Just a side note before we get started, has anyone noticed how almost every character I've made up has the name of a water brand? I think I'm going crazy lol
Brooke sat at Ms. Dasani's desk dressed in oversized sweats, something she would have never gone to school in ever. She began correcting the homework that had piled up since she was absent yesterday. She sighed, pulling out the purple marking pen from the desk and glanced up at the class full of bored freshman, Peyton, and Bevin. Back in freshman year, when the three of them had taken biology, it was Peyton and Bevin who paid absolutely no attention and failed the class while Brooke passed with an A. So now, as they retook the class during their senior year, Brooke TA-ed for the class, marking them a little higher than they deserved when they really needed it.
The only reason she TA-ed is because Bevin had practically begged her, and truth be told, she loved Ms. Dasani. "Alrighty, we're starting a new chapter today class." Groans soon followed and Brooke just shook her head. If only that was the worst of her problems. She had walked into the kitchen at 7:30, much to Haley's surprise, and declared that she was going to school today. Haley tried to convince her to stay home, after 'everything that happened yesterday' but she didn't listen. Staying at home and wallowing wasn't going to help her. She needed to fill her mind with something other than her baby, and correcting papers for at least an hour would help her do that. And, if she sweet talked Ms. Dasani, she could probably spend all day correcting papers.
"Can't we just have a catch up day," one boy asked and Ms. Dasani shook her head.
"We're going to start our sex ed chapter today." Peyton and Bevin rolled their eyes while some students looked embarrassed and the rest yayed. Brooke shut her eyes tight and took a deep breath. This would be okay. She would be able to get through this. And she almost did, until one very very stupid freshman asked how someone got pregnant. Bevin broke out into laughter as Peyton ducked her head down, trying to stop herself from laughing. That question however, led Ms. Dasani straight to the hour long talk about pregnancy. Brooke remembered hearing the speech freshman year. It would range from preventing to dealing and every option that came with it. An hour of nothing but baby talk.
Brooke shook her head and tried to concentrate on the papers she was grading but she couldn't block out Ms. Dasani's voice. The more she heard the older woman's words, the hotter she felt she was getting. It felt like her body was on fire and her eyes were beginning to gather tears. It finally got to much when her teacher started talking about the negative impacts of a teenage pregnancy and that most teenage girls would get abortions to 'fix their mistakes'. Abruptly, Brooke pushed back her chair, throwing the purple pen on to the desk. Her eyes on the verge of letting out their tears and she wrapped her arms around her waist as she walked out of the door, completely ignoring Ms. Dasani's questions.
She burst through the blue metal door, the cold wind hitting her hot cheeks. It stung her already watering eyes and before she could even take a step toward her car, the tears started trailing down her red cheeks. Her vision was blurred as she just stood there, her hand over her mouth in order to try and stop herself from being heard.
The door behind her swung open and even though she wanted so badly to stop crying, she couldn't because it hurt so much. Hearing Ms. Dasani talk about babies only reminded her once more of something she didn't have proof ever existed inside of her. Her eyes were shut tight but she still knew whose arms wrapped around her. She tried to push her away but the blonde only tightened her grip. "Look," she started, whispering into the crying girl's ear, "I know things have been hard and weird between us but I am NOT about to sit back and watch you break down in front of me."
Her crying had then become uncontrollable because she realized then that her whole friendship with Peyton was ruined for nothing. Her legs went weak and Peyton slowed her fall to the cement ground. "It's gone," Brooke sobbed, her head resting in the crook of Peyton's neck. She didn't know whether to push or not, but her curiosity and general care for the well being of her best friend won out. "What's gone," she asked softly, rubbing Brooke's arms soothingly.
"My baby," she chocked out, Peyton's hands gripping her. Her initial reaction was to question what she said because being Brooke's best friend, Peyton would have known if she had been pregnant. But as she replayed the past couple months in her head, it all added up. Brooke's 'flu bug' at the beginning of the school year, the way she avoided certain foods, and how she hadn't seen Brooke without a sweatshirt wrapped loosely around her body. So she kept silent and instead pulled Brooke closer.
