Renae flopped down next to me nearly making me spill my eggnog. "You look like shit," she whispers so none of the many adults in my large home would hear.
I look her over. She was wearing a soft looking white cashmere sweater dress, a pair of knee high boats, and her hair was natural in a high bun. To anybody else she would look like a perfectly happy teenage girl but I could see the anxiety, the restlessness, in her eyes. It was because of how well I knew her. "You look like shit," I repeat.
She huffs, sinking further into the couch. "I feel like shit."
I sigh because I was on the same wavelength. "Me too." It was mostly because I've been feeling nauseous all day and the older people in my family were annoying and they were all currently at my house.
She looks around us with her lip wedged between her teeth. She only did that when she was extremely nervous. While there wasn't too much of our family in the living room right now- most of the adults were in the dining room still and the kids in the play room downstairs- there must've been too many for her because she was suddenly grabbing my hand and basically pulling me up to my room.
She shuts the door when we get in then lays down on my bed, covering her face with her hands. I watch her for a few seconds before going over and sitting next to her. I place a gentle hand on her arm. "What's wrong Nae? You look stressed."
She says something but it's muffled by her hands. "Huh? Take your hands off your face, girl, I can't hear you."
She removes them than slowly sits up. The look on her face can only be described as pained and conflicted. "I'm pregnant."
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Nae and Shaun were the poster children for safe sex. She was a regular for Depo, and she once told me that they almost always use condoms. I know that shit wasn't one hundred percent but I was still shook that my sweet best friend would fall in the small bracket of girls who could get pregnant while using the two. What did that say for Elijah and I- we never used to use condoms and I was always late for a shot?
I try to school my features because the chocolate girl next to me looked close to tears. "How far along?"
"Like eight weeks, I think. I just found out on Saturday."
"Have you told Shaun?"
She shakes her head as a soft sob escapes her full lips. I watch as my best friend starts to fall apart and all I can do is wrap my arms around her. She hugs me back, her head buried in my chest. I don't even care that her make up tears would probably ruin my red dress as she cries and cries. "We were supposed to get married first," she cries. "We were supposed to finish college then get married then start thinking bout kids after we had a house and shit. Oh God- what if he doesn't want me any more?" That triggered another bout of hard, body shaking tears and sobs.
"Now you know that Shaun would never stop loving you, your that boys everything," I consoled. Shaun and Nae have one of the purest relationships I'd ever seen. Their love for each other was clear for anyone with working eyes. They almost never fought and when they did they made up immediately afterwards, without the aid of mad make-up sex like Elijah and I. I sometimes wished that our relationship was a simple as his cousin and my best friends. "Shaun would never leave you and his baby."
I can feel her nod against my chest. Her sobs subside to soft sniffles after a few minutes in which I hum and rub her back. She was just staring to rise off my chest when there's a soft knock on the door. Shaun's head was peeking in before we could even respond. He had a bright smile on his face when he opened the door but when he sees his obviously distressed girlfriend it melts.
