A/N: Okay, this has be circulating in my head for a long time now and I finally decided to post it. Not sure how good it is. Just know that I got this idea from a podcast that Stacey Farber was on and she said that she could have gotten the part as Juno. Juno was also loosely based off of Ellie, so of course I had to give you this.

Chapter one

Full time friend

Ellie stood there and stared at the rather beaten up drum set sitting in her front yard like it was some big lawn ornament. So many emotions coursed through her body that the only way she could keep them at bay were to snap at her colorful friend, Mr. Rubber band, until the skin underneath her bunched up fishnet turned red and puffy. There was only one reason as to why this instrument captivated her so completely. One memory in the back of her mind that kept replaying itself over and over. Why did this drum set have to be so wonderful? Not just wonderful, but the most magnificent thing she had ever seen?

"Ellie. Do you want me?" He whispered, as he leaned over Ellie sitting at her drums.

She let the buzz of alcohol in her brain make the regretted mistake of giving the simple one word answer. "Yes."

And just like that she dropped her drumsticks on either side of her as he took hold of her face and kissed her with everything he had.

Allowing her eyes to break contact with the memory in front of her she bent over to pick up the two liter bottle of "Orange Crush" soda, chugged down the remaining forth of it, and sloppily wiped off the spilled droplets from her mouth. It was almost like it was supposed to wash away the remaining guilt she had that followed that night, but of course it hadn't. It still ate her up inside and she didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't enough that she was probably already suffering the big consequences from fantastic sex within her very belly. She was two weeks late with her period and that night happened to work perfectly into her little time table.

"Shit." She exclaimed silently as she continued to abuse her wrist with the rubber band. And then she came to a realization of what she had to do. "Hey mom!" She called into the house like a crazy person.

"Yes Ellie?" She knew that her mother wouldn't bother come outside to talk to her face. Just like she wouldn't go inside either. Apparently they didn't really care of what their quiet neighbors thought.

"I am walking over to the store. Is that alright? Do you need anything?"

"No I don't need anything, but did you take that old drum set out of my basement like I asked?"

"Yes." She yelled back and leaving out the fact that it was now being used as a neighborhood eye sore in their lawn.

"Well, then I guess that it's all right with me. Be back for dinner."

"I will." She concluded the conversation with her mother before taking one last look at the monumental sight before her. She was absolutely convinced that it would make music again. All Ellie needed to do was find a place to stash it. But that was a job to be saved for another day. Right now she had to find out if she was for sure in the predicament that she thought she was in.

Ellie hated the fact that she might become a statistic. Another teenage girl making the wrong choice at the wrong time and leaving a baby brewing in her stomach. She had always thought that she wouldn't ever allow herself to be so foolish, so incautious. But of course after trying to further herself from anymore drama than she already had in her life she goes and pulls something like this. Ellie was in danger of becoming a girl that she never thought she would be. A teenaged mom, and she let it happen.

The walk down Stillwater road was chilly and bitter as the wind swept in the new autumn into Toronto. The smell of the falling leaves brought her back to a time when she herself was little and didn't even know where a baby came from. Her father would hoist her up onto his shoulders and walk the whole mile it took to get to the apple orchard. To her, at age six, a mile seemed like a whole different country and the fact that her father could carry her that far was amazing. Back then minutes seemed like hours, apples tasted like candy, and songs lasted forever. She was so optimistic and lively. Ellie had and eternity to do whatever she wanted and nothing was going to hold her back.

'So much for that.' She thought as she rounded the corner of town and realized that the last ten minutes had completely brushed past her. Ellie stood and looked straight up at the sign above a pair of glass doors to it's entrance. The sign red 'Pharmacy' in bold blue letters and she almost had to force herself to walk in, but that wasn't hard with the whole thing of soda bottle resting in her bladder.

With the huge urge to burst in front of all the customers she made her way all the way into the store and ran past several isles until she reached the one with the desired product. It didn't take her long to find the section of shelves filled with pregnancy tests, but she found herself too indecisive when it came to picking from all the different kinds they had. How was she supposed to know which one was the best? It wasn't like she was one of those girls who think they are pregnant, like, every month. Ellie Nash had never done this before.

