Katie held her breath and sat stock still as she waited for the two girls to leave.
Missy Belknap, pregnant with Jack's baby. What a load of crap, she thought as she opened the stall door. She always knew Missy was pathetic, but this was ridiculous. Melissa had had her chance to be with Jack, now it was her turn, and no amount of desperate conniving would come between them.
As soon as the school day ended, Katie rushed to the parking lot to meet Jack. When she saw him, she sighed. He was leaning against her mother's car, the light reflecting off the driver's side mirror bathing him in a warm glow. He was wearing jeans and that brown, worn corduroy jacket she liked. Just looking at him, she could imagine his smell – clean and fresh. No doubt about it, she was in love. Not the giggly, girly kind of love, but the kind borne of knowing he was someone she could trust.
She strode across the parking lot, a smile playing on her face, finally stopping in front of him.
"Hey," she said as she put her hands confidently around his neck, lifting her head to kiss him.
Though he kissed her back, she could tell something was wrong. A thought nibbled at her consciousness but she pushed it away.
"You won't believe what I heard in the girls' washroom today. You're going to love this."
"What?" he asked anxiously.
"Apparently congratulations are in order."
"Congratulations?"
"On the baby."
Katie watched as the color drained from his face. Between the sweating, lip licking, and shifting from foot to foot that followed, she thought he was going to pass out.
"So it's true," she said, disbelief washing over her.
Then, she threw up.
The cheeseburger and fries she'd eaten for lunch splattered onto the salt stained asphalt. Her throat burned as she choked on her own vomit. This discomfort, however, was nothing compared to the pain she felt emotionally.
"Katie," Jack said, bending down to help her.
"Don't fucking touch me."
He stepped back, unsure of what to do, waiting for it to end. At last she stopped. Bent over, her hands on her knees, she tried to collect herself.
"I was going to tell you," he said after a few minutes.
"When were you going to tell me?" Katie asked, straightening.
"I just found out. I still …." His voice trailed off.
She wanted to hate him, to beat the shit out of him even. He'd gotten her to trust him, something no guy had ever done before. Like an idiot, she'd let her defenses down and in the end he'd sucker punched her.
"Whatever. It's over," she said.
"What?"
"You heard me. You and Missy are going to have a baby together. Where do I fit in?"
He said nothing.
"Exactly."
Jack tossed and turned, the blanket covering him falling to the floor. He was having that dream again, the one where he was drowning. He didn't have to be Freud to know that it was because of Missy. Missy and the baby. His baby.
Sweating, he turned again, landing with a thud on the floor.
It took him a minute to wake up. At first, he was disoriented, then the pain hit.
Oh fuck, he thought grabbing his knee. After a few minutes, he just gave up and lay on the floor. He watched the sun, shining through the slits in the Venetian blinds, highlight the dust in the air. Then it landed on the faded and worn couch cover with its Native American embroidery. Under the sofa, dust bunnies sat on top of the horrible beige carpeting that covered the floor.
Next, he stared at the dingy off white ceiling with its brown peeling patches. Water stains. Tomorrow, he'd have to call a roofer to patch them up.
Suddenly, he heard someone bounding down the stairs.
"What are you doing on the floor?" Bobby asked, breaking his reverie. Jack looked up. It was odd looking up at Bobby who was a foot and a half shorter than he was and upside down to boot.
"Nothing," he said harshly, far harsher than he'd meant to. He knew he was unfairly hard on Bobby at times. He was just so angry and overwhelmed sometimes that if he didn't lash out, he'd explode. It certainly wasn't Bobby's fault that their mother was an egomaniacal, self-righteous pothead, or that their father had walked out on them after Bobby was born, or that he'd gotten Missy pregnant, or that the girl he had been falling in love with refused to have anything to do with him.
"If you need anything," Bobby said shrugging before turning and leaving the room.
Jack grunted as he slowly sat up. Rubbing his knee again, he heard a second pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. Missy. His mother simply wasn't that energetic in the morning. A second later, she appeared in the doorway.
"What are you doing on the floor?" she asked with a small laugh. She was dressed in a frilly white cotton sleeveless top and matching shorts despite the cold outside.
"Nothing," he said as he hauled himself up. He winced, pain shooting through his knee.
"You okay?" Missy asked, stepping to him and putting her arms around his waist in an attempt to hold him up.
"Fine," he said, sitting down on the sofa.
She sat next to him. "I was thinking Jack; maybe we could go out this weekend."
"Huh."
"C'mon. I'm tired of hiding," she said, running her hand along his arm.
"I have to work," he said standing up; anything to break contact.
He didn't love her. And the fact that they were having this baby didn't change that. So what now? He'd been haunted by that question ever since she'd told him.
For the past week, she'd been coming on to him. And knowing how he felt, he still couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop. To make matters worse, for all intents and purposes, they were now "living" together and Missy didn't seem to be making plans to leave anytime soon. He just didn't know how to navigate a relationship with her. All he knew was that they were having a baby. And though at sixteen, he knew he wasn't ready to be a father, he wasn't going to leave her like his father left him and Bobby.
"You work too hard Jack," Missy said, standing. After closing the distance between them, she put her hands on his shoulders and began massaging them.
"Miss, we need to start saving for the baby."
"I know," she said laying her head against his back and dropping her arms to his waist drawing him closer to her. "But we're allowed some fun. We need time to reconnect before the baby is born."
"Jack, I need you to …," a voice said from the doorway. He and Missy pulled apart, his mother's presence like a scorching cattle prod.
"Hi Ms. McCallister," Missy said looking down.
"Missy. Jack," Grace said, a concerned look on her face. "I need you to stop by the store and pick up some milk and eggs. Okay?"
"Sure," Jack said, for once thankful for his mother's intrusion. "I'll leave now." Sidestepping Missy, he gathered the bedding from the floor and the couch. Then he pushed past his mother and headed upstairs to shower.
