Chapter Fourteen
Honest
Mid March 1994
Amelia 17 weeks pregnant (4 months)
Amelia decided to keep the news to herself for a while. Honestly, she was scared of losing her friends that she just barely had. The teen pushed them away a little