I stretched, a small smile playing on my features, until the events of the day gone by came flooding back into my mind. I checked the time. 6:20. I could sleep in for another hour or so. School didn't start until nine.
I walked in, shoulders slumped, no spring in my step, and not bubbly and talkative like usual. I watched as the first, second, third and fourth year girls fretted over what makeup to wear, how short whoever's skirt was and who was and was not sleeping with the best looking guy in their year. I could remember a time like that, when my biggest worry was whether or not my hair would look better up or down. Now, I had bigger things to worry about, like travelling hundreds of year back in time with only two amateur warlocks, who had no idea of whether they could do the spell again. I was also still in a state of complete unhappiness over the loss of my child. When we eventually made it to the Guidance room, where we were required to sign in, one of our Guidance teachers, Mrs Arnold, came and asked to speak to all of us. She sat down in her seat, crossing her legs and tossing her straight black hair over her shoulder, staring at us with her piercing green eyes.
"Hello, yes, sit down, sit down. I am Mrs Arnold, just so Melvin and Arthur are aware. I am the Ravendor Guidance teacher. Now, we have been speaking, and we were just wanting to ask what possessed you two-" her eyes focused on me and Katy "- to get married or engaged so quickly. You're not even eighteen yet, hardly old enough to be ready for marriage!"
"Miss, we fell in love, plain and simple. I was the same as you, not too long ago, thinking that at our age it was stupid to get married or engaged or-" I gulped. "-pregnant. The thing is, if you find something this special, in this day and age, people thing we're too young to understand love and commitment- be it to a partner or a child. We're not. Only, what, five hundred years ago you had twelve year old girls getting married to boys two years their senior? That's too young. But to be eighteen, and about to travel into the world, to face that cruel, harsh world out there, and we need to be prepared, not babied and told we're not old enough. Because, despite what you think we are."
The teacher in front of us pursed her lips.
"That doesn't change the fact that if you did fall pregnant it could destroy your prospects for the future," she said.
"Maybe. But school isn't everything. If there was a child and it was going to be loved... doesn't it... deserve... a chance at life? Unlike my baby," I began to cry, leaning instinctively towards Arthur. Now was not the time to be a crying mess, with half the house outside and our Guidance teachers in front of us.
"You got pregnant? At your age?" exclaimed the teacher.
"YES! AND I WOULD HAVE LOVED MY LITTLE BOY WITH ALL MY HEART! IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THAT BITCH, ROSSLYN!" I yelled, getting annoyed at the teacher.
"It was your own fault to get yourself in this state. Protection, girls, protection," she sang. So I did something I rarely did. I took my hand and raised it.
SMACK!
Mrs Arnold's face went to the side. I stormed out of the office and down the stairs, heading back to the hotel, where I planned to sit and cry. Arthur jogged after me, eventually catching up.
"Melissa! Melissa!" he called. I turned to him and buried my head in his chest.
"She acted like it was all my fault. Like, my baby was just a mistake, something I'd regret for the rest of my life," I sobbed. Arthur rubbed my back, before lifting me up bridal style.
"What are you doing?" I asked, giggling despite myself.
"Trying to cheer you up. We're going to go to that place with the weird name, buy some of that stuff in those boxes that you like so much, the stuff that bubbles on your tongue and go and watch the moving pictures that are bigger there," he said.
"You mean we're going to the cinema to buy some popcorn and fizzy juice and watch a movie," I corrected him. He nodded.
"I don't know how long it will take Melissa. But I'm going to help you get better. We'll never forget our little boy, we'll love him forever. But we can at least try and remember him with a smile, not tears," he said.
"I'm sorry about all the things I said yesterday Arthur. They were uncalled for," I apologized.
"They were. But you were upset, it's understandable," he murmured.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"For what?"
"Everything."