Practically needing to cross her legs to keep from pissing her pants Ellie finally just chose the one with the digital reader and threw three of them in one of the baskets near the end of the isle. As she hastily approached the counter her eyes snapped open as they caught sight of a familiar face.

"Spinner? Hey!" she said cheerily, trying to cover up the 'oh shit' sound in her voice. "What are you doing working here? What happened to the dot?"

"They kept cutting back a bunch on my hours, so I dropped it and got a job here." Spinner stood there confused as she seemed to just stare at him in silence. After what seemed like an hour he finally asked "Is there something you need to buy? Or did you just want to...stand there?"

It is definitely fair to say that Ellie hesitated to put the possibility that she was pregnant up on the counter for Spinner to see. She hasn't told anybody about this yet, not even Marco, and she probably never would anyway.

"If it's woman stuff, then you don't have to be embaressed or anything. I have a kid sister, so there is little that I can be grossed out with when it comes to that stuff."

She didn't know what to do. I was obvious that she was there for something besides talking to Spinner and she didn't want to leave without getting what she came for. Quickly, she considered what would happen if he found out. With everything that happened last year and how few friends he has now there wasn't many ways that he could spread the news. Plus, it wasn't like people would believe him anyway. So then Ellie thought 'I might as well' and placed the tests up on the counter and watched his eyes widen slightly.

"ummmmm..." She could tell that he was trying hard to not let himself be affected by what was laid in front of him and she was thankful for it. After scanning the merchandise he said "That will be $27.50."

Ellie dug in her back pocket to find the money and handed him thirty dollars. "Hey, do you have a bathroom in this place?" Normally, she would just wait until she got home, but seeing how she was in no way able to make it before she burst she figured that she really didn't have a choice. Besides, she thought that in some weird way it might be comforting to know that someone she knew was going to be there with her when she found out.

"Yeah, but it's only an employee bathroom in the back." He said while handing her her change. "But I don't think that it would be a problem if I let you use it." Spinner tool off the lanyard with the key from around his neck and gave it to her, along with the tests. " The bathroom is just right in the back next to where the cough medicen is located."

"Thanks Spin." She offered him a genuine smile before turning around and headed towards where he directed.

After unlocking the door and walking in she immediatly felt uncomfortable with the smallness of the room and the feeling that the walls were closing in on her, but she still shut the door behind her. Ripping open the package of her first test she read the instructions printed on the back. It seemed easy enough to do when they wrote it out the way they did. They say it so scientifically and in the 'matter of fact' sort of way. They make it seem like there are no strings to whatever answer they give you and that you would have no stomaches in the three minutes it took to get the results. She thought that it probably would be smart for them to provide her with a tiny bottle of pepto. She hasn't even taken the stick out of the box yet and she already felt like she had the wind knocked out of her. Easy enough to do, indeed.

After following the first few steps she realized that it was time to start the clock on her watch for three minutes. She watched closely as the seconds shifted into higher and higher numbers and the mili-seconds rolled by so fast that she couldn't even make out what they read. But no matter how fast things flashed on her watch the tension in her throat began to stretch ever so slowly, making this process last forever. When Ellie only got to only 90 more second, she just couldn't take it anymore, so she gathered all her belongings and paced briskly out of the bathroom and went back up to Spinner.

"So? You got your answer yet?" He asked awkwardly, hoping that he wasn't stepping too far in asking the question.

"Nope. Not yet. I got about another minute left." The both of them felt the tension arise as Ellie just stood there again, letting him in on her little secret. She didn't exactly know why she was allowing him to share this nerve wracking experience with her, but she figured that it had to do something with the fact that she couldn't do this alone and there was anyone else around for her. Marco was still in Africa, she felt to guilty to share this with Ashley (even if she wasn't still in London), and lord knows that she couldn't let Craig ever know about this.

One thing that was appealing in the fact that it was Spinner she was confiding in was that she knew that he would never risk passing judgment on her. This was probably the first sign of trust that he would receive since the shooting and she knew that he couldn't allow himself to blow it all up again.

"25 seconds now." She laid the test back on the counter, not looking at it since she couldn't pry her eyes from her watch. Spinner, however, was staring intently on where the plus or negative sign was supposed to be displayed.

It seemed like as the time grew closer to the conclusion of their three minute wait, the seconds seemed ten times longer. It was like the clock was mocking and tormenting her as pay back for her mistake. But then the agonization was over and she saw the dreaded plus sign develop on the plastic stick. Ellie picked it up and examined it more closely.

