Chapter Twenty
Lying Is The Most Fun a Girl Can Have…

"I didn't get an abortion. I'm still pregnant."

Oh shit. This was why I didn't like playing Mother Teresa. People had a way of dumping stuff on you and just expecting you to know how to handle it. And honestly, I was terrible at the whole shoulder to cry on thing.

"And you're planning on…staying pregnant?"

She slumped down against the wall and put her hands on her stomach. "I don't know. I guess so."

I sat down next to her. "This probably isn't what you want to think about right now, but eventually…it's going to become a little more obvious that you're pregnant. And then Luke is going to find out." Told you I was bad at the sympathy thing.

"I'm not due until the end of July. I was thinking I could get through the rest of the year and then spend the summer with my grandpa in Florida or my aunt in France."

"And then you come back with a baby that just fell from the sky. Yeah, people will really believe you."

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet, okay?" She brought her knees up to her chest. "I'm trying to take this one day at a time."

This wasn't the confident bitch I'd seen in the hallway the other day. This was a scared girl who looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I couldn't help it – my mom instinct kicked in.

"Hey, it's okay."

She glared at me, then broke down crying. "It's not okay. Everything has gone to hell, and I have no one to help me, and I don't want to do this…"

"It's okay."

"Are you…just gonna…keep saying that until I believe you?" she choked out in between bursts of tears.

Our home ec class about parents and children did not even come close to preparing a person for this kind of thing. "I guess I don't know what else to say."

"Yeah, well, me neither." She wiped her eyes and stood up.

"You better figure it out."

"Thanks, Mom." She was pretty good at turning the ice princess act back on.

But that was all it was. An act.

"My last hour is just a study hall. Want to leave early with me? You could stay at my house for a while. Easy A is on Starz tonight, and my dad is out of town because there was a funeral somewhere, and-"

"Sure. It's not like things can get any worse."

The faintest smile formed on her lips. Between two bitchy misunderstood girls, it was the equivalent of a giant hug and thank you.

Of course we were playing a basketball game two hours away in Prairie North when a freak blizzard blew in.

Of course the idiot referees didn't call off the game and let us go home, because apparently it was too much trouble to reschedule.

Of course the boys' team happened to be playing Prairie South, so they were stuck right along with us.

The coaches were at a loss for what to do. No parents had come to the game, since Shallow Lake's annual chili feed happened to be tonight. In other words, there were no parents to dump kids on. They were stuck with 50 tired, sweaty, hungry teenagers.

Prairie was a pretty big city – hence the having two separate schools. After calling quite a few athletic boosters, probably making sure this would all be paid for, we found ourselves at some dingy hotel a few miles away from the school.

"Listen up!" The boy's coach, also the gym teacher, shouted. If his voice was a font, it would be permanently stuck on caps lock. "Apparently it's too unsafe to take you home tonight, so we're stuck here until tomorrow. Your parents have all been called, and they are aware."

We'd had to fill out a packet of permission slips and wavers that weighed at least ten pounds when we visited the electric plant in middle school. I wondered how they were getting away with this.

"Lights out at 11. We're taping your doors, so don't get any ideas. Be on the bus tomorrow at eight. Now shut up while Ms. Peterrs reads your room assignments."

"Fredricks, Gardner, Gardner, and La Rue. You're in room 107."

Oh, things just didn't get any better. The damn perky Gardner twins bounced up to the coach and grabbed our room cards. I, on the other hand, slowly grabbed my bag and made my way through the crowd.

"Hey, La Rue. Heard you led the team tonight. Nice job." Chris congratulated me as I walked by. As if he thought I needed his approval. I was the only sophomore who made varsity – it was obvious that I was good.

"Yeah? And you guys pulled that win out of your asses."

"Stoll got hurt in the second quarter."

"Better hope that doesn't happen at regionals." I brushed past him.

Katie and Charlie had already taken over the entire room, while the freshman girl we'd been stuck with sat quietly in the corner on her phone. Clothes were everywhere. Some Lady Gaga song was playing from the iPod they'd plugged into a dock.

How did they fit all that shit into their gym bags?

I wasn't sure why they went out for basketball. Girly girls usually did volleyball, cross country, and track. And to be honest, neither of them was that good. They were doomed to be the pathetic seniors who still played on JV.

"Hi, Clarisse," one of the twins said, smiling. She'd already changed into her pajamas and was braiding her sister's hair.

