Confession
Rima sat with her feet curled beneath her on the living room couch in her mother's apartment. Her stomach was twisted in knots as she waited for her best friend to arrive. It had been five minutes since she had hung up with the pink-haired teenager, but the wait was killing her.
Finally, there was a buzz from the front door. Rima jumped up from the faded ivory cushions and ran to the door, Kusukusu trailing. "Rima?" the clown Chara crooned worriedly. "What are you gonna tell her?"
Rima took a deep breath, her hand on the door handle. "The truth." She pulled the door open, revealing the, slightly taller, golden-eyed seventeen-year-old, Amu Hinamori. "Amu," she breathed, relieved.
"Rima!" Amu exclaimed, hugging the tiny blonde. "I was so worried! You sounded upset on the phone and I– what's wrong?" she asked when Rima started to quiver.
Rima took in a shaky breath and pulled back from Amu's hug. She blinked back tears as she led the pink-haired girl into her room, down the hall. Once she had pushed Amu into the small room, she closed the door and locked it behind her, then turned slowly to face her best friend. "Amu…" she whispered, tears in her amber-yellow eyes. "I don't know what to do."
Amu's face was clouded with worry for her friend as Rima pushed herself up against the door, shaking. "Rima, what is it?" she asked, extending her hand a bit as if she could pull the blonde out of her pain. "Did the nurse say you have the flu or something?"
Rima shook her head, her hands quivering as she fiddled with the chipping paint on the door she was pressed up against. "N-no…it-it has something to do with Nagi, too."
Amu's pink eyebrows knit together. "I-I don't understand…" she said.
Rima took a deep, shaky breath. "I…I'm…" Her voice cracked and tears began to spill from her eyes as she slid down the door and collapsed on the carpet, a sobbing heap of curly blonde hair and paler-than-normal skin.
Amu sucked in a shocked and worried breath as the pieces clicked together in her head. "Rima, you're not…?" she asked slowly.
The blonde girl gulped down a sob and wailed, "Yes! I'm-I'm-!"
"Pregnant?" Amu choked out, causing Rima to sob harder. "Oh, Rima!" she wailed, running to her expecting friend.
Rima felt Amu's arms wrap around her uncontrollably shaking shoulders and reached up to hold her. "I-I don't-know what-to do-!" she wailed between sobs.
"Have you told Nagihiko yet?" Amu asked as she held her.
Rima shook her head as she wiped her eyes. "I just found out the weekend before school started. Oh, Amu, what am I going to do?" she sobbed, burying her face in her hair. "My parents split up because I was almost kidnapped; what are they going to do when they find out about this?" She flung her little arms around Amu's neck and sobbed. "Plus, they'll never support the baby if it's born out of wedlock! I-I don't know what to do!"
Amu patted her head as a few tears welled up in her own eyes. "We'll figure something out, Rima," she tried to assure her friend.
Rima took a shaky breath and tried to stop crying. "Th-thank you, Amu," she whispered.
Rima bit her lip as she waited for Nagihiko to arrive. She looked up when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder. It belonged to Amu. She smiled. "Don't worry, Rima. I'll be in the living room the entire time."
Rima gave a weak smile in return. Ten minutes ago, once Rima had stopped crying, she had called her boyfriend to come as soon as basketball practice was over. Now, all they had to do was wait.
After a long, two-minute wait in silence, there was a nervous knock at the door. Rima looked up at Amu, her eyes filled with dread. Amu smiled weakly but encouragingly back at her and helped her stand. And with a deep breath, the expectant teenager walked to the door.
