The girl had chocolate brown hair and matching brown eyes. If I had a sister, that's what she would have looked like...only I don't think I would ever allow my sister to get pregnant when this girl was clearly still a teenager.
"W-what's going on, El?" I stuttered.
"Squid, this is Emily. Emily, this is the guy who got me in this whole mess." El introduced us and Emily gave me a small, barely visible smile.
"It's nice to meet you." Emily nodded and I curtly nodded back.
"El, seriously, what is this?" judging by the tension in the room, this wasn't any regular 'Girls Night' or whatever.
"This is...our scapegoat."El started.
"Explain..."
"I'm pregnant." Emily started and I gave her that 'no shit' look. "I'm only sixteen and even though I'm young, I think I might want to keep the baby. My family is supportive of me but once I have the kid, they want to move away, to Canada actually."
"Again, not really seeing how this benefits us." I interrupted and El shot me a glare.
"Do you honestly think we would have been able to pull off the fake pregnancy thing alone, Squid?" El snapped and I shrugged. "Ultrasounds, cravings, details about the baby... Emily has all of that!"
It was slowly starting to dawn on me about what they were talking about. "We mimic Emily's pregnancy?"
"Bingo!" El cheered. "We show my boss the ultrasound pictures, I copy Emily's cravings and mood swings, I tell him about the checkups; there would be no doubt in his mind that I'm pregnant!"
"He'd have to believe you because you are acting exactly as a pregnant lady should!" I finished. Not going to lie, I was pretty proud that I pieced together their plan. I paused, "But what's in it for you?" I asked Emily.
"I don't know if you noticed this Squid, because you're pretty oblivious to the world, but Emily goes to the same school as you." El explained.
"What? I think I'd noticed a preggers chick walking' around!" I exclaimed and both girls rolled their eyes.
"Clearly not." El mused.
"I've been wearing baggy clothing and most days I skip, but most people already know I'm pregnant." Emily explained, "The bullying has already started and I can tell that if I get any bigger, I'll be tortured."
"They won't torture a pregnant girl." I argued and Emily looked at me desperately. There were tears in her eyes and for a second I doubted if I actually paid any attention to what was going around in school.
"One of the cheerleaders got all her friends to throw condoms at me today." Emily whispered and both El and I winced. That was cruel.
"So what do you want me to do?" I softened a bit.
"Protection."
"Having protection thrown at you is what got you here in the first place." I said bluntly and El sighed loudly. She rubbed her temples, acting as if I were the stupidest human being in the world. Only then did I think over my sentence again. "Oh! You mean you want me to protect you from the bullies? Got it."
"So you'll do it?" Emily perked up.
"Oh, hell no. It's my last year, I don't want a target on my back."
"Squid!" El shrieked. "My bedroom, now!"
El stood up and stormed to her room and I slowly followed behind her. Somewhere in my mind, it registered that what I said wasn't the most sensitive thing in the world, but the bad boy side of me wouldn't acknowledge that.
When I reached El's room, she slammed the door behind me. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she screamed.
"What? I already fought the football team once this year, I don't want to fight them again!" I tried but El wasn't having any of that.
"That girl is miserable! She's pregnant and scared and hurt! How can you say no to helping her?" El asked.
"Easily." I shrugged.
"Why?" El looked up at me and in her eyes shone disappointment. And I gotta say, it hurt.
I had been a disappointment to teachers, to friends and to my mom, the few times she was sober. Hell, I was even such a disappointment to my dad that he left. But having El ashamed is a whole different story.
"Why do you do this, Squid?" El whispered, "You comfort me on the streets, you hold me at night and you go out of your way to make sure I don't get hurt. But the second someone else wants help you turn cold."
I didn't say anything, because honestly I didn't know what to say. Everything she said was true and I don't know why. I couldn't tell you why I did any of what I did.
"If you aren't going to help Emily, then get out."
"What?" I gasped.
"Get out, Alan!" she screamed. "You are so selfish! I can't believe I gave you a place to stay if you can't even return the favor to a girl in need!"
"I had a place to stay before you, El!" I lied.
"NO YOU DIDN'T!" El screamed, slamming her fist against the wall, "I SAW YOU FUCKING SLEEPING AT THE BUS STATION EVERY NIGHT!"
Silence filled the air as I stared in shock at El who only just seemed to realize what she said. "What?" I whispered.
There was a long pause, as if El was trying to find the right words to say, "I was driving home and saw you getting ready for bed. I-I thought it might have been a one night thing but the next day, I saw you again.. I didn't want to say anything."
"You didn't want to say anything?" I snarled. I couldn't exactly place the feeling I was experiencing, but it was pretty close to betrayal. "So this entire time I was a fucking charity case?"
