Chapter Three: Secrets

After telling Marco all about my talk with Emma's mom, he got all concerned about the baby. I mean, he was already concerned, but something must have popped into his head because all of a sudden he asked,

"Have you been to the doctor?"

"Uh…no…why?" I asked him.

"El!" he practically screamed in my ear. "You have to go to the doctor and see if the baby is okay!"

"Fine, I'll do it soon," I promised him. "But it has to be a doctor that doesn't know my mom."

"I know just the one. I'll make you an appointment for tomorrow after school."

"Tomorrow? After school?" I asked in disbelief. "Isn't that a little early?"

"Of course not! You have to get prenatal help right away," he said as if he thought I was a complete idiot.

"Well, you know I can't go right after school or else I'll have to make up an excuse for my mom," I told him.

"Just tell her you're coming over my house," he said, shrugging, as if I could see him.

"That won't work. She knows I don't go to your house until after dinner," I said.

"Fine, I'll make the appointment for after six, that way you're mom will probably be…sleeping…by then."

"You mean passed out?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I gotta go now because I haven't even started any homework. I'll see you in school tomorrow and let you know the exact time of that appointment. I love you so much Ellie," he said.

"Thanks a bunch Marco. I love you too," I made a kissing sound into the phone and he did too, a ritual we had before hanging up. I flopped backwards into my pillow and fell fast asleep.

School the next day was a blur. I found myself unable to concentrate on anything. The look on my face must have been pretty scary because no one bothered me at all. The only part of my day that stood out was when Emma approached me at my locker.

"Hey Ellie. My mom asked me to give this to you," she said, handing a sealed envelope to me. There was a letter inside.

"Did she say what it's about?" I asked her suspiciously.

"Nope. She just said that you left so quickly, she couldn't tell you something. I don't know. I'm just supposed to give it to you."

"Are you sure you don't know what's in here?" I asked, accusatory.

"No Ellie. I don't. I'm going to lunch now okay? Bye," Emma said slowly, as if I couldn't understand her. I rolled my eyes and walked to lunch, sitting at a table with Marco. Jimmy and Spinner were there, as usual. And along with Jimmy and Spinner come Hazel and Paige. Then of course, Craig and Ashley.

"Hey there vampire," Ashley said to me and smirked. I swear, that girl is crazy. She blames me that we're not friends, which means she blames me that she's more of an obsessed freak than I am.

"What's up bitch?" I asked her and smiled. Marco leaned in towards me.

"Okay, cool it," he whispered in my ear. I looked at Ashley and let out a tiny snicker as if he was talking about her. She rolled her eyes and stomped away from the table, but for once in his life, Craig didn't follow. When she turned around and glared at him, he shrugged and stayed put. Once she was out of earshot, he began talking to me and Marco.

"I can't stand her anymore!" he said. "She gets on my nerves so much."

"Why do you think I didn't want to be friends with her?" I asked Craig. "That's exactly why."

"Besides, I got my eye on someone else," he said and began staring at someone behind me. I turned around. "Manny Santos?" I whispered.

"Exactly," he said, smiling. "I'm thinking of asking her out."

"She is pretty," I said to him.

"More like gorgeous. But then again, most people are compared to Ashley. Even you Ellie," he said to me.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked him.

"Yes it is," Craig said.

"Gee thanks, I feel so special," I said and smiled. It was actually a genuine smile. I hadn't smiled like that at one single person besides Marco in the past couple of years. Must have been the hormones.

"Oh Ellie, by the way, it's at seven thirty," Marco said. At first I didn't understand, but then I remembered.

"Oh okay, thanks. I guess I'll see you then," I said and stood up from the table to throw my trash out. Then a feeling came over me. "Gotta go, bye Marco, bye Craig." I dashed to the washroom and made it into a stall just in time to puke my entire lunch up. After wiping my mouth off with some toilet paper and flushing it, I went to the sink and looked in the mirror.

"Looking a little pale there Nash," a voice said from behind me. A male voice. I turned around, surprised.

"Jay? What are you doing in here?" I asked him. I looked around and there were no urinals. I was in the right room, he wasn't.

"Oh nothing much. Look out there for me and see if anyone's coming." I looked for him, although I wasn't sure why.

