Here is the second rewritten chapter. Again, thank you.
Chapter Two: I'll Be Your Crying Shoulder
"Meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes. Bye."
Victoria hung up. How could this have happened? She had seen Cody put on a condom, how could she be pregnant? Did it break? But…why did he have them in the first place?
It didn't matter anyway. She was pregnant, no denying it. It was times like these she wished she were closer to her mother. She knew she had to tell him, but a part of her was screaming to keep it secret.
As she walked down, she was thinking to herself the reasons she should tell him, and the reasons she shouldn't. Victoria decided to act on impulse, whatever that meant.
Cody smiled as she stepped out of the elevator. "Hey, hon," he said, kissing her quickly on the lips. She wanted the moment to last. "Come on, let's go."
They sat down at their table in the restaurant on the ship. Cody smiled. Victoria didn't even grin back.
"Victoria, dear, what's wrong?"
Victoria started to cry a silent cry.
"Vic…Victoria, honey, what is it? You can tell me. What's wrong? Are you going home? Is something wrong? Did Zack do something? Ssh, it's alright…"
At that point Cody had crossed to Victoria and stood her up. He then took her back to his chair and sat her on his lap, his arms around him. She cried into his shoulder, afraid to say anything too soon. Finally, she said something.
"Cody."
"What is it?"
"Remember what happened after the graduation?"
Cody frowned. "Yeah, but why bring that up now?"
"Because, Cody, I need to ask you…" She lowered her voice so no one would hear. "You used a condom, right?"
"Yeah, I did. Why?"
"Just a question, is all."
"But why are you crying if all you wanted to know was if I used protection or not? Do you have STDs or something?"
"No, no, I don't." She sighed. "Cody?"
"Yes, Victoria?"
"I'm pregnant."
There was silence. "What—but—I—you—me—how—?"
"Are you planning on finishing any of those statements?"
"But, no, I mean, you, and…"
"I'm pregnant, didn't you hear?"
"Well, yeah, but…that's not possible. I used protection, and—"
"Those things are only seventy-five percent effective, and it's rubber. It could break."
"Is it…mine?"
"Yeah."
"But it's not possible, I mean…"
"Well, obviously it is possible, otherwise I wouldn't be telling you this right now, would I?"
"But it was your first time…and my first time…"
"This kind of stuff happens."
Cody half smiled. "Please tell me this is some sort of joke."
"You think I'm kidding? You think I would joke about me being fourteen and pregnant? Do you think I really like telling my boyfriend I'm going to have a baby long before I'm ready? Because I don't think I'd do that even on April Fool's Day."
"Well…what are you going to do?"
"Abortion."
"What?"
"Abortion. I mean, I can't have the thing, and…"
"Yes, you can! You have to! There's no other way!"
"What? In case you didn't realize it, it's my baby, in my body, so I think it's okay for me to make a decision on this." Cody's face went blood red, and he lost his temper and started to yell.
"WELL, IT'S MY BABY, TOO! IN FACT, I DID MOST OF THE WORK MAKING IT, SO YOU BETTER LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY!"
"Listen to what you say? I'm barely listening to my conscience at this point! And you did most of the work making it? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Yes, I did do most of the work, you just laid there like the little slut you are, and the entire time you didn't think of what to do in case this happened."
"Well, while you were doing 'most of the work' you were also ruining my life!"
"Ruined your life? What about mine? I can't be a father, I'm only fifteen, sixteen when it's born if we're lucky. This ruins my chances of getting into a good school one day, and, well…"
"Maybe I should get this abortion. Then I'll be rid of your stupid DNA in my body."
"Right now I value life more than the relationship we used to have. You're not getting any…"
"Wait, used to have?" At this point Victoria's voice had softened and she was on the verge of tears again.
"Yes, we're through! If I can't get a say in my own child's life than I say we had no relationship in the first place."
"So you don't value our relationship?"
"Not if you think abortion is the only option here. I value life first and foremost, that's the way it's always been. Even if you don't keep it you still need to have it."
"But I'm scared!"
"No shit you're scared, any frikkin' person on earth would be scared shitless right now! Okay? So don't give me any of that whole I'm scared business, because I can assure you, I am, too, and I don't want anything to do with this."
"When did you turn into such a bastard?"
"When you went and dropped the bomb on me and ruined my life!"
"Oh, yeah? At least you don't have the evidence under your sweater. That's my job."
At this point Victoria was crying.
"Don't be such a baby. I don't think you're even mature enough to have this baby, let alone get an abortion."
"Well, you could have used protection!"
"I told you, I did, and it broke! It's not my damn fault. What did you want me to do, use three damn condoms in case that happened?"
