Mr. Iero

Chapter 14

*Ashley's POV*

I got to Hallie's house about 10 minutes after she did. I welcomed myself into her house; Hallie and I were used to each other just entering.

"In the kitchen!" Hallie called.

I took off my coat and walked into the kitchen, where I saw Hallie reaching into the fridge. She had grabbed some baby carrots and hummus and nodded her head toward the stairs, letting me know that we'd go to her room. We started walking down the hall and then her mom was coming down the stairs.

"Oh, hi, Ashley," she said while keeping strict eye contact with me, but I could tell she was struggling not to look at my bump.

I rolled my eyes. "You can look down, you know," I said with a laugh.

Mrs. Byrns sighed with relief. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't help but feel awkward when people haven't told me something but I already know about it." I laughed. "So how, um, how long have you been...?"

I shrugged, "About 18 weeks." Her awkwardness didn't even phase me.

Mrs. Byrns gave me a hug. "Well that's just great, sweetie. Well I'm sure you girls are getting sick and tired of me already." She laughed. "I'll be in the living room if you need me."

"Thank yooou," Hallie said in an almost-annoyed tone as she started to make her way up the stairs. I followed her and we sat on her bed and started eating some carrots. "So what'd your mom say?" she asked with a mouth-full of food.

"She's pretty mad at me," I admitted.

"And has your dad been hiding behind the door the whole time?"

Hallie was funny. She knew me and my family all too well. "For a while, yeah. But surprisingly he kinda stood up the other day. He ended up taking me to the doctor and everything."

Hallie nodded. "So who's the father?" As much as I want to say that that question surprised me, I can't say that I wasn't expecting it. "Do I know him?" I wouldn't make eye-contact with her or answer for a couple seconds, so she leaned in. "Nothing... bad happened, right?"

She couldn't have meant if I had been raped. "What? No. No, of course not. I, um- I just have to explain something first." Hallie looked at me confused. "I told my mom and dad that I snuck out to some party in the summer, and that I didn't know anyone there and don't know anything about the father."

Hallie looked at me with a concerned but interested expression. "So what actually happened?"

I couldn't tell her. I knew she was my best friend and I could tell her anything, but this was different. I trusted her, but if she let anything slip from her mouth, Frank could get into so much trouble. But I didn't know what to make up that she'd believe. I should've just told her what I had told my parents.

"It was near the beginning of school. This guy from some other school was here with his football team. His school's team was practicing on our field, and I was kinda just hanging around there. And, um, that happened."

Hallie's eyed looked wide at me. "Where did you guys even do it?"

I had no idea what to say. "The... storage shed," I guessed.

Hallie looked at me with her eyebrows raised. She blinked. "Hm."

"You can't tell anyone though." I looked straight into her eyes. "Got it?"

"Of course, of course," she said, shaking her head. "I promise I won't tell anyone. So do you think you'll ever see that guy again?"

I sighed. I was making this whole thing so complicated. "I don't think so." I grabbed a carrot and took a bite of it.