Mr. Iero

Chapter 5

A/N: Filler.  Sorry.

*Ashley's POV*

Since I didn't have to go to school, I took the chance to sleep in.  But since I had been waking up at 5:30 every morning for almost a month, I only slept in until 8 o'clock.  If it were summer, I'd have been able to pull off 10 o'clock.

I walked downstairs and couldn't find my parents or my sister anywhere.  I walked into the kitchen and saw a note held by a magnet on the fridge.  'Dad and I went to work.  Lili's already at school.  Didn't want to wake you! Love, Mom.'

My stomach growled.  I was starving, but I couldn't hold down any of my food.  Since I got home from school yesterday, I'd thrown up four more times.  At first I thought that not eating for a while would make it stop, but somehow it kept happening.

I was so hungry.

Every time I threw up I got a little more nervous.  What if I was pregnant? No.  Hallie was just messing around with me.  I tried to think of when I last had my period, but couldn't remember.  I never kept track of it.

Without another thought, I threw on some clothes and went out to my car.  I needed to figure this out so that I'd stop stressing over it.

I was about to pull into a drug store parking lot about five minutes away from my house, but then I realized that I knew people that worked there.  I knew people that worked everywhere in my town.  I passed the parking lot and drove onto the highway to get into the next town over.  When I got there, I found a drug store that looked mostly empty.  Perfect.

I walked into the store and mazed through the aisles.  When I found the pregnancy tests, there were so many to choose from.  I wasn't sure what was and what wasn't reliable, so I went with the one that I usually saw ads for on TV.

I went up to the only open cash register.  There was an old lady working, who eyed me judgmentally when she saw me place the pregnancy test on the counter.  At least she didn't know me.

The woman scanned the box and pressed a button.  "That'll be $21.19," she said.  I handed her thirty dollars in cash and then she gave me by change, along with a plastic bag that held the pregnancy test.  "Have a nice day," she said in a way that made it clear that it was mandatory for her to say that.

"You, too," I said as I walked out the door.  I went back to my car and drove home as fast as I could.

When I got home, I went into the bathroom and followed the directions on the box.  I waited for a few minutes longer than the directions said, just to make sure that it would be totally right.

When the time was up, I hesitantly grabbed the test.  My heart was suddenly pounding with anxiety.  What if it said positive? My parents would kill me, everyone would think I was a slut, I'd have to put the baby as a priority before school.  Mr. Iero could get arrested.  I was 17.

But maybe it would be negative.  Then it would be as if nothing happened.

I took a slow but shaky breath and then looked down at the piece of plastic in my hand.  Two lines.  Positive.