The Valiant

Chapter 13

I have been trying to forget about that nightmare I had a few nights ago. I am trying to reassure me that Drake and everyone here are trustworthy and this place is safe. Safer than my mothers house. I sit down at the normal table at lunch on Wednesday. Soon, Drake joins me and sits next to me. Maddie sits down on my other side and Sammy and Kyle join us soon. We all eat and laugh, enjoying this moment. I look around and spot Cheryl staring at us. She jumps a bit when I notice her and turns around and chats with her friends. I turn back around and listen to my friend's conversation.

"...so apparently your father is making us pay rent to live in the building," Sammy complains, "and I don't think I can hold onto a job for a long time, let loose, find one," she rubs her temples with her fingers, exhausted and stressed, "can you please talk some sense into him?" Drake nods from beside me and mumbles something about parents ruining lives. I smile at that. They continue to talk about parents and such when Maddie touches my shoulder for my attention. I look over at her and she smiles faintly.

"Can we talk?" She asks softly so no one else can hear. I nod and she stands up. I follow her out of the cafeteria. We walk a ways before entering an empty hallway. She turns to me and sighs softly. This doesn't sound good.

"So?" I ask slowly. She looks down and plays with her hand, "Mads?" Mads is her nickname as Payt is mine. She looks up at me and her green eyes are glistening with incoming tears.

"I'm pregnant," she says finally and my eyes widen a bit. A few tears leak out of her eyes as she looks away from me. I step forward and wrap her up in my arms in a hug, "what am I going to do, Payt?" She whispers.

"Raise the baby," I answer, "you will be a good mother, Mads. The baby will love you. Who is the father?" Maddie starts to sob a bit more before stepping back and wiping the tears from her face.

"Josh is the father of this baby," she answers and I freeze. I suddenly grab her hand and drag her back to the cafeteria. I spot Drake and wave him over. He excuses himself and walks over. I grab his hand and drag the both of them back to the hallway Maddie and I were in.

"So, what's the problem?" He asks, looking between the two of us curiously. I look over at Maddie. She nods at me, telling me silently to tell him.

"Maddie is pregnant," I say slowly. Drake looks over at Maddie and raises an eyebrow. Maddie nods in confirmation, "with Josh's baby," Drake sighs and runs a hand through his hair and paces a bit.

"This is bad," he mutters over and over before stopping and turning to us. He walks over and stands in front of Maddie and stares into her eyes.

"How far are you?" He asks. Maddie looks away, thinking.

"I found out two days ago, so I guess I am almost three weeks," she answers, "why?" Drake sighs again and steps back.

"Josh is a pure-bred and he wants his descendants to be pure-bred, meaning that he wants to have children with other shifters and his children doing the same and so on and so forth. He is proud of his blood. You can not let him know that this baby is his. Not at all. If he finds out, who knows what he will do," I cover my mouth and look over at Maddie, who looks horrified. She hugs her stomach protectively.

"What," I say, "when did you two do the do?" Maddie blushes and looks down.

"A few weeks ago," she mutters. I make a slightly disgusted face.

"Ew," I simply say, scrunching up my nose in disgust, trying hard not to imagine my friend and the towns player doing the do, "just ew," Drake smiles a bit and looks over at me.

"You look a bit like a cat when you scrunch your nose," he says and I blush slightly before sticking my tongue out playfully at him. He chuckles and Maddie clears her throat to break the moment. We turn to her and listen to what she has to say.

"Is it okay if I stay at the Main Building?" She asks softly, "I can stay in Payt's room until I get a place of my own,"

"What about your house?" Drake asks curiously and I tense slightly. Maddie shrugs and sighs.

"They will kick me out when they find out that I'm pregnant," she says, voice cracking, "so I can't go back, not until after the baby is born," I nod sympathetically.

"We should get back, everyone will start wondering where we are at," I say and we head back into the cafeteria.

~~

"...the track meeting will be held tomorrow after school in the gym," the announcer woman says over the intercom, "school is dismissed and have a good rest of the day," everyone grabs their stuff and leaves into the hallway. I set my stuff in my locker and grab my phone before closing the locker. Maddie walks up to me, a small smile on her face.

"Hey," I greet her and her smile widens a bit as we walk towards the front doors.

"You going out for track?" She asks and I smile and look over at her.

"Of course I am," I answer, "why wouldn't I? I'm their star player," she smiles as we walk towards Drake's jeep. He leans against the side of it and smiles at us, at me, as we approach. He greets me with a kiss and Maddie sighs in annoyance.

"Don't make me feel like the third wheel, you two," she says and I roll my eyes before sliding into the passenger side. Maddie gets in behind me and Drake gets behind the wheel.

~

An hour later we are at the building and we walk inside. Maddie carries in a duffel bag with all her clothes and such. I escort her upstairs and into my room.

"There is a spare bedroom over there," I say, pointing to an extra door, "go and make yourself comfortable, dinner should be ready soon," Maddie nods.

"Thanks Payt," she says, "for everything," I nod and smile at her. As she goes to unpack her stuff in the room.