Friends Without Benefits

Game Changer

I sat on the toilet in my bathroom, hoping the little sign on the stick would change. It didn't.

I sighed, this had been the last thing I wanted, the very last thing! I wasn't one of "those girls" that slept with people whenever I felt like it, far from it. I was the good girl who went to school and church and said my prayers. I loved my parents and they loved me. I came from a good environment, this shouldn't happen to me.

Okay, maybe that was playing off of stereotypes I had seen on TV, but that was how I felt.

At this point it came down to who to tell first. At this point I had to work out how I was going to tell my parents let alone Reese.

Getting up, I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket. It was time to call in reinforcements, that meant calling one of my girlfriends.

The person I called I knew would be off work early that day. That was-Rochelle. We had been friends since high school and I got lucky and she happened to be working in the same area where we were both going to school. Rochelle worked at a southern restaurant, like an upscale version of Red Lobster, but with a much more elaborate menu. Her plan right now was to work her way up and not just on the management side. She said at some point she wanted to apply for a culinary position, but she said that would have to wait until after culinary school-before she even tried to open her own place.

She picked up on the third ring, just before it went to voicemail (typical of Rochelle)

"Hey Lana, what's up? It's been a while."

"Hey...um... Can you come over something came up."

"Yeah, sure, I'm just getting off work anyway."

We talked for a few more minutes then she hung up, the abrupt ending to the conversation told me she was probably in the car.

Rochelle knocked on my door 15 minutes later.

"What's going on, Lana? You sounded pretty serious over the phone."

I motioned to a nearby recliner, that along with thrift store sofa and other chair I had in my apartment.

"You better sit down."

"That bad, huh?" Her manicured brows furrowed as she sank down into the recliner. To the average eye, Rochelle look like a supermodel but she was so much more. She wanted to be a chef and open a restaurant; last I heard she was saving for culinary school. Growing up with family in the South cooking seemed to be genetic, so that was her ambition regardless of what anybody thought including the guys who asked her out and wanted to sleep with her. Rochelle, however had her mind on other things. Her dark hair pulled up in a brisk ponytail with minimal makeup, that lent ifself to her natural beauty,  elegant features in a face of smooth, sun-kissed mocha.

As I spoke, I pulled the pregnancy test out of my pocket and handed it to her. She looked at me and then at the test and back again.

"You serious?" Then you heard a little bit of her southern accent which she hadn't quite lost despite living in the Midwest for a while.

I nodded.

"So who's the baby daddy?"

I still was focused on my knees, my stomach was in knots; it was, as if by not voicing it aloud it made it less real.

"Reese." I whispered..

"Reese?" Her voice went up an octave. "The Reese we went to school with, that you've practically been attached at the hip since you were like 7?"

I nodded again.

"Not to mention that boy talked my ears off about math and all sorts of nerdy stuff who knows what else!" Rochelle muttered. "So how this even happen?" Rochelle asked, going into best friend counselor mode.

I gave her a look.

"Yeah, okay, I know, but what happened? Last I heard he had turned you down for a date, and that was a while ago."

So I told her-everything.

"So when are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know."

"Well you got to tell him sooner rather than later." Rochelle stated. "So do your parents know?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "They'd freak! Not to mention my dad would probably go ballistic, and read me the riot act and a few well-chosen scriptures."

"Yeah, well, I'd tell them too." Rochelle muttered, "particularly if you want some help after the baby is born. You are finishing school aren't you?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed, "I can afford to drop out baby or no baby, and I need the money regardless."

"Well I know the college bookstore has a few positions open, unless you want to serve coffee, either at the school coffee bar or across town."

"I'll think about it," I replied, "at least get a couple of job applications. My mom been on my butt about that."

Rochelle chuckled.

"Yeah, I imagine she has. You hang in there Lana, you'll get through this, and remember you got people who love you and will help you." She pointed to the ceiling, "God works things out for good." Then smiling, she hugged me again. "Hey if you need anything give me a call. If I can get off between shifts I can help you get things ready, and of course, I could throw together one mean baby shower."

"Hey, don't get too far ahead of yourself," I warned, "I don't even know how far along I am."

"If you need anything just give me a call," Rochelle replied, her tone picking up again. She was now back to her normal breezy self. "I got all sorts of stuff perfect for a mama and a growing baby."

"The last thing I need is that weekly crab boil, that restaurant you're working at has on the weekends I think that's the last thing my stomach can tolerate right now."