The second it had seemed like an acceptable time to make a call, Amanda had called Sam and pressed for details on what had happened with Jason. Sam had said that they talked for a few minutes and exchanged numbers, but hadn't spoken since then. Amanda convinced Sam to delete his information, much to Sam's reluctance. Amanda had let her guard down after that. Jason hadn't shown up at any other Centerscore events, so for now Amanda kept cool.
A few weeks had passed since that eventful Saturday night, and it was another normal Wednesday in school. Sam sat in bio class as Mrs. Dewey droned on about the digestive system. Sam tapped her pen against her notebook, bored out of her mind.
"Samantha Davis, if I could trouble you for one second of your precious attention?"
Sam looked up from her notebook, and all eyes in the room were on her. "Pardon me?"
"I'd appreciate it if you would pay attention in class like everyone else, and not wander off in your own world like you have ADHD or something."
Sam's jaw dropped. "Okay first of all, I do have ADHD, and for the record, that's so extremely inappropriate and offensive. Second, you don't get to talk to students that way. If your boring lesson was worth paying attention to, I'd be doing it, okay? I budget my time very appropriately." Sam flicked her pen and it hit the white wall and splattered purple ink everywhere. "Oops."
Mrs. Dewey fumed. "Perhaps you should go see Principal Shapiro, Samantha."
Sam stood up. "Sure, but first I think I'll make a few quick stops." Sam gave a tight smile and made her way down the aisles. When she passed Colt, she gave his shaggy head a little rub, until she made it to the door. She swung it open, stepped outside and slammed it closed, hard enough that she could see Mrs. Dewey cringe through the 1 way glass.
"Samantha, why are you here?" Sam sat across from Principal Shapiro in her office. Sam rested her head against the back of the seat.
Sam shrugged. "Beats me."
Shapiro sighed. "Sam, this is the third time in the past week you've been called to my office. Why are you being so disrespectful to your teachers?"
"I'm not! They're being disrespectful to me!"
Shapiro opened her mouth to speak just as the final bell rang, indicating that school was over. "Sam, watch the behavior issues. I don't want to call your mother in for a conference."
Sam stood up and hitched her bag up on her shoulder. "You're right, principal Shapiro. You really don't." With that, Sam turned and left her office, heading for her locker. When she got there, she found Colt waiting for her. "Hey, what happened?"
Sam rolled her eyes as she opened her locker. "Nothing interesting. Same fucking old." She put 2 books in and took out 1, stuffing it into her bag. She slammed her locker shut and started walking to the exit, with Colt on her right. "So where do you want to go?"
"Home."
"You want to go home?"
"Yep."
Colt raised his eyebrows. "By yourself?"
Sam stopped walking. She looked up at Colt with a pleading look on her face. "Please don't get offended. I just want to hang out by myself okay? I don't feel great."
Colt studied her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine I just," Sam ran a hang through her hair. "I just have to do something alone, okay? I'll call you later." And she walked away, leaving Colt standing there in the hallway.
Half an hour later, Sam paced across her room, contemplating options. On her desk, sat a little pink box. On her bed, sat Jessica. Jess was the only person she could turn to in a situation like this. Jess leaned forward and spoke first.
"How did this happen, Sam?"
Sam stopped pacing and gave Jessica an annoyed look. "How does it usually happen, Jess? Are you retarded?"
Jessica shrugged. "Did you guys not use protection?"
Sam flopped onto a chair. "No we did, I just- I don't know maybe it broke or something?"
"Or not. Maybe you're just PMSing. Only one way to find out." Jess indicated the box.
Sam looked at it and bit her lip. "I'd rather live in denial. I don't want to think about the possibility of me being…."
"Pregnant."
"Yeah, that. I don't want to be the scandal of Centerscore."
"You'd get used to it. I did." A year and a half ago, Jessica had been the talk of the school when she got pregnant by some guy at Spartan Academy. She'd walked around the halls of Centerscore for 8 and a half months shamelessly, as her stomach grew and grew. After she had the baby, she gave it up for adoption. Then she continued her life as if nothing had happened.
"Yeah but it's Colt I'm most concerned about."
Jessica thought about this. "How do you think he'd react?"
Sam shrugged. "I don't know…it could go either way. I never thought I'd actually have to find out. At least until like 10 years from now."
Jess raised her eyebrows. "It's your call, honey."
Sam looked down, and then at the box. She stood up and grabbed it, studying the instructions. Then she walked to her bathroom, stepped inside and shut the door. Jessica sat on Sam's bed, not moving. About 10 minutes later, Sam emerged from the bathroom. She held an empty box in her hand, and a white stick. Her hair was a mess and her eyes bloodshot. Jessica knew. Sam knew that she knew. Sam dropped the stick and collapsed onto the chair. Jess calmly picked up the stick and read it. Two plus signs. Positive.
