I was always part of the "in crowd", well actually I basically run it. I'm not like those bitches that all forms of media make us out to be, I'm not a plastic. In fact, if anyone tried to start a plastics group at our school, they would immediately become social pariahs. I am however the one at school that everyone though would end up being a teen mom. They were right, I did become a teen mom, but I did it by choice. My daughter, Claire, is actually adopted, and the circumstances under which she came into my life were actually quite interesting.
I had been spoiled since I was little. I always got what I wanted, but I still had manners and a good heart. My boyfriend, who was captain of the football team, and the biggest idiot I have ever met (I don't know why I'm still dating him), thought he could do anything he wanted to and not get in trouble. So, on the first day of school, after he finished gym class, he decided it would be funny to run around the school naked. I was tutoring someone in the math help lab when he ran by. He thought it would be funny to dry hump the door, but no one laughed. My immediate reaction, facepalm, then, not caring who heard me, I screamed "Screw you, asshole. We're done. Why the HELL did I ever think it was a good idea to date someone as stupid and immature as you." He stopped right in his tracks when he heard it. A few teachers came out to see what was going on, but when they saw that it was just us, they were about to go back into their classrooms when they noticed that Andy was standing there naked. He took off as fast as he could, back to the locker room, so one of the teachers turned to me and said "Gracie, what just happened?" "I don't want to talk about it" I sheepishly replied, I was almost in tears.
The teachers could tell that it would be a good idea if I went home, they didn't want me to have to deal with any more stress. I live about a mile away from my school so I usually just walk to and from each day. I had decided to take a different route home today, though. About halfway between the school and my house was this little outlet mall-type-thing. When I took a shortcut through one of the alleyways there, I heard a cry. It wasn't an adult screaming for help, but rather a baby girl that someone just left there. I reached into my backpack and fished out the blanket that I had since I was a child. I never went anywhere without it, and after I wrapped her in it, I was glad that I had it. I noticed a note in the carrier she had been left in. It said "Her birthday is July 25th". It hit me that that would have been mom's birthday if it weren't for that car crash. There was no indication of who the parents could possibly be or that the baby girl had a name. Silently, I said my mom's name, trying to get her attention, even though she had passed away when I was about 8, but the baby must have heard me because she looked right in my eyes. "Claire" I said again, only this time I said it a bit louder. This time I could have sworn she smiled at me. I strapped Claire back into her carrier and brought her with me to a store for all things baby, which happened to be located in the little outlet mall.
I got diapers, formula, bottles, pacifiers, clothes, and a diaper bag to put it all in. I also bought a stroller and ordered a crib and a car seat. I put it all on the credit card that my dad gave me for my last birthday. He said it was for emergencies only and this definitely fit that category. The bill reached somewhere north of one grand for everything. I put Claire in her new stroller and asked if they could get rid of the old carrier. They also helped me get everything neatly packed into the diaper bag and under the stroller.