My breath caught in my throat as I looked down at the small white stick, tears filling my eyes. My heart stopped, the pregnancy test read positive.
I slid down the bathroom wall, my hands running through my tangled hair. I'm only seventeen, I can't be pregnant. I don't want a kid; I mean I'm still a kid.
Clutching the test in my now shaking hand I took a deep breath and sighed. I shut my eyes and lied my head down on the bathroom floor.
*
"McKenna, it's 8 o'clock, you need to get up." I opened my eyes to see my friend, Macee, hovering over me as I was sprawled out on the bathroom tile.
I sat up and quietly brushed my hand over my stomach, hoping it was only a dream.
My hand quickly flew up to my mouth as I could feel vomit crawling up my throat. I grabbed the seat of the toilet bowl and greeted it with puke.
"Umm, what the hell? Are you okay?" Macee asked, rubbing my back. I hunched over the toilet wiping the spit away from my mouth with the back of my hand.
I looked up at the clock as a started to feel nauseous again. I was going to be so late for school.
*
I grabbed my keys and got into the car. I pulled the mirror above the wheel down and examined myself.
My long brown hair was still in the bun I had worn to bed the night before. Disgusting. I was wearing a dark gray crew neck with leggings and matte Dr. Martens.
Two dark circles defined my under eyes with complete exhaustion. I closed the mirror and sighed.
Macee was putting our bags in the back when I started to feel light headed again. I closed my eyes and sat my head on the back of the seat when I heard the passenger door open.
"Are you sure you're okay to go to school? We'll be late anyways, we can just hang out at my house."
Okay so, Macee has a pretty bad home life. Her father was put in jail when she was five years old for abusing her mother. After that, her mother turned to alcohol and has been going away on 6 month trips to who-knows-where ever since. She's almost never home.
I've probably met her three times in my whole life. So, with that said, Macee is always looking for ways to get in trouble. Example A: skipping school.
"No, I'm fine. Really." I mumbled. She was pulling a brush through her lightly colored pink hair as a cigarette dangled between her teeth. She pulled another out of the box and handed it to me.
I placed the small cancer stick between my fingers and let it hang freely out the car window. Macee raised her eyebrow at me. I glanced at her with an awkward smile.
Clearing her throat she turns to me and stares. "Please help me understand what you're trying to do. Clearly something is wrong with you today."
I guess this is something else I need to explain to you. Macee hates. This puts me in a really difficult situation because I couldn't tell her the truth.
I looked straight ahead and didn't say anything for a moment.
"...Well, in health class we're learning about the dangers of smoking. Right-?"
I paused to see if she had any input. She didn't.
"-And it just really scares me so.. I'm trying to quit."
The only thing I received from this statement is pure silence.
"It's actually really bad for you."
More silence.
And then-
"Bullshit. You knew that before you started smoking, like you give a shit or something. Give me my cigarette back."
She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked out the window. I handed her the cigarette.
She cupped her hand around it and lit it, throwing her other out the window.
Neither of us said anything for a long time. The car started to get drowned out by the silence so I turned the radio up and started singing obnoxiously loud.
Which, at this point I was pretty mad too, I mean, I actually had a good reason to be mad and she didn't. But, apparently this pissed her off even more because she took the cigarette and placed the burning tip of it onto the back of my hand.
I tried to pull away but she grabbed my wrist and held it there.
"Let go!" I choked out.
"You're pregnant aren't you?!" She screamed.
"What-no?"
She smashed the burning chemicals harder into my skin.
"Yes you are I saw the test in the trash this morning!"
Tears were streaming down her face. Which, that may not sound like a big deal but I was more shocked by that than anything else from the car ride.
I have never seen her cry before, ever.
Keep in mind we have been friends since we were seven years old. So yeah, this was a pretty big deal.
"I just found out myself, I haven't told anyone yet, Macee!"
I was yelling at this point. I mean, it's pretty hard to keep your cool when you're driving while getting scorched with a cigarette by your lunatic best friend.
You know what, it's actually extremely difficult considering the fact that I was going 80 in a 45. Against traffic. "Oh shit."
