Jim, Mark and Alexa were sitting under a large oak tree at lunchtime when Pam stormed up.

"71 percent!" She growled, sitting down. She slapped the maths test down to show them.

"Hey, that's great!" Mark said happily, unwrapping his sandwich. "Weren't you afraid you'd fail?"

"I might as well have failed it!" she said through gritted teeth. The other three exchanged brief worried looks.

"But you didn't." Alexa said soothingly. "And there's always next time-"

"But this time was a total failure." Pam interrupted. There was an awkward silence. Finally, Jim spoke up.

"Well, don't worry about it. You can't do anything about it now." She sighed.

"What did you get?" She narrowed her eyes to prove a point. He shifted slightly.

"Uh, 89 percent..." he coughed. She sighed and flipped through the pages of her test, trying to figure out where she'd gone wrong.

"Look, forget about the test, Pam. It was one test. In the grand scheme of things, is it really that bad? I mean, look, I got a 65 on that test. I'm fine!" Mark said, deliberately making his voice extra cheery. She knew he was trying to make her feel better and she smiled faintly. She pressed her palms to her eyes, wishing the headache she'd had all day would disappear. She was exhausted, and she knew it. She hadn't slept in so long, and it was catching up with her. But there was no time for eating or sleeping at the moment. She had a major test the next morning, and she couldn't afford to get a 71% on this one; she wanted to get full marks…she needed to get full marks. She was determined not to let this baby get in the way of her marks.

"Are you okay? I have some aspirin in my bag." Alexa offered.

"No, it's fine. Just a little headache." She felt Jim's worried gaze on her and she kept her eyes on her food pointedly.

"I once got a 54 on an English essay." Jim spoke up.

"I got 23 percent on a geography test once." Alexa jumped in, trying to make Pam feel better. Mark scoffed.

"That's nothing. I got 18 percent last year on a maths exam." He said as if it were something to be proud of. They were off, comparing schoolwork war stories. Pam laughed and kept a steady face but she wasn't really listening, not properly. Her feet were swelling up and her morning sickness was just getting worse. She was sure someone, like her parents, would figure it out soon. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jim reached over and took a bite of her forgotten sandwich.

"Oh, I wouldn't if I were y-" She tried to warn him just before he took a bite – and spit it out.

"Holy – what the hell is this?" He spluttered. Pam hid a smile behind her hand

"Um. Skittles and peanut butter. Cravings. Sorry." A giggle escaped. Jim peeled back the bread and looked at the rainbow of skittles.

"Our baby is going to come out multicolored." He shook his head. Alexa and Mark just rolled around on the grass killing themselves with laughter.

Pam and Alexa stood in the girls' bathroom after lunch, reapplying makeup and brushing their hair.

"Hey, Al?"

"Hm?" Alexa slicked on some lip gloss.

"Do you think I can do this?" Alexa put down her lip gloss and stared at Pam.

"Pamela Beesly." She said firmly. "You are a beautiful and talented person, and the best, most loyal friend I have ever had. You have to overcome the obstacles in life and learn and gain from the experience and become a better person because of it. Do not let people define you by this situation, let the situation make you who you are! And I know you will because you are who you are." Pam felt tears behind her eyelids and a smile forming.

"Alexa." She sniffled. "Thank you...for just being here for me. I mean, I'm pregnant. Jim could have left me. You could have ignored me and just been friends with someone else – so could Mark for that matter. I'm so lucky to have you guys and I don't-" She stopped suddenly, her eyes growing wide. Caroline Fowler opened the door of one of the bathroom stalls and walked out, cheeks flushed. They hadn't realized anyone else was in the bathroom. The sudden silence in the room was deafening. The three girls eyes each other, Alexa and Pam trying to calculate how much Caroline could have heard. The girl's eyes darted between them before she washed her hands and left. Alexa gave her a hard stare as she passed. The door swung shut and Pam let out a long breath. She looked at Alexa, her heart crashing against her chest and fear swelling up inside her.

"Holy crap." Alexa finally breathed. "Do you...do you think she heard?"

"Crap, Alex! I don't know! I...I...she is going to tell everyone." She wrung her hands desperately.

"Calm down. Calm down...we, well, we could talk to her. Tell her not to tell a soul."

"But what if she doesn't know? Then we'll just be telling her." She shut her eyes and pressed her palm against her forehead. "I am so dead."

Mark walked down the school hallway to his next class. He noticed several groups of students tightly huddled and talking quickly in low voices. Some girl leaned over to her friend and whispered into her ear. Mark rolled his eyes – some new school rumor. There was a new one every week practically and generally Mark didn't have much patience for it. He ignored the whispers and unlocked his locker. He glanced at Caroline Fowler whose locker was next to his. He shared a few classes with her – swishy red hair and fiery green eyes. She was always whispering and laughing in class, she was the school gossip and always had the latest news.

"What's everyone talking about?" He asked. Her eyebrows shot right up, almost disappearing into her fringe. Her eyes glinted and her hair spun out like an oriental fan and she whipped around to face him.

"You mean you haven't heard?" She said eagerly. He raised his eyebrows expectantly, indicating he hadn't. She leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Pam Beesly is pregnant." He stopped listening, blood draining from his face. He dropped his papers and pens over the floor, turned and ran. He had to find Jim. Everything had just go a lot messier.

Pam woke up at around 4am. She crept downstairs and sat at the kitchen table. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. She drew in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. She had no idea it was possible to be this scared. Everything was changing. Everything she had known and was sure of was fading and fresh fears were replacing them. Behind her eyelids, movies played that she didn't want to see. She traced a pattern on the kitchen table, staring at nothing in the darkness. The moon was disappearing into the morning and the curtains were shut, leaving everything in a dull, empty hole of black. She sat there for a long time – she vaguely wondered how long. An hour? Maybe two. Finally her mother came down the stairs and shuffled into the kitchen in her slippers and dressing gown. She didn't turn on the light though. Pam sat silently as her mom flicked a switch on the coffee machine and took some milk out of the fridge. She made a mug of coffee and turned, finally noticing Pam. Mrs. Beesly drew in a sharp breath and jumped backwards.

"Oh, sweetie, I didn't see you there." She breathed, relieved. "What are you doing up so early?" Pam wanted to cry, just hug her mother tightly and cry and cry and cry and cry until it was all over and gone, forgotten in the past. She wanted to curl up and turn the clock back a thousand years. She wanted to open her mouth and let every pent up word and feeling pour out. But she couldn't do a thing. She just sat there.

"Pam? Pam, say something." Her mother looked at her, confused and concerned. Somewhere between her chest and her throat, she found her voice.

"I'm having a baby." She whispered into the darkness.

Ooh, cliffhanger! So, should have the next chapter up soon. Hope you enjoyed. =]

P.S Quick update, I'm getting better at this updating thing, huh?