"No, but…"
"But nothing. All I can say is if you decide to keep the damn thing my name better not be showing up on the birth certificate. Under father's name or as it's last name. And you better not sign it Victoria Martin, either, because then I'd kill you."
"How would you even know?"
With the anger inside him, Cody slapped Victoria across the face. She fell to the ground.
"What the…? I thought I could trust you!"
"The last thing you're getting from me is trust, other than respect."
"I thought you said you did most of the work making the kid."
"Keep my comments out of this. I hate you and it right now, you have no idea."
"'It'?"
"Like we know if it's a girl or a boy. Right now, I don't even know if you're human."
Victoria ran, crying, to the elevator, and back up to the suite. There, her mother was scolding Angelique for about the thirtieth time for failing most of her classes. The two of them looked up when she entered the room.
"Victoria, sweetie, are you okay?" she asked, noticing the mark on Victoria's face from where Cody slapped her. "That looks like it hurts. Let me get some medicine for that…hold on…"
"Mom. Mom, I'm leaving."
"What?" She turned, facing her daughter who had tears streaming down her face. "Where would you go?"
"Anywhere," she said, going to get her suitcase. "I just need to get away awhile."
"Well…I don't know…"
"Please, Mom. I'm begging you. I don't want to see anyone for a while now. Okay? I just want to be by myself."
"Are you moving out?"
"I'll stay in contact. Please, Mom, just let me do this. I need to be an individual."
"Well…alright, though it's against my better judgment."
"Thank you, Mom. I love you."
She started to pack all of her things. She was picking up personal belongings now and was almost done when she came across a picture of Cody. Hesitating, she picked it up. She wanted her child to know what it's father looked like.
"Well. I'm going."
"I'll miss you."
She hugged her mom good-bye before going down one last time.
In the lobby after disembarking from the elevator, she saw Cody standing there, a look of hate on his otherwise beautiful face. He seemed a little surprised to see bags in her hands, but was still cold toward her.
"If you think you're going to live with me, you're nuts. Did your mommy kick you out?" he said tauntingly.
"My mother has no idea. Now stay out of this."
"What are you doing?"
Pausing, she answered, "I'm leaving."
"What?! Where?"
"None of your business. All I know is I'm leaving. I never want to see you again, even if it means raising a baby alone. If you don't want me, I don't want you. Besides, you don't care enough to help me, anyway. I thought you were a better person. But I was wrong."
Grabbing her wrist tightly, he said, "Look, I am a good person. But there is no way I am taking care of a kid when I'm not even married or out of school yet. And I thought that maybe you'd be smart enough to do the same thing."
Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed him.
"Wha—what was that for?" he asked, baffled. "I thought we broke up."
"It was for memories. Long lost memories." She started to cry again. "Good-bye, Cody Martin."
"Victoria, wait…" But she was gone, not around to hear it. He knew if all of a sudden she left, he'd go looking for her. The truth was, he loved her so much it hurt him. He only snapped at her for a way to relieve the stress he was under. He actually wasn't sure of what he should have done. But now he knew.
At the airport, Victoria sat down, her face in her hands, crying. An elderly woman walked up.
"Excuse me, deary, do you mind if I sit down there for a second?" the woman asked with a strong British accent.
Victoria looked up. "Not at all," she said.
The woman took notice of the bruise across Victoria's face. "Are you alright there? Do you need some iodine?"
"No, I'm fine."
"What happened to you, sweetheart?"
"My boyfriend broke up with me. He was the only thing I had left. He slapped me in the process."
"Oh, my. Are you all right there? What'd he say?"
"A lot of things. Mostly about how 'he did most of the work' and that 'he valued life first and foremost'."
"Well, it's going to be tough, but maybe in time you'll get over him. Where you going now, deary?"
"Boston. I have nowhere else to go." Victoria had decided to go to Boston because that's where Cody used to live. She wanted her child to grow up in the same place that his or her father did, considering they'd never know him anyway.
"Well then. I wish you the best of luck. I've got to get going now." With that, she smiled at Victoria while standing up and left.
"Where could she be? Where could she run off to?"
Cody was pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. He had to apologize, he realized that quickly, but he wasn't quite sure how or when he was supposed to do it. He had pretty much broken her heart; she probably wouldn't be too forgiving.
Suddenly, he remembered what happened.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving."
"What?! Where?"
"None of your business. All I know is I'm leaving."
Suddenly, one word came to mind: airport.
He ran upstairs to his suite, looking around for a bag to put his stuff in. Zack looked on in awe.
"Dare I ask what you're doing?"
