- Usagi - Chapter 6:

The bell signaling the end of the last class echoed through the courtyard when I stumbled upon Minako. She sat on the grass noisily crunching on a salad that she had brought from home in a plastic Tupperware container. I normally would have deemed a salad light but hers was loaded with everything imaginable. It was probably very normal, after all she was pregnant. It bothered me though. How long did she expect to hide it from the world when the space in her shirt was beginning to disappear? She suddenly stopped eating and looked at me.

"What?" She asked still holding her fork in the air. It was now obvious to me that I had been shamelessly staring at her stomach.

"When are you going to tell your parents about it?" I said as I sat down next to her.

"I hadn't thought of it really." She looked away and patted around her stomach gauging how big she'd gotten, "Why? You don't think I'm getting fat, do you?"

"It does look like you're starting to get a bump there. It's hardly noticeable though!" I tried to be as polite about it as much as possible, telling any girl she's gaining weight is a bad idea and it's especially bad if she's hormonal.

Minako frowned and sighed as she looked down at her ever growing belly, "No, you're right. I'm getting bigger. I'd have to be retarded to think I can hide this any longer."

"So you're going to tell your parents?"

"Eventually, but right now there are in Bermuda for a second honeymoon thing, they probably wont be home for another two weeks."

"Why not tell them over the phone then, in two weeks you'll be showing even more and it might be hard to explain why you didn't tell them sooner."

"It'll probably be easier to break over the phone anyways. My mom is going to flip a shit, I just now it." She commented picking her salad back up again. I looked down at my watch and noted the time. I stood up and dusted any stray pieces of grass that might have been stuck to my butt.

"Where are you going?"

"Mr. Chiba asked me to stay after school today. It's probably about my grades; I don't think one study session a week is enough for me." I quickly then bid her farewell and bolted to the Chemistry room before I was officially late for the extended periods. As I ran I noticed an unwelcome stick sneaking its way underneath my foot. I quickly corrected my step but found my self slamming hard into someone's shoulder. I fell backwards, firmly on my butt. I rubbed it hoping I didn't have a bruise but I was probably wrong. I cursed as I saw Seiya' silhouette above me. Was there no end of him? It seemed that only fate would decide when he'd leave me alone.

"Watch where you're going…" I hissed as I rubbed my backside. He extended a hand down to me that I hesitated to take but I grabbed hold of him anyways. I dusted off my navy blue skirt as he pulled me to my feet. Caught off guard by his act of kindness, I decided it must have been another one of his Mr. Nice Guy acts and went on the defensive.

"What? No nasty remarks today?" I asked him folding my arms across my chest.

"Not in the mood." He muttered as he began to walk away. Feeling guilty for being such jerk I ran up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Is there something wrong? Are you sick?" I asked trying to apologize with concern for being so abrasive. He didn't appear to want any of it though.

"Nothing is wrong." He stated making sure not to make eye contact with me. I studied the side of his face. He looked like hell, he had bags under his eyes his long black pony tail was frizzy and tangled as if he hadn't brushed it in days.

"How can nothing be wrong when you look like you've been hit by a truck?"

He swiftly turned to me glaring harshly with weary, tired, eyes, "What do you want from me? Do you want an apology? Okay – I'm sorry. Please, leave me alone now."

"I didn't want anything from you, I just want to know if you're okay."

"I don't understand you. On one hand you play the victim but you're so quick to tear a person down to their foundation."

"Oh you're being over dramatic!" I scolded placing my hands on my hips, "This is about what I said to you at that party. Well I don't take any of it back. Being scolded only one time in your life shouldn't make you give up living!"

He shook his head at me, "There is a difference between scolding and being cruel."

I placed my hand up between us, "I don't have time for this." I then stormed off. Though I was the one walking away as if I didn't care I was also peering behind myself in my head. I could feel his eyes on my back and I felt guilty. I worried that maybe I was too cruel at that party. From what it sounded like he was actually starting an honest conversation, he wanted something from me. Most likely and apology but I wouldn't give it to him I had to stand firm on my beliefs. I bit my bottom lip as I approached my tree. Maybe after being pushed around for so many years I was becoming bitter and turning into the people that made me that way?

