Claimer: I own this entire story and all of it's characters!
Let's find out what happens next! Enjoy!
Alison's sore eyes fluttered open early the next morning. She immediately noticed it was still dark outside and the clock on her nightstand read 4:35 AM. She was curled up into a little ball on her bed and she felt wide awake now, but her eyes stung and her head was throbbing. Then everything came back to her and she remembered why she had cried herself to sleep…
Perhaps it had all just been a horrific nightmare? Maybe there was a chance it wasn't true? Could it be possible she wasn't pregnant at all?
Alison looked down and felt her heart sink mournfully. She was still wearing her white T-shirt, fuzzy pants, and slippers: exactly what she had changed into yesterday after arriving home with the pregnancy test…that had read positive…
She sighed miserably and felt tears begin to form in her eyes once again. After wiping them away, she sat up with difficulty, seeing as her breasts still ached at her every move. She decided it would be best to watch some television to help get her mind off of everything and also to help the time pass until she had to get ready for school. Alison got out of her bed and turned on the light. As she slipped her kimono on, she jumped at her own reflection in the vanity mirror. Black mascara was smeared everywhere underneath her bloodshot eyes, making them look sunken. Her hair was no longer straight and quite tangled, but Alison hardly cared.
She then left her room and silently descended the stairs to the dark, chilly living room. She noticed it had stopped snowing outside as she tiptoed around the couch and turned the lamp on. Afterward, she took a seat on the couch, grabbed the remote off the table in front of her, and turned the television on. America This Morning immediately came up on the screen. She turned the volume down really low, as to not wake Hayden and Vincent, who were sleeping in the master bedroom.
At first, Alison succeeded in ignoring her worries and grief, but when the show ended and she began looking through the channels for something else, the reality of everything began to overcome her. She couldn't find anything else to watch, so she turned the television off and moved over to the other couch underneath the closed windows. She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest as she stared through a crack between the blinds.
Alison started thinking about everything and what was the best thing to do now…
"I can't keep this baby…" Alison thought to herself mournfully."I can't…There's no way. I'd probably get kicked out of the house… Jake and my girls will hate me if they ever found out I'm…pregnant… There's nothing I can do… I can't keep this baby… " She rested her pounding head against the wall and felt fresh tears streaming down her face, realizing abortion was the only option she had.
But how could she kill an innocent baby? How could she steal its only chance at life for her own reasons?
"I couldn't support this baby…and it doesn't deserve to be born into this…family…" Alison tearfully decided that after school, she would leave immediately and catch another cab. Then she would ride to the free women's clinic downtown and have everything taken care of. And her life would go back to normal…
Three hours later, Alison stepped off of the school bus along with all of the other students. Though the air was freezing, the weather had improved immensely from yesterday. Only a few white clouds lingered in the blue sky and the blinding sun was finally visible. There were still many patches of untouched snow on the grounds.
Alison had taken a shower earlier that morning and now felt much better. Her breasts were still very achy, but, thankfully, she did not feel at all nauseous. She was wearing her pea coat, a navy V-neck sweater, destroyed black jeans, and a pair of boots. She had a black messenger bag to carry her school books in. Her hair was very wavy since she had let it air-dry after her shower. Due to her nonstop crying, she had put on a lot of eye makeup to hide the redness and puffiness around her eyes.
Alison strolled across the grounds toward the doors of the school. She pulled one open and entered the building. Students were everywhere, chattering and getting ready for first period. Alison abstractedly walked down the hall, bumping into quite a few people without even realizing it. She reached the end of the hall and found all of her friends talking together at their lockers. She swallowed and fought back the tears of shame before slowly approaching them.
"Hey!" they all greeted her in anxious tones. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," lied Alison, keeping her eyes down.
"We tried calling you, like, five times yesterday," mentioned Britney.
"Um…yeah, my phone died and I can't find the charger anywhere," Alison lied again.
"Oh, okay. We're gonna head to homeroom now. See you there!"
"Okay," said Alison in a small voice. She sighed, turned to her locker, and started spinning the dial.
"Hey!" another concerned and familiar voice said from behind her. Alison jumped and turned around to face Jake. He was dressed in a plain black long-sleeved shirt, destroyed jeans that both he and Alison had doodled all over, and checked Vans shoes.
"Are you alright?" he asked her worriedly. "The girls told me you were sick or something yesterday morning. I tried calling you, but you didn't answer."
"Yeah, I-I'm better," she said, avoiding his eyes and self-consciously crossing her arms in front of her, "a-and my phone is dead."
"Okay," he sighed as he tucked a random strand of hair behind her ear. His hand moved down and cupped the side of her face.
