The next couple days Ephram spent some time with Amy. She knew something was up because he wasnt himself, which sort of concerned her. As they were sitting on the couch, she propped her elbow on the arm then cradled her head as she looked at Ephram, "what's up with you, Ephram?"
"What do you mean?" he asked as he watched the movie they were watching intently.
"I
dont know, it's like you havent been yourself lately."
He
looked at her, not sure what to say. Should he just forget
everything and run far far away!? Then again, he didnt want to be
like his father who was never there for him. Even though Ephram was
scared, he had a responsibility and he had to face it even if he just
felt like crawling under a rock and hiding. There was no doubt he
was scared, but facing Amy seemed to make him cringe. Should he lie?
Should he tell her the truth? Either way he would end up hurting
her. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it just as
fast. Now's not the time, she doesn't need to know just yet,
he thought to himself so he said, "I'm fine, just had a lot
going on lately, that's all." Then he remembered how he felt
when he learned that Madison was pregnant and that is father kenw
about it and that he lied. He didn't want that, he didn't want Amy
angry at him, but he figured she would be angry either way so no
matter what he was going to have to find a way to tell her. He sat
back, closed his eyes to figure out a way to present this information
to his girlfriend. He's known for two weeks now and it's been hard
to keep this type of thing from anybody, especially Amy of all
people. At the last minute he stopped himself and decided he would
converse with Madison first to see if she had a battle plan.
The next day after work, he decided to head to Madison's. It was a very warm breezy day so the two of them decided to go for a walk to the local ice cream joint where they would meet up with a couple friends of hers before they decided to head to the mall.
"Hey guys!" she yelled happily as they all congregated around a picnic table. "Ephram, these are my friends, Khaki – the one with the blue streaks in her hair, and Yanu, the lanky tall one with no shoes!" she laughed, "Guys, this is Ephram."
Yanu and Khaki greeted Ephram happily with a warm hug, and they chatted with Madison a little while longer before heading towards the mall. Madison gave brief profiles of them to Ephram when they left, "So, those are my artsy fartsy hippie friends," she laughed, "I work with Khaki at the recording industry and I met Yanu through her. We used to hang out a lot" she slightly smiled but didnt have to say anymore because Ephram figured it out. They decided to finally get some ice cream.
It was almost like old times, they were laughing and joking and having a great time and they seemed to be able to tell each other almost everything again. They sat across from each other at the picnic table just talking about nothing at all.
When there was a brief silence, Ephram asked, "do you have a
plan when it comes to telling people?"
"No why?"
she asked, smiling slightly.
Ephram thought for a second, then said, "Because I was thinking
we could, uhm...uh, keep it a secret?"
Laughing, Madison
looked down at her little pot belly, "I doubt that we could
pass that off, Ephram." she got a thought in her head then
looked at Ephram seriously, "you haven't told Amy yet, have
you?"
He sighed, "not yet..."
"She has the right to know, Ephram..."
Ephram chuckled, which made Madison ask, "what are you laughing at? This isn't a funny situation, Ephram!"
"this petty arguing is what's funny" he paused, trying not to smile, "it's what we used to do all the time just to get under each other's skin, remember." even though he knew Madison wasnt too happy with him right now, he couldnt help but smile. He tried to cover it by putting his hand over his mouth, which only made Madison grit her teeth, but in the end she ended up smiling herself and the two ended up laughing together remembering the past.
As the two got up to head back to the apartment, Ephram said,
"Yeah...Amy does have the right to know what's going on."
he looked ahead pensively, "but I'm afraid of what it might do
to her. I mean..." he took a deep breath, "I wont be
surprised if she breaks up with me, but it's the whole telling
everybody else afterwards."
"Would she do that? Tell
everybody else?" Madison asked
"To get back at me, I think she would."
The two talked and joked a little while longer before Ephram figured it was time to get home before his father got suspicious. The day seemed so perfect, Ephram grabbed Madison's hand and pulled her to him and embraced her in a hug. It was the way he hugged her that made her suspicious, which made her pull away. "We cant do this Ephram."
Trying to act stupid as if he didn't just get caught, he said, "what
do you mean?"
"Dont do that, Ephram, you know what I
mean."
he sighed, she was right afterall. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "would you still feel the same way if I wasnt with Amy?" he shook his head slightly and shut his eyes tightly realizing that wasn't a good question to ask and he wished he could take it back.
(A/N; read and review please, it means a lot!! more the merrier and I'll get more chapters out as soon as I can!)