Quickly, Cody came up with a lie. "College."
"Huh?"
"College. I got accepted into a very demanding college, so I'm going. And not coming back until I finish, which will probably be a while."
"But I…"
"I can't talk. Gotta go."
Quickly he arrived at the airport, out of breath. He ran up to the front desk and asked, barely breathing, "Victoria…Baker…what flight…did she go on?"
The attendant quickly looked up the name Victoria Baker. "I'm sorry, I don't have a Victoria Baker registered as flying anywhere."
"Victoria Martin, then."
The attendant once again looked her up. "She's scheduled to fly to Boston, Massachusetts in about two hours. She bought her ticket last minute and should be arriving in the waiting area about now."
"I need a last minute ticket to Boston as well. First name Cody. Last name Martin."
"Cody Martin? Are you related to this Victoria person then?"
"No, she's just my best friend. Ironic, isn't it?"
"Okay…that will be…"
"Will this cover it?" he asked, slapping bills on the counter.
"It should," the attendant said, smiling. "Here, let me check your bag."
As soon as he was past security, Cody went on a frantic search for Victoria. Finally, he found her, head down and writing, at the waiting area. He ran up to her and realized she was writing in a diary.
July 6
Dear Diary,
I know I don't write often, and when I do it's either really bad or really good, but this is one of those occasions. I have some terrible news to tell you, but I'm a little afraid to admit what it is. I'm pregnant. Cody is the father. He broke up with me, and I'm on my own.
I have no idea about what I'm supposed to do. I know I'm having the baby, I just can't get an abortion (Cody convinced me), but I don't know what to do with the baby after it's born. I am so scared, lost, and confused, and don't know what in the world to do right now. Mom doesn't know, or Angelique. Just Cody—and maybe that was a mistake, considering he called me a few names and slapped me.
That's right. He slapped me for asking how he would know if I used his last name as the baby's. I'm not sure what lead him up to it, but suddenly, he just—slapped me. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore, what hurts is my broken heart.
For some reason I saw him as supporting me, helping me along the way. Now, I'm going to be a single new mother in high school. I'll be missing out on everything. Maybe even my child's life. Maybe adoption is the right way to go.
Well, I have to go now, but I promise I will talk to you later.
—Victoria H. Baker
At that point Cody said, "Victoria."
Victoria looked up and gasped. "Stay away from me." She didn't say it as a question, but as a demand. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. I thought this child was a mistake, and that you 'did most of the work'."
"All of that is true," Cody admitted. "I did do most of the work because you know what kind of role the father plays in this whole baby making thing. This child was a mistake. We're just teenagers, so we don't want a kid. And I don't want anything to with you because I want everything to do with you."
"What?"
"I don't know what I was thinking when I snapped at you or slapped you. It was stupid, and I'm sorry."
"Well, apology not accepted. I still don't know if I can trust you just yet. I mean, you broke my heart, yelled at me when I told you I was pregnant, and slapped me across the face, all the while throwing accusations at me. I'm not supposed to be that for—"
Cody leaned in and kissed her, silencing her. Both were thinking the same things: God, I missed doing this.
As soon as they pulled away, Victoria started to cry. Cody sat down, and she cried into his shoulder while he had a protective arm around her. "I'm still so scared," Victoria told him.
"I know, I am, too. But you have the right to be scared more, I guess. I don't have to do any of the stuff you're doing. But—"
At this point, Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone, and played a song to tell her what he was trying to say. It was their song.
The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful And tell me we belong together
Stop me and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky
Never revealing their depth
And dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of gallows of heartbreak that hang from above
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be your love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life
"Cody, I—I don't know what to say."
"Just—don't, okay? Maybe silence is better right now."
After landing in Boston, Cody was looking at a map of the city he had picked up in the airport.
"What?" Victoria asked him when she noticed he looked puzzled.
"There's something you forgot when you made your plan."
"And what's that?"
"Where to live."
Silence fell while the both of them thought. They could stay in an apartment, but then space would be limited. They could buy a house, but that would be too expensive.
"The Tipton," Victoria said.
"What?"
"The Tipton. We could stay there for a while until things get settled. But it's okay, isn't it? I mean, it's not too far?"
"Well—okay. It might be costly, though."
"Let's try anyway."
I hope everyone likes the change of this story. The old version seemed pretty pathetic to me compared to this one. Please review. It makes me smile. :) Also, in case you didn't notice, the song Cody played was an older song by Edwin McCain called I'll Be. It was released in 1998 so that makes it 11 years old. But it's a beautiful song. It's definitely a wedding song. But I hope you like this rewrite.