"Do you and Chris have a thing?" Twin B blurted out, giggling.

"Charlie! I thought we agreed to be subtle about asking her."

I don't think they knew the meaning of the word subtle. "No, we don't. I can't stand him."

"Oh, well, you guys would be a mega-cute couple. Like, the Mexican couple of the century," Charlie gushed.

"I'm half Puerto Rican." Not like either of them knew the difference. My dad had met my mom when he was stationed in Puerto Rico, one thing led to another, and now we were living in Shallow Lake while he did a tour in Afghanistan.

"Well, we think you two would be amazing together. Did you hear Luke and Silena got together right before eighth hour?" Katie said, the first half directed at me and the second towards her sister. "I'm sorry, but that's just skanky on her part.

"She's just a rebound. I give it three weeks."

"You gave Thalia and Luke three weeks."

Charlie giggled. "Yeah, I guess I did. So, did you see how cute Travis looked tonight with his leg all wrapped up?"

"Oh, yes! But you know, I think Connor's a lot cuter."

It was going to be a long, long night.

"If you died tomorrow, what song would you want played at your funeral?" Nico asked.

This was what happened when you were snowed in with no electricity. No one had known a huge blizzard was coming, so my parents had been fine with me spending the night at "Percy's house." Bianca had also brought a friend home – something I didn't know she had, no offense to her.

"Thalia, Grover and Nico. You're pregnant, they're gay," she'd announced, clapping her hands. "Okay, now everything's out in the open." Nico had glared at her. I guess everything was okay as long as we knew something about Thalia, too.

So, we'd all been watching Easy A when the snow started coming in. By the end of the movie, it was too bad outside to leave, so apparently Thalia was also spending the night.

Starz must have been having a letters theme, because the next movie on was John Q. Before he'd even hijacked the hospital, the power went out. Like, completely out.

Bianca ran downstairs and found a bunch of candles her dad used to decorate for wakes. Pretty soon the entire room was lit up.

"This is the perfect setting to use a Ouija board. Think there's any spirits that want to talk to us?" Nico asked eagerly.

Bianca shot him a look. "Nico!"

Thalia shook her head. She'd been really quiet all night. "It's okay. But, I really don't want to know what my mom has to say to her stupid daughter."

We'd ended up playing the question game…for two hours, and it was to the point where we were starting to run out of things to ask.

"What song would you want played at your funeral if you died tomorrow?" Nico asked.

"Hair by Lady Gaga," Bianca said immediately.

"Only the Good Die Young?" Thalia said.

"Okay, the only thing appropriate about that song is the name."

"Well, Amazing Grace seems a little conceited, all things considered." They both laughed. "Seriously, I don't know. It's not the kind of thing I think about. What about you, Grover?"

"Finale B from-"

"That's so weird! We're singing that song for jazz choir for music festival. And Seasons of Love. You're getting a solo." Bianca said.

I could feel my palms start sweating at the thought of singing in front of a crowd, let alone singing by myself. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're the best tenor, so deal with it."

There was an awkward silence. "It's Thalia's turn to ask a question," Nico finally announced.

Thalia sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. "What's the stupidest thing you've ever done?"

That cranked up the awkwardness by about ten levels.

"I'm gonna go check the fuse box and see if I can get the power working." Bianca stood up.

"Yeah, I'll bring a flashlight." Nico grabbed one of the few that we'd found after lighting all the candles.

I didn't have a convenient excuse, so I was stuck there alone with the hormonal pregnant girl. I considered telling her that my sister had gotten pregnant in high school and gotten through it, but decided it wasn't a big consolation.

"You can stop giving me that sympathetic look," Thalia snapped.

"I don't know what else to do."

"You're in the closet. You know what it's like having to keep secrets."

"But…you know…your secret is gonna end up finding its way out into the open eventually."

She bit her lip. "I know."

I felt like I should do something other than just sit there awkwardly. "Umm, how about we make a deal?"

"What?"

"When people find out you're pregnant, I'll come out of the closet. No more secrets."

Okay, I had no idea why I'd just said that.

She smiled. It seemed out of place, kind of like when Bianca acted nice. "You're a really nice guy, Grover."

"Thanks."

A really nice guy who was good at lying to make people feel better. My parents were okay with having a daughter who got pregnant in high school, but they'd never live with a son who was gay.

Sometimes secrets were better left locked away.