Mae Gould dreaded getting up from her cocoon of warm blankets and facing another day at her private school. The fifteen year old pulled her quilt up to her ears and stretched one of her hands out to press the snooze button of her alarm before retreating back to the warmth.

Rain hammered against her window, beating an irregular staccato that was both soothing and really really annoying.

With an annoyed grumble, Mae threw her covers back and tumbled from the bed, stumbling several steps before she managed to not fall on her face. Immediately, her feet headed for the bathroom across from her bedroom for a quick morning shower.

Ten minutes later, wrapped in a pale blue, incredibly fluffy towel, Mae returned to her cold room. The teenager clutched the towel to her chest and avoided looking in the mirror as she mindlessly pulled out a pair of mint-colored panties covered in polar bears and a plain white bra.

After pulling both undergarments on, Mae reached for the uniform she'd carefully ironed before she went to bed.

She watched herself as she dressed, watching as her body was covered first by the white button up, then the beige skirt, then the dark grey and blue-edged blazer. She watched her face as she knotted her tie at her throat, and then scowled, wrapping her arms around her pudgy torso and turning away from the mirror to get her brush.

Her long, dark brown, hair was twisted quickly into two braids, secured with two black elastics, and then she was dressed for school, except for her socks and shoes, which were in the kitchen-dining room.

Mae sighed as she turned off her light and trudged into the small apartment she and her mother lived in. The two-bedroom apartment was still painted the boring cream it had been when Cassarah Emerson-Gould had bought it four years ago.

Judging by the lack of noise and lack of her mother's coat and shoes, Mae's mother had already left for work. It wasn't surprising, considering her mother worked an hour away and had long shifts. Mae rarely saw her mother anymore.

There was, however, a dirty coffee mug beside the sink and a half eaten piece of peanut-butter toast beside it. Sighing, the teenager cleaned up her mother's mess and made herself a bowl of cereal. After cleaning up her own mess, Mae pulled on her socks and shoes, picked up her pre-packed bag and headed for the door, flicking off the lights as she went.

She actually remembered an umbrella too.

The fifteen year old locked the apartment, rushed down the stairs and barely managed to open the umbrella before she stepped into the downpour. Balancing the umbrella pole between her shoulder and her neck, Mae fished her iPod from her bag with one hand and set the music on shuffle for her twenty minute walk to Haxwell Private School.

Mae arrived at school very damp, but on time, which wasn't surprising, considering she lived in England. Other students – both wet and dry – milled around the front foyer, by their lockers, and in the cliques they were part of.

Mae headed for her locker, gathered her books, and headed for her first class, English. The bell rang just as she sat herself in her seat.

So far, Mae had avoided Claire, Arlene, and Robyn. She didn't see them often anymore, but made a point to avoid the Hags-from-Hell at all costs. It was better for both of them.

"Hi, Gould." Mae jumped, turning her pale blue eyes to her locker neighbour before grinning at the boy. He smiled back, straightening his tie in the mirror he'd put in his locker.

"Hello, Simmons." She replied, smoothing her knee-length skirt as she shut her locker. "How are you?"

"I'm wonderful!" He cooed, clapping his hands together, practically bouncing. "I went shopping yesterday and found the most darling pair of shoes you've ever seen! And what's better than finding darling shoes is buying said darling shoes on sale seventy-percent off!"

"That's great!" Mae nodded. Antione Simmons was probably the only person she talked with.

He was absolutely the nicest person she had ever met, and he was very gay. He was amazingly confident, adored shopping, and was incredibly friendly. He also considered all the people he talked to a friend….and he was perhaps her only – and greatest – friend. They had Biology together, as well as Physical Education.

"I'm going shopping again this weekend, Gould," He mused. "You should totally come with me. We could go for tea and cake afterwards. It'll be so much fun~!"

"You want to….hang out with…me?" Mae stared up at him, slightly confused. Simmons was nearly six feet tall, and he towered over her own five-foot four and half.

Simmons seemed surprised, and then promptly dropped his hands onto his hips and fixed her with a look she couldn't quite understand. "Of course! You're my friend and I like you! It's decided then, I'm absolutely taking you shopping."