"I was worried about you…" he said quietly, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Alison nodded, but still couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.
"So…" Jake lowered his voice and a smile stretched across his face. "It's Friday. Got any plans?"
"Um…" hesitated Alison. "I-I'm not really in the mood…and I still feel kinda crappy."
"Oh, alright," said Jake understandably. "I gotcha. Well, I'm going to get my books and head to homeroom. See you at break, okay?" Alison nodded and finally looked up at him. He kissed her forehead tenderly before taking off for his locker.
Alison stood there in both silence and guilt for a few seconds… Jake had absolutely no idea of the situation she was in now… A single tear escaped from her eye. She felt it trickling down her face and immediately faced her locker to hide it. Alison opened the door and sighed deeply as she removed her Spanish books from it. Just as she stuffed them into her bag, she was suddenly overcome with nausea.
Alison immediately slammed her locker shut and fled down the hall to the girls' restroom. To her relief, no one else was inside. She ran into the nearest stall and threw her breakfast up into the toilet.
Once she finally stopped puking, Alison sat against the wall and closed her eyes as the tears began to flow once again. She groaned in frustration and repeatedly banged her head against the wall.
"Why?" she asked herself aloud. "Why me?" Just then, the bell rang and she could hear the students outside as they all rushed to their classes.
After a minute, the nausea wore off and Alison warily got to her feet. She sighed as she left the stall and began washing her hands at one of the sinks.
Alison jumped at the unexpected sound of a stall door opening behind her. She glanced up at the mirror to see who it was, but automatically diverted her eyes and pretended she hadn't looked.
It was Rachael, the girl who had been pestering her yesterday morning. Today she was wearing a red turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, her snow boots, and the same silver cross necklace. She watched Alison in silence with a look of anxiety on her face. Meanwhile, Alison ignored her presence and hoped she wouldn't ask any questions.
"Hi," said Rachael softly, her voice full with angst. "Are-are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Alison stiffly, rolling her eyes as she began drying her hands with a paper towel. She sniffed her nose and sighed, trying to rid of any evidence of tears.
"You sure?" continued Rachael, taking a slow step forward. "I mean, you threw up yesterday morning and just did it now…"
"I'm late for homeroom," Alison replied shortly, adjusting the strap of the bag on her shoulder as she started towards the door.
"Please wait!" called Rachael hastily. Alison halted in her tracks and faced the girl in irritation.
"What?" she snapped at her. "What do you want?" Rachael seemed very taken aback and intimidated at Alison's sudden outburst, but she immediately locked eyes with Alison.
"C-can I ask you something?" Rachael stuttered nervously.
"You just did…" retorted Alison, narrowing her eyes before turning back to the door.
"Are you…pregnant?" asked Rachael's quiet and pained voice. Alison gasped and froze as the devastating truth overcame her again. She crossed her arms in front of her and the tears began to well up in her eyes. She slowly faced Rachael again with pursed lips. After a long pause, Alison sighed miserably and realized she couldn't deny the truth.
"Yeah…" Alison finally replied in a whisper. "I am…" Rachael gasped mournfully and finally looked down at the floor, turning everything over in her mind. The girls stood in silence for a few seconds. Alison sniffed and carefully wiped the tears from her eyes, as to not to smudge her makeup.
"Jake's the father?" Rachael finally asked in an equally quiet tone. Alison nodded guiltily.
"Don't you dare tell him…" she demanded in a harsh, broken voice. "Don't tell anyone…" Rachael instantly looked back up at Alison's words.
"Alison, I would never do something like that," replied Rachael sincerely.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway! I'm going to…take care of it after school." Rachael's eyes filled with sorrowful tears at her words, but she locked them with Alison's.
"Please…don't abort, Alison," pleaded Rachael in a soft voice. Alison looked away and sniffed sadly.
"Please…" Rachael went on desperately. "Just come to my house after school and we can talk about this!"
"How could I raise a…a baby at the age of fourteen?" replied Alison sharply through her tears. "I couldn't, not in my circumstances! This child will be better off not living than with a mother who couldn't even support it!" She wiped the flowing tears away while Rachael stared back in grief.
"You will be never alone…" Rachael stated in a gentle whisper. "God will always be by your side…" Confused, Alison overlooked the comment.
"It's my choice! And my only option!" she uttered firmly before rushing from the bathroom and leaving Rachael in her tears of depression.
