AN: hi! few things before we start.

this is not, i repeat, NOT Amy/Ben. im not a big fan of the ship therefore it's not included. honestly if ben even is in this his role will be minimal. however, while this fic may end with Ricky/Amy, it will not be right away and will not be a huge focus. there will, though, be plenty of ricky and amy bonding and general friend/co-parentship and he will definitely be a large part of the fic -him and amy getting together will just be gradual. a slow burn, if you will.

this ff is cross-posted on ao3 if you like/prefer to read over there. its posted under the same name, but my profile name is 'femmeatefatale'

additionally, ive aged everybody up a year. so everyone who was 15 and a freshman is now 16 and a sophomore and those 16 and a sophomore are now 17 and a junior. nothing else is changed in that regard though, the story starts in the exact same place just with a years difference.

the first two or so chapters are the strictest canon-wise before i really start switching shit up; amy, her interactions, her relationships, everything. so while the first chapters do stick to their correlating episodes a bit, the rest of this fic rarely will. the plots? yes. the word for word dialogue and actions? definitely not.

also im making amy, adrian, and grace friends because im god and no one can stop me. cue evil laugh. ill also probably end up changing small or large, generally random things. i for one have never liked the name john...

essentially this was my favorite show when i was younger, and now that im older i nostalgically love it, but certainly dont like it. so im changing shit but keeping to the general plot and vibe and shit.

it'll be fun, just trust me and the process.

im mad with power, don't expect things to stay all the way canon or canon at all. this is my tslotat world, your just... well not living in it, but like visiting it like a tourist destination or some shit. whatever.

Chapter 1: two fucking lines

Amy walked through her front door in a daze, barely managing a smile at her mother, the words coming out of her mouth running together into a mindless jumble. The only sentence that pierced her fog as she shut the bathroom door was the phrase "You're only young once." The irony of the statement whilst she held an early results pregnancy test in hand was not lost on her.

Quickly taking the test and thanking any god out there that 'super gulps' existed, Amy capped the pink and white tube and laid it on the counter.

She sat down on the edge of the sink, willing the test to defy what she knew had to be true; to be the first surprise she'd welcome wholly, to for the love of god say anything other than the two-line declaration of the end of her childhood, of her singular independent life. Willing the courage up, she stood and took a peak. Two lines.

Two. Fucking. Lines.

Amy slid down the bathroom wall, hand over her mouth to conceal the sound of her soul being crushed. Any way she dealt with this she would never be the same, all would destroy the childhood innocence she had, however much that was left. Jesus, she was sixteen years old, she only just started her sophomore year a week ago. She was supposed to be getting acne and wearing clothes she'd think were ugly by next year and being killed by homework and getting her drivers license, not pregnant before she took her first math test.

She took a deep breath and tried to gather some of her composure, she couldn't walk out of here looking like her entire world was just set ablaze, no matter how much it felt it. Splashing some water on her face, she looked in the mirror. It's amazing how everything can be totally and irrevocably different, and you can still look exactly the same.

Straightening up, Amy put the test back in the box and hid it in her french horn, steeling herself before she had to talk to her mom again.

"Pot roast and mashed potatoes for dinner hun, they're reheated but should still be just as good," Anne said, "You okay Amy, you're looking a little pale?" She asked, reaching across the counter to feel her cheek.

Amy pulled on her most believable smile and nodded her head, "I'm okay."

She'd never wished more in her life that was true.

Amy stood at her locker, continuously forgetting what book she was supposed to be getting. Her mind was racing, jumping back and forth with no coherent direction: from maternity dresses, to fifth birthday parties, to whether a pony is completely out of the equation, to the persisting thought of what if I don't at all. She couldn't even think the word... of her condition.

She shook her head and finally just grabbed her history book, whether that was what she needed in the first place or not she didn't care anymore. Her eyes scanned the crowd of her hormone-crazed peers for her friends, when they caught on the drummer with his arm around the majorette.

Ricky.

How the hell had she forgotten about Ricky? Would he want anything to do with it -no, him or her? Oh god that's even worse! Them? Them works for now, I guess- with them? Should she tell him or wait for him to find out some other way? Will he stick around or run away? Would he even care?

None of her questions had even remotely pleasing outcomes, but her spiral was interrupted by her cohorts youthful shining faces racing down the stairs towards her.

"Oh my god, we saw him!" Madison proclaimed excitedly.

Amy felt a stab of fear that the redhead could somehow know about Ricky, that she'd somehow heard her thoughts or Amy herself had said something about him out loud.

"Who?"

"Who? Mark Molina! The new counselor?" Lauren responded, almost vibrating in place.

"The new single hottie of a counselor," Madison gushed right back.

"Oh," Amy replied. She'd completely forgotten about the new counselor, her mind overrun with the new... development, she couldn't really bring herself to try to care.

"Oh? That's it? What, you have something more interesting than Mark Molina?" Madison asked doubtfully.

Abruptly she was overcome by the pure need to tell someone, the weight of it suddenly crushing her to carry alone. She glanced around shiftily at their classmates in the vicinity, all wrapped up in their own little conversations and worlds.

"I had sex," Amy blurted out, their awaiting dubious faces instant shifting into that of shock.

"No you didn't."

"With who?"

"Impossible!"

"Back to who?"

They questioned rapid fire.

Amy took a breath, "No one, just- just someone one night at band camp. They don't- um, they don't go here," she lied. She really didn't need them to know everything, not yet anyways.

"Oh, come on! You have to give us more than just one night at band camp!" said Madison, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at Amy determinedly.

"How was it?" Lauren asked, mirroring her stance; her expression just as hungry for what they assumed were tantalizing details.

Amy was at a loss- she didn't know why she opened her mouth. Madison and Lauren were anything but comforting pillars of support.

"It- it was nothing. It really wasn't anything all that special or great," she said, just wanting this conversation to be over with, "absolutely nothing like what they show in the movies."

"I just… I can't believe you didn't tell us," said Lauren, slightly hurt.

"Yeah, why are you telling us now?"

Amy froze, her mind racing to come up with an explanation as she subconsciously moved her book in front of her abdomen. She only realized her mistake when she saw the looks of dawning comprehension come across their faces.

"No," Lauren breathed, barely audibly.

"Oh Amy, you're not," Madison followed, the pityingly anguished expression on her face inciting in Amy the overwhelming urge to scream.

"I have to go, I have-" she didn't even bother to finish her sentence as she unceremoniously walked as fast as she could away from them, leaving their shocked faces standing and staring at her still ajar locker behind her as she rounded the corner.

She vaguely heard some guy talking to her, giving him the basic unenthused hello, as she continued past in a daze, her mind going right back to the swirling vortex of mounting questions, each more terrifying than the last. Amy looked up as she neared the music room, nearly bumping into someone.

An apology was on her lips when she finally registered who she was looking at, the words dying on her tongue as she stood in front of him.

Ricky looked at her, a small smirk on his face, "Hey, you. It's... Amy, right?"

Her mind was stunned, only one word ringing out clear and repeating throughout.

What?

"I'm just messing with you, kid. You don't think I could ever forget the night we spent together at band camp, do you?" Ricky said with a slightly smug air, reaching up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

Amy snapped out of her stupor in an instant, grabbing his hand from her cheek harshly.

She spit out coldly, "Never touch me."

Amy spun around and continued on her way into the music room, not bothering to see his reaction. At least one question was certain in her mind, she wouldn't be too broken up about him not being involved. Kid indeed.