"No, that's not what-"
"It seems pretty clear what you meant, Eleanor." I spat.
"I took you in, Squid! You have no right to turn me into the bad guy!" El argued.
"You've always been the bad guy!" I yelled, slamming my fist not the wall as well, next to the dent that El made. "Is this your way of redeeming yourself from high school? When you bullied people like me?"
"ENOUGH!" El screamed, "Just be fucking thankful for once, Squid! So what if you're a charity case? You have a home!"
"Not anymore." I muttered as I opened the door and started towards the front door.
"Alan, wait!" El called, "That isn't what I meant!"
"I know exactly what you meant."
And with that, I was already out the door and heading down the driveway. I paid no attention to El as she ripped open the door again and called for me to come back. I just kept on walking.
I didn't know where I was heading but eventually I found myself at the school. And since I sure as hell didn't want to be there, I started in a different direction; to Cavemans house.
Caveman wasn't particularly one of my best friends, I mean I kind of tortured the kid at times; I preferred to hang out with people like X-Ray or Armpit, sometimes even Ziggy. But it I knew anything about Caveman, I knew that the kid had a heart and would understand my problem.
It took a while to get to his house, but when I got there, I could smell Mrs. Yelnats cooking from at the end of their long driveway. I made my way up the front steps and rang the doorbell, listening to the loud ding-dong from inside.
It didn't take very long before Caveman answered, looking pretty confused as to why I of all people had shown up at his doorstep. "Hey man, what's up?"
I shrugged, "My roommate kicked me out, you were close so I decided to come chill with you until he stops being a dick." Lie.
"Yeah, sure, come on in." Caveman still looked a little unsure but welcomed me in anyway. "So what did you do to upset your roommate?"
I chuckled under my breath, though there was no humour in my laugh, "Trust me man, it's a long story that you really don't want to get involved in."
"Alright." Caveman respectively. I was partially glad that he just let it go but I also really wanted to get this entire mess off my chest. I knew deep down that eventually I would snap. "My mom just finished making pot roast, you can stay for diner if you'd like."
"Sure, I'm in." I shrugged and plopped down on his comfortable couch. So much better than El's lumpy one... Not like I would be seeing much of it or her much anymore.
I sighed, thinking about El. I really did like her, even if she was never my friend in the first place and I was just some charity case to make her feel better about herself.
"Squid?" My head snapped up. Caveman looked a little worried, "You okay? You kind of zoned off there."
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking..." I trailed off as El's face popped in my head once again.
"Okay, well my mom said dinner is ready." Caveman informed my so I nodded and followed him to his kitchen. Pot Roast was set up on a fancy plate with expensive silverware surrounding it. That's what you get for inventing Sploosh I guess.
"Hello, Squid." Mrs. Yelnats nodded. I don't think she even knew that my real name was Alan. "It's nice to have you over."
I nodded, not knowing what to say. I sat down on one of the chairs and once Mrs. Yelnats said her prayers, I dug in. It was pretty good, but then again I found everything delicious after Camp Green Lake.
The family made small talk while I ate. I didn't know what to say since they were mainly talking about weather or business.
"So Squid do you have a job?" Mr. Yelnats asked and I nodded, earning a shocked look from Caveman.
"Yeah, I work at HMV. My friend got me the job."
"If Squid can get a job, then so can you, Stanley!" Stanley the third...or was it second? Anyway, his grandfather was the one who had spoken. "And so then are you helping your parents pay for groceries?" he cracked, as if that was supposed to be funny.
I kind of looked away awkwardly. Family was a sore subject for me.
They must have noticed my silence because they stopped laughing and went back to talking about the weather. By the end of dinner, I was wishing that I hadn't stormed out on El even more.
"So Squid, it's getting pretty late, do you want to stay the night?" Mr. Yelnats asked. I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was only 7:36, not exactly what most people would call 'late.'
I agreed anyway. It seemed like everyone could just tell the days that I needed a place to crash for the night. Seems like I'm an open book.
"I'll get you some clothes." Caveman offered and I followed him upstairs to where his bedroom was. The entire situation was awkward and I wish I went to X-Rays or Armpits place instead. Even though their parents weren't as kind as Caveman's.
I got the sweats on that he gave me and we decided to watch a movie, Insidious to be exact. I suggested it.
We sat on the couch, staring at the flickering screen until my eyelids grew heavy and I started drifting off to sleep. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Caveman saying, "I'm sorry you're going through something right now.."
Review! I felt like I didn't have enough Caveman in this so I tried adding a bit more of him. Any suggestions for the next chapter?