-

I sat down at my desk and looked around at my empty chemistry room, I hadn't noticed it before but I was surrounded in taxidermy. Dead squirrels, birds, and raccoons stretched as far as the eye could see, or at least to Mr. Chiba's desk. Their little beady eyes stared me down as I waited for him to return. I saw on his desk a fat little black bird that looked rather cute. I guessed that he not only taught chemistry but biology as well. What other reason would he have for collecting dead things?

"What bird is that?" I asked Mr. Chiba as he walked into the room balancing his book bag on one arm and a stack of papers and books on the other.

"An Indigobird, it's a brood parasite." He stated as he clumsily dumped the pile of papers onto his desk.

"A brood parasite?"

"It goes to other birds' nests and knocks their eggs out and replaces them with their own. This way other birds take care of their young for them. I guess it's very half hearted parenting."

"Interesting… So why am I here? Thursdays aren't normally our study days."

He looked up at me with a sad look on his face, "That's because we're not studying today."

I was caught off guard. I sat forward in my seat crumpling my hands up on my desk. It was never a good sign when a teacher didn't want to teach because it meant they were there for emotional support. "Then why am I here?" I cautiously asked.

"I've heard a lot of talk about you lately." He said as he took a seat next to me, I guess it was some sort of physiological way to be on the same level as me, to get me to share my problems to him like a peer. There was no way I could see him as a peer though. The ugly tie printed with little blocks from the periodic tables gave him away.

"What about me?"

"I heard you showed up at a party the other night, and that the kids there threw you in the pool."

I sat back in my seat looking at my new suede purse breathing out an "Oh" noise. I felt a little embarrassed that the pool story was floating around school, but I must have been naïve to think that the ever expanding high school grape vine wouldn't latch on to something that juicy. It was another victory over the "outsiders". They loved boasting about kicking people when they were down.

"I'm worried about you. You shouldn't feel pressured to go to those things; drugs and alcohol can set you up for a lifetime of struggles. You're a brilliant girl and you shouldn't give into what everyone else is doing."

I shook my head, "It's not like that. I went there to retrieve a friend of mine, she was going to do something stupid and I had get her away from the party before she hurt herself."

He sighed, he looked like he didn't believe me but who would? It was no lie that I was the most unpopular girl in the school. No one that regularly attended those events would talk to me let alone be my friend. So why would I go out of my way to help the girl that made a hobby of tormenting me?

Placing his hand on mine he looked me in the eye, "If you don't want to talk to me about it that's fine. I'd like it if you came here on Thursdays too so I can keep an eye on you. We don't have to talk, we can study if you want - I'd just like to make sure you're on the right track. Okay?"

I was a little insulted. Making sure I was on the right track was a subtle way for him to tell me that he expected me to make a beeline for the nearest bridge. I nodded and got up to leave the room. It was touching that he cared so much about me but at the same time I was a little angry. I wasn't a charity case. I didn't need to be walked through life with someone holding my hand. What bothered me more is perhaps I appeared that way without my knowledge. If that was the case it might have been why I was targeted by my peers so often, I was playing the victim without knowing it. That would have to change.

-

I received a disturbing message from Minako. She had written it on a note and slipped it into my hand as we passed in the hall. At first the writing was clear but after a few sentences it began to morph its organized appearance into a quick scrawl. It took me a few reads through it before I figured out what the problem was and it explained why she lost her composure during her writing. She had called her parents over the phone and told them about the pregnancy. Unfortunately, they didn't take to the idea of their child having and illegitimate baby and demanded she have an abortion if she "valued her place in the family", which was basically a polite rich people way of threatening to disown her if she didn't comply.

