The Quarterback's Girl

Chapter 8

I woke up in Nate's room the next morning, and felt the same lurch in my stomach I had felt the entire week. "Oh, shit." I raced to the bathroom and immediately heaved my guts up. When I was done, I rinsed my mouth out and groggily padded back into the bedroom. As I was walking back, I realized I was wearing a pair of my sweatpants and one of Nate's sweatshirts. I had just laid down on the bed when Nate opened the door, holding a Starbucks coffee.

"Please tell me that's a vanilla bean latte." I groaned and took the drink from him. I sipped and groaned at the taste. "You know me too well."

"That I do. How do you feel?" He sat next to me on the bed and I put my head on his shoulder. "Last night was intense."

"Yeah, it was." I frowned and reached for my phone on the side table. 9 missed calls from my grandmother. "Crap. Nana's calling me. I should go." I took another sip of my coffee. "Thanks for bringing me here, Nate."

"Of course." He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. "I'll drive you home."

I stumbled down the stairs, almost spilling coffee all over myself. It took me about 3 tries to open the door to the car. I felt really weak. I put my head on the cool glass and tried to get a few more minutes of sleep before hell broke loose.

"Thanks for driving me." I said when he pulled up in my driveway. "I love you." I pecked him on the lips.

"Love you too. I'll call you later?" 

"Sure." I slowly walked up to house and unlocked the front door. "Nana? Papaw? I'm home."

"Cassandra! Where in the hell have you been?" Nana rushed into the living room carrying a spatula.

"I was at Nate's." I winced at the loudness of her tone.

"I got no text, no call, nothing! You could have been dead in a ditch! And you know you aren't supposed to stay at Nate's overnight." She scolded me. 

"But I'm not. So just leave me alone!" I grumbled.

"Don't sass me! I have to check on my french toast." She went back in the kitchen. I followed her and saw my grandfather sitting at the table. 

"Papaw, you think it's okay that I stayed with Nate, right?" I took a seat next to him.

"I think it'll be okay, Lillian. Teenagers will be teenagers. We had some late nights." He smiled over his newspaper at me.

"Rob, that was 50 years ago. Things are very different now."

"Not that different." He winked at her.

"Okay, gross. I'm going to my room." My stomach was feeling kind of queasy. I wonder if my period was on. Probably. It's been awhile. 

I trudged up the stairs and went straight to my bathroom, fully expecting blood to be everywhere. When I checked, nothing. Clean. I calculated in my head. It's been weeks since I was supposed to have mine. I've been putting this off for way too long. Nate and I always used protection. I think.. Fuck, I don't know. 

I rushed to the mirror and raised up my shirt. Was there a bump? I couldn't tell. Shit. Shit. Shit! "Goddamn it. Fuck me." I changed out of my comfort outfit and into something more appropriate. I put on jeans and a sweater, and grabbed my keys and purse. "Nana I'm going to the store!"

"Hurry!" She called back.

"Okay!" I rushed to my car and slammed the door. I went 15 mph over the speed limit the entire time. I pulled into the nearest drug store. I searched the aisles until I found what I was looking for. I grabbed 2 boxes of pregnancy tests, and handed my items to the cashier.

"Expecting?" The woman at the counter asked with a smile, nodding to my stomach. 

"Uh, I hope not!" I gave a nervous laugh.

"Oh.." Her smile dropped. "Here." She handed me my items.

"Thanks." I went straight to the bathroom in the back of the store and ripped open the packages. "Okay, Cassie, calm down." I took out 6 tests just to be sure. Now the wait.

10 minutes later, I peeked at the sticks. What I saw would change my life forever. "Positive, positive, positive, positive, positive, positive. Fuck me." I was pregnant. I had a human inside of me. The edges of my vision started blurring, and I grabbed onto the sink for support. I threw the tests into the trash and slammed the door of the bathroom.

"What were your results?" The nosy cashier asked me.

I just looked at her, her expectant face, and broke out in sobs. I hurried to my car, and stepped on the gas. Fat tears rolling down my face, I sped home and ran up the stairs to my room. I threw myself on my bed and sobbed into my pillow.

What was I going to do? Do I tell Nate? What will people say? How will this affect the rest of my life? Do I get an abortion? The last one hit me like a punch to the gut. My parents were Christian and so were my grandparents. I was always taught that abortion was wrong, that even a life as small as that of an unborn baby was still a human life. I didn't know what I was going to tell Nate. Would I even tell him? I could get rid of it before anyone even found out. 

I pulled out my laptop from underneath my bed and looked up abortion clinics in my area. There were 3. I read a couple comments under one. 

'Great and quick service! Took no time at all! #Nomorebaby

'Excellent workers. Baby is no more'

'Pretty good service'

I clicked out of the page quickly and put a hand to my racing heartbeat. I involuntarily placed a hand on my stomach. 

I didn't know what I was going to do. I turned off my light, closed my blinds, and stayed in bed for the rest of the day, silently sobbing into my pillow.

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That's the actor who plays Malaki