WORD COUNT| 3.5k+
I'm going to tell you a story about a boy with dark hair, hazel eyes and how he changed my perspective on men forever. You see when I was 10 years old my Father up and left my Mother, Sister and I without a goodbye or proper explanation. The absence of my Father and the pain he caused my Mother resulted in her raising my older sibling and me to despise any male that we came in contact with. For four years I was sure that the male species was the human embodiment of evil. I would read stories about how men would cheat on their significant other and not feel even a pang of guilt. But what was really proved to me was when my sister went behind my Mothers back and started secretly dating a boy named, Ben. Ben Shapiro. He was known around our school to be kind, intelligent, and polite. He never gave anyone a reason to think negatively of him, that's what drew her in.
Months had gone by without my Mother knowing about the secret relationship between the two. I would have to sit between the two closest people in my life at dinner and act as if I wasn't keeping a major secret from the woman who had granted me life, to protect the happiness of the girl who was truly my only best friend. I slowly began to accept that this was something I'd have to learn to be comfortable with, but that was before that day. The day that my sister came into my room with tears streaming down her cheeks. I was worried when she approached me, something behind her back. It wasn't until she collapsed into my arms, sobbing in my t-shirt that I noticed the item she gripped in her hand so tightly. A pregnancy test, a positive one.
Living became so much harder since now I was keeping two secrets from my Mother, and one from Ben. She didn't want to worry him, she had said she had a plan to abort the baby. It killed me inside knowing that my future niece or nephew was going to have no chance of seeing the light of day, just because of how terrified she was of being rejected by our Mother.
Although the test she had taken left a bright pink '+' on the end, she wanted to be sure before she went through with any plans. Not wanting out Mother to find out, she lied and said she was taking me Mini Golfing. I swallowed the gut-wrenching feeling and lied through my teeth, knowing I'd never given her a reason not to trust me.
The small room smelt of cleaning supplies and the woman applying the gel to my sister's almost flat stomach was smiling fakely as she clearly didn't agree with a possible teen pregnancy. I squeezed my sister's hand, both of our eyes boring on the black and white screen. Being only 14 at the time, I wasn't sure what I was seeing before me. That was until the woman turned around once again with her plastic grin and said, "That's your baby." that's when the tight grip on my hand loosened and I knew everything was about to change.
Today was the day that she had planned the abortion, it was 2:00 the time of the appointment and we still sat in the car, staring at the neon clock of the radio. She had her hands placed on her stomach that still held her child, the child she claimed to not want. "Promise me something." She whispers, turning toward me with tears pricking our identical eyes, our Father's eyes. I nodded, never wanting to let her down. "Don't tell Mom where I am." She begs, placing her hands on top of mine. I searched her face for emotion, but she was unreadable. I had so many questions as to what she meant but all that came out was a simple "What?". She glanced down at her womb and smiled sweetly, then looked back up at me. "I can't hurt my baby, not Dad hurt us. I want to raise it to be healthy and know happiness. I love you so much and I know you can keep my secret. When the baby is born I'll contact you, and we can talk to Mom, together." She explains, waiting for my response but no words would come out, just a nod, a promising one.