I met her out behind the school after the last bell had rung. She sat leaning against the wall with a wadded up tissue covered in mascara pressed below her nose, she obviously had been holding it in since the night before and was at the end of her rope. I surfed around my purse retrieving a clean tissue and offered it to her. She smiled thankfully as she plucked it from my hands.

"I don't know what I'm going to do…" She mumbled through the tissue.

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to keep it, but I don't know how I can when my parents are being ass holes, I mean they are supposed to be my fucking support system! When I get knocked off the horse they fucking pick me back up! You know what I mean?"

"I know. Maybe you have to find a new support system."

"Like who?"

"The father for starters. Have you even told him yet?"

"No, I wasn't sure how to break it to him. He's never been the type to like babies, but he does love me. Maybe we could get married or something, that's what people do right?"

"Yeah, and that's a good start."

"And maybe if my parents see that I'm owning up to my mistake and taking charge by getting married, they'll accept me and my kid and let me stay in the family."

"It doesn't hurt to try, you have to exhaust all of your options before you can bow down to them and I think this is the best option you have. So when are you going to go tell him?"

"I'd like to go right now if we could. Any later and his neighborhood isn't so safe to walk through, especially alone. You know, gang activity and all. Would you mind going with me?"

I stopped for a moment thinking how the conversation would go with my mother as I asked her to let me walk my friend, who is a teenage mother, through a dangerous neighborhood full of drug dealers, to meet up with a possible sleaze bag. I looked down at my phone and decided she could live without that bit of information, the trip wouldn't be long and I could have just passed it off as after school activities. It would be no trouble at all, and if the worst did happen at least I helped Minako and her child.

"Sure," I said shoving my phone into my purse, "I'll go with you. But we have to be quick so lead the way."

Minako walked us through several blocks that appeared to be perfectly safe. I was beginning to wonder what she was talking about until I began to see little signs of criminal activity slowly emerge from the streets ahead. At first it was just a stray piece of litter or two, then it was spray paint on the stop signs, and finally, when we had reached our destination, there were gang symbols painted elaborately in several different colors across an abandoned house with its windows covered with cheap pieces of particle board. As we continued to walk I saw many strange looking people glaring at us as they sat on the stoops outside their run down houses. I could feel their eyes pushing on me so hard I was beginning to gravitate to Minako as we walked.

"Are we there yet?" I whispered to her, tugging on the white sleeve of her school uniform.

"Yeah it's right over there." She pointed to a house that seemed relatively well kept. It was a lovely old Victorian house with fancy wood work above the door. Its lawn was mowed and it was the first building that I saw that had been bothered to be repainted. It was a blossom growing from a pile of crap and I hoped this was a good sign.

We entered the house which I soon found was an apartment building that was split into two levels. Minako took a deep breath and dispelled a few nervous giggles and knocked on the lower apartment door which was labeled with a shiny gold number one. I heard the sound of bare feet slide across the wood floors. Judging by how well the house was kept I expected Minako's boyfriend to be clean cut and classy but I was very wrong. I was instead surprised to see a tall man with strawberry blond hair that went slightly past his shoulders come to the door. He had a pendant of a tiger hung around his neck and it appeared his interest in the predator matched the look in his eyes.

"Minako, good to see you." He purred as he leaned his slinky upper body against the door frame, "Who's this pretty friend of yours?" I blushed a little at his comment, the words were good natured but the tone made me uncomfortable.

"Usagi, she's a friend of mine from school." Minako said with a calm smile on her face, "She's just escorting me through your neighborhood; you know how I feel about it and all. Usagi this is Akihito – Akhito this is Usagi."

"Right." His voice seemed to be a little disappointed as if he was expecting something more exciting from two school girls at his door. With a sigh he waved us in. I watched him out of the corner of my eye and tried to see what Minako saw in him. He just seemed like a sleazy sexually deviant party boy but I trusted her instinct and the hard fearless look in her eyes.

"So I need to tell you something pretty important." She said casually as she walked up closer to Akihito, she placed her purse on the kitchen table. I was a little shocked to see how quick she was getting to the point but it appeared she had not doubts that anything would go wrong.

