This chapter's a bit of a filler, and kind of short, but it's been floating around in my computer for a while and I decided to go ahead and put it up.
Warning: This chapter mentions underage drinking.
Enjoy!
The teenagers were all sitting in a circle on the floor, giggling drunkenly.
"Man, that was classic," said the brunette, clutching his stomach. "That was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen."
"Shut up!" responded the just-fifteen year old Elaine, smacking him on the arm. Even though her cheeks were red from embarassment, she couldn't help but laugh along with them. "Seriously, Josh, shut up before I hit you over the head with that chair over there."
"Oh, come on," said Josh, putting an arm around her waist, pulling her close, and kissing her cheek. "You know you love me too much for that."
"You might want to rethink what you're saying," Remy told him smoothly, setting her empty beer bottle down on the rug. "Elaine can beat up people pretty good, you know. I remember that one time she gave Riley Simmons - you remember him? - a black eye..."
"Yeah," said Elaine, grinning at her boyfriend. "Miss Binns or whatever her name was totally flew off the handle. She went nuts! God, I had detention for like...a week...it was crazy!"
"I guess I'll go run in fear, then," said Josh, standing up and running away from the room, screaming as he went. Everyone at the party erupted into laughter again as Elaine ran after him. When she finally caught up with him in the kitchen, she tickled his sides and, gasping for breath, Josh shouted, "HELP ME! HELPPPP! SHE'S A PHYSCO---"
But he stopped and looked at a spot behind Elaine. Turning around, she noticed Ashley Brownings, a rather rude and attractive friend of Millian Baxter, who was standing next to her and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Hey, Josh," said Ashley slowly, giving him an easy smile.
"Hey, Ashley," he responded, and she and Millian left the room. Hurt, Elaine turned to Josh, shock evident on her face.
"What the hell was that all about, Josh?" she asked, feeling ready to go punch every inch of Ashley Brownings she could reach.
"Nothing," replied Josh, putting his arm around her waist once more and pulling her closer to him.
"Are you sure?" Elaine had a nasty feeling something was going on under her nose.
"Positive," he said, and caught her lips with his. As he ran his fingers through her dark hair with one hand and curling his other behind her neck, Elaine couldn't help but think that something was awfully wrong. What was with Josh and Ashley? Was he cheating on her?
But then he pulled her even closer, and she got lost in the moment. That could wait, she thought. Whatever was happening could wait. And anyway, Josh loved her more than anything, something he'd personally told her, so why would that suddenly change?
"I hate her!" screamed Elaine, breaking down into fresh tears. "That fucking whore! I hate, hate, hate her!"
"Elaine, please, don't do anything extreme," said Remy, putting an arm around her shoulder. On Elaine's other side, Madalyn's hand was linked in hers, and Elaine was grinding the bones in her hand to powder as she worriedly attempting to calm her friend down with Remy.
"Anything...anything ex-extreme? What the fuck do you mean by that? She's destroyed everything for me, and I want to make sure she rots in Hell. Let me go!" With a rough, sudden movement, Elaine tried to pull away from her friends, but failed; Remy caught her and sat her down on the bench, while Madalyn stroked her hair.
"Come on, Elaine, it'll be fine," she said. "He doesn't deserve you, anyway. And Ashley's always been like this, she---"
"I know! And that's exactly why I...why I..." Elaine let her head drop into her hands and her friends heard muffled sobs and another vague "I hate her."
"Look, we'll go kick her ass for you if you want, but Elaine, it's really not worth it. That bastard Josh can go make out with her all he wants, but we don't care, and you shouldn't either. He's not good enough for you," Remy told her, holding her head up and gently prying her hands away. She and Madalyn pushed her hair out of her face and Madalyn dabbed under Elaine's eyes with a tissue, catching the running mascara as it slid down her cheeks.
"That good for nothing...ugh. I hate Ashley. I hate her so much. Why is she ruining my life?" Elaine sobbed, as the cold breeze blew into her face and made her tremble even more violently. Sniffling, she closed her eyes and bit down on her fingernail.
"She's just like that, Elaine, and you know it," said Madalyn. "Just don't even think about her or Josh. They---"
"But I didn't know! I didn't know that he was with her...he told me he loved me..." Elaine whispered hoarsely, trying to make her friends understand. Why weren't they listening? "He said that he'd be with me forever and that he wouldn't...he wouldn't...oh, why do I even try any more...?"
