I was always a good girl in school. I tried really hard. I got good grades. I even made the cheer leading team. High school was going fabulously. However, I met this guy. Avery. He was really cute. New too. Not like any of the guys I've met. My friend Rachelle invited him to our lunch table. A few football players were sitting with us. He was a real kick. He left his image implanted in our brains. His sandy blonde hair, dark green eyes, and the freckles along the bridge of his nose. Of course, I got the good view. I was sitting directly across from him. I watched every move he made. His looks were amazingly California model-ish.
Later that afternoon, he asked me out. I couldn't say no. I mean, he was super cute, and the stuff he talked about was really cool. He liked music, cooking, and playing basketball. Sounds boring. But it's totally cool. I mean, he was a great guy. How could I say no?
So we hung out at my favorite restaurant. I recommended it because it turns out he was new to the state. When he walked me home, we kissed. It was a nice kiss. But I went inside too quickly. However, I wasn't really in the mood for a relationship. He was just a guy to me.
Then, between December when we met until April, we started dating. He was a good boyfriend. Definitely affection it. Too affection it. I called it off after almost three months. I didn't like his touchy-feely crap. It was just waaay too much. Although, around June, I started getting really sick. Very sick. I kept throwing up. It wouldn't stop. It lasted about two weeks. I finally had enough and went to the doctors. My mom couldn't go with me, and when I left the doctors office, I realized how glad I was that she didn't go. Because, instead of having a stomach virus, I had a living human in my body. A baby to be exact. I was one of the lucky girls, though. It was my senior year, and I'm going to be pregnant over the summer. I'll be out of school during the whole pregnancy.
But it's not that exciting. When I told my mother, she almost killed me. However, she calmed down and we planned everything out. I was going to tell Avery the next day, and we'd come up with a game plan. Code for: Adoption, abortion, or keeping it. I wasn't really sure what to do. I mean, I've never raised a baby. I've babysat my neighbors daughter for about a year. But her parents always came home to finish business. And she was five. I've never even met a newborn baby.
When I told Avery, he didn't take it so well. After cussing more than a sailor who stubbed his toe, he got back on his bike. Leaving me there in the park, crying. Later that night, he called me and told me he wasn't ready for this and he'd talk to me when he was ready. But to me, that wasn't good enough.
I stayed up until five o'clock in the morning that night. I couldn't stop thinking. But could you blame me? Honestly. It's too much for me at this point. So I dropped Avery. He meant nothing to me anymore. So, at four forty-five, I cut off the teddy bears head that he'd given me for Valentine's Day.
I slept a little better. I'll admit that much.
"Alright, Jennifer, you are twenty-six weeks. This a good point in the pregnancy. You'll be finding out the sex of the baby next week. Are you excited?" Dr. Bergson asked me with a crisp smile.
"I guess. Like, it's gonna hurt. I'm not excited for that part. I don't know what to be excited for. I'm more nervous than anything, honestly, " I sighed and twiddled with the thumbs. Avery is coming next week to see if we're, well I'm, having a boy or girl.
Avery doesn't really have a part in my life anymore. Typically, it's become a once a month thing. He asks for updates, we have lunch, then go home. It's nothing special or important. It's just a time to eat out and discuss the baby. That's all. He has a new girlfriend. He hasn't told her that I'm pregnant. Guess how long that relationship is going to last.
"I'll call you Tuesday. Thanks for the update. Bye, " Avery gives him his typical goodbye and I hang up the phone. Tearing up a little on the drive home.
It's not that I love him still, it just hurts me that he's going to be an absentee father. I didn't expect him to be on his knee, proposing by now, but it would have been nice to see him more.
When we were finishing up the end of our years in high school, he didn't tell anyone. I didn't either. My sister, who was a junior at the time, was the only one in the school that knew. Now everyone knows since I'm showing. It's hard. Not having anyone to turn to anymore. But I'm used to waddling around on my own. It's become the only way I know how to live.