"What's that?"

A smile crept up onto Minako's face and her blue eyes began to sparkle as she took hold of one of his hands. "We're going to have a baby." She said excitedly. Almost instantly after she said it he tore his hand from hers and brought it back to his chest protectively.

"What's wrong?"

"We're not going to have a baby because it's not mine."

"Yes it is!" She insisted frantically.

"No, you're a whore. You must have been sleeping around or something! It's not mine!"

"Don't say that, you're the only one I've been with for months now, there is no way it isn't yours." There was some silence from the cat-like man as the information sunk in, "Please, I need your help. I can't do this without you. My parents are going to make me get an abortion if I don't have you with me."

"Then get an abortion!" He shouted at her, his fists were clenched tightly into balls, "Minako, you're a cute piece of ass but I don't want to be tied to you through marriage and certainly not through a baby."

Tears were beginning to well up in Minako's eyes, her face was beginning to get paler and paler as Akihito's words burrowed into her head. "You can't mean that. You're just shocked by it all, I was too but the idea of being a parent will grow on you. It did with me."

"I told you I'm not the fucking father!" He screamed as grabbed hold of a ceramic plate from his kitchen table and slammed in into the floor sending tiny shards of glass sliding across the linoleum tiles. Minako flinched and move closer and closer to me. I felt compelled to say or do something but I didn't know anything about relationships. I had never had a boyfriend, I had never been pregnant, I hadn't even been kissed before, but there I was thrown into an adult situation knowing nothing more than to watch.

"Please, just listen to me, the baby is yours. You're going to have to take responsibility." She said, her voice shaking in fear as she inched closer to him hoping to tame his anger. She reached a hand out to him but he slapped it away hard.

"You don't tell me what to do! Get out," He screamed grabbing Minako by the shoulders. He opened the door and violently shoved her out making her fall onto her knees. He then grabbed me by the arm and escorted me out in the same manner and followed it up by swiftly chucking Minako's purse at her as she tried to get up, "Don't come by here with this bullshit again, you little slut."

The door was then slammed and all was quiet. I looked over at Minako who was still sitting haphazardly on her knees looking down at the ground. I tried to see her face but her hair was draped over her making it hard to see what she was feeling. At first I couldn't hear anything from her but then little hiccups and sobs started to emerge from behind her golden curtain.

"Minako, are you alright?" I asked trying to delicately move strands of her blonde hair out of the way.

"He's not usually like this…" She whispered through her tears. I didn't say anything though. He probably wasn't acting as he always did because he wanted to sleep with her. That's probably all he ever wanted from her. I grabbed hold of her arm and helped her stand up, I bent down to pick up her purse and handed it to her but she didn't take it. She just stared silently as tears dripped from her cheeks. I escorted her through the slums once again with less fear this time. I was determined to destroy anyone that tried to do anything to her if no one would keep her safe, I would.

We were exiting the bad area of town and moving closer to my own neighborhood. I still held tightly onto Minako's arm as she walked with me in her catatonic haze. She hadn't said anything since we left and I was beginning to worry if she'd be alright. To my left I saw a door close and someone emerged from it.

"Hey, Minako!" Seiya greeted as he walked down from his porch. I looked up at him trying to give him the silent "now's not a good time" look but he didn't read it.

"Wow, you look like complete crap. Are you ok?" He asked as he placed a hand on Minako's shoulder. I took a better look at her face and it was much paler than before, the pink from her blush appeared to float over her rather green colored face.

"I…" Minako muttered faintly, "I…hurt." She then started to lose her balance and fell against Seiya.

"What did you do?!" I screamed pushing Seiya aside.

"I didn't do anything!" He defended. I looked over to him to see his eyes growing wide. I looked down to see that pints thick red blood was sliding from Minako's skirt down her legs.

