As you can see, I'm veering off of the original plotline and adding some twists of my own, which is what I will continue to do as the story progresses. I will reference back to the show whenever a new episode airs, but for the duration the plot of this particular story is something entirely different. Again, thank you for your support and I promise to make sure the coming chapters are longer. Don't worry; scenes with two certain people are coming, so just be patient.

Happy reading!

I own nothing of The Secret Life of the American Teenager except the plot and any unfamiliarity's that are woven into it. Everything else belongs solely to Brenda Hampton.

"One Step Forward"

--Chapter Three: Speculation--

By marissa-christina

"What's happening to my life?" she wondered aloud as she despondently poked at a piece of chicken with her fork, the meal becoming more and more unappetizing the longer she stared at it. Ashley just continued to cut her meat, while Anne, grimacing sympathetically, reached over and squeezed her daughter's hand.

"You're growing up, sweetie," she said. Amy dropped her fork on her plate and leaned back in her chair, clasping her hands together over her stomach.

"Yeah, well, it sucks, Mom. It feels like everything is falling apart."

Her mother sighed, failing to find any words to appease her daughter.

It'd been three hours since she had officially broke things off with Ben, and to say that Amy was upset was an understatement. When she had returned home after the disastrous outing, her mother had been seated at the kitchen table with a faraway look in her eyes, her hands wrapped around a mug of tepid coffee, the phone set beside it. As Amy shut the door behind her, Anne broke free from her thoughts and nudged the chair back, standing up as she prepared to grill her daughter—ever since finding out the big secret, she was much quicker to demand an explanation for anything Amy did now—for not telling her where she had been going. At Amy's telltale puffy eyes, though, she relented and instead held Amy close as the girl began to cry. It was about ten minutes before Amy managed to compose herself enough to explain what had happened, and Anne hadn't seemed very surprised by the turn of events.

"I still don't see why you dumped Ben," Ashley piped in, shooting her sister a curious glance as she sipped her soda. "I mean sure, the guy's a little sappy, but he offered to marry you and play daddy to the baby. He helped stop you from getting an abortion. What's the problem?"

Amy groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Ben's been incredible to me, and that's part of the problem." Ashley and their mother both cocked an eyebrow, and Amy fumbled in an attempt to put to words her feelings. "He's known me for what, a little over a month? We go on one date and he's telling me he loves me. Then he finds out I'm pregnant, and he still sticks with me, even going as far as proposing. He's amazing, and I'm lucky to have him in my life."

Ashley waved her hand in a languorous fashion. "And?" she pressed. "I don't hear anything particularly tragic in that arrangement."

Anne, however, nodded in understanding, and smiled a little at her daughter, who heaved a heavy sigh. "Don't you see, Ashley? Ben doesn't deserve to be saddled with someone like me, and I can't move forward with anything unless he understands that. And if I'm completely honest with myself, we were moving way too fast as it was and I just can't handle that right now." She hadn't realized that finally admitting that to her mother after all this time keeping it bottled up would make her feel better, but Amy felt like she had just come up for a precious breath of air after being smothered. It was just unfortunate it had been by Ben's undying affection. He really was getting the short end of the stick, wasn't he? Amy clenched her fists. 'I'm such a selfish person…'

"It wasn't for lack of trying, Amy," Anne cut in gently. "You said Ben's mother died a few years ago, right?" At Amy's nod of affirmation, her mother continued. "I think that Ben wanted to find someone who could fill in the void she left behind, and you fit the bill. I'm sure his feelings are genuine, but I think you made the right decision for the both of you."

Amy ducked her head and stared at her hands. "You didn't see his face, Mom," she murmured softly, disheartened. Anne rubbed her arm.

"He'll come to terms eventually, honey. Right now, worry about yourself."

"Myself," she echoed as Anne and Ashley stood up and began to gather their plates. Amy pushed her chair back and headed for the stairs to hide out in her room. She chuckled in a self-deprecating way as she shut her door and flung herself onto her bed. Worry about herself? The suggestion was laughable. How on earth could she? She had dumped the one guy on the planet who wanted to marry her, her friends were deserting her, and she was the number one person to talk about throughout the entire school district. The only thing she had going for her was Ricky Underwood, the troubled drummer boy, resident high school player, and one-hundred percent, certified, grade-A jackass, attempting to step up and take responsibility for the part he played in causing this whole mess.

She was completely and utterly screwed.

"Where do I even start?"

Weeks prior, if there was one person Adrian Lee would have called in order to divulge information to; it sure as hell wouldn't have been Grace "Goody-Good" Bowman.

Shows how much one person's misfortunes could affect the lives surrounding her. Amy Juergens was a one-girl El Niño and she had made landfall in their small, suburban town.

Sitting in the familiar living room setting, Adrian could honestly say that she wasn't nearly as uncomfortable being there as she had been the first time she had sat on the plush sofa. The Bowman house was exceedingly homely, an obvious reflection on the people who lived there.

"Do you want ice in it or not?" her voice called out, wafting in from the kitchen.

"Yeah, thanks."

Grace strode into the room a few seconds later carrying two glasses of iced tea, handing one to Adrian before seating herself beside her. Adrian smiled her thanks and took a sip while the blonde cheerleader grinned back. "You know, I was really surprised that you called," she admitted. Gasping quietly at how that must have sounded, she hastily added, "Not that I'm complaining! It was good hearing from you."

