"Amy?" She heard someone call. "Amy Juergens?"

Cringing, she glanced over her shoulder to see Madison and Lauren running to catch up with her. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was them, after all, who got her into this situation. If they had kept their mouths shut about her pregnancy. She could have had more time to decide without having the added pressure from Ricky, Adrian, Grace, and just about every other person in the school. She slowed her pace but didn't stop.

"You're back." Madison chirped.

"Yeah." She sighed quietly.

"Hey, come on. What's wrong?" Lauren asked grabbing her arm.

"I have to get home." She shrugged. She didn't need to be delayed anymore than she already was. There was still an off chance that she'd run into Ricky on her way out, even though he was supposed to be in band practice. She could hear a few people testing their instruments in the band room as they waited for the band conductor to get there. So, there was a chance he'd be roaming the halls. Waiting around for him to turn the corner didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. "I can't talk right now."

"We've missed you." Lauren told her.

"Yeah, Amy, it's been months." Madison said.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go." She shifted her books in her arms. "Ashley!" She called to her sister who was at the end of the hall. "Are you riding home with me?" Ashley just nodded. "See you guys later." She walked off leaving her friends confused.

--

Anne convinced Amy to get out of the house. With nowhere else to go, she decided to take Jordan to the park. She pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine before unbuckling and climbing out. When she opened the back door, Jordan looked over and giggled with a wide, toothless smile. Amy smiled back as she picked her daughter up out of the car seat and settled her on her hip and the baby bag over her shoulder. She made her way up the hill to the play ground and settled Jordan into the infants' swing. Her eyes wondered around the park as she carefully gave Jordan light pushes. It wasn't long until she got restless, and Amy took her down to a bench to give her a bottle.

Jordan curled up against her mother and sucked the bottle. It didn't take but a few minutes for her eyes to flutter shut, and a peaceful sleep overtook her. Glancing down at her, Amy pulled the bottle out of her relaxed mouth and replaced it with a pacifier. Standing up, she carefully juggled the baby and the diaper bag hoping to get to the car without the baby waking up.

"Amy?" A voice came. She knew that voice and found herself cringing. Pretending not to hear him, she quickened her step towards the car trying to keep her arms as steady as possible. "Amy?" It came again. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder trying to stop her. Sighing, she turned around shifting Jordan in her arms, so she was closer to her chest.

Ben Boykewich looked just as he had ten months before. He smiled a large smile. He wore what he used to wear most of the time: jeans, a white dress shirt, and dark blue sweater over top with the collar of the white shirt coming out from under it.

"Wow, you're back." His eyes traveled down her body and landed on Jordan. His eyes grew wide, but he tried to hide the shock. "And you have a baby…"

"Yeah." She responded quietly as she shifted Jordan around in her arms.

"You kept her?" Instead of answering, Amy just nodded. "Does he know?" She shook her head 'no.' "She's, um, beautiful."

"Thanks." She gave him a light smile. "Sorry, Ben, I have to go."

"I'll walk you to the car."

She shifted uncomfortably and gave him a stiff nod before turning and walking towards the car. He followed.

"When did you get back?" He asked sounding cheerful as he always was.

"Friday."

"Were you in school today?" She nodded as he opened the back door to her car. "I didn't see you." Shrugging, she leaned over to put Jordan in her seat. He stayed silent as she backed out of the car and shut the door.

"I guess I'll see you later." She said softly. He nodded. "Amy." He said as she opened the door. Stopping, she turned to look at him once again indicating she was listening. "It's really great to see you."

She gave him a slightly awkward smile. "Thanks. Um, you too."

"Maybe we could… hang out sometime?"

She shrugged. "We'll see." She sat down in front of the steering wheel and turned on the car as she pulled the door shut. "See you later, Ben."

He smiled and nodded. And within a moment, she was pulling out of the parking space and onto the road.

--

"Today sucks." She announced to her mother after laying Jordan in bed.

Anne gave her a sympathetic look. "Did you expect coming back would be easy?"

"No, but I didn't expect it to be so exhausting. I'm so confused." She sighed pressing her hands firmly against the sides of her head. Anne set a plate of food in front of her and moved to sit down in her own seat. Ashley walked in as she hung up the phone and sat down in front of her food. Silence hung in the air as the family of three ate. Amy stared down at her food taking small bites. Anne watched from the corner of her eye and after watching her move all her peas from one side of her plate to the other one by one.

"Amy, are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." She shrugged. Silence resumed until Ashley decided break it.

"You realize it' food. You eat it." She said dryly earning a short glare from her sister.

Sighing, Amy pushed her plate away from her slightly. "I'm not hungry. Can I just go to bed?" Anne studied her carefully for a second before giving her a short nod. "Thanks." With that she hurried up the stairs. Between Ricky and Ben and Madison and Lauren, she didn't have the energy to do anything but fall back on her bed.