I've been in a lot of awkward situations in my life. Walking in on Bianca with my first grade teacher's husband was a major one, though easily beaten but the first time Tommy Person lost it before he'd gotten my pants off. But even that was knocked down to second place as Emmalin picked me up two days after Thanksgiving to go to the clinic three miles from base. If I dared to get checked out on base I would surely get ratted out. The brunette sighed after we had gotten past the entrance guard, shaking her head.

"So you gave him it, meaning Jake"-

"He had to be with another girl on me." This fact was souring my mood some. "Veracruz was the first one I had gone to while with Jake, and he was a virgin."

She nodded, biting her lip. "Wait… maybe not a complete one. Lynette said she gave him a blow a month ago during gym." I took this in for a second, nodding. Oral and penetrating was very different. "I'll text her while you're getting checked out."

This new insight gave me a little relief. I looked over at Emmalin and pursed my lips, speaking gently. "I've been a pain in the ass to you with all this. I'm sorry, Emmalin. I really am."

"Yeah, you have. It's not easy being Post Commanders daughter and best friends with the assumed base whore." She informed me, shaking her head. "But believe it or not, I do like being your friend. Look, after we get through this… why don't you start over? I was reading this article about teenagers who are promiscuous in some magazine who become virgins again, metaphorically."

She had to be kidding me. I looked at her closely and realized she wasn't. "It's not that easy, Holden."

"Well… something has to change Jordan. If my parents find out about this I'm dead. Denise and Mom are close, so are Dad and Major Sherwood after his promotion, but"-

"Can we talk about this later please?" Holden smacked her lips, rolling her eyes as we pulled into the parking lot of the clinic. We entered and she took a seat in the waiting room, pulling out a book. I filled out paperwork and was taken into a room with a doctor minutes later.

"You're smart for coming in, Jordan. Even Army kids have issues like this, so don't feel judged." The black woman, Doctor Freeman, told me as I sat on a table. She pulled gloves on and snapped them, making my stomach drop. Damn Veracruz… and Lax. "Okay, pants down."

Forty-five minutes later, I was informed that I was syphilis free. I sighed with relief, pulling my coat on to leave while I thanked Freeman. She stopped me in my tracks though, telling me to sit back down. I assumed she wanted to give me rubbers or something. Instead of pulling a box of multi-colors out though, she looked at me with a serious expression.

"Jordan, have you been sick lately or felt woozy? Weight gain?"

"I get sick a lot from stress attacks and but I haven't gained weight. Why?" Freeman sighed, looking at me with a pained expression. "What? Do I have HIV?"

"No, but it's pretty serious. I ran multiple tests on your blood to check and… you're pregnant honey."

Emmalin and I walked out of the clinic, the air thick. The brunette, who oblivious to my mood, was happier than hell at the prospect of sobering me up. "Let's go to the mall! You told your parents you were with me all afternoon!"

"Sure." My mind was pretty much gravy at that moment. Pregnant… God damn. I slid into the van and put my seatbelt on, pulling out my phone and writing two text messages.

'Em, I'm clean. Turns out the pills failed though. Call me at nine tonight.'

'Veracruz, the next time you get oral from someone, make sure she's not a walking HIV patient.'

Emmalin and I went to get food first. I ordered strawberry lemonade but could barely stomach that. I had only had sex with Veracruz two weeks ago, so if he had knocked me up my estrogen levels wouldn't have changed enough for the blood work to show. Chances said that Jake was the donor. God damn, that day at Briana's party about a month ago he had been bare backed.

"Jordan?" I looked up as Emmalin stared at me, her eyes slated with suspicion. "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Sorry, I'm just… taking in the relief. Tell me again." The rest of the day I focused on the brunette and tried to push the issue in my head back. I couldn't be pregnant… I couldn't. That night I went home with a bag in hand. I walked into find Denise on the couch with the Major, talking. I walked to the kitchen and put the bag on the bar, pulling a dress out of the bag and turning to her. "It's here so stop mourning over not finding it in green."

