Teen-Adulthood 101

Chapter Nine

The next morning, after breakfast and sending Jake off, I went to Amanda's to pick her up and headed to school.

"I wonder why everyone is staring at me." I asked, walking out the student parking lot.

Amanda just laughed. "I think it is one or two reasons. One, you're pregnant and married or two, you're smart, pregnant, and married."

"Great." I groaned. "Just because I'm a teen wife means I'm today's topic among the student body."

"Don't worry, Hales! By the time first block rolls around, you'll probably be old news!"

Unfortunately, that was not the case because when my first block, AP Calculus rolled around, two students sitting behind me were still gossiping while we were doing problems.

"I can't believe her mom let her marry," girl #1 whispered, "just because she's having his kid!"

Girl #2 replied. "I know right? I was pregnant at fourteen and my mom would not even let me tell my baby daddy, not that it would've done any good. He already moved to Arizona!"

"The guy she's married to was expelled two years ago for beating up the principal's son. I guess her mama let her see anybody. I remember when Carly entered high school, pregnant and married to that twenty-one-year-old boyfriend of hers. She's still in school and making good grades."

"I don't see why they're wasting their time. They got husbands to take care of them. They could just quit and stay home like good little wives and mothers."

Having enough, I was about to turn around and tell them to shut it when Mrs. Carr walked in with our test results.

"Most of these were disappointing." She stated, passing out the papers. "Out of all my AP Calculus students, only three people passed this test and one is in this class."

When she stopped at my desk, she smiled as she handed me my test. "Excellent work, Haley!"

I looked at my A+ mark on the paper and made sure that those girls saw it.

After class, I was heading to my English class when the two girls who were gossiping about me earlier grabbed my arm.

"Hey," girl #1 said, "how are you, today?"

"Great." I said, as I continued walking, but girl #2 grabbed me again.

"No, don't be like that," she said, "we just wanted to talk. I'm Akeela Lowe and this is Andrea Hiller."

"I'm Haley Richardson. What can I do for you?"

"Well," Andrea replied, "we wanted to know why did you get married. I mean, most girls around here get pregnant in high school and do not marry the fathers because of having a kid."

That's when I politely retorted. "I didn't marry Jake because I was having his kid. I married him because I loved him and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Now, please excuse me. I have class."

I headed to my next class with my head held high and a smile.

After English, it was time for lunch; so, Amanda, I, and Carly Schuster, another teen wife and mom, left the school grounds and went to Short Stop nearby.

"I cannot believe you were ambushed by Lowe and Hiller." Carly said, eating a ham and turkey sub. "They have not changed a bit."

I was nibbling on a bacon cheeseburger. "Why are they like this?"

"Akeela and I were best friends before high school." Carly explained. "We talked about everything that was going on in our lives. I was the first person she came to when she found out she was pregnant and that her mom didn't want her telling the father, which didn't make any sense, considering he had the right to know. Then, he moved to Arizona because his dad got transferred and that really hurt her because she thought she loved him at the time."