, I wished that I would have told Noah before taking the test.  He would have known how to keep me calm and distract me while I waited on the results.  I wanted to call him, but I was worried I would break down as soon as I heard his voice.  I only had to last a few more minutes before I would know for sure.