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Beep…beep beep…Beep…beep beep… I slammed down the accept key on my phone, and shoved it to my ear. Who had the nerve to call at 6 in the morning?
Noelle did. "Reed! You have to get over here. Now."
"Noelle, what's wrong?" I said, sitting straight up.
"Everything. Just get your ass over here." She said, and hung up.
"What's…what…huh?" Josh stuttered. I couldn't help but laugh. I mussed his curls, and kissed his forehead.
"Nothing. Noelle's just having the fit of the century, and wants me at her place. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Okay. Be safe." Josh said, and pulled me in for a slow, steady kiss.
X
I raced into Noelle's room. "In here." She said, shaken from the bathroom.
"What is it?" I asked, and then saw the white stick in her tan hand.
"I feel like a broken typewriter." She said, quoting Rizzo from "Grease".
"Is it positive?" I asked. She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"What made you check again?" I asked, sitting on the sill of the bathtub as she positioned herself on the sink.
"I missed a period."
"Have you told Dash? He is your fiancée, after all."
She shook her head. "I can't. Would you? Please?"
"Noelle, I can't, I just…"
"Reed, please, I can't do this myself."
"Noelle, I'd do anything in this world for you, but…"
"Do it Reed." She thrust her Treo into my hand. "Press two, you should get his phone."
I lightly pressed the number. It rang twice, and then he picked it up.
"Hey." He said groggily.
"Dash, it's Reed. I have to talk to you."
"Is Noelle okay?"
"In a sense. See, the thing is, she's well," I looked to Noelle, who raised her eyebrows, "She's pregnant. With your baby."
"What?" Dash said, fully awake now.
"Noelle. Is. Pregnant." I said.
"Oh my god…Holy living shit…" Dash said. "Um, can I talk to her?"
I looked at Noelle, and pointed to the phone. She nodded, and grabbed it. "Dash…I'm so, so, sorry."
X
"What did he say?" I asked, only a minute and a half later.
"He's coming over. Can Josh come over? Maybe he can offer some support to Dash."
"Sure." I said, and picked up my iPhone.
"Josh?" I asked when the line picked up.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Could you come over here? We, well Dash and I, need you."
"Yeah. I'll be right over."
X
Josh and Dash walked into Noelle's bedroom together. Dash immediately flung his arms around Noelle, and kissed her softly.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
She nodded. "Okay as could be expected."
"Good. I guess we need to talk. Are you guys okay with leaving for a minute?" Dash asked, sitting down on Noelle's chaise lounge.
I took my seat on the bed next to Noelle. "We are." I looked to Josh, who nodded.
X
"How about it?" Josh and I said, strolling into Starbucks.
"Can't believe it. I mean, it's Noelle. This doesn't happen to girls like her."
"Large Sumatra and a caffe vanilla frappucino." Josh said to the girl behind the counter. "I know. This is just…ugh. Such a huge mess."
"No kidding. Noelle manages to ruin her life in less than a month. It's a record." I sighed, stabbing a long green straw through the lid of my frappucino.
"Now. So, what do you want to do today?" Josh asked, stirring half & half into his coffee.
"I don't know. Your parents' New Years Party is this weekend, and I don't have anything to wear." I grimaced. "Is it formal?"
"Unfortunately. Do you want to go look for something?" He asked, wrapping my crimson peacoat around me as we stepped out into the cold.
"I guess. Who do we know that's coming?" I asked, taking his hand.
"Gage and his family, inevitably my family, Gia, Lynn's girlfriend, the McCaffertys, the Langes, and tons of other people you know. It'll be fun- I think you'll like it, to be honest."
"Where did you say it was?" I said.
"The ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria. Pretty swank."
I frowned.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll look gorgeous, as usual." He laughed, shoving me playfully. "We'll find something today."
X
Josh sat on a satin chair as I flipped through the dresses at Barney's. I pulled out an evergreen velvet number, which Josh immediately frowned at.
"That's too Portia Ahronian for you. Find a different one." He said, waving it away animatedly.
I lifted a vibrant red Valentino from the rack. It was totally racy, and seriously sexy.
"I don't like any of these. I'm almost ready to take you to Chanel, and have Lagerfeld design something for you." He made a face.
"That would be too expensive." I said, and came across a gown completely my style; it was Versace, a lovely shade of magenta with a long train. The back was open except for the straps, which crossed at the small of the back. The skirt wasn't poofy at all- it was long and gorgeous.
"Wow." Josh said. "That's just…try it on. I want to see what it looks like on you."
I slipped into the nearest fitting room, and took off my clothes. I slipped it over my head, and gazed into the mirror.
It was gorgeous. Simply sophisticated, and totally like nothing I'd seen before.
I opened the door, and looked at Josh. He grinned.
"That's the dress. I love it. It looks sexy on you too."
"I like it too." I said, and twirled into his arms.
"Go get dressed. We have to show my Mom- she'll die." He said. "She wanted me to help you pick out a dress."
"You did a spectacular job." I said, and he let me go.
X
"Mom!" Josh called as we walked in the front door.
"What? What is it?" She asked, walking into the room, clad in a pair of 7 for all Mankind jeans and a Ralph Lauren oxford shirt. I held up the garment bag from the dress.
She gasped quickly. "Let me see!" She said, and ushered us into the living room. I opened the bag, and held it so that it didn't touch the ground.
"It looks gorgeous on the hanger, but what does it look like on you?" She said. "Go in the bathroom and change."
When I walked back in the living room after I changed, Mrs. Hollis smiled. "You look spectacular. Did Josh help like I asked?" She looked at her son, who nodded.
"He did. I must've looked at 100 dresses before we agreed on this one. And to be honest, this one's the best of all of them." I twirled, and Josh caught me, and whirled me into a waltz step.
"Enough, enough!" Mrs. Hollis laughed. "I love it, Reed. Nice choice."
"Thanks." I said, and changed back into my clothes.
My phone buzzed again. Beep…beep beep…Beep…beep beep…
"It's Noelle." I said, and Josh raised his eyebrows.
"Hello?" I said into the phone. Josh pulled me upstairs, and I sat on his bed.
"Hi."
"What's up?"
"Um, well, I decided…not to keep the baby."
"Oh. I'm sorry." I said.
"No, no, it's good, and Dash and I are still getting married."
"That's good." I said. "How are you…getting rid of it?"
"Abortion." She said. "Oh well. But I have a wedding to plan. And you, as my maid of honor, are going to help me."
"Thanks!" I exclaimed.
"No problem."
"Dash doing okay?"
"Yeah, great, in fact. He said that we're too young, and that we'd try later."
"That's good. You guys are a bit young."
"Yeah. So! Dinner tonight? At the Ritz?"
"Sure!" I said, flabbergasted by the change of events.
"Perfect. See you guys there at eight thirty." She said, and ended the call.
Talk about weird.
"What's up?" Josh asked, lying next to me.
"Noelle's having an abortion, Dash is doing great, and we're meeting them for dinner at eight thirty."
"Oh-kay." He said, making a face. "She was freaking out about nine hours ago, and she's acting like nothing's happened? Jesus." He grimaced. "I can't help but think that if this was us, it'd be completely different."
"Trust me. It would." I said, and snuggled closer to him.