lemonade | ethan

three

after the last bell rang, i rushed into the classroom. everyone was filing to their seats and looking at the seating chart at the front of the room.

"it's the first day, devon. how could you possibly be late?" mr kim tells me. he motions for me to sit down with the rest of my class.

"sorry, mr kim." i take a look at the seating chart and i'm luckily partnered up with one of my aquatints. of course, she lives up on the north side and apart of our clique.

i sit down on the stool, placing my backpack at the side of the table. turning around to face her, i greet her. "hey melanie. how was your summer?"

she hesitates, "it was good, yunno. just the normal stuff." she looked a lot more stressed. a lot more nervous about things. i wanted to ask her what was up. if i didn't, i'd come off as if i didn't care. and i did.

furrowing my eyebrows, i reach out for her arm, "are yo–"

"okay, class. for the rest of the semester, the person you are seating with is your AP chemistry partners. you'll be doing in home projects quite frequently so i made sure to partner you with someone you'll be comfortable with." mr kim explains.

there were lots of people in this class of who i knew. a lot of north side kids. you don't find a south sider in an AP class very often. but i could spot out a few here and there.

"let's talk after class?" i tell her, in hopes she'd open up to me.

when she looked at me, i could see worry on her face. but she pushed all that aside and said, "sure." hoping i wouldn't suspect much.

every minute that went by, i didn't even have to look at melanie to know she was freaking out. her foot constantly tapped against the stool. she fiddled with her fingers, picking at her nails. she glanced at the clock every five minutes.

when the bell rang, she quickly stood up and walked out of the room. in a fast motion, i grabbed my stuff and ran after her.

i spot her running into one of the more private bathrooms at the corner of the school, where no one really goes. slowly, i approach entering. "melanie? you okay?" i ask, walking into the bathroom. glancing under the stalls, i see her feet in one of them.

she's out of breath, and sounds in pain. mentally or physically, i don't know. "yeah. i'm fine."

"you don't sound fine." i state, leaving against the sink across from her stall.

she picks herself up, flushing the toilet. when she comes out, she's wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyebrows furrowed.

she comes up next to me to wash her hands, not saying a word. "you threw up?"

she nods her head. "somethings wrong with me." she says, hanging her head low, a slight frown on her face.

"why do you say that?" i ask in a low voice.

she sighs a long sigh, "can you meet me at me house after school today?" she asks. her eyes were begging me. she looked scared.

i hesitate, not knowing if this was a good idea. "um. sure." i ultimately said, deciding if i was going to use my senior year as a year where i change, i should go.

LEMONADE

i pulled up to the large house on the north side hill. i spot melanie sitting on the bench outside her house. her driveway was empty so i parked in it. when she noticed it was me, she stood up quick, slowly walking towards me.

i came out of the car, smiling at her. "hey mel."

she returns it, signaling for me to follow her, "hey." she replied, walking towards her door. opening it, i follow in close behind her. she walks straight into the bathroom, leaving the door opened.

"promise not to tell anybody. i trust you, dev." melanie says at the doorframe of the bathroom. she had a worried look on her face.

"i promise. but.. tell anyone what?" i asked out of curiosity. what was she so worried about?

she looked down at the feet as she shifted from one side to the other. "i think i'm pregnant."

my eyes went wide, "really? that's a good thing, is it not?"

she shook her head, "definitely. but, the timing is killing me. i can't have a baby now! my family was doing so good in the community. once everyone finds out their perfect daughter is pregnant, they'll drop me and my family for sure."

i nod understandingly, "do you know for sure?" i asked in a low tone.

she shook her head. "i looked up the symptoms. and we didn't use protection." she turns around and grabs a box, showing it to me, "but i do have these." pregnancy tests.

i tell her to pee on it so we could see the result. i was nervous for her also. people in our clique hate different. if they found out melanie was going to have a baby, she'll be eating for two alone.

"almost done?" i ask from outside the bathroom door after i heard a flush.

"i peed on it. now we wait." she says, opening the door in a quick motion. "i'm scared."

"who'd you do it with?" i asked cautiously. if she trusted me enough to tell me, then i'd hope she trusted me enough to tell me who the possible dad was.

her mood dropped completely as her eyes went to mine. "i met someone this summer. he was something else. he cared about me and i cared about him." she explains, "i'm in love with him."

her timer sings signaling her pregnancy test was done. she glances at the stick, examining it.

"what?" i asked.

she chuckled, a frightened look on her face, "i'm pregnant." she says calmly. "my life is over."

"it's okay, mel." i embrace her in a hug. "are you gonna tell him? he deserves to know."

she sighed, wrapping the pregnancy test in toilet paper and stuffing it into the trash can, "that's just it, devon... i can't."

"why not?" i asked, my eyebrows furrowed.

she hugged herself as she stood in the center of the bathroom, me at the doorframe. her eyes looked down. she sighed, "because... he's a south sider." she says. "and that makes me dirty in the eyes of everyone."

END OF CHAPTER THREE

damnnn melanie knocked it up with a south sider when all her friends and family HATE them ouuu what is she gon do