Drive | Joult

Chapter 5

(Jennifer)

I put the presents Nick and I bought my family under the tree and sit down on the couch. My mom left to go to the store and pick up my brothers from the airport, so it's just me, Nick, and my dad. I put my feet up on Nick's leg and he smiles at me. "The paints chipping off do you wanna pa-" I start to say. "Yes!" He says, before I can even finish the question, making my dad laugh. "Go get the nail polish." I roll my eyes and move my feet off of him. "What's up with him and your feet?" I wish he would've went with mom it's weird having him here with me and Nick alone for so long. I mean he's in his chair so we get the couch to ourselves but I'm still not used to it. "I don't know dad maybe he just likes painting." I try to avoid having another awkward conversation today. I already had to assure my mom that my butt wasn't shrinking and that my pants were just big. Now what was I supposed to say? Uh, yeah dad about that he's just obsessed with my feet nothing strange about that move along now, sir. I don't know why my parents are so concerned about my body whether it's sexual or physical, my parents are constantly trying to be in on every detail. It's mostly my mom but then she tells my dad and so we end up discussing my shoe size instead of how my life is going. I put my feet back up on Nick and he paints my toenails dark red.

I put on my coat and Nick and I go outside. "It's beautiful out here." I look at all the sparkly white snow everywhere. "Yeah, look at the tree." I look at the tree behind me and I feel something cold hit me on the butt. I turn around and grab a handful of snow and throw it at Nick, hitting him in the arm. He quickly picks up more snow and throws it at me again. This time I move and he misses. He tries again, this time making it down my shirt. I scream and quickly try to get it out. I grab a handful of snow, and shove it down his pants. Then I run inside before he can get me any more wet.

"God, Jennifer, how much ice cream are you gonna eat?" My brother Blaine tries to take it from me. "All of it, all the ice cream in the world so you can't have any." I hand him the ice cream. "And you're sure you're not pregnant." He raises his eyebrows. He keeps asking me that and saying I'm acting like I'm pregnant. "Yes. I'm sure. Do I look pregnant?" I pull my shirt up, I remember the hickey and put my hand over it. It's almost gone but there's still a little pink spot. "Yes, you do actually." He smirks at me. "Mom! Blaine's being mean to me!" I yell loud enough for her to hear in the kitchen. "Blaine, be nice to your sister and Jen, stop being such a baby. Your brothers love you." She gives him the look, starting to walk back into the kitchen. "Jennifer has a hickey!" He yells loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear him. My mom looks at me and I run upstairs.

I jump on the bed next to Nick's clothes and wait for him to get out of the shower. "Hey. Why aren't you with your family?" He walks into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around him. "Because they're being mean to me." I wait for him to be finished getting dressed to continue. "And Blaine said I look like I'm pregnant. Like what the hell does that even mean?" I look up at Nick from where I'm laying on the bed. "Well I don't know let me see." He sits down next to me. "Okay." I lift my shirt up again. I close my eyes waiting for him to tell me he's done and I start to get impatient. "Yeah... you do." I sit up, surprised by his answer. "That's not possible. I take birth control and you used a condom." I look at him. "It broke." He says. "What?" I can't believe what I just heard. "Sometimes the pill doesn't always work, so maybe it just didn't work this time." He suggests. "I didn't tell you before because I thought it wouldn't happen but maybe it did." I can feel my hand making a fist. "I'll be right back." I walk into the bathroom and shut the door. I dig into the cabinet until I find the one box of pregnancy tests I know we have from when my friend used one before. I take one out and try it. It comes up negative. I take another one and it comes up positive. I take the last one and it comes up positive. I throw the first two in the trash and take a deep breath before walking back into the bedroom. "Merry Christmas." I say, throwing the pregnancy test at him. He catches it and looks at it. "That's great?" He sounds unsure. I sit down, feeling myself already starting to get sick from worrying. "What about X-Men and what about us getting married and you're parents they don't even like me and oh my god I can't take care of a baby." I say, all at once finally able to breathe. "Hey it's okay." He assures me, soothingly, pulling me up onto his lap. "We can just tell them we can't do X-Men anymore. They'll understand. We have plenty of money as it is. We can get married whenever you want and my parents love you. It's all gonna be okay just breathe." He calms me down. "Should we go tell my parents?" I look at the door. "I think they can wait until tomorrow, let's just get some rest." He puts one hand over my stomach. I look down at his hand and try to relax. It's gonna be okay. I keep telling myself that but I don't know if it's really true.