Chapter Seventeen
The Gift
"I'm sorry." Olivia said for the millionth time to Ruthie, "He promised me he wouldn't tell."
"And you promised me." Ruthie said closing her locker door, "Look I'm in a situation where I need you. So I'm not going to stay mad at you. I can't."
"Thank you. Don't worry I'll never tell Mac anything again. As a matter of fact I'm not talking to him." she said slamming her locker shut.
"Trouble in paradise?" Freddie asked walking up, "I heard loverboy's name."
"There's no trouble because there is no paradise." Olivia said putting the lock on her locker and snapping it shut.
"You do realize that you just put on your lip gloss and closed your locker?"
"Your point, Freddie?" she asked eyeing him.
"Your hair color is seeping in." he said, "Maybe you should start dying it brown instead of blonde."
"I don't dye my hair!" Olivia said, "A professional stylist does and it was originally blonde when I was younger."
"Yeah. Yeah." Freddie said rolling his eyes, "And I was originally a red head."
Olivia huffed and turned and walked away leaving Ruthie in a fit of laughter with Freddie by her side.
"She put on her lip gloss and didn't even get her book." Freddie eventually commented.
"She does that all the time." Ruthie replied, "and some poor guy loans her his and gets completely lost."
"She always leaves a poor un-expecting guy lost." Freddie replied with a sigh, "I pity the man that marries her."
"Freddie!?" Ruthie said with a laugh, "You don't mean that?"
"Oh I do and before I forget, my dear." Freddie said handing her a pretty heavy gift bag with tissue paper.
"What's this for?" Ruthie asked as the bell rang.
"Open it later at lunch." he said. Ruthie smiled and put the bag into her locker and head to math class with her book.
Martin sat beside Mac in his little apartment; they were both late for class but neither cared. They both had their own problems. Love problems.
"It's mind boggling." Mac said.
"What that Ruthie's pregnant?" Martin asked, "Or that I had sex with her and thought it was a dream? Or how about that I, Martin Brewer, I'm going to be a dad?"
"Well that is all mind boggling but I was talking about that Olivia broke up with me."
"Were you two even a couple?" Martin asked, "You went on what one date?"
"Two." Mac replied with a sigh, "I screwed up. Big time."
"You?" Martin asked, "Have you even been listening to me."
"Yeah, yeah, you screwed up too but at least you were intoxicated." Mac said putting his feet on Martin's coffee table.
"Do you even know what that means?" Martin asked. Mac rarely used big words and when he did he rarely knew the meaning, it was surprising he'd gotten into college at all.
"Yeah drunk as a skunk!" Mac replied, "I do know some stuff."
"I wasn't that drunk." Martin said opening up a can of coke and taking a sip.
"Then why did you think it was a dream?"
"I'm not answering that." Martin replied and then said, "I have to call her."
"Yeah you do!"
"I know that."
"Me too."
"We have to talk."
"About?"
"What?"
"What?"
"What are you talking about Mac?"
"I have no clue. I'm lost." Mac said shrugging his shoulders.
"I can't believe you told Ruthie's secret!" Freddie said pointing his finger at Olivia, "Shame on you and Ruthie shame on you for not telling me she told before now."
"This was the first opportunity I had." Ruthie said taking a bite of her Mac N' Cheese.
"I can't believe your eating that." Olivia said, "Cafeteria food is disgusting."
"We could have gone off campus for lunch but I can't trust you, REMEMBER?" Ruthie said refer to all the times Olivia had made them late for class.
"I'm sorry but the five star restaurants aren't near here." Olivia said with sigh as she began to pick through the sandwich her chief had made her.
"Why are you even in a public school?" Freddie asked.
"My mother thinks I need to socials with normal people." Olivia said.
"Were real normal!?" Freddie said with a laugh, "She's pregnant and I'm gay. Then again there are a lot of gays and a lot of teen pregnancy, so were not so abnormal."
"Freddie! Quiet!?" Ruthie said gesturing with her hands.
"Sorry." he said with a guilt filled face, "Open your gift."
"Oh." Ruthie said
taking the bag from under the table and opening it with a smile. It
contained a pile of nice new books titled What to Expect When Your
Expecting, Pregnancy For Dummies, The
Twelve Gifts of Birth, The
Official Lamaze Guide,The
Pregnancy BookEasing
Labor PainLaughter
& Tears: The Emotional Life of a New Mother,Childbirth Choices Today, andThe
Nursing Mother's Companion.
"I
got copies for myself." he said with joy.
"FREDDIE!!" Ruthie said slipping the books back into the bag and looking around to see if anyone saw.
"What?"
"And I thought I'd done something bad by telling Mac." Olivia said, "Nice going Freddie and you're not having a baby. She is and Martin is. Martin needs the books not you."
"I am too having a baby by association." he said shaking his head.
"Association my ass." Olivia said, "She's going to send you to china for this one."
"No she's not it was a nice gift."
"A gift you should have given me after I've told my parents and not in the middle of gossip central. Anyone could have seen them if I hadn't put them back in time." Ruthie said, "I love you two, but really stop interfering."
"How are we interfering?" Olivia asked with a smile.
"I can't believe you have to even ask." Ruthie said getting up and heading into the bathroom. Ruthie's cell beeped it was a text from Martin asking her to meet him tonight for dinner. Sighing she texts him back. They were going to meet tonight outside of the Dairy Shack.