"Oh my God! Seiya call 911!" I screamed. I brought her to the ground laying her down gently while Seiya talked to the 911 operator. Within minutes I could hear the echo of sirens flying through the city streets. Soon Minako was surrounded in men with puffy blue jackets with the Caduceus patched onto their shoulders. While she was being strapped onto a gurney, a police officer came to me and asked me about her family. I knew that her parents were hours away so I lied and told him that we were her family. He then gave me some information about the hospital she would be sent to and told us he would drive us there.

-

Seiya and I walked through the moving doors of the hospital. Quickly, the sent of disinfectant wafted into my face making my eyes burn a little. Seiya pointed out the front desk where a woman dressed in pink sat.

"Hi, I'm looking for Aino Minako's room." I asked the woman at the desk. She typed something quickly into the computer in front of her and snapped her gum as she scanned the computer screen.

"Yeah," The woman whined not bothering to look up from her screen, "She's in room F117 but you can't visit her just yet. She's probably being examined by her doctor but you can go up and wait in the lobby." We took her advice and made ourselves comfortable in the lobby closest to F117. It was strange to me that Seiya had followed me this far, I was almost certain he would have just left once the paramedics arrived for Minako. I studied his profile from the corner of my eye as he sat calmly next to me, he hands rested on the arms of the chair.

"What?" He looked over to me.

I felt the heat rise up into my face, "N-Nothing...Uh, Why are you here?"

"I don't really know. I guess I'm just worried about Minako, that much blood can't be a good thing in any way. What do you think is wrong with her?"

I sat for a moment sorting through all the possibilities, there was only one obvious answer, "I think she miscarried."

"Miscarried? Wait - she's pregnant?"

"Yeah, she's been pregnant for a few weeks now. It's too bad it had to end this way, she's going to be devastated."

Suddenly Seiya's eyes lit up, "Oh wow! This explains a lot! This is why you were so buddy, buddy with her, you must have found out her secret and you're blackmailing her so she won't give you grief. I guess you should be hoping for the best then, right?"

I knew his cooperation wouldn't last long. I wanted to slap him again for being so rude, "Good Lord, Seiya learn to think before you speak! I don't just help people to gain something from it! I helped Minako because she needed someone; she's pregnant and completely alone. I don't think I could live with myself knowing I ignored someone who was feeling scared and hopeless. Humans are social creatures; we need one another to live."

Seiya looked down at his lap and made a little "Oh," noise.

"I don't expect you to understand, Mr. Rock Star. Feeling for others is foreign to you I'm sure." I glanced down at my skirt and noticed a few spots of Minako's blood that had soaked into the blue fabric and dried. Seeing the blood reminded me that I had lost track of time, I quickly looked at the clock. It was almost ten o'clock. I was shocked that the day had gone by so fast. My mother would be angry with me no doubt, but it was worth the hassle to make sure Minako was ok.

There was some odd silence between us as we waited for word from someone. I had realized that the only other time I saw him that day was when I told him he was being overdramatic for feeling upset. I was too busy to really think about it until then and I started to feel sorry for saying what I did. "I'm sorry." I apologized quickly.

"S'cuse me?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said you were being overdramatic earlier. I admit I do play the victim a lot and I think that after being teased and bullied for so long the only way I know how to retaliate is the same way I was bullied. I have to watch what I say…And I'm sorry."

Seiya didn't respond but it seemed like my apology was still sinking in. He opened his mouth a little as if to say something but the voice of a man emerged from above us.

"You're Minako's family, correct?"

"Friends actually, there was a mix up." I said to the man who was wearing a stark white coat.

"Oh, well, I'm Dr. Matsui. I'm just informing you that she's able to see you for a few minutes. We still have a few tests left to determine exactly what happened but we'll let you see her in the meantime."

I stood up and thanked the doctor and counted the room numbers until I came to hers. She was lying still in the hospital bed wearing the typical light blue gown. An I.V. wound up her arm and into a bag of clear liquid and the sound of her heart beeped through a little machine to her left. Her head was tilted back over her pillow in sleep, so I walked in as silently as I could with Seiya trailing behind me. I sat down in a puke green chair and waited for her to wake.