"O-okay." Mae nodded, clutching the handle of her bag. Simmons turned to leave and one of Mae's hands darted out, grabbing the sleeve of his uniform. Simmons turned his warm hazel eyes to her. "You…don't have my number."

"Silly me!" He cried, spinning elegantly to face her again. Mae pulled out her cell-phone, blushing slightly at the Pikachu hanging off it, and she turned the contacts towards her friend. Simmons dropped his phone into her hands and when they'd finished exchanging information, switched the phones back.

He waved good-bye and practically skipped down the hall, vanishing in the lunch crowd moments later. Mae was left alone at her locker, holding her phone in one hand, staring down the hall, wondering what the hell had actually just happened.

A grin spread across her face, and she tucked her phone back into her bag. She would have to check with her mother if she could go, but Cassarah wouldn't have a problem with it. Mae rarely left the house, let alone to go hang out with actual people.

"Have you been avoiding us, Mae?" Someone cooed – a sickly sweet coo that made her shiver – from behind her. Mae's entire body slumped and her smile vanished as she turned to face the Hags-from-Hell.

Claire McGuire, Arlene Chang, and Robyn Whitaker were the richest three girls at the school, and, according to a lot of people, were pretty much perfect. All three were gorgeous, decently smart, and athletic.

Mae completely hated all three of them.

"Well?" Claire sneered, tossing her long auburn hair over her shoulder. "Have you?"

"No." Mae replied, all the while thinking loudly 'YES'.

"I didn't think so." Claire smiled again, crossing her arms under her breasts. Mae self-consciously wrapped her arms around her stomach, staring at the floor.

Claire was the leader of the Hags; sporting natural auburn hair, grey eyes, full lips, and a perfect tan. She was part of the cheer squad, and had tormented Mae since she'd come to Haxwell. She wore her skirt too high and never buttoned her uniform shirt up all the way.

"How's our favorite fatty today?" Robyn asked, looking away from her brand-new cell phone and popping her gum through her pink-painted lips. "Have you had your daily lard-cake? Are we keeping you from eating?"

"Robyn," Arlene murmured, holding her books closer. "Don't come on too strong. The virgin blob may think you're hitting on her."

Mae bit her lip, taking a step backwards as if to physically get away from the girls' harsh words.

Robyn and Arlene were Claire's best friends. Robyn was platinum blond, with green-blue eyes, full lips, creamy skin, enormous boobs, and a waist that told most people she'd gotten a boob job. If Claire wore her skirt too high, Robyn wore it as a belt. She wore her shirt unbuttoned far too low, and never wore her tie. She was the oldest of the three, in Year Twelve, at eighteen.

Arlene was Japanese-British, with beautiful blue eyes and almost-black hair cut into a stylish bob. Her skin was naturally dark-tan, her figure hourglass. She wore her uniform the most accurately of the three, with her skirt just a little too short, and her shirt buttoned properly. Arlene was the best swimmer on Haxwell's team. She was in Year Eleven, with Claire and Mae.

"No, no," Claire giggled, daintily covering her mouth with her perfectly manicured hand. "The bookworm obviously isn't a virgin! Look how she's holding her stomach! She's up the spout!"

All three of the girls tittered, and then Claire grinned. "So who did you shag? Pizza-Face McPhee? Knockers Nick? Simmons?"

"It had to have been Simmons!" Robyn snorted, flicking her blond hair and laughing with her green-blue eyes. "Both of them probably turned to each other for a pity shag. Simmons wanted to try out a quim, shoot his load into a woman, and screw her over. Did he shag you up the ass? Did you like it?"

Mae didn't say anything, closing her blue eyes so she couldn't see them.

"Is it kicking yet?" Claire lunged forward, slapping her hand against Mae's chubby stomach. The bell chimed, but was ignored. "Maybe it is just fat, girls. Doesn't feel like she's got an itty-bitty monster in there. Just some doughnuts."

"And an extra tire." Arlene added, glancing down the hall. Students were flooding the halls. "Let's go. Our next class is across campus."

Mae listened as the Hags-from-Hell clicked themselves away on black pumps, and then she slumped against her locker, listening to the students chattering past her spot. The brunette slid down the floor and pulled her knees to her chest, carefully tucking her skirt up so nobody could see her underwear.