"How… the manager said they were sold out until after Christmas!" She stared at me, stunned. The Major looked even more surprised. Denise walked up and took the dress from me, marveling at it. "Jordan… I don't know what to say!"

"Yeah, well, I was a jerk and ruined Thanksgiving. The manager felt a little different when I told her you were an Army wife whose husband had done two tours."

The Major snorted. "For once I come of use to you, huh?"

"I know, it's a once in a lifetime moment."

The last two days of break were bearable. Jeremy and I were still distant but the Major gave me less crap since I made his wife happy, which made Mrs. Joneses thrilled. Emmalin had managed to make me promise via text to follow her revirginizing methodology because 'there were no therapists attached.' My regular therapy sessions were already proving to epically fail, as each time I went was few and far between with the Major driving me. The first steps in the Holden daughters process where to focus on dating and befriending guys without thinking about sex, which I didn't have an issue with. The Army Wife in training decided to hook me up on a double date to 'watch my behaviors'.

"It will work, trust me." She informed me on our first day back to school. I nodded, to her, not really paying attention. I had anatomy first thing today.

"So we have to actually cut the frog open?" Jake stared at the teacher, looking green. He had been ignoring me since glass started, but I smelled something on him that was familiar yet different than his normal cinnamon scent. I rolled my eyes as he spoke, seriously unable to believe him. He and Veracruz had beaten the crap out of each other and Boy Wonder was afraid to dissect an embalmed amphibian? Jake bit his lip and ran from the classroom before anyone could say anything. I rolled my eyes, grabbing a knife to begin when I was asked to go check on him. After getting assured I would get full credit, I walked out of the room and down the hall to see the brunette sitting outside his locker.

"Are you going to die?"

"Don't you have someone to be getting syphilis from?" He snapped, pulling a water bottle out of his bag and drinking it. The smell hit me again and I grabbed the bottle from him. "What the hell"-

"You're drinking straight Bacardi at school? It's already seeping out of your pores already, Jake."

"Okay Saint Katherine." He rose and tried to grab the bottle from him but I blocked him. "Jordan, give it back"-

"No." He stopped and looked down at me, his eyes like dead kelp. Bags surrounded his orbs from lack of sleep and hitting the bottle, his breath wreaked. "Jake, look, there's a reason why I don't hit the bottle like I used too. On base when you're mother is Head Honcho, you can get away with it. Here, when your parents are Major's, it's not so easy. I don't want you to lose what you have going for you over this, or me; so clean up."

"And what if I tell you this bullshit isn't every convincing? After all, you made it clear you don't give a damn." The game he was playing was dumb and overly theatrical. It was no different than if he would threaten to kill himself over losing me, yet I was buying into it. It had been two weeks and I was already breaking for him. Why? I hated seeing him like this; true, but I had bigger things on my plate. School, Jeremy, Major Muffin-ass who had forced me to eat a cranberry muffin this morning, the baby inside me… his baby. I looked back up at him, unsure what to say in fear it would give it away. This was my issue, and I had to take care of it. How, I didn't know yet. But there was a way, if nothing else; I was still in the abortion timeframe. I felt his hand slip into the pocket of my jeans and he moved closer, Bacardi stinging my nose. Why was Jake drinking when my life was way worse than his? "Get rid of it, All-Star."

I saw a fountain behind him and walked over to it, emptying the bottle. I threw it away in a trash can next to it, turning back to him. Jake's hand was still attached to my hip and his eye looked down at me, his lip pursed from him biting on it. "What's wrong?"

"Why is it that you're the one that screwed this up yet I feel guilty over it?" I felt my stomach drop as his hand began to quiver and he pulled away. "We need to get back to class."

"Jake, I have a problem." He looked back down at me, his dead eyes a ghost of what I wanted to see. God damn, why did I have to care about him? Why? "It's your problem too."

"H-how?"

"Miss Richmond-Sherwood and Mister Williams, why aren't we in class?" The Principle walked by, her eyes on us like how I assumed she attacked cheesecake turning her Soaps. "Get there. Now."