Adrian cleared her throat. "Yeah, well. I figured I needed to talk to someone." Grace absolutely glowed.

"And you picked me? I'm so glad." Adrian snickered quietly, abruptly wondering when the ever-perky cheerleader's ever-peppy voice had stopped grating her nerves.

'Probably when I actually started to like her,' she finished, chuckling at the irony.

"Where're your parents and Tom?" Adrian remarked casually, having noticed the other three family members absent. Grace smiled.

"They went over to the church to discuss the next fundraiser event with our minister. It's to help raise money for children with Down syndrome," she clarified, her smile widening. "It was Tom's idea." The pride in her voice when she spoke of her brother was apparent, and Adrian nodded her agreement, unable to hold back from smiling herself. "I hope you'll come."

"We'll see." She liked the Bowmans well enough, and Tom was always a pleasure to be around, but Adrian still wasn't into the whole church atmosphere that they were so dedicated to. But, who knew? Maybe another shot at church functions was in order…

"Great. So, how are you? You sounded pretty urgent on the phone," Grace asked, bringing her glass to her lips. "Is everything okay?"

Adrian flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah—well, no. I guess it depends on how you look at it." She carefully explained the story to Grace, who, once Adrian finished, stared at her with wide, disbelieving blue eyes.

"Are you serious?" she whispered harshly, covering her mouth with a delicate hand. Adrian could only nod, and Grace shook her head, blonde curls falling over her forehead as she pondered over what Adrian's words implied. "I can't believe it."

"I know. Imagine my surprise at seeing the Sausage Prince and his reigning princess walk away in opposite directions without so much as a wave goodbye."

When she had gunned the engine and drove away from the park, Adrian's mind had been positively racing with questions as she struggled to understand what she had just witnessed. She knew just as well as anyone that Ben Boykewich was head over heels for Amy, and while she found their whole relationship way too sweet—who falls in love that fast with a girl carrying another guy's baby, anyway?—she never thought in a million years that Amy would be the one to break things off. The girl was just too polite, too shy, to do anything of that sort, especially with her situation. The boy had wanted to marry her, for God's sakes!

Once Amy had gone inside her house, Adrian immediately pulled out her cell phone, needing to tell someone about this dramatic turn of events. The first person on her mind had been Ricky, but that notion left quickly enough. Ever since he had told her about wanting to get involved with Amy's pregnancy and she had cut her ties with him, Adrian couldn't bring herself to talk to him.

With Ricky out, she also quickly realized that there wasn't really anyone else she could call. Her mother wasn't really a factor, not that she'd be able to pull herself away from her new boyfriend in any case. Jack Pappas was a definite 'no'. He had just been a reason to mess with Grace and with Ricky, and while she would be the first person to admit that she was no angel, she couldn't stand his hypocritical bullshit.

Then there was Grace, the girl who could never say 'die', the optimist who never failed to mention the special connection she had with God and all things Christian, the all-around good person everyone couldn't help but adore and admire. She was everything that Adrian wasn't, and yet, she was the only person who had ever attempted to reach out to her, not like Ricky or Jack, not even out of revenge for the things Adrian had done to her, but as a friend, a real friend.

She had pressed 'Send' without hesitation, and barely gave Grace the chance to greet her before asking if she could come over. Less than twenty minutes later, here she was; sitting on the couch and drinking cherry-flavored ice tea with her friend, Grace. Could things get any weirder?

"You think it was because of Ricky?" Grace's innocently voiced question jerked her roughly out of her thoughts, and Adrian choked on the ice tea she had just drunk. Grace reached over and thumped her back as the other girl sputtered. "Are you okay?" she asked in alarm as Adrian finished coughing. Adrian waved her off as she took another, smaller sip of her tea.

"There's no way she would dump Ben for Ricky," she wheezed, wiping her chin. Grace blinked before giving an indecisive little shrug. Adrian vehemently shook her head. "Not a chance. Even though she agreed to let Ricky get involved that doesn't mean she'd leave Ben at the chance that Ricky might want to get with her."

"Maybe so, but it still doesn't make sense," Grace replied, tapping her chin. "They went good together. Ben seems like a super sweet guy."

Adrian snorted. "Yeah, he's kind of too sweet. I'm not saying that they didn't go okay together, they did, but seriously. Proposing to her at fifteen after only dating her for a few weeks? I won't even hook up with a guy unless I've known him for a while." She ignored the uncomfortable look Grace shot her. That was still one hurdle they hadn't conquered yet.

"Okay, that may be true, but I really thought, with him being so accepting of the baby and everything, that she'd keep him around. Any guy who's willing to take care of someone else's baby is golden in my book," Grace stated firmly. Adrian sighed.

"Who knows? This situation keeps getting more and more complicated."

Grace gave her a compassionate smile. "I know, but it's good that you removed yourself from it, isn't it?"

Adrian let out a skeptical grunt. "Somehow, I don't think it's that easy."

"It could be. I like Ricky, too, but his problems aren't our problems."

Adrian raised her eyes to Grace's face, her expression dubious at best, and for a moment, she was almost jealous at the girl's complete naivety over something she really didn't grasp, not at all. "You see, that's where you're wrong," she remarked with a wry grin. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back into the sofa, brown eyes darkening with a sort of weariness Grace couldn't understand; a bitter emotion that she couldn't quite place. "Ricky's problems are everybody's problems."