After the little puking incident, Frankie and I headed off for Vinita High School along with Melba, who was starting eleventh grade. Once there, Melba led us through the halls to let us get familiar with the place. Frankie and I didn't know this school or the people in it all too well, but Melba, Shelly, and Homer were popular enough with the kids so our minds were at ease. Besides, since it was the first day of school, we didn't have to worry about doing much schoolwork. Just about everybody was content to hang out in the hallways and talk amongst themselves. They only had a few minutes until first period, though, so we needed to hurry up. Frankie and I headed off to our first class of the day, and Melba headed off to hers.

At first period, Frankie and I were pleasantly surprised to see Ximena Biggs as our teacher. I guess she transferred from Ewing Halsell Middle School at some point. She greeted all the students who came into the classroom with a smile.

"Good morning, everyone," Ximena began. "I'm Ms. Biggs, and I'm here to teach you all English I. Before we began, how about you all introduce yourselves?" She pointed at me. "Jessica, why don't you go first?"

I let out a reluctant sigh and went up to the front of the class. "Alright. Well, my name is Jessica Traversie, and I moved down here with my namshim from Malta, Montana two years ago. Uh, namshim means 'grandpa' in Cheyenne. Speaking of, he passed away a year ago and my aunt and I have been living with Frankie's family ever since."

"Very interesting, Jessica. You can go back to your seat now." Ximena waited until I did so before she continued. "Now, who else would like to go up to the class and introduce themself?"

Frankie eagerly raised her hand.

Ximena beamed up. "Ooh, Frankie. I see you want to go next. Tell the class about yourself."

Frankie just nodded her head and practically trotted her way up to the front of the class. "Hi, my name is Frances McBride, but everyone just calls me Frankie. Well, um, my aunt and uncle adopted me after my birth parents died. I've been good friends with Jessica ever since she moved here two years ago. My older brother Glen is attending college at Emporia State University in Kansas. I hope to see him again during fall break."

"That's very nice to hear, Frankie." Ximena smiled at her. "Alright, you can go back to your seat now. Who's next?"

And so it went on like that, with other students introducing themselves and talking about the interesting bits about themselves. Jeez, I was getting kinda bored listening to these other students. What a great start this had been. Finally, as if in the blink of an eye, the student introductions were done and over with.

"Well, wasn't that interesting, class?" Ximena asked all of us. "Everyone got to know each other, even if they only shared a little bit about themselves." She then looked to the clock hanging over the chalkboard. "Oh, well, would you look at the time? It's time for you all to head on down to your second period classes. Don't forget to pick your syllabuses on the way out."

With that, every one of us students gathered up our backpacks, grabbed our syllabuses off of Ximena's desk, and headed out the door for our second classes of the day.

At the beginning of lunch time, I hung out near the girls' bathroom door and waited for Frankie to finish puking her guts out. It took me a good five minutes of waiting before Frankie was done, and then I waited another twenty seconds for her to wash her hands before she came out. Little did we know that Melba had already approached the door.

"Frankie, I heard you puking this morning." Melba was glaring at us. "What's going on?"

Neither Frankie nor myself could say anything. Melba could be quite intimidating in person, especially when she was cross.

"C'mon, guys," Melba ventured with us. "You know you can tell me anything, right? I know something's going on with you guys. Don't worry, I promise not to tell anybody else."

Frankie sighed. "Alright... Frankie and I had sex."

Melba's jaw dropped to the floor. "Seriously? Um, okay..." She took time to collect herself before speaking again. "Wow, I'm not even sure how to process that. Well, at least you were careful, right?"

Frankie's breathing hitched. "Oh God, we didn't even think about it."

My eyes darted down to the floor. "Yeah, we didn't do that."

Frankie began to bite down on her lip. "I started feeling real sick not much longer after that. Jasper and I have an idea of what this could be, but... I don't know if we're ready for it."

I could see Melba's eyes bulge out, almost at the point of popping out of their sockets. "Are... are you sure? Maybe you're wrong. You could take the test or go see a doctor. For all you know, it could just be some really bad virus or something... you know, like something not contagious."

"C'mon, Melba. We all know it's not a virus, let alone a non-contagious one. How are we supposed to take care of a baby while in high school anyway?"

Melba let out a heavy sigh. "All right, I tell you what. After school, I'm gonna go ask Shelly to take us to the pharmacy. Once we're at the pharmacy, we go get a pregnancy test. Then, once you've taken it, I'm gonna go make a doctor's appointment for you. After all, if what you're saying is true and you really are having a baby, then I want to make sure my little nephew or niece doesn't get sick or anything."

Frankie smiled at her. "Thanks, Melba. I knew I could count on you."

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Alright, guys. Let's go eat lunch. We've only got forty-five minutes left."

After school, Shelly drove me, Frankie, and Melba down to the pharmacy about fifteen miles down from Vinita High School. I couldn't help but relax during the whole ride over, eyes halfway closed and a small smile on my face. I think Melba offering to help us out really did the trick of me. Frankie relaxed beside me, her face identical to mine.

"Hey, Shelly," I piped up. "Thanks again for doing this for us. I'm not sure what we'd do without you."

"No problem," Shelly replied. "Also, is it true? You guys think Frankie really might be pregnant?"

"Well, actually," Melba started. "Frankie and Jessica seem pretty sure that she actually is pregnant. I'm not sure myself."

Shelly pursed her lips. "Hmm, okay. Anyway, if it comes out positive, then what? What are you gonna do?"

Frankie perked up, confused by what Shelly had just asked. "W-What? What do you mean?"

"What do you want to do if it turns out you are pregnant?"