"Usagi…" She said in a long weary drawl. I leaned forward and grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I've been awake. But I'm really tired…"

"You can sleep, it's okay. I don't mind."

"It's gone now." She whispered through chapped colorless lips.

"What's gone?"

"The baby, I don't feel him there." She rolled her head to the other side, "He's gone, just like mom and dad wanted."

I frowned, "You don't know that. They haven't even finished your tests, this could be something else."

She squeezed my hand tightly her voice became low, "No, I just know…It's probably best that things ended like this…"

I didn't doubt she knew exactly what happened even before the doctors would, but I tried to remain positive hoping that my wishful thinking would undo what had happened, "Well, we'll just have to see."

I let go of her hand and leaned back in the chair, she was beginning to drift in and out of sleep and soon I was going with her. The next thing I knew I was being gently roused by Seiya's hand. I looked up to see Minako talking with the doctor. She was crying as he told her about what she had already predicted. The stress from Akihito's denial had pushed her to her limit and her body terminated the pregnancy itself. He tried to comfort her by squeezing her shoulder but nothing seemed to make her feel any better. He came over to Seiya and I and informed us that she would remain in the hospital for another twenty-four hours so they could observe her and make sure she was okay. A woman they called a "sitter" was brought into the room, she would sit with Minako until she was discharged, probably to make sure she didn't harm herself. I guessed that if postpartum depression made her sad the lost of her child would most certainly make it worse.

I looked at my watch, it was two A.M. I leaned down to Minako and gave her a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. It felt foreign for a moment, showing affection to someone that I previously hated, but it didn't take long for Minako to latch onto me. She sunk into my hug like she needed it to live. After we parted, Seiya leaned over to give her a hug as well and then we both said goodnight and left to go home. I felt upset to leave her when she was in need of so much comfort but the visiting hours were long past and I needed to go. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I looked over to see Seiya's worried blue eyes peering at me from his taller height.

"It'll be ok…" He comforted me, sensing my internal distress. It shocked me at how sensitive he could be, I would have never known he knew how I felt had he not said something. It made me wonder if he was a wearer of masks, the type of person who had a different one for each person he knew. Before I yelled at him at the party, he would wear the mask he used with Minako and now it was like he was using one just for me.

"Thanks." I said looking back down at my watch. My mother was going to go ballistic when she found me coming home so late. I sighed and clutched my bunny purse close to my chest and walked out into the dark night. My house wasn't too far from where I was but the walk was a little daunting at that particular hour. I had heard about people getting robbed and mugged and murdered at night. I hate the dark. Even in the quietest neighborhoods strange people emerge when it gets dark, it worried me to think I might run into them alone. I looked over to Seiya who appeared to be perfectly fine with the idea of walking alone and decided I could take advantage of his courage.

"Seiya?" I asked, swallowing my pride.

"Yes?"

"Can you walk home with me?" His face looked a little shocked that I would willingly ask for him to be near me, he smiled mischievously.

"Why? Are you scared?" He teased. I felt a little annoyed but it was much nicer seeing him less depressed. My apology must have done the trick.

"No, I just don't want to be alone." I defended myself, but he could see I really was scared. He humored me and let me keep my pride.

"Okay then, let's go." He said still smiling.

The walk was just as dark and scary as I had predicted. I was jumping at every small noise from the wind and every rustle of leaves from small nocturnal animals. I found myself gravitating closer and closer to Seiya as we walked, hoping that his aura would fight off all the bad things that might be out to get me. As we walked I started to get small warm wafts of his cologne, it smelled like a combination of vanilla and cinnamon. I laughed a little because the sent made me hungry for cinnamon rolls.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"It's nothing really." I said still smiling.

"No really, what's so funny?"

"You smell like Cinnabon. I just thought I'd never associate you with gooey breakfast pastries. I think it's your cologne or something, it's funny."

