Chapter 27- Back Home
"Oh my gosh, Maya, I am so nervous. I think I'm gonna throw up." Riley took a deep breath as they walked toward the front doors of the school. Her stomach had been a little queasy since last night, and even now it was all tangled in knots. "Tenth grade, here we come." Maya rolled her eyes.
"You're nervous? I was not this big when summer started and now everyone is going to know." Both she and Riley glanced at her ever-growing belly, which seemed to have doubled in size in the last week.
"Yeah, but you are growing a human in there, Maya." Riley replied, playfully poking Maya's belly. Maya giggled and they walked into the doors arm in arm, heads held high.
Inside the school, chaos was the theme. There were people running in all directions. Freshman were walking with their faces in paper schedules, trying to figure out how to get to their first classes. The upperclassmen were trying to be as helpful as possible, but they had their own schedules to memorize. Luckily, most of Maya and Riley's classes were together and in familiar territory. As they navigated the crowded hallway, Riley suddenly stopped. Her face went pale and she ran for the nearest trash can she could find. After vomiting up all her breakfast, and some of last night's dinner, she leaned her forehead against the cool wall. Concerned, Maya felt Riley's forehead with the back of her hand, which made Riley smile. She was already getting into Mom-mode. Riley fished a Kleenex out of her purse and patted her clammy forehead, before wiping her mouth. From the same pocket, she found a mint and with shaky hands, she placed it in her mouth. Resting her head on the wall and closing her eyes seemed to stop the world from spinning for a while.
"Wow, Riley. Are you sure you're okay? I can get the nurse if you want." Maya said, concerned. Riley shook her head.
"I'm fine, Maya. It's just first day jitters, that's all." Riley replied, giving Maya a weak smile. Unconvinced, Maya helped Riley to her feet.
"Just take it slow today, okay. Don't do too much at once." Maya caressed Riley's face. Riley brushed her hand away.
"All right. Just stop treating me like a baby." Riley said, curtly. They walked in awkward silence to the first class of the day. Riley started to say something to Maya several times but closed her mouth before the words could come out.
After lunch, Riley started to feel a little better, physically. Emotionally, she was feeling guilty for snapping at Maya. She caught up with Maya on the way to their last class together. Maya was walking, staring straight ahead and didn't see Riley come up behind her. She jumped a foot in the air when Riley announced her presence.
"Hey. Maya."
"Oh! You scared me, Riley!" Maya exclaimed, almost angrily.
"Sorry, Maya." Riley replied, sheepishly. "I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I know you were just worried and trying to help."
"It's okay. Just don't be so mean, Riley. That hurt." They stopped in the middle of the hallway and hugged until the warning bell sounded. "We better go before we're late." They rushed off down the hall to their last class of the day. Halfway through the class, Riley raised her hand.
"Ms. Matthews?" the teacher responded.
"May I use the restroom, please?" Riley replied. The teacher nodded, gesturing toward the door. Walking with her head down, she ran into Evan walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh! Sorry!" Riley looked up. "Evan?"
"Riley. How are you?" Evan asked awkwardly. "I haven't heard from you since our last text message." Riley looked down at her feet.
"I didn't know what to say after that. I meant to text you this morning, but I didn't know what to say."
"I just really want you to know, Riley, that I had nothing to do with whatever happened at the party. I would never put anything in your drink. I would never do anything to hurt you. I like you, Riley." Evan's cheeks flushed and Riley looked up at him, smiling.
"You really like me? Like, like me like me?" Riley was blushing now. Evan didn't say a word but leaned over and gently kissed her cheek. As he walked away, Riley watched him, all the while smiling from ear to ear. When he disappeared around the corner, she quietly squealed and ran to the bathroom. She knew she was right to trust him, but she still wanted to know what happened at the party.
The rest of the first week passed by rather quickly. There was a lot of introduction type lessons, with not so much homework. Riley's first day queasiness had passed, and she was getting into the routine of 10th grade. She actually looked forward to going to school. She was learning new things and Evan helped to make the time pass by more quickly. Every chance they got, Riley and Evan would sneak off under the stairwell and make out between classes.
The second week however, everything changed. Riley woke up sick and could not go to school. She had been throwing up all morning and could not keep anything down. As she lay in bed, miserable, clutching a bucket with all the strength she had left, she heard her phone chime. She wondered who was texting her now. Everyone she knew was in school right now. She picked up her phone and checked her text message. Lucas? What did he want?
'Riley, I need to talk to you. It is really important.'
'wht do u need lucas? Im sick today.'
'this is not something we should be texting. Im gonna call you.' 10 seconds later, Riley's phone rang.
"Yes, Lucas?" Riley answered. Riley could hear Lucas breathing on the line. "Lucas?"
