Jade West had never been so relieved in her life. Nor had she ever been so heartbroken.
She and Beck stood in his little pseudo-kitchen staring at the tiny stick as it turned blue and a negative sign appeared.
"I'm not pregnant," she smiled, sighing in relief. "I'm not pregnant!" She laughed warmly, but inside she felt empty. Both Beck and Jade knew they weren't ready to be parents, but to believe that you might have a little baby inside you and find out that you were wrong hurt even more than the concept of being right.
"I love you so much," Beck hugged his girlfriend close and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I know," she whispered. Beck's cologne still bothered her, though, and she ran back to the bathroom where she dry-heaved, but nothing came out.
"I apologize for assuming your sickness was pregnancy," Beck apologized while kneeling behind his girlfriend and holding her hair away from the toilet.
"It's okay." Jade leaned back against his body and closed her eyes. "I'n blaming Festus' burger."
Beck leaned around his girlfriend and kissed her neck. She shuddered, but said nothing.
After a few minutes of sitting still on the hard vinyl floor, Jade stood up and looked at her boyfriend as he rose after her. "Beck, you smell too good."
"That's a new one," he laughed.
"No, what I mean is your cologne is strong and it's sickening me. Could you shower?"
"No problem." He smiled and kissed her forehead before gently grabbing her shoulders and pushing her out of the bathroom. "Ten minutes."
Jade nodded and walked back to the bed, where she took all the cologne-scented clothes and chucked them into the closet. After removing as much of her boyfriend's aromatic clothing as possible, she laid down on her back and closed her eyes, just listening to Beck in the bathroom next door. His humming while he showered soothed her and she soon found her mind roaming.
I'm so glad I'm not pregnant. I'd make an awful mom. Who am I kidding? I'd do my best as a mom regardless of my age. Then again, a baby at this age would be tough. No more nights out, no more future, no more me time.
Eventually, Beck reemerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist. A new tattoo adorned his ribs and she smiled at it. He was so brave when they did that. "Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride" it read. The tattoo was meant to commemorate them getting back together and staying together no matter where the ride took them.
Right now, the ride took them to a very ill Jade and an equally concerned Beck.
Beck dropped his towel and grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser, slipping them on and climbing into bed with his girlfriend. "Do you want me to make you anything? Toast? Chicken noodle soup? Jello?"
Jade shook her head and nuzzled into her boyfriend's bare chest. "Much better. Now you just smell like soap."
"That's good, I guess," the boy whispered and gently pulled his girlfriend close, who fell asleep almost instantly. That's weird, he thought, Jade never sleeps this much.
He shrugged it off and closed his eyes too, drifting off to sleep.
Two weeks later, Jade's symptoms still hadn't gone away and she spent more time with the school nurse forcing nibbles of saltine into her mouth than she did with Sikowitz learning to act.
Beck was worried. She could have Hepatitis or something! That Thursday, much to Jade's disdain, he drug her out to a doctor.
Jade sat on the examination table with Beck beside her when a young, blonde, attractive female doctor walked in.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Sh"-
Jade cut her off. "I can't have my doctor flirting with my boyfriend. Do you think he's cute?" she pointed an accusatory finger at the boy, who facepalmed.
"I guess," the blonde shrugged, "but I've got a girlfriend so it's not like I'll hit on him."
Jade nodded in approval.
"Anyway," the doctor laughed, "I'm Dr. Shelly."
"Hi, I'm Jade and that's Beck. He's the reason I'm here." She yawned, catching a strong whiff of Dr. Shelly's perfume, and gagged.
"Is that me?" the doctor worried aloud. "Do I smell bad?"
Jade shook her head. "You smell good, but smells make me sick."
The doctor cocked an eyebrow. "When was the last time you had your period?"
Suddenly, Jade was embarrassed and scared. "Five weeks ago."
"Come with me."
The blonde doctor left the room with Jade on her tail and Beck following along. Beck knew what was happening.
"Jadelyn, I need you to sit in this chair and I'm going to draw blood."
"Cool," she smirked and watched the doctor remove a needle from a drawer. "I love blood."
Dr. Shelly looked straight at Jade and her green eyes flew wide. "Okay, then," she mumbled slowly and opened the needle. She cleaned off the inside of Jade's elbow and slipped the needle in, drawing enough blood to fill the bottle before pulling it away.
Jade smiled as she watched the woman carry away the vial.
She disappeared for a few moments before returning to the room with the teenagers. "We should have your results in about an hour. You can go if you want and then come back."
"May," Jade muttered, correcting the doctor's grammar.
Beck nodded and offered an arm to his girlfriend, who took it. "Thank you, doctor. We'll be back in an hour or so."
Walking out of the building after paying at the receptionist, Jade did her Judy Garland voice and imitated Dr. Shelly. "My, my, Jade, if I were straight I would totally hit on your boyfriend."
Beck rolled his eyes.
"What?" the girl snapped.
"Nothing," Beck shrugged it off. "Sushi sound good?"
Jade shook her head. "No, but miso soup does so we can go anyhow."
Beck nodded and wrapped an arm around her waist as they approached the car.
Aan hour later, the couple found themselves sitting in the doctor's office again, this time awaiting the results.
After a while, Dr. Shelly entered the room holding papers. "Here you go." She handed them to Jade and left.
Beck read the results over Jade's shoulder.
Positive.
Jade squeaked in what sounded similar to Cat-like terror. "I'm pregnant."