Weeks passed. Despite her best efforts, Manny was starting to show. As her stomach grew thicker, her confidence waned. She wore baggy sweatshirts and bulky sweaters when she could but soon she wouldn't be able to hide her pregnancy from her classmates much longer.
She had told her parents and as she had expected, they were furious. She decided to move in with Emma for a little while until her parents had time to calm down-if they ever did.
She also obsessed nearly everyday over how she was going to tell Craig. She was almost grateful that he was absent from school for such a long time. She knew that she would have had no choice but to tell him if they saw each other everyday. But now, the only way she would be able to tell him would be to either call him or visit him, both of which she was not ready to do.
Craig, meanwhile, was at home all the time, mostly lying in his bed, sleeping or watching television. Joey was worried about him despite the fact that Craig insisted that he was still sick. He knew that Craig was in some stage of depression and did all he could to help. He'd try to get Craig to come with him on errands or at least out of his bed. These occasions were few and far between. Marco and Jimmy visited regularly to bring him the homework he missed but they rarely stayed for longer than a few minutes. They both knew that something was wrong with their friend but couldn't quite reach him.
By the time April rolled around, Manny started missing school, often too sick in the morning to attend classes. She also resigned from the spirit squad to the shock and dismay of Paige. The head cheerleader confronted Manny one afternoon in the girls' bathroom. Manny was washing her hands at the sink when Paige stormed in.
"Manny, what is the deal with you quitting the squad? We have that tournament coming up in like no time and you bail on us?"
Manny looked away. "Paige, I'm sorry but I have some other stuff going on right now that I need to concentrate on."
Paige waved that away. "We've been training so hard to win this thing and you were with us up until recently. You'd better have a good reason to screw us over."
Manny gathered up her books as the bell rang. "Look, Paige I have to go to class."
"No, you have to stay here and listen to me." Paige moved to block the doorway.
Manny rolled her eyes. "Get out of my way." As she struggled to pass by Paige, her books slipped out of her hands and tumbled to the ground. Groaning, she bent to pick them up. Paige slowly bent also but only picked up one thing. It was a pamphlet about teen pregnancy. Manny froze when she saw it.
"Manny?" Paige looked back and forth from the pamphlet to Manny. "Are- are you.pregnant?"
Manny was silent as she continued to gather her books.
"Is that why you quit the squad so suddenly? And why you've been wearing all that baggy clothing?" Paige didn't need an answer to know it was true. "Oh God."
"Paige, you can't tell anyone," Manny pleaded. "Not even Hazel, not anyone."
Paige nodded slowly. "Uh-huh. So who's the father?"
Manny put a hand to her forehead. "Paige, I'm serious." She put her books back on the counter and leaned against one of the stalls. "I'm not ready to tell anyone. The only people who know right now are Emma and her mom. Oh yeah, and my parents but I might as well have not even told them."
"What do you mean?'
"Well, I've been staying at Emma's recently cause they flipped out when I told them," Manny admitted.
Paige was silent for a moment. "Manny, I'm sorry I just bugged out on you about the stupid tournament. I had no idea something this huge was going- wait a sec. You just said that only Emma, her mom and your parents know about the baby? That means."
"I haven't told the father yet. I know, I know, I have to and I will soon. Just not right now." Manny knew Paige was dying to know but wasn't sure if she should tell her. "I know you want to know who the father is but- "
"Craig?"
Manny was so surprised that she didn't even have a chance to deny it. "How did you.?"
"I heard about your whole little thing from Ashley," Paige replied. "Figured it would be him. So you haven't told him at all? He's just lying at home sick in bed with no idea of what's going on with you?"
"Pretty much."
"Manny, you have to tell him. Wouldn't you want to know if your positions were reversed?"
"Of course I would. But how do you tell someone that, Paige?" Manny felt tears spring into her eyes. She had been getting very emotional over the past few days, especially in relation to her pregnancy. "I can't do it, I just can't tell him."
It was one of the first times in Manny's life she had seem Paige look concerned about someone other than herself.
"Hey, Manny, don't worry. You'll find a way to tell him." She put her arm around the younger girl. "And Craig's usually a pretty nice guy. I'm sure he won't freak out on you like most guys would."
"You think?" Manny felt a small glimmer of hope.
"Sure," Paige said.
Manny had to admit that she felt a bit better when she gathered her books to head off to class. Surprisingly, Paige had actually given her the courage to do the thing she had been dreading.
But neither one of them saw Ashley quickly hurry down the hall as they opened the door to the bathroom.

+++

The walk to Craig's house from the school was longer than Manny had suspected. Winded by the time she turned onto his street, she paused and took several deep breaths before walking up to his front door. Hesitating for just a minute, she rang the bell. Hearing it gong inside the house, it was a few minutes before Joey opened the door looking harried.
"Manny!" he said, obviously very surprised. "Uh, come on in."
"Thanks." Manny entered the house. She had never been inside Craig's house before. Their rendezvous had been mostly in either his garage or her house when her parents were out. Looking around, it looked like a typical bachelor's pad. She could imagine what it had looked like only a few weeks earlier. A tiny purple parka on the coat rack she now hung her own coat on; various toys and stuffed animals scattered around the living room; crude drawings hung on the refrigerator with pride.
"Craig's upstairs," Joey told her. "I'm sorry, I have to run out to the car lot but you can head on up. It's the second door on the right, you should be able to tell."
Feeling strange, she headed up the stairs. Immediately she realized what Joey had meant. Craig's door had several signs on it including a parental advisory poster and bumper stickers with clever sayings.
Manny tried to slow down her speeding heart rate before knocking gently.
"Come in," Craig called.
She pushed open the door and was surprised at how dark the room was. The light wasn't on and the shade had been pulled down almost all the way. Most of the light in the room came from the television. Craig was sitting up in his bed.
"Manny?"
"Hey Craig." Manny stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay I guess." He was watching her warily, as though she might suddenly try to attack him. "I had pneumonia."
"Yeah I heard." She looked around for a place to sit and finally her only choice in the small room was the edge of the bed. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you. It's probably going to be a huge shock-I know it was a huge shock to me."
"All right."
Manny took a deep breath and looked Craig straight in the eyes. "I'm pregnant."
Craig didn't respond for a long time. He just stared at the television with no expression on his face until Manny wondered if he was going into shock.
"Craig?"
The sound of her voice seemed to make him remember that someone else was in the room with him and he spoke. "I-it's mine?"
Manny nodded.
"Oh. How.when.are." Craig couldn't seem to figure out what question he wanted to ask. "Are you going to keep it?"
Manny nodded again.
"Oh," Craig repeated. "Wh-when did you find out?"
"About three weeks ago."
"Three weeks ago?!" Craig suddenly seemed fully alert. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I-I couldn't, Craig. You don't know how hard it was for me to come over here today. I didn't know how to tell you something like this."
"Gee I know saying the words 'I'm pregnant' must be difficult. This isn't the kind of thing you keep from someone. I'm going to be father," he said in disbelief. "And you've known for three weeks without informing me."
Manny felt anger and hurt start to flare up. "Craig, I'm still getting used to the idea myself. You've been sick and not in school and I didn't want to tell you before. Besides," she added, "it's not like you've never kept secrets that you shouldn't have."
Craig looked stricken. "I can't believe you're throwing that back in my face. Anyway, this is different. Much different." He put his face into his hands. "I can't believe this happened."
Disillusioned and confused, Manny stood up. "Maybe I shouldn't have come. I'll let myself out." She left quickly before the tears started to fall down her cheeks. She couldn't have predicted a worse reaction from him.