The moment the wall clock in Mr. Carlson's social studies classroom struck 3:00, the bell rang out across the entire school. Alison, who had already collected her books, immediately got up and left the classroom before anyone else had the chance to put the first thing in their bags. She rushed down the hall and descended the stairs, hoping not to meet up with Jake on the way. She reached her locker, opened it, returned her books to the shelf, and put her coat on, all the while trying not to think about where she was going in a matter of minutes…
As soon as she shut her locker, Alison took off down the hall towards the doors.
"Ali!" many anxious and familiar voices called her name all at once. She halted in her tracks and turned on her heel to face Britney, Riley, and Erika, who were hurrying after her.
"Hey! Where are you going?" they asked her curiously.
"Um…" said Alison, not daring to look into their anxious faces. "My mom needs me home today. I think she wants me to do some cleaning or something." She knew it was a lame excuse, but the girls bought it, just like all of the other lies Alison had ever told them.
"Oh, okay," they replied. "Well, we'll see you Monday, then!"
"Find your phone charger!" added Britney as Alison started walking to the doors again.
She pulled it open and exited the school just in time. The tears began streaming down her face as she marched across the empty school grounds. The sun was still shining and most of the snow on the ground had melted away, but the air was still dreadfully chilly.
Alison couldn't believe she was actually going to do this… It was the absolute last thing on Earth that she had ever wanted to do, next to telling her boyfriend and best friends that she was pregnant… Her heart felt heavier with remorse at every step she took and she had to repeatedly convince herself that it was all for the best…
She strolled down the sidewalk until a cab came into view. She immediately hailed it down and climbed inside. Unfamiliar music from the radio immediately reached her ears. Like yesterday, she was the only passenger, other than the driver in the front. Alison glanced up at him and froze in surprise: it was the same man who had driven her from the drugstore yesterday morning!
"Well, hello there, miss," he said with a small smile upon recognizing her. "Where do you need to get to this afternoon?" He watched her in his rearview mirror while she buckled her seatbelt and sniffed her nose miserably.
"The free women's clinic, please…" she croaked as fresh tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. The man's smile fell from his face at her words. He sat in silence for a few seconds and seemed to turn everything over in his mind. Finally he sighed in grief and began to drive down the road.
"So that's what you were doing at the drugstore yesterday, huh?" he asked her in a soft voice. Alison nodded as she wiped her tears and sighed mournfully. The song on the radio came to an end and another followed right behind it. The short but pretty introduction only consisted of a piano and immediately caught Alison's attention.
"She walked into the center…" a woman's gentle voice sang along to the piano, "not knowing where to go. Her heart was heavy-burdened, hoping not to show. The warmth was such a comfort from the blistering of the cold. Her eyes filled with tears as she read the words in bold." Alison was confused at these lyrics. What exactly was this song about?
"Peace, my child," the woman started the chorus. "Be not afraid. I've known you all your life, forever I've known your name." She stared out the window and listened intently to the lyrics and the beautiful rhythm of the piano.
"A kind and gentle woman softly called her name, then guided her into a room, a room that shuttered shame. She broke down with emotion, laid her heart out on the floor. The woman looked into her eyes and said, 'don't abort'." As the chorus started again, Alison remembered this morning when she and Rachael had talked in the restroom and realized the song was identical to the situation. She remembered Rachael's exact words, 'don't abort'.
"Let's bow our heads and say a prayer, asking God to guide us where the angels here on Earth will come to bring us comfort, bring us love." Alison wiped her tears and sniffed somberly while the driver continued to glance at her with concern.
"The young girl gained composure and asked now for advice. 'How can I go on from here? How can I live this life?'" Alison couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had asked Rachael the exact same thing in the bathroom. She sighed in distress and continued to listen to the song.
"The kind and gentle woman, maybe an angel in disguise, said, 'You're never alone, my dear. God's by your side.'" Alison gasped in disbelief. That had been Rachael's last reply before Alison left for homeroom.
"Peace, my child. Be not afraid. I've known you all your life, forever I've known your name." The song came to an end and tears were streaming down Alison's face. She stared out the window, too overwhelmed to think. All she could comprehend at the moment was that she couldn't go through with this… She now knew that abortion was not the answer for her…
"Wait…stop," Alison ordered the driver. He immediately obeyed and continued to watch her in the rearview mirror.
"I can't…" Alison sobbed despondently. "Please just…just take me back to my house…" The driver nodded and began driving down the road again. Alison closed her eyes and allowed the tears to flow down her face. She was all alone and had no idea what to do now… But somewhere, deep in her heart, she could feel a low flame of peace…
Alison has made her choice...not to abort! But what is she going to do now if abortion is out of the question? What of Jake and her friends? They are going find out sooner or later...and what happens then?
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Stay tuned for more!