"Elaine, please, stop thinking that," said Madalyn, scared. She knew her friend had problems controlling her emotions, and the scars on her legs and wrists didn't make her feel any better. She was terrified for Elaine now, terrified that she'd do something horrible."Please, just stop. It'll be okay, I promise. He's a worthless piece of crap. He doesn't deserve you. Just...calm down, and we'll work this out..."
Remy was thinking the exact same thing as Madalyn and made a note to stay over at Elaine's house tonight to make sure she didn't do anything drastic. "Ashley...she...you can go beat her up as much as you want, but really, it won't be worth it..."
"Then I will," said Elaine, standing up and walking towards the school.
Alarmed, Remy pulled her back down to the bench. "No! Elaine! Stop! Really, it's not worth it!" she squeaked. "It won't do any good---"
"Oh, I know, it's just...it's so horrible..." Elaine sobbed, burying her face in Remy's neck. Remy and Madalyn each patted her back soothingly, trying to calm her down. "I just...I hate her..."
"Elaine? Elaine! It's okay! It's just a dream, seriously, it's not real...Wake up!"
Someone was shaking her; Elaine opened her eyes and was terrified by the sudden darkness. For a moment, she was still sixteen years old, still going through her first heartbreak, and it was all so real that she didn't understand that it was really nighttime and she wasn't sixteen years old, that she was eighteen and pregnant and Scipio was next to her. She didn't even notice the tears on her cheeks until Scipio brushed them away with a warm hand.
"Elaine? Are you awake?"
"Y-yeah..."
"You just had a bad dream. Are you okay? I'm Scipio, I'm right here...whatever it was, it wasn't real."
"Yeah, I know," she said, sitting up with him.
There was a pause. "I was woken up when you started moving around like a maniac and crying and stuff...Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, it's just..." Elaine trailed off and sighed, trembling slightly. She hugged Scipio close to her and the soft fabric of his pajamas was comforting, the smell of his hair familiar. "It's just...I...I don't know. You know I love you, right?"
"Yes, I do." There was more silence. "Do you need anything, Elaine?"
"No, I don't. But thanks." She settled back down into the covers and, after a moment, felt Scipio move and lay next to her. Elaine felt the baby move and suddenly was a bit more comforted, but, still a bit shaken up, fell back into an uneasy sleep...
Morning came faster than usual, and Elaine was awoken by a horrible burning smell coming from downstairs. Her first thought was that it was a fire; alarmed, she sat up and looked around for Scipio. She found him putting on a black jacket in front of the mirror, and, once he noticed she was awake, he said, "Good morning. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, but what's that smell? It's making me naseauted..."
"Riccio was making pancakes with Mosca and Prosper, but they burned it."
"Oh." Figures, she thought. "I thought the house was on fire or something."
"No, it wasn't that bad, though those pancakes looked revolting."
Elaine lay back down for a few minutes as Scipio went downstairs, presumably to see what had happened to the pancakes. The sudden thought of Riccio, Mosca, and Prosper standing around in the kitchen freaking out over the burned pancakes made her giggle. She got up, got dressed, and went downstairs.
In the kitchen, Bo greeted her by running up to her and saying "Good morning, Elaine!" He said the same thing to her stomach, only much louder and with "baby" instead of "Elaine."
"I don't think she can hear you, Bo," said Elaine, laughing again.
"I know. That's why I was yelling."
They all ate biscuits that Elaine made - without burning them - and sat around talking for a while, especially making comments about the weather, which was steadily getting colder every day. What none of them did notice - besides Elaine and Scipio, of course - was the diamond ring on Elaine's left hand.
Author's Notes: BAHAHAHA! I win at life! I think you've all been waiting for that for a long time now, teehee. In case it wasn't clear, Elaine was remembering (in her dreams) her fifteenth birthday and being with her first real boyfriend. Then the second memory is when she found Ashley and Josh...um...getting a little too close at school one day and she stormed outside to get emotional over it, with Madalyn and Remy trying to calm her down.
Love it? Hate it? Own a pair of houseshoes I can borrow? Tell me! Just click the little button down there next to 'Review' that says Go. Thanks for reading!