Smoke.

II

Going to Amber's probably hadn't been the best choice. In fact, looking back, Ethan often wished he hadn't. After that one night, Ethan had been staying at Mike's place. His parents were nice enough to take him in. It was a few weeks later when Ethan received a distressed phone call from Amber — she wanted to meet with him to talk about something. She said it was urgent, and to meet her at the picnic spot. Of course, Ethan obliged.

As he cut through the trees and emerged in the clearing, he found Amber already there, seated at the picnic table with her chin rested in her hands. She turned, giving a small smile when she saw Ethan.

"Hey," Ethan said. "What's up?" His expression was concerned, and slightly confused, but mostly just concerned. His eyebrows were drawn together, brown eyes soft and careful. He sat down next to Amber and she ran a hand through her hair, biting down on the inside of her lip. Her eyes were widened a bit, as if she were trying hard not to blink. She looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

"I was—" she paused, drawing in a breath as she collected her thoughts. "I was late, and—"

"What?" Ethan interrupted. "Late for wh— OH!" His eyes widened and he brought his hand to his face as the realization hit. "You mean for your, uh...?" Amber nodded.

"Yeah, and I didn't think anything of it at first, but then it still didn't come so I took a test and..." the words had spilled out quickly, tumbling over each other along the way. She pulled a pregnancy test out of her bag and pushed it across the table to Ethan, covering her face with shaky hands as she sighed deeply.

"Two lines," Ethan said. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm pregnant."

Ethan's stomach dropped and his face went pale. He ran a hand through his hair, his mind going a million miles and hour, yet he had no idea what to say. He'd never imagined himself as a father, especially not as a teenager.

"There's no way this thing could be mistaken?"

Amber shook her head. "I wish."

"What are we gonna do?" Ethan asked. Amber was very visibly upset, with shaking hands and dim eyes. She picked at her fingernails anxiously, wringing her hands and fidgeting.

"I don't know. I'm scared out of my mind," she muttered. "I don't want to get an abortion, but I don't know what I'd do with a freaking baby! I'm sixteen, I'm not ready to be a mother. And if I give it up for adoption... I don't know, I feel like it'd hurt a lot. Giving my baby away. And then I'd always know they were out there somewhere, growing up without me. I really do want kids, I've always wanted kids. Just not at sixteen. That's what makes this so hard."

Ethan drew in a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. "Whatever you do with that baby, I'll be here. I mean, it is partially my responsibility. Plus, you'd make one kickass mom, even as a teenager. If you wanna keep it, I can drop out and start working and taking care of the baby while you finish school," he said. Amber shook her head.

"Ethan, if you drop out that can really affect your future, and—"

"Amber," Ethan interrupted, stopping her mid-sentence. "I was never gonna graduate, anyway. My grades are crap, and I never really cared about my future anyway. You, on the other hand, can't not graduate! You're brilliant! Your grades are perfect, you participate in extracurriculars. You put in so much effort towards school and education, it'd be a damn shame if you didn't make it through college."

Amber hid her face behind a curtain of blonde hair, and a tiny smile broke her strung-out expression. "Ethan Perkins, the stay-at-home mom," she commented, laughing.