Simmons' familiar bouncing tread stood out from the crowd and it grew louder before it stopped beside her.

"I forgot my textbook." He announced to her, and quieted. "Are you alright?"

"Headache…" She croaked, pushing herself up again.

"Do you want me to take you to the nurse's office?" He asked, concern coloring his voice. Mae shook her head.

"It'll go away." She replied, staring at the floor.

"If you're sure."

Mae didn't see the Hags-from-Hell for the rest of the day, or the next two days of the school week. She was grateful for this, but on her toes.

Antoine Simmons had started hanging around her more, which was nice. He chattered almost nonstop about cool things he'd seen or how hard his classes were. He partnered with her in their gym class, and in Biology he switched seats with the rugby girl who never did her work and yelled across the classroom.

They'd been texting back and forth since they'd exchanged numbers, but…..Mae kept forgetting to ask her mother if she could go with him that weekend.

It didn't help that she didn't see her mother much.

Luckily for Mae, Cassarah had Saturday off.

Mae's mother was a pretty woman, with skin that was pale from not being in the sun all day, wavy and greying blond hair, hazel eyes and a tall, willowy stature. She was almost the complete opposite of her daughter.

Mae shuffled up to her mother about three hours before Antoine, twisting her fingers in the sleeves of one of her many large sweaters.

"Hello." She muttered as her mother's television programme flipped to commercial.

Cassarah turned her face and gave a tired smile to the teenager. "Hullo, love. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Mae worried her bottom lip, watching the dish soap commercial.

"How are your grades?"

"I got a ninety seven on my last Calculus test." Mae replied. "Mum, can I hang out with a friend at the mall?"

"A friend? What's her name?" Cassarah perked up, leaning forward and shifting her entire body to face her daughter.

"His name is-"

"No." Cassarah's face hardened, and she narrowed her eyes.

"-Antoine Simmons, and he's the most wonderful gay person I have ever met." Mae finished, avoiding looking at her mother, and crossing her fingers in her sleeves.

"He's gay?" The mother-daughter pair were both silent for several minutes. "Alright. I'll give you a hundred pounds. Bring me my purse?"

Mae grinned, spinning on her heel and darting for the kitchen, where her mother left her purse.

Antoine "Tony" Simmons pulled his father's van up to Mae's apartment building and was reaching for his phone to send her a text when she burst from the door and almost skipped towards him.

Tony cooed internally at her outfit; an overly large blue sweater, a pair of grey jeans, worn yellow high-top converse, and a beige infinity scarf. Across her body, she'd slung a brown leather purse. Her pretty hair was pulled into two low and loose pigtails.

Tony reached across the car and pushed open the door for her. Mae slid in and smiled at him.

"Hi," She said, breathless.

"You're so adorable!" He cooed in response. Mae flushed pink. "Aw, honey, it's totally true. Now, I hope you don't mind, but I simply cannot go shopping without singing along to my Shopping Playlist. It may be a little goofy and super nerdy, but I can always turn it off if you want."

Mae shook her head. "No, no. It's fine."

Tony grinned, pushing the play button on the CD controls and fiddled with the volume knob. Almost immediately as he turned it up, Disney filled the van and Mae turned to her friend in surprise. Tony carefully merged into traffic and started loudly singing along.

Mae giggled as she watched him, humming along with 'Prince Ali'. After about seven songs, Tony seemed to realize that she had been humming along with the songs, and he prodded her with one of his long tanned fingers.

"Sing with meeeeee~!" He whined, dancing – wiggling – in his seat. Mae batted his hand away and snag quietly under her breath. Satisfied, Tony cranked the volume.

By the time the pair arrived at the mall, Mae had relaxed and was belting along with her friend, the music so loud that neither could hear the other actually singing. Along with Disney, Antoine had several anime openings and endings, along with some classic rock, and several American pops songs.

Mae giggled as they climbed out of the van, racing the tall male to the automatic doors. She was laughing and completely out of breath by the time they skidded into the mall entrance, but very very happy for the first time in a long time.