"Oh..." Frankie's expression darkened upon realizing what Shelly had asked of her. "Oh God no! I'd never do something like that! Anything but that!"

Melba chimed in. "Fine with me. Personally, if I'd been pregnant at your age, I would've gotten an abortion before it could feel pain. At that point, it would still be considered a cluster of cells. But your body, your choice."

"Hey, asshole!" Shelly was glaring out the window at the traffic in front of her and angrily slamming down on the car horn. "Get out of my way!"

Several more car horns answered hers. Shelly growled irritably, gritting her teeth as her car slowly made its way towards its destination. By the time she parked her car near the entrance of the pharmacy, Shelly was already feeling better. Soon after, we all got out of the car and made our way inside the pharmacy. We all looked around for a bit until we came across the feminine care aisle. Just looking through the aisle actually made me a little sad, but I was here for Frankie's sake, not mine.

"So is this where we get the, uh...?" I asked.

"It would seem so," Shelly replied.

We examined the tests sitting out on the shelf and looked around for the best one to get the job done. Melba pulled a box off the shelf and showed us.

"Well, this one's supposed to give fast and accurate results," Melba said. "I know it's, like, thirty bucks but I think we should buy it anyway. What do you think, Shelly?"

Shelly looked the box over. "Looks fine to me. Why don't you get a few more? We want to make sure before we make a doctor's appointment, okay?"

Melba nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Oh, and we also want to pick up some prenatal vitamins, some skin cream, and some Arrowhead Water while we're here."

"Okay, gotcha."

"Can we also get some candy while we're here?" I asked. "I bet Frankie will want something to snack on this week."

Melba sighed and amusingly shook her head. "Sure, I guess I don't see why not."

With that, Melba got her hands on everything we wanted besides the pregnancy tests. She then handed the stuff over to us so we could pay for it ourselves. We made our way over to a nearby register. A middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair grinned at us while he rang up our purchases.

"Oh, hey, I know you," the cashier said with a laugh. "The McBride kids, right? And, uh, Jessica Traversie?"

"Uh-huh," Shelly replied.

"What gives? Is your mom pregnant again?"

"Well, we're not sure. She asked us to pick up some pregnancy tests on the way home from school."

"Oh yeah, that's right. It was your first day back, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Frankie and Jessica just started ninth grade at Vinita High School. I can't wait for them to find out how chaotic high school life is." Shelly chuckled. "Alright, well, I guess we better get going. Mom's probably wondering what's taking us so long."

The cashier chuckled himself. "Alright, you girls. Take care."

"You too, sir."

With that, we all picked up our shopping bags, left the pharmacy, and got into the car.

"Shelly, why did you tell the cashier that Mom was pregnant again?" Frankie asked.

"I just wanted to make sure rumors didn't start spreading before you were ready to tell anyone, that's all," Shelly replied. "Besides, how long do you plan to keep this from Mom and Dad?"

"I mean, obviously, Jasper and I can't keep this from them forever. At some point, they're going to notice."

"Right, but I just want to make sure we don't leave them in the dark for too long." She removed the pregnancy tests and prenatal vitamins from one of the bags and placed them into her purse. "Why don't we tell them after you've taken the tests?"

"O-Okay..."

After a while, we finally made it home. Newt and Jewell were the first ones to greet us at the door.

"There you are," Jewell said. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, we had to pick up some candy at Walgreens," Shelly replied. "Figured we'd need some snacks for tomorrow."

Jewell nodded. "Okay, so how was your first day of school?"

Shelly, Melba, Frankie, and I all gave her a resounding "It was good."

"Good to hear," Newt said. "You got your syllabuses, right?"

"Yeah, we got 'em," Shelly replied. "We're gonna look over them tonight."

"That's great to hear, Shelly. Make sure you, Jessica, and your sisters give them a good read over, okay?"

"Okay."

We quickly trotted our way over to the bathroom I shared with Frankie. Shelly grabbed three of the pregnancy test boxes out of her purse and placed them on the bathroom counter near the sink.

"Hey, Frankie," I said. "Do you... want to be alone when you, um, take the first test?"

Frankie shook her head and then took a deep breath. "No. Well, Shelly and Melba... you're gonna have to leave, but Jasper... I'm gonna need you to stay with me while I do this."

"Well, okay, then." I motioned for Shelly and Melba to leave the bathroom before focusing my attention back on Frankie. "It's gonna be okay, I promise. Whatever happens, I will always be there for you." I then hugged her tightly before letting go. "Alright, I guess you know what to do."

"Yeah." Frankie tore open the package of the first one and read the instructions, breathing heavily. "Here goes nothing." She pulled down her pants and followed the instructions. The test said to wait about two minutes or so after following the instructions. Hands shaking, she then laid the test on the back of the toilet, standing up and waiting. "And now we wait..."

After a while, I watched Frankie pick up the test, drop it once, and then stare at it, squeezing the tears out of her eyes so she could see more clearly. I craned my neck over to see the results myself. Sure enough, two pink lines were staring back at us. It was positive. She sat down on the toilet, speechless.

"Are you okay?" I asked gently.

Frankie just shook her head.

"Why don't you take the two other tests?" I suggested. "We just need to make sure before we tell your folks."

"Okay..." Frankie said weakly.

Frankie opened up the other two packages and then used the remaining two tests in quick succession. Just like the first one, the results came out positive.

"Well, I guess that's that, then," I said. "We're going to be parents."

"Yep," Frankie replied. "We're going to be parents."

"Guess we should tell Newt and Jewell now."

"Yeah, might as well. Let's just rip off the Band-Aid and get it over with."

With that, we walked out of the bathroom and into the dining room where dinner would be waiting for us.