"Riley," he replied cautiously, "I need to tell you something." Riley sighed.
"Go ahead, what is so important that you are bothering me when I am sick?"
"You remember last month, at the club? You, me, and Farkle?"
"Yeah, how could I forget?"
"Well, I talked to him yesterday and he told me that I was not the first person he was with. He told me that as careful as him and I were-"
"Get to the point, Lucas. I don't feel well and I don't have the energy for a conversation that I really don't care about."
"Farkle gave me Chlamydia. Which means I may have passed it on to you. Please go get checked, Riley." He paused, waiting for a reaction, but Riley was in shock and couldn't speak. "Listen, Riley, I gotta go. I'm sorry about all of this. I really am." The line disconnected and Riley was still frozen in shock. Chlamydia? She googled it on her phone and found that it was curable with treatment and there was a clinic not far from her apartment. Luckily, Auggie had started school this year and both her parents were at work. Slowly, she stood up and walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After she was dressed and ready to go, she headed to the bus stop.
When she got to the clinic, she was nervous. She did not know what she was going to see on the other side of those doors. She imagined all the STD images from health class and almost made herself throw up. However, she was relieved to see everyone in the waiting room looked normal. She made her way up to the nurses' desk.
"Good morning, sweetheart. How can I help you?" A red-haired nurse greeted her with a big smile. Riley returned a nervous smile to the nurse.
"My ex-boyfriend called me and told me he has chlamydia and suggested that I get checked." The nurse seemed surprised.
"Well," she replied, "that was considerate of him. Tell me hon, do you know if your parents have insurance?" Riley hadn't thought of that. She shook her head.
"I don't want my parents to know about this. I just want to get this fixed." Riley responded quietly. The nurse nodded and handed Riley a clipboard.
"Fill this out and bring it up when you are done." She handed Riley a pen and gave her a warm smile. "Everything is going to be okay." Riley nodded and sat down in a waiting room chair close to the door. She filled out the form to the best of her knowledge. When she brought the form and clipboard up to the desk, the nurse briefly looked at it.
"Okay, Riley. Go ahead and have a seat. They will call you when the doctor is ready." Riley headed back to the chair and was waiting for about 10 minutes, when the door opened, and a plump nurse called her name. Riley followed her back into a room.
"Okay, Ms. Matthews." The nurse read off the form. "Go ahead and undress and put that gown on." Riley looked at the nurse, alarmed.
"Undress?"
"Yes, undress. All the way down. Take everything off and put on the gown. Oh, before I forget. Take this cup and fill it to this line with urine. Place it on the counter over there when you are done." She handed Riley an empty plastic cup with a lid. Confused, Riley looked from the nurse to the cup.
"It's to test for STDs and pregnancy." The nurse responded to Riley's confusion. Riley shook her head.
"I'm not pregnant. I am just here to get checked for STDs." Riley tried to hand the cup back, but the nurse pushed it back toward Riley.
"It's protocol. Don't worry, you'll be fine." The nurse left the room and closed the door. Riley peed in the cup as instructed and put on the gown after getting undressed. She nervously sat on the exam table, wondering what the instruments attached to the bed were used for. Her eyes started to fill with tears. She wished Maya was here with her, or even her mom. She was so scared and nervous. There was a light knock on the door and the doctor peeked her head in.
"Good Morning, Riley. How are we today?" she asked, stepping in and closing the door after the assistant entered.
"I'm not sure. Nervous? Anxious?" Riley replied honestly. The doctor lay a gentle hand on Riley's shoulder and nodded.
"It's okay to be nervous. You've never had a pelvic exam before, have you?" The doctor's kind brown eyes looked into hers. Riley's tears started to fall onto her gown. The doctor patted her shoulder and explained exactly what was going to happen.
"Go ahead and lay back on the bed, put your feet up in these stirrups and we will begin. I'll be as gentle as possible and I will let you know what I am doing as I am doing it." The doctor gently explained. Riley nodded and nervously lay back as the doctor poked, prodded, and swabbed her insides. When she was done, the doctor took off her gloves and handed Riley a paper towel to clean herself up.
"All right, Riley. You can sit up now, and we can talk." The doctor smiled warmly at her. Riley began to relax and breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, how bad is it?" Riley asked, nervously.
"Well, I can tell you. You do not have chlamydia." The doctor replied. Riley breathed a sigh of relief. "Which is a good thing. Because having untreated chlamydia while you are pregnant can be fatal to the baby."
"Well, that's good." Riley suddenly stopped. "Wait, PREGNANT? Baby?" What are you saying?"
"Riley, you're pregnant. About 4 weeks along, it looks like." The doctor replied gently. That was the last thing Riley remembered before everything went black.