They stayed like that for a long time, Peyton shielding Brooke's face from the occasional student that wandered by. Brooke never liked everyone knowing too much about her and this breakdown would be bad if it got out. Brooke coughed into her shoulder and started gasping for air when she couldn't stop. Peyton quickly sat her up right, patting her on her back although she wasn't sure if it would help. "Brooke, you need to breathe," she told her gently as Brooke's hand went up to her chest, her gasping getting worse. The tears kept cascading down her face and she couldn't breathe and it all just hurt too much.
"Breathe! Calm down and breathe," Peyton repeated forcefully, shaking the girl lightly. She was starting to panic now because she knew Brooke was barely getting any air and this couldn't be good at all. Just as she was about to yell for help, Brooke took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself down. She cried harder than ever before, the tears seeping out of her eyes as she tried to bury herself into the blonde.
Lucas sat in his english class, not even sure what was going on. His head was back in the room where he had been told he would be a father and the almost identical room where he had been told he wouldn't be a father. He laid his head down on his desk, closing his eyes in order to try and take his mind off of everything that happened yesterday.
On his eye lids, he saw a small little girl. She looked no older than four and stood on the wooden table next to the rivercourt. Her hair was brown with streaks of blonde when the sun hit it just right. Her blue eyes sparkled and when she smiled, two wonderful dimples appeared on her chubby cheeks. She looked a bit like a contradiction, her floral frilly dress blowing in the wind as she attempted to dribble the orange basketball in her small hands. She had such a look of determination on her face.
"Brooke Davis." He opened his eyes the second he heard her name, like a reflex. He looked up at the two girls in front of him, trying to figure out what was going on. "She was like, sobbing and not in a 'Ohmigod I broke a nail' sort of cry. She was like, full on shaking she was crying so hard. I thought she was going to barf on my shoes."
"Where is she?" The question left his mouth before he could even process it. The two girls turned to look at him, one perplexed as to why Lucas Scott cared, the other with a smirk on her face. The redhead told him Brooke's location, she and her friend watching as he hurried out of the room, not even waiting for the teacher's permission.
By now, Brooke's tears had dried, although it wasn't because she had managed or wanted to stop crying. It was because she had no more tears left. She had cried so hard the she was just drained of everything. "I'm sorry," she whispered with a scratchy throat.
Peyton rocked her slightly, rubbing Brooke's arms once more. "For what honey?"
"Everything."
They sat in silence, Peyton's mind going a mile a minute while Brooke tried with all her might to get her brain to shut up. Unable to keep her questions at bay any longer, Peyton cleared her throat. "Did Felix know?"
She can't lie to her now, not after everything. Peyton had done so much for her simply by being there for her. "It wasn't his."
The blonde stuttered, still rubbing Brooke's arms. "Who's was it?"
She took three deep breaths and began to fiddle with a button on Peyton's jacket. "Im sorry."
She was confused at first, Brooke could tell because she kept rubbing her arm. But then her movements stopped and she sat up straighter. Brooke tried to focus on the black button, outlining it with her finger before pressing her thumb into it as Peyton stayed completely still. Once again, everything clicked inside her head. How close Brooke and Lucas had become, how she chose him over her, how protective he had become over her. "Whose was it," she asked again because she needed to hear Brooke say it. She needed proof that this really happened.
Before Brooke could even try and stall her answer, the heavy metal door opened once again, the broody boy they had both been with stepping out on to the cement slab the two girls sat on. Peyton took her arms off of the brunette, standing back up and looking at the girl she used to call her best friend.
When Peyton looked at her, Brooke could feel all of her disappointment, her anger. She looked at her like she knew every single story she heard in school was true. She looked at Brooke as if she were a trashy whore. Brooke had done everything to shake that image, to be who she was at that moment instead of the person she used to be.
But all she chose to see was the old Brooke. All she chose to see was a whore, not her best friend.
"Who Brooke?" She demanded an answer then. She wanted to know everything. She wanted Brooke to confirm that she slept with the only guy Peyton had ever cared for and that she had become pregnant with his baby. She wanted Brooke to tell her that she took away the one boy that got her.