"What does the plus sign mean?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "It means the test is positive. I'm pregnant. Damn it." She sighed deeply.

"So what are you going to do? Who's the father?" Spinner realized that he took it a bit to far when he received a death glare from her. "Sorry, none of my business."

"Yeah well, it doesn't really matter who the father is anyway. He isn't ever going to know about it."

Spinner was taken aback in confusion. "I don't get it. I think the guy would eventually get that you are pregnant."

"Don't worry yourself about that, Spinner. I am going to take care of it." She said quietly and he could sense a bit of sadness in her voice.

"I don't think that you have to worry yourself over that too much just yet. You still have two more tests to take." Just then Spinner grabbed something from the side of the counter and passed it over to her. "Here, have a free licorice rope." He knew that it was absurd, but she took it anyway with a small smile on her face.

"Thanks a lot, Spin." Ellie nodded. "See you at school." She added before turning around and exiting the store.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ellie didn't touch her dinner that night and she knew, by the wrinkled up look on her face, that her mother was annoyed with her. She didn't know if it was the anxiety or the morning sickness (just because it is call morning sickness doesn't mean that it can't happen all damn day.), but she could help but feel the gag reflex building up in her throat. Every bite she took stirred in her chest and threatened to empty her entire body of it's nutrience.

"Can I be excused?" She cringed at the smell of her chicken dinner.

"I told you to be home in time for dinner. You would think that would be a clue that I expected you to actually eat it. She said flatly.

Ellie grabbed her stomach for effect "I know. I just don't feel very well all of a sudden."

Mrs. Nash let her face soften with concern over her daughter's health. "What do you think it is? Do you have a fever?"

"No. I think that I am just nervous about school tomorrow." It wasn't a total lie. She really was nervous about seeing everyone again, namely Craig. They had no idea what was going on and the chance that it would ever get out was just terrifying.

"Senior year can be pretty stressful, but I know that you will do fine, so you can calm yourself about it." She said the last part like it was a fact, like it was easy.

"Maybe you're right. So, can I be excused?"

"Sure. And I will put your plate in the fridge incase you decide that you are hungry after all.

"Thanks." Ellie said while slowly standing up and making her way out of the kitchen and down the hall to where her room was located.

When she walked into her bedroom she plopped down on her bed and laid down, not even bothering to turn on the light. Her sight wasn't lost in complete darkness sint the sun had yet to set fully and casted amber beams into the space surrounding her, leaking through the openings of the blinds placed over the window. The absent of noise made her unsettled as she let herself be alone with the flutter she almost felt under her abdomen. Ellie then reached up and turned on the radio on the shelf next to her bed and all she heard were commercials on her favorite station. It didn't really matter. At least it was sound.

Even though they were thrown away in the trash can, out of her sight, the two extra positive tests she took as soon as she got home stuck to her brain like a leech and she couldn't stop imagining that stupid plus sign. It wasn't like she was all that surprised. Ellie knew her body and it was easy to tell that there was something seriously different about it, but just having it confirmed struck her like a knife in the middle of her matter what she chose to do now here life would be different forever.

Ellie thought that she had already made her decision a couple of hours ago. She would make an appointment at the women's clinic and miss the first day of school tomorrow in hopes that she could just forget that the whole thing ever happened. Now that she laid in her dark room she found a hand tracing over her stomach, just naturally. A life was growing inside of her and she knew that she wouldn't be able to forget about that. Pieces of her were merging with pieces of Craig, a guy that she was beginning to have beautiful feelings for, and it was all making a tiny person. Ellie thought about what it could look like. Soft curly red locks framing a face with chocolate brown eyes.

The more she thought about it the more the baby started to take a physical form instead of just a consequence of her mistake. She knew that she couldn't go through with an abortion after realizing that. Someone would want to raise this child, even if it wasn't her and how could she deny them, or the baby that chance? And in a way she figured that this would put more of a meaning on hastily losing her virginity.

So now she had made her decision, once and for all. She was going to stay pregnant and put up the baby for adoption. Of course this meant getting big and fat and people would be able to tell. She would also have to tell Craig that it is his. That didn't appeal to her at all, but she knew that she knew that some how she had to find a way.