The Sisterhood of the Teenage Mothers

After: Chapter Nineteen - Esther's Idea

After: Chapter Nineteen – Esther's idea

35 days After

Esther sat at her desk in her office typing away on her computer to add things to each one of the girl's files. By this time Esther felt like she had a reasonable relationship with all the girls, she had learned about their back-stories of how they became pregnant and now could ride passenger on their journey during their pregnancy with this knowledge to equip her. Esther felt happy with her progress with the group. The only thing she didn't feel happy about was Ronnie. She had turned very strange since getting her abortion and Esther didn't know why. Esther thought Ronnie would be happier, maybe to the point where she would start thinking more about what she would do with her future. But instead Ronnie was stuck being the same girl she had always been; never going to classes, smoking at the bleachers and just being really unhappy. Esther had tried to help her in their one-on-one sessions, but most of the time Ronnie would just end up walking out not wanting to hear anything anyone else had to say. Esther was frustrated with Ronnie, but most of all she was worried about her. Then Esther heard a knock on her office door. Esther looked up from her computer curiously. None of the girls had scheduled one-on-one sessions today and their group session wasn't until later today, so Esther didn't know who was coming to see her. But still she said; "Come in."

Esther watched the door of her office get pushed opened and in stepped a girl Esther had never seen before. She had long blue hair and wore black accessories around her uniform. But the girl reminded Esther a lot of Ronnie and Esther guessed it must be one of her friends. "Hello, Esther?" she asked unsure.

"That's me, and you are?"

"I'm Kiera, Ronnie's friend." So Esther had been right. "You're the new school counselor right?"

"Yes I am... how can I help you Kiera?"

"Um," she said nervously standing in the doorway. "I wanted to talk about Ronnie."

"Please take a seat." Kiera obeyed stepping into her office and shutting the door behind her before taking a seat. "What about Ronnie?"

"She's been acting really... strangely... since she got the abortion –"

"I've noticed."

"She's been hanging out more by herself and not wanting to hang around anyone or really talk to anyone... I mean she was kind of stand offish before... but this-this is different."

"Different, how?" Esther asked.

"Well she... she's getting more angry about things, more emotional and acting erratic... she went off at Blake in the mall the other day in front of all these people..."

"What did she say?"

"She said she blamed him."

"Blamed him for what? The abortion?" Esther asked confused and Kiera nodded her head.

"She said if she had gotten pregnant to someone else, maybe she might of felt more supported, maybe she wouldn't have killed it..."

"Does she regret it killing it?" Esther asked.

Kiera shrugged. "I don't know, but she said she's –" But Kiera cut herself off not knowing how to say the next words she wanted to say out loud.

"She's what?"

"Seeing it, seeing her baby."

Esther looked at Kiera strangely. "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I see Ronnie sitting by herself and sometimes it looks like she is talking to herself. But when I asked her about it, she says she isn't talking to herself, that she's talking to her baby."