Tony grabbed her hand and dragged her to a shoe store, and then to a dress shop, where they both tried on long elegant dresses. Tony rocked them and as he was paying for a knee-length purple and black-spotted dress, he admitted he liked to dress like a woman sometimes.

Mae stared at him a moment and then replied, "I think a leather jacket would look good with that dress, you know."

Tony grinned, and then dragged her off to another store.

By the time they settled in for lunch in the food court, Mae had spent half of her hundred pounds and Tony had gathered far too many bags of clothes. He'd actually convinced her to go into a La Senza and spent over an hour making her try on – and eventually buy – some really nice underwear and bras.

Of course, in Mae's life, all good things had to come to an end.

"Look, it's the virgin blob and Nancy Boy out on a date." Claire's voice cooed from across the food court, followed by giggles. Mae's hand, in the middle of lifting her sandwich to her mouth, drooped and she slouched in her seat.

"Mae-Mae?" Tony leaned forward. "Just ignore them, honey."

"Don't be shy!" Robyn cackled, stomping forward in ridiculously tall heels to snatch up some of Mae's bags. "Look, ladies! She went to La Senza! I didn't know they made maternity apparel."

"I thought she was just fat, Robyn?" Arlene rolled her eyes, and snatched one of the bags away. Her long fingers dipped inside the bag and drew out one of the lacier bras Tony had convinced Mae to buy. "Look at this!"

"Lace?" Claire sneered, snatching up another bag and yanking out a flattering size sixteen black dress. "She must be attempting to get some-"

"Guys don't go for her….build." Robyn snorted. "Or maybe she's hoping to get some of the nancy boy later. She must be feeling fruity!"

Mae's eyes slid shut, and she bit her lip. It was bad enough that she was picked on…but she never wanted to bring Tony into it.

"Hon," Tony's voice interrupted the Hags-from-Hell. "Let me tell you something. I am not going to put it nicely and I am certainly not trying to be your bloody friend – you're a bint. And not only are you a bint, but you've got to be one of the worst cases I have ever seen in my life. Are you aware of how many transmitted sexual diseases there are out there? And thanks to your stupidity, guess how many you could have possibly managed to contract~? I say you get your scrawny arse to the nearest doctor and get yourself check out."

Robyn's mouth opened and closed several times before her normally pretty face twisted into a grotesque sneer and she turned back to Mae, who had sunk her short frame into her seat.

"You should learn from your mother's mistake, Gould," Robyn growled at Mae, who shrank further into her seat. "Get yourself sterilized. And while you're at it, find a plastic surgeon. You could use a little work….everywhere."

"Robyn, stop bullying the fatty," Arlene snickered. "She's got enough on her plate."

"She's certainly got enough in her stomach." Claire rolled her eyes. "Her pants must be size Bitch-Lose-Some-Weight."

"The only thing that goes erect when guys are near you," Tony growled. "Is their middle finger."

"It's more action then either of you get." Robyn snapped. "Isn't that right, Gould? You and your lacy bras won't ever see the light of day. And your fat ass is never going-"

Mae hummed Disney in her head, blocking out the sounds of Robyn's growing shrieks. Tony's furious gaze flickered between the three Hags-from-Hell and he was bristling like an angry cat. Mae just wanted to vanish.

Cassarah dragged her body from the couch to the phone, and grumbled, picking it up with a cheerful, "Hullo?"

"Mrs. Gould? My name is Antoine Simmons. I'm Mae's friend." The voice on the other end spoke, and automatically Cassarah straightened, something clawing at her stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"Mae….I think you need to come get her. She's very distraught right now, and I won't be able to drive because she won't let go."

"What happened? Is she hurt?"

"She's not hurt, Mrs. Gould. I think she's in shock. The faster you get here, the faster I can explain. It's not something we should talk about over the phone."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Cassarah pressed the off button and hurried for her shoes.

She and Mae had a strained relationship, what with her being at work all the time. But no matter what, Mae was her daughter, and she was a mother. And her baby girl was in trouble.

AN: 100 British pounds is about 181.79 Canadian dollars/ 167.64 US dollars

Up the spout: pregnant, knocked up

Shag: have sex

Quim: female genitalia

Nancy-Boy: gay, insult

Fruity: frisky

Bloody: damn

Bint: whore, slut