Amanda sat at a lunch table in the very corner of the cafeteria staring at her ring while John was getting pops from the machine. She twisted her hand this way and that, making the jewel catch the light and smiling each time it sparkled.
She lifted her head when she heard the chair directly across from her being pulled out; finding Allison taking the seat. She groaned and laid her head in her hands, wishing the romantic stupor didn't have to end.
"John told me he was going to propose to you." She declared, breaking the ice forcefully. Amanda lifted her head and threw her hands in the air dramatically, signaling frustration.
"Of course he did!" she muttered under her breath. Allison threw her bag up on the table and shot Amanda a cold glare.
"I take it you said yes?" she asked, looking down at the ring. Amanda clenched her fist and nodded slowly.
"Obviously." Amanda muttered and opened her hand, tapping her fingers on the Formica table top agitatedly. Allison sat there staring at her in her creepy way with her black rimmed eyes and messy hair; Amanda was struggling to keep from launching herself over the table to strangle her.
She looked over and saw John still finagling with the pop machine; hoping against all hope he'd come back over before Allison said something to really set her off. She'd hoped at some point that they could become friends but now it was clear that Allison had no intention of letting go of her grip on John.
"Well congratulations I guess." She muttered icily, yanking Amanda out of her hopeful stupor.
"Is there something I'm missing here?" Amanda snarled, finally at the end of her rope with this girl who seemed to be involved in everything to do with John, "do you and him have a history? Or are you just delusion with your wishful thinking and now that I'm here you think you can take out your frustrations on me and play these mind games? Because if so you can knock it right the fuck off because John proposed to ME not you; get over it." Amanda all but shouted and stood, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder. She walked away from the table past a shocked John and towards the door, stopping to stare down at a kid with a plate of nachos.
"That," she pointed at the plate, overwhelmed at its stench, "smells like something fucking died." She snarled at the kid and walked out much to everyone's surprise.
##
Amanda realized she had overreacted as she perused the aisles of the grocery store, deciding whether to buy chunky or smooth peanut butter. Her mother was with her so they could spend some time together since they no longer lived at the same residence.
"You've been under a lot of stress baby girl." Her mom explained away her outburst in the cafeteria after a few hours of gushing and screaming about her engagement. In all honestly Amanda was slightly nervous to face John again, unsure if her freak out had maybe changed his mind about the whole thing…
She really hoped it didn't.
"Yeah but I completely went off on her; I mean she's been a little weird about John but what I said was completely uncalled for." She admitted sheepishly. She finally grabbed the chunky peanut butter and smiled at the thought of eating it along with some celery like she used to as a kid.
"Well sometimes girl can be emotional…" her mom continued to explain. Amanda rolled her eyes and continued to push the cart, wondering what John ate and if she should buy some of the few things she knew he liked.
"I've never been this emotional… it's weird." She confessed, eyeing the jar of pickles they'd stopped in front of in the next aisle over. Her mom grabbed a few cans of pickled beets and looked at her, exacerbated.
"Well you just got engaged, you're a tense ball of emotion honey; it's normal." Amanda shrugged and finally grabbed the pickles. Staring down at her ring as he mother contemplated a few other items, Amanda felt true fear at the thought that maybe John had changed his mind due to the scene she'd caused.
"Then I completely freaked out on this kid eating nachos simply because they smelled awful." She tried to distract herself, her mom shot her a confused look then went back to shopping.
"Well honey you're just stressed." She rubbed Amanda's shoulder comfortingly. Amanda wished she could be talking to Nana about this but shrugged it off.
They grabbed a few more things before Amanda had a sudden thought and excused herself to run to the personal care section and grab what she was thinking of; praying to god she didn't really need it.
##
Her previous flare up of unexpected emotion combined with her unusual sense of smell and overwhelming desire to eat raw peanut butter, which she'd hated all her life, had led her here; sitting on the bathroom counter biting her nail. John had called the diner and left a message with Barry telling him to tell her he'd be home later; he'd gone out with friends. Amanda was scared shitless that her outburst would change things between them but she had far more pressing matters on her mind.
It was eight pm and she hadn't even thought about making dinner; the only thing on her mind was the slim piece of plastic on the bathroom counter. She was cross-legged on its marble surface; simply staring down at the test, hoping against hope it wouldn't show what she was worried it would. She'd pulled out the round disk holding her pills and counted them; mortified to find she'd missed taking one when they moved.
"Maybe it was just some freak circumstance… maybe he had oysters on his nachos and they did actually stink… maybe my taste buds are changing and all of the sudden I like peanut butter… it's not that weird in fact, everything will turn out fine." She rambled to no one but herself as she stared down at that little window that eventually spit out its results.
Grabbing the directions she stared down and sat two god awful, horrifying, depressing lines…
She was pregnant.
:) You know I love my cliffhangers. Let me know what you think! XOXO