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"I hate this fucking place," Jazmine grumbled, as she entered the doors of Barrymore, snuggling her hoodie closely to her. The administration never turned the air conditioning down, so it was always cold as hell at school.
It was Monday morning and the time was 7:05 AM. She glanced at the poster covered walls, noticing signs about homecoming being the main attraction.
With all the things going on in her personal life, attending homecoming was the last thing on Jazmine's mind. Not only was she 17 and pregnant, but she was also taking care of her four younger siblings all on her own. It was now going on three months since Jazmine had last seen her mother, so now Jazz was beyond worried. The surprise visits from CPS had calmed down, but Jazmine had a gut feeling that things weren't going to be okay.
They made it by on government assistance, and the little money Jazmine's part time job at Chic-Fil-A brought in, but it still was a major struggle. Her siblings still needed a lot of things and the fact that she couldn't get it for them broke her heart.
Jazmine's eyes welled up with fresh tears, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with everything on her plate. She was 17 years old. Only 17 years old and was dealing with the stresses and responsibility of someone twice her age. While most girls her age were going shopping for their homecoming outfits, and tryna find dates, she was trying to figure out where her next meal would come from.
Once she reached her locker, Jazmine twisted in the combination, popping it open with ease. She blinked back her tears, trying to hold herself together. She took out her Economics textbook, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Jazmine turned around to see Odell standing before her.
"Uh... hey," he looked around awkwardly. "Can we talk?"
Jazmine slammed her locker shut, staring at him with red eyes. "What?"
"Look, I'm just gonna be straight forward, what me and you did was a one time thing. It was a night of harmless, fun. No one was supposed to get pregnant. I know you definitely weren't expecting it, and neither was I." Odell rubbed his throbbing temples, trying to figure out how he would say his next words. "To make this easier on the both of us, I figure an abortion is the most reasonable thing to do. I can pay for everything and take you to a really good doctor. Just work with me Jayla."
Jazmine's mind automatically went blank after hearing Odell address her by the wrong name once again. Her ears became hot, as she became enraged at Odell's nonchalant and selfish attitude towards her feelings in the situation.
"MY FUCKING NAME IS JAZMINE!" Her angry voice roared across the hallways, grabbing the attention of passerby students. "NOT JALEA! NOT JAYLA! NOT JADA! IT'S JAZMINE! WHY THE FUCK YOU KEEP SAYING MY DAMN NAME WRONG?!"