"My cologne? It's fifty bucks a bottle and you think it smells like Cinnabon? Its supposed to smell like Egyptian musk…" He said pouting a little as he sniffed down his shirt, "Guess I shouldn't buy this kind anymore. What a waste of money."

"No, keep using it. I like it." I stated without thinking. He looked over to me a little more interested in the conversation than before, I then followed it up with "Not that it should matter what I think."

"Right…" He said with a funny smile now looking at me with a strange look in his eye.

"W-Well this is my house." I stammered. Pointing the house we stood in front of, my mother had left the lights on, no doubt because she was worried sick about me. I walked up the stairs slowly noticing that I could feel Seiya's eyes on my back. I looked back at him as he stood casually at the stairs with his hands in his pockets.

"Just making sure the monsters don't get you on your way to the door." He teased.

Suddenly the door to my house flung open under my hands. My mother stood in the doorway wearing the clothes she had on from earlier in the day, her face plastered with rage.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what time it is?" She screamed at me, I saw her eyes flick past me onto Seiya. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes squinted up, I suddenly felt the horror of the situation rising in the pit of my stomach, "Is this the reason why you were out so late? You were out bouncing about town with this, this…"

"His name is Seiya, mom. He's just a friend! He helped me take a friend of mine to the hospital, she was sick."

"She's telling the truth we were just coming back from the hospital." Seiya chimed in trying to back me up.

"A friend? I didn't teach you to be a liar Usagi. Haruka called here looking for you. If she was at the hospital with you she wouldn't need to." It occurred to me that I had never told her about Minako, partially out of shame and partially out of fear. She expected my only friend to be Haruka, telling her I was helping out a teenage mother in a bad part of town was only going to make the situation worse.

"I'm telling you the truth Mom! You're just going to have to trust me on this." I held my hands out in desperation praying that she believe me. She looked down at my hands and her eye caught something. I watched as her angry glare became angrier, I looked down to see that she had zeroed in on the blood stain on my skirt. Her eyes bolted over to Seiya.

"Did you do this?" She demanded as she grabbed my arm and spun me around. I immediately understood what she was talking about and the embarrassment was too much to bear. I was beginning to feel my face get hot and my throat tighten up as I watched Seiya shake his head in fear at the blood stain. She cussed at him under her breath, "Leave my property and stay away from my daughter!"

Seiya tried to explain things to her but to no avail. She told him to leave again and threatened to call the cops if she ever saw him with me again. He looked up at me and I tried to tell him I was sorry but I was too upset to speak, I only hoped that the sorrow in my eyes reached him somehow. My mother yanked me hard into the house and began tearing into me with more accusations.

"I raised you better than this! I taught you to be a good girl, one that didn't lie and have premarital sex!"

"We didn't do anything like that!" I screamed with tears running down my face.

"Oh come on! I wasn't born yesterday, I know what that blood is from!"

"It's from my friend I told you we had to take her to the hospital!"

"Again with the lies, Usagi! Is that kid influencing you to act this way? Did he sweet talk you into giving yourself to him?"

"No! I barely even know him. I swear to God, Mom." My mother's breathing and face were beginning to calm down but the anger and betrayal she felt was still evident. I could see the way her mind was working, she wanted to believe me but she just didn't know how or why she should. Being a good kid up until that point just wasn't enough for her.

"Usagi, I'm taking you to the doctor tomorrow to test you." She said sternly.

"To test me? Isn't that a little medieval?"

"I'm worried about STDs and pregnancy, that's hardly medieval."

"You're not, I know you. You just want to test to see if I'm still a virgin…"

"That's absurd! Your health over all is what is important."

"My 'purity' is all that's important to you. You don't want your precious reputation at church to be tarnished by having a "Jezebel" in your family…" I muttered as I jerked my arm away from her. She said a few more words but I wasn't listening I was tired and upset and all I could think of was bed and how it could take away all my troubles. Without changing or wiping the tears from my face I fell face down into my pillow and prayed sleep would take me soon.