Metamorphosis

Taking Falls and Asking Help

Chapter 12

Taking Falls and Asking Help

Seth groaned as he set his backpack on his bed. It had been a very long day. Ashley had refused to talk to him, Mira had stayed home, and Paige and Sara kept giving him dirty looks. All he wanted to do now was lay down and take a nap.

Just as the boy was kicking off his shoes, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, expecting to see Ashley's number, but saw Mira's instead. He pressed answer.

"Hello?"

"Did you hear what happened?" She asked. He frowned.

"What?"

"Your girlfriend knows about the baby. How do I know this? My sister got into a fistfight with her sister because she was talking about it." Her voice was deadpanned and flat. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Leave it to Jacqueline Warner to screw him over like that.

"Mira I-"

"The middle school principal wants to talk to my parents tomorrow and he is going to tell them what Jacqueline was saying. If my dad finds out that way… it's not the right way for him to know."

"What are you saying?" he asked nervously.

"I'm going to tell him tonight" there was silence on the other line, until she started hearing a frantic clicking noise. "Are you there? What are you doing?"

"Me? Oh, I'm just ordering a plane ticket on my laptop." His voice was several pitches higher. She sighed.

"Seth!"

"What? You're gonna tell your scary dad that you're pregnant is fine… as long as I'm in Siberia."

"You're an idiot!"

"How am I an idiot? Halloween's in two weeks and I don't feel like having your dad using me as an axe victim decoration on the front lawn!"

"I called you for more than to tell you, ya know?" she asked in irritation. He paused from typing in his mom's credit card number.

"What else is there?" she took a deep breath.

"Um, I…" her voice suddenly cracked "I really need some help. This is gonna be so painful for me. I know that I won't be able to tell him by myself. I want you to bring your parents and we can tell them all together." There was more silence, followed by more frantic clicking. "Ugh, more plane tickets?"

"No, now I'm writing out my will."

"Seth, please! We need to do this! You and I are having a baby together and if we are going to make any decisions then we need to help each other!" he paused from leaving Brian his secret stash of Playboys to realize she was right.

"Yeah, you're right. But how are we going to tell them? Believe it or not, I don't like upsetting my mom or Dave either."

"Well you should have thought of that before we had sex." She said pointedly. He sighed.

"Still mad about that, I see?"

"The sex I can forgive. The baby, I can't." knowing he wouldn't be able to come up with a witty remark for that one, he closed his laptop.

"So how do we tell them? Do you want to meet somewhere? Should I come over? Do you want to come over? What do you want?"

"Is there anyway you can bring your parents to my house? Say around sixish?"

"Yeah, I'll show up and say my car has a flat, and then we can call my parents. I'll tell them that I need someone to fix my car and drive me home. They'll both show up"

"Ok, great. See ya then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

As both teens hung up, only one thought remained on their minds, 'I hope this will work'

"Mira!" a voice called from downstairs. Mira walked down the stairs and saw Matt standing at the bottom.

"What? Is daddy home yet?" she asked. He nodded.

"He's in the kitchen talking to Marli." She gasped and began toward the kitchen when Matt grabbed her arm. "I wouldn't. He's really pissed! The principal called him at work and told him what Jacqueline was saying."

"What's he saying? Why hasn't he yelled at me yet?" Matt's identical blue eyes looked down to the floor as he raked his hand through his hair.

"He said that Jacqueline called his 'daughter' pregnant. Dad thinks she's talking about Marli." The girl gaped at him.

"W-what? Are you serious?"

"Yep. And she's trying to save your ass by going along with it."

"She's saying she's pregnant! How can she do that? She's twelve!"

"You're 16." The older brother pointed out. Mira pulled her arm back.

"Seth and his parents are coming over later so we can tell them together." She mumbled.

"Well that wasn't very smart. How am I supposed to kill that fucker with his parents next to him?"

"Simple; don't kill him. I'm going to tell dad right now." As she walked toward the kitchen door, her brother rested his hand on her shoulder. Pulling her close, he kissed the top of her head.

"May God have mercy on your soul." He whispered. She pulled away and took a deep breath.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw Marli sitting at the table with her hands folded on her lap and a defeated face. Their father was standing against the island, his face furious. They both looked up as she walked in.

"What's going on?" she asked softly. Adam sighed angrily.

"Go ahead, tell her." He said to Marli, who nodded.

"Mira, I'm pregnant." She put emphasis on the last two words, silently telling her that she was going to take the fall on this one. Mira looked at her sister and shook her head slowly.

"No you're not." She whispered. Her younger sister widened her eyes at her.

"Yes I am." She replied firmly.

"Yes she is. She told me herself!" Adam slammed his fist on the countertop. Mira turned to face him.

"Well, she lied. She's not having a baby." Marli stood up and grabbed her arm, but it was too late. "Because I am." .