Chapter 9
Jerome POV
Tonight was my date with Gen, and, well, Alfie. We were finally going to watch Zombie Slashers. We were pretty late to the trend, especially considering that Zombie Slashers 2 was already airing in theaters.
Alfie and I were trying to figure out how to work the DVD player. Alfie got a new one and it had all of these fancy buttons.
"I think that's eject," I theorized, pressing a random button. To my luck and my surprise a slot poke out of the contraption.
"Yes, mate," Alfie congratulated me.
"You got the DVD?" I asked him.
Alfie walked over to his bed. "Yeah, right here," he confirmed, handing me the slim box. I inserted it into the machine.
"Can you set the rest of it up? I'm going to get Gen," I informed.
"Totally," Alfie responded, looking about the device.
I exit our bedroom to go upstairs to retrieve Gen. It's only 7:30 so I should be okay to go up to the girl's corridor. I knock on Nina, Gen, and now Amber's room apparently.
"Come in," Nina calls.
I open the door slightly and stick my head in, searching for Gen, but she doesn't seem to be there.
"Oh, hi Jerome," Amber greets me.
"Uh, hi," I responded, sort of caught off guard, "Where's Gen?"
Nina pointed out to the hallway. "The bathroom I think."
"Thanks," I appreciated, swiftly closing the door.
I proceeded across the hallway and knocked once more on the bathroom entrance.
"Gen?" I inquired. "Alfie and I are all set up. Come down when you're ready."
"Uh, Jerome!" Gen called to me from behind the door. "I'm really sorry, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do that tonight."
Excuse me? "Can I come in?" I requested.
"Yeah," Gen accepted.
I opened the bathroom door to find Gen, slumped down on the floor, her face pale and her eyes tired.
I gasped, closing the door behind me. "What's wrong?" I wondering worryingly.
"Nothing, just, not feeling so great," Gen answered, rubbing her eyelids.
"Do you want me to get Trudy-"
"No, no, it's not, it's just morning sickness," she reminded me.
I gestured my hand out to her to help her off the floor. Her hands were clammy and soft.
"I'm sorry about that," I sympathetically apologized.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Gen turned on the tap and began rinsing off her hands.
"Are you sure you're not gonna be able to make it tonight?" I asked hopelessly.
"Yeah, sorry," she expressed.
"Don't be," I assured her. "Listen, maybe I could get a bucket from the laundry room and you could be hang out with us and take it easy."
Gen sighed, drying off her hands. "I really don't think that's a good idea. I feel sick and my body's being really unpredictable right now. Just go ahead and watch it without me."
"Are you sure?" I asked, scooping up Gen's now limp palm into my own.
"Yeah, it's fine," Gen agreed reluctantly.
"I love you," I reminded kissing Gen on the forehead, chilly and laid with sweat.
"I love you too," Gen said back to me. "Make up something simple to tell Alfie. I don't want him worrying about."
Well, I'm worrying about you, I want to whisper, but I don't. I simply respond with, "Sure thing."
I sweep Gen up into a delicate hug.
"See you later," I say, pulling away and retreating from the bathroom.
"See ya'," Gen replies turning back to the sink, staring at her pale, ghostly face in the mirror.
I walk down the stairs again, thinking. Gen is going through so much shit right now, and for who? For this baby. This thing that we didn't even want. And it's all my fault.
My expression is vacant by the time I return to the bedroom. Alfie has figured out how the DVD player works by now.
"Hey, dude, guess what," Alfie says.
"What?" I wonder boringly, not looking at Alfie.
"I got popcorn," Alfie reveals. He pulls out a silver bowl of tasty looking popcorn, and still my eyes wander.
"That's good," I reply.
"Where's Gen?" Alfie asked, putting the popcorn bowl on my bedside cabinet.
"She's got a lot of homework to do and Sweetie's already kinda on her case," I lie.
"Oh, that stinks," Alfie empathises.
"Yeah, it does," I agreed, thinking back to Gen sitting exhausted on the bathroom floor. "She said to go along without her."
"Really? We'll make it up to her," Alfie promised.
"Yeah, definitely," I accepted, shutting the door and turning off the lights. I placed myself carefully beside Alfie as he pressed the movie on.
Short chapter, amirite. Prepare for unpredictable word counts, because, frankly, I could give two shits. What has become of me? Also, I've been thinking about the possibilities of a season two portion of this fanfic and how many out of character decisions I would have to make. Would you mind? Nah. Right?
~Elle