Jake and I nodded, walking back towards the class as she passed us. When Miss Ho-ho was gone, I turned to him and opened my mouth as my stomach started lurching. I grabbed my mouth and sprinted past him, running to the bathroom. I found the only empty stall and started dropping my breakfast, dinner, lunch… everything back to Thanksgiving Day in it. When I stopped, I tried to stand back up but my knees started shaking and I fell back down.

"R.S., you alright?" I looked back and saw Lax standing behind me with an indifferent look. "Don't try to blame this on me. Syphilis does not make you"- I started wrenching again, feeling dizzier as I went. Suddenly my hips started hurting. I looked down, wondering if I had eaten something bad. Or maybe Major Force-feed had side effects to his methodology. "Jordan, do you need me to get the nurse?"

I was too focused on the pain filling me to be shock by her concerned voice. "I- I don't know."

I held onto my stomach and crawled into a ball, sweating as I saw the girl grab her cell phone and dial. After a few moments, she spoke quickly. "Dad, get to school. NOW!"

I woke up and winced when I saw white walls. I put my arm over my eyes and winced, looking over as someone spoke. Denise and the Major looked up, sighing with relief.

"Oh Jordan!" The woman walked over and hugged me, pulling back to look at me. Her face was etched with worry and her makeup screwed up from crying. "Frank, get a doctor. How are you feeling dear?"

"Groggy… what happened?" Before she could answer, a doctor walked in. He smiled at me, walking over to the bed and pulling a stool up.

"Good morning Jordan. You must be feeling like crap after what you went through. I'm Doctor Randal. How are you feeling?" I shrugged, my eyes still adjusting. "You passed out in the bathroom and one of your classmates called her father, who's a medic here. We ran some tests and you were experiencing chemical imbalance in your thyroid. On top of the fact you're underweight and have a couple of vitamin deficiencies, it's no wonder you passed out so quickly."

"So how is this going to affect the baby?" I asked, not thrilled that I owed Lax something. Denise's eyes widen and the Major went pale, looking at me for two seconds before his eyes dropped and his knuckled clenched, going white.

"Oh honey, you weren't pregnant. We checked and made sure when you started bleeding. That was just some of the side effects of the thyroid malfunctions." You could hear me sigh with relief. It was all hormonal… God bless Mother Nature. The Doctor told me he was going to put me on a crap load of meds, vitamins and a diet that would force me to gain weight healthily. "Your muscle mass isn't an issue on its own, but your FBI is horribly low. Had you been pregnant, you probably would have miscarried from that alone. As it shows with your mothers medical history: three miscarriages because of her bipolar."

"The alcohol was probably more of a reason than that." I muttered so he couldn't hear me. A few minutes later, the Doctor left and Denise followed him to use the restroom and left her husband with me. The tension in the room filled up so much that I thought I was going to be sick again. "When can I get out of here?"

"Soon." His voice was flat and low. The Major rose and walked over to me, hands in his pockets. He looked disgusted. "No more crap or cheek. How long have you been having casual… relations?"

I was so groggy I didn't care if he knew the truth or not. "Three years."

"You been on the pill the entire time," He looked like he was struggling with the words. "But do you have them use- condoms?"

"Most of the time." The Major shook his head, pursing his lips. "Look, I'm not knocked up. Your reputation and honor has been saved."

"My reputation and honor includes that of my children and wife, pregnant teen or base slut." His tone was stern and militant. He looked at me, his eyes cold as ice. "If I find out you are screwing around again with anyone, I will pack your things and send you to the nearest convent. I figure I'd honor your mother's religion choice on this one."

"You have to be kid…" My words faded out when I saw his expression harden, amazed that was even possible. "I graduate in two years, Major."

"Well, until you get handed that diploma and leave my custody, you're my responsibility. I will not let your mother's lessons, whatever the hell they were, turn you into her. Starting tomorrow morning, you're under my rules. I don't care what Denise, Jeremy or your grandpa say."

Part of me wanted to fight the Major and his dictator ways, but I was too exhausted to. Hell, after all the drama and emotional roller coasters I had received in the past couple weeks, it actually sounded kind of like a blessing. After living with Bianca, how hard could he really be?