Senior Surprises

seventeen | Cheer, Baby!

"I'm so excited and scared! This means drama!"

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2 days later: Monday, February 13th, 1pm

"Ugh, this is going to be so annoying. They only call us down for boring stuff, like a half-assed sports assembly." Jordana sighed.

I walked to the school auditorium between Jordana and Eric, anxious to hear this week's 'exciting' announcement.

Once we were all seated in the movie theater-style chairs, our school principal, Mr. Nicholson, got up on stage.

"It has come to my attention that our teen pregnancy rate has risen. We are here to bring to light that these young women need our support now more than ever. Though we won't name names, we have one young female in the sophomore class as well as one in the senior class. And remember, as Philadelphia's leading private high school, we have a reputation to uphold here at PHHS. Have a good day."

I froze in my seat.

"Eric, I swear to fucking god, if-"

"No way, I would never. I'm the only one who knows, I promise." He whispered back.

"Ohhh, oh my gosh!!! I want to know who's the mama! What if it's one of our friends?? I'm so excited and scared! This means drama!! Who do you think it is, Lana? Eric?" Jordana squealed.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find out soon." I smiled weakly as we walked back out of the auditorium.

-

I stood at my locker, gathering my materials for history, when I heard a quiet sobbing noise. I looked to my left where a few rows down, Laney Davis was crying behind her locker door.

A particularly loud sob spilled out of her mouth, causing Laney to cover her mouth with her white cardigan sleeve as she ran to the girl's bathroom.

"Laney, wait!" I yelled, chasing her down the hallway with my textbooks in hand.

I followed her through the crowd into the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She frantically checked under the stall doors before she rushed into the handicap stall, motioning for me to follow.

"Shut the door and lock it." She stood at one end of the stall while I was at the other side, facing her.

"I'm pregnant, okay? The whole assembly was about me, just because I decided to tell the school counselor and it backfired on my sorry ass."

"The counselor told the principal?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, we had an agreement, too. I wouldn't tell anyone until I was ready." She sniffled indignantly.

"How far along are you?"

"About three months, but I haven't really started to show yet," She shrugged, "I told Dean last week and he was pretty mad. But I think I'm ready for everyone else to know. I'll tell my parents soon, but it won't be too pretty. Chances are I'll have to move in with Dean, or at the very worst, get our own apartment, if things don't go well with Dean's family."

"Three months? In the past three months, you've become cheer captain in my place. And-" I said, until Laney interrupted me.

"Yes, I know. Once Coach Angela finds out, I'm dead meat. You'll have your captainship back in no time." Laney rolled her eyes.

I wasn't going to tell her I was pregnant, obviously. No one was going to find out, ever.

"I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope things start looking up soon. I mean, you still have your job at M.A.C, right? And even if you get kicked off the team, you still have us cheer girls. We're all here for you." I said, attempting to comfort her, at least a bit.

"I should get to class. I'll see you in English." Laney said awkwardly, before ducking out the door and leaving the bathroom.

I exited the bathroom and immediately rushed to my next class, which was Calculus.(Ugh!)

"You're late, Miss Brooks." My teacher, Mrs. Lawson, snapped.

"I'm sorry. My locker wouldn't open." I said, walking over to my seat between James and Shannon, the only people from my group of friends in the class.

She returned to her lesson, perhaps forgetting about my tardiness.