Living Or Dying

Chapter One

A/N Thanks @JosephJoeDennis for being my first follower that I didn't know in real life!

 I'm looking forward to writing this, so wish me good luck!

"You're what?" Robbie yelled.

"Pregnant?" Sherry pulled into herself. She didn't like being here. This wasn't the Robbie she knew. This wasn't the Robbie she fell in love with. This was an angry Robbie. A Robbie that was callous.

"We're through. Erase my number. Now."

Sherry pulled out her phone. She pulled up contacts and showed Robbie. He erased everything in an instant. Her phone blurred through her tears. Robbie didn't care. He turned around and walked away. Sherry just stood there crying. How had this happened? They had been together for almost year now. They'd had sex several times as well, but nothing like this had ever happened. They were careful, used protection. But something must have happened.

Sherry put her phone back in her pocket. She couldn't get the number back no matter how hard she tried. Robbie had erased his number from many a girls phone. Sherry had known what dating him would mean. But still, he seemed so nice. Sherry thought he never would do this to her. The walk home was long and Sherry had a lot to think about.

Sherry wasn't ugly. She was pretty in fact. But a pregnant girl was something no one wanted. The only problem Sherry had was her father. She had tried introducing Robbie to him once. Her father had been drinking, as usual. Her father got enraged. He threw them out of the house. That was the first time Robbie and her had sex. Robbie was kind and invited her to stay the night at his house. Sherry even saw Robbie's mother. She was a small woman. Robbie wasn't mean or nice to her. He just didn't notice his own mother. Sherry tried to be nice to her. Robbie's mother just shuffled away.

"How am I going to tell father?" Sherry fretted.

Her father was an alcoholic. He would be at the bar now, drinking with his friends. When he got home Sherry would have to tell him. She didn't want to.

"Maybe the test was incorrect?" Sherry hoped. "I'll go get another one done."

She turned on her heels. She headed for the pregnancy care center. She had gone there the night before. They wouldn't turn her down, no matter how many times she went there. What made them so accepting? Sherry wondered.

A bell tinkled as Sherry opened the door. Immediately someone was there to greet her. It was a boy, barely a year older than Sherry. He had braces and light freckles. He had blond hair and grey eyes. He wore a brand-less tee-shirt. It was a grayish-blue. He wore dark blue jeans that went over work boots. He smiled widely.

"Welcome! How can I help you?" He had a surprisingly low voice for a boy of sixteen.

"Um, I need a pregnancy test?" Sherry felt shy. It was awkward enough with a girl or woman, but talking about this with a boy was just weird.

"Let me just take you over there!" he smiled. "Our resident nurse will help you. Her name is Cassandra."

The boy opened a door for Sherry. She nodded her head in thanks and walked in. She had already met Cassandra, but she didn't feel like telling the boy that.

Cassandra looked up from her work place. She smiled, Cassandra was a petit oriental lady with blue hair. She was roughly thirty years old. Her white lab coat hung loosely on her form.

"Welcome back, Sherry. Are you the one for the pregnancy test?"

Sherry nodded. She refused to look away from here shoes.

Cassandra smiled again. "All right. I don't think you need another one though."

After the test, Sherry sat in Cassandra's office. It was friendly with cat posters everywhere. Sherry sat in a padded chair, specifically made for pregnant women. Cassandra was across a wooden desk in one of those office wheelie chairs.

"Sherry, the results are the same. You're pregnant."

"No! I can't be!" Sherry shouted.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Cassandra seemed worried.

Sherry nodded. But she didn't want to talk about it with Cassandra.

"Would you be okay talking about it with our advisor?" Cassandra asked gently.

Sherry nodded slowly. Cassandra helped her stand up. She led Sherry through the center. The walls all had pictures of smiling moms with kids. Some of them had foster parents in the pictures as well. Every picture had a letter under it writing thanks to the center. Sherry felt sick. Would she be a picture on the wall someday? With a young girl going through the worst time of her life looking at it?

Cassandra opened a door. Behind it sat the boy from the door. He was in a circle of about ten girls, each at various stages of pregnancy. They all wore tags that stated their names. On the boy's tag it said Byern.

Byern looked up and smiled at Sherry and Cassandra. He patted an empty seat next to him and motioned for Sherry to sit there. Sherry sat. Byern told her to say her name and something about her. Cassandra had left them by now.

"My name's Sherry and I'm fifteen. I like chocolate." Sherry stared at the floor again.

"Thank you for sharing, Sherry. I'm Byern, the resident advisor. I just got hired yesterday!" He smiled."I may be only sixteen but I know my stuff!"

The other girls in the group nodded. Sherry just stayed looking at the floor.

"So, what are you dealing with right now?"

Sherry finally looked up. She wanted to scream. I'm in the pregnancy care center and they ask me what's wrong!? She thought. But she didn't scream. She knew how terrified she got when her father screamed so Sherry had promised herself she never would scream.

"My boyfriend of a year just broke up with me."

The girls in the circle spoke condolences. Byern looked pitifully at Sherry. "I know how you feel. When my boyfriend of two years broke up with me I was lost, alone and confused. But we're here for you Sherry. Is this the reason why you're here?"

Sherry nodded, "He left me after I told him I was pregnant."

"Well, we're here for you Sherry,"

The group mimicked his words. Sherry didn't feel it was true.