Brooke stared back at her, wanting to cry so bad but not having enough in her to do so. She couldn't say it. She couldn't tell Peyton anything any more and it was all Lucas' fault. "What's going on?" Neither girl turned their head to look at him, both staring each other down, Peyton with hate and Brooke with such a look of sadness that it seemed damn near impossible she was still managing to sit there. "His," Brooke mumbled weakly.
Peyton shook her head and backed away as Lucas approached the two. She looked at him with disgust and then back at Brooke, her face unreadable then. It wasn't as angry anymore, not nearly as angry as the look she had given Lucas. She let out an aggravated groan, throwing her hands up in confusion and covering her eyes with them. "Look," she said, removing her hands to look at Brooke. "I know you've been through a lot, but I can't do this. Not now." She looked almost regretful but before anyone could read too much into her, she turned and walked back into the big brick building.
When the door slammed shut, Lucas walked over to Brooke, pushing her hair out of her face and tried to give her a kiss on the forehead, but she pushed him away. "Don't." He took his hands off of her face and stood back up, staring down at her. She looked so incredibly small and hurt that it killed him inside that she wouldn't let him comfort her. He stood there watching her as she looked down at the gray ground before standing up slowly, using the wall behind her as support. He reached for her again when she stumbled a little, falling back into the wall. She shook her head, pushing him away without touching him. "Don't." Her voice was louder that time, more stern, more emotion in it.
She took a few deep breaths before locking eyes with him for the first time that day. "I don't think we should hang out anymore." Deep down, she knew she couldn't see him anymore. To constantly be reminded of what they had once created, once shared was too much to bear.
"What do you mean?" His voice was shaky and seemed so prepubescent for his body. He sounded like a scared little child and his blue eyes were already loosing some of their sparkle.
"I don't want to be near you." It was the truth, as horrible as it was.
He shook his head feverishly, trying to rid her words from his head. "You don't mean that Brooke," he tried to reason with her, but it was no use.
"Yes. I do," she said her words with finalization. It didn't matter what he said, whatever they were was over.
"No, you don't," he tried again, tears on the edge of his eyes. "We were going to be a family Brooke. We were going to move in and raise our baby and go to school. What happened to our future?" His voice broke, as he walked toward her, trying to find something in her eyes that he had seen before. He knew that there baby was gone, but he still wanted her, still needed her. He didn't have a fucking clue how to react to any of the news they had received and he thought they could go through it together. He thought that she felt that way too.
She stepped toward him, close enough to where he could feel her breath on him. He looked down at her, his crying eyes never leaving her dry ones. "It died." She looked at him with no love nor like in her eyes because she had convinced herself that she never had feelings for Lucas. The day of her miscarriage, when they sat on the couch, Brooke had started thinking that she could love Lucas. But what the hell did she know about love? She was 17 years old, a naive high school girl. She wasn't supposed to know what love was. The pregnancy had obviously messed with her thinking, creating these phantom feelings for Lucas.
His face dropped in front of her, his bottom lip quivering as the first trails of tears began to make their way down his cheeks. She turned and started to walk away, praying she could just walk away from it all. Away from the whore everyone saw her as. Away from the one who broke Lucas Scott's heart. Away from the girl who lost her baby.
Away from the craptastic life she made for herself.
Brooke shut her eyes, feeling the hot tears begging to be released gather under her eyelids. All she could see was Lucas' hurt face. The face of a scared and confused boy who was completely shattered. The face of Peyton who looked so disgusted, like Brooke could never be the friend she'd thought she'd been. Finally, the ultrasound of the baby who she could only hope would become a distant memory.
You guys know I don't like happy endings and I feel like this ending is how it should end. This whole story has been short and simple and straight to the point. And this is the closing chapter for these characters. They have all just gone through something that was traumatic, it has to end sad. But with the closing of every chapter there is a new one.
With this story, I wanted to show the effects a pregnancy has on a person. While everyone may not be happy about it at first, it grows on you, but then you are left with what you had originally hoped for when you took the test. I think that was a little confusing lol. Anywho, as I said, moments in life end on sad notes, but it opens up time to find your way back to how you were. And that is why I will be writing a sequel for this story. I don't think it'll be very long, as a matter of fact it might just be a oneshot, but there will be more to this. This whole author's note seemed very Mark-esque to me lol. Thank you guys for reading this story and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as it killed me to write it haha.