The Forbidden

Chapter 9

We get in the car and drive to walmart.

People stare at us as Alex practically drags me to the pregnancy test area. "Pick one." She demands and stands beside me with her arms crossed. "I don't know the difference." I tell her as I pick up a pink and blue box.

"My mom thought she was pregnant once, she said that you should always take multiple tests to make sure they are acurate." She says and picks up a few different boxes. "These will do." She says and heads toward the check out.

I blush scarlett and follow her. An older lady is frowning at me from the other end of the aisle. "Alex, people are staring." I whisper to her. "They are just jealous that they can't get any, so they have nothing to worry about." She states.

"That doesn't make me feel any better." I mumble and pull my money out of my pocket. Twenty dollars and judging looks from a cashier later, we drive back to Alex's house.

"I don't think this is a good idea." I tell her as she unlocks the door. She frowns at me and shakes her head, pushing the door open and dragging me inside. Her parents are at work all day, and two out of three of her siblings are at school. Anthony, her older brother by a year, is at home sick.

We walk in the living room and find him sitting on the couch playing video games. "You sure do look sick." I tell him, rubbing his head as I walk past him. He has had a crush on me since I was in Eighth grade.

"I am, but that doesn't mean I can't play video games." He calls back to me as a ascend the stairs to Alex's bedroom. "Take these and go into the bathroom. Read the instructions, and make sure you do them all correctly." She says and I step into her bathroom.

The bag has boxes of all different colors, and of all different types of tests. I open the first box, it is pink, and pull out the test. The directions say to pee in the cup and put the test into the cup and let it sit for five minutes. I do as it says and then I wait. As I am waiting for that one, I take the other six tests we bought.

The first test is finished when I finish the last one. "Alex!" I call and she opens the door. She looks worriedly at the test sitting in my pee. "Take it out." She says and I do just that. We examine the stick in front of us. There is one line in the left window that shows it is working, but nothing in the window on the right.

"So I am not pregnant." I say in relief. She nods and throws the test away. "Check the others." I pick up the other tests that have finished. The next one had a negative sign, making me a bit happier. I toss it into the trash can.

A loud beep makes me jump and Alex squeals beside me. "It was the digital one." I tell her. She nods and reaches forward to grab it. I look at her expectingly, and she turns pale. "Alex, what is it?" I ask her. She slowly turns the test toward me, I scream.

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"Nicole? Nicole, wake up." Someone says. I open my eyes and blink until I see the face in front of me. Anthony is standing over me, looking at me like I am about to pass out again. "Where is Alex?" I ask him, my voice not sounding normal.

"Back here." I hear her say. I sit up and Anthony extends his hand to help me up. I take it and stand, feeling quite dizzy. "Was it real?" I ask her. She nods. "The rest of them had the same result." She answers. I frown. Four out of six of the pregnancy tests say that I am pregnant.

"Are you sure that I am?" I ask her. She nods. "There is no other explanation." I run my fingers through my hair and sit on the side of the tub. "Does he know?" I ask her. "It's kind of hard to keep it from him." She answers. I sigh and look up at him.

"Don't be ashamed. I already knew you would never last until college with that stupid plan. You can't put love on hold." He says and sits on the edge of the tub with me. "So I am pregnant...with Dave's baby." I say, more to myself than to them.

"No, we were just messing with you." Alex says and starts laughing. What the actual fuck? "What do you mean you were just messing with me?" I ask her feircely. She stops laughing and looks at me. "You aren't pregnant. I had him switch out the four tests with the ones my mom took last week. That beep was my watch." She say and starts laughing again.

It finally connects.

"So I am not pregnant?" I ask her. Anthony is laughing beside me. "No! You are not pregnant." She says and smiles. I smile back at her, not knowing how I feel about all of this. "Are you sad that you aren't?" Anthony asks me. I shrug and look down at my feet. My black sandals stare back up at me.

"I just want him to come home." I tell them. Neither of them knows that he is supposedly dead. "Where is he?" Alex asks. I shrug and look up at her. "Dead." I reply. She gets a look of horror on her face and Anthony tenses up beside me.

"What the hell?" She asks. I stare back at her and try to determine what to say next. "Look, i'm not sure if I should tell you this." I say quietly. She looks back at me, eyes wide, and leans forward a bit.

"Spit it out." She says and Anthony turns to face me. "I can't, not with him here." I whisper and nod my head at Anthony. "Anthony, go make me a sandwhich." Alex says loudly.

Anthony sighs and stands, walking out of the room and leaving the bathroom door open behind him. "Dave supposedly died." I tell her quietly, not wanting Anthony to hear.

"But...?" She asks suspiciously. I look around to make sure no one can hear us. "His brother told me that it was all just a scheme..Dave is alive!" I whisper-yell.

Her eyes buldge out of her sockets and she just sits there staring at me. "He isn't dead?" She asks. I shake my head and smile. We squeal together and jump into a hug.

"Wait, so where is he?" Alex asks. I shrug and pull out of the hug. "Luke won't tell me." I answer her. She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. "We have to find him." She says simply and steps out of the bathroom.

I follow her out of her room and down the stairs to the living room. "How are we supposed to do that?" I ask her. She shrugs and grabs her house keys from the bowl.

"Hell if I know."