"All clear."

"Thanks." He bolted out of the washroom just in time, because a few seconds later, Mr. Radditch turned the corner. I ducked back into the washroom, and then realized why Jay had been in there. Emma was peeking out of a stall but quickly shut the door.

"I already saw you Emma, you can come out," I told her. She did come out and was blushing, embarrassed that I had seen her. Her hair was all messed up, and when she looked in the mirror, she started to fix it.

"Were you guys…" I didn't finish the question. She knew what I was getting at.

"No!" she said defensively. "We were only kissing…"

"You and Jay? I'm surprised. Why keep it a secret?" I asked.

"Oh, the usual. His friends wouldn't approve, my friends wouldn't approve."

"I say if you like him, let everyone know. Who cares if they like it or not. As long as you're happy, and they're real friends, they'll support you. It's your life, not theirs."

"Thanks Ellie, I'll keep that in mind," Emma said. "I know Sean would be mad though."

"Why?" I asked. I had seen this Sean kid around. He mostly hung out with Jay and Alex; they skipped class, stole things, got in trouble all the time. Oh how I longed to be in that group.

"Well, I broke up with him for Jay, but he doesn't know that yet. Jay's his best friend. Like a brother to him, as he says."

"Wait, I thought Jay and Alex were together," I said, confused.

"She just broke up with him yesterday. No one knows why, least of all him. It might have something to do with sex, it might not…" she trailed off.

"Have you had sex with him?" I asked.

"No. I told him I wasn't ready, and he was fine with that. Although, we're planning on it in the near future." I raised my eyebrow at her, but she didn't notice. "Hey, I heard you throwing up before. Are you okay?" she asked me.

"I'm fine. Just bad cafeteria food. You know how it is," I lied.

"Yeah, it can be really disgusting. Well, it was nice talking to you Ellie but I better get to class. See ya later maybe?" she asked.

"Maybe," I shrugged. She left the washroom and all of a sudden, I felt the bile rising in my throat. I jumped back into a stall and finished emptying my stomach. After that, I splashed some cold water on my face and left, finally heading over to class.

When I was sitting in Media Immersions, I realized that I still hadn't read the note from Emma's mom. I took it out of my pocket and unfolded it.

Ellie,

You left so soon that we didn't finish talking. Don't worry, I didn't tell Emma or Mr. Simpson anything. I was just thinking that if you still needed to talk, you can come over tomorrow night. Emma's babysitting, and Mr. Simpson will be staying at the school until late. You don't have to come if you don't want to, I just want to help you in any way I can.

Spike

Yeah, she really did sign it Spike. I decided that I probably would go over. But first I had to prepare for my wonderful doctor's appointment. At least I had Marco to help me.

I was sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office, bouncing one of my legs up and down. Marco was next to me, holding my hand.

"It's going to be okay El. Stop worrying so much," he whispered in my ear. I couldn't believe he was being so calm. I'm supposed to be the calm one.

"Eleanor," the nurse called. I stood up and Marco was right behind me. We followed the woman down the hallway and into a room. About a minute after she left, a different woman came in.

"Hello Eleanor, I'm Dr. Rachel Wesley," she extended her hand and I shook it.

"You can call me Ellie," I told her. I was shifting from one foot to the other.

"So Marco tells me that you're pregnant," she said.

"Yeah, I am."

"About how far along are you?" she asked me.

"Two weeks and three days."

"And did you use a home pregnancy kit?" she asked.

"No, I went to Planned Parenthood." I told her that I wasn't going to have an abortion or anything like that. Then I told her the date of conception, and she told me to lie down on the bed. She put some of that cold gel stuff on my stomach and did an ultrasound. When she finished, she spoke up.

"Well, everything looks fine right now. I want you to schedule an appointment for once a month. You can see the receptionist for that. I'll see you next month, but call me if you have any questions at all."

"Thanks for everything," I said. Marco and I said goodbye, then made all of our appointments at once with the receptionist. He held my hand all the way to the car and gave it a little squeeze before letting go to open the door. I loved it when he did that. Since his birthday was early in the year, he was already sixteen and had his license. We drove back to my house in a comfortable silence.

A/N: There probably isn't a Planned Parenthood in Canada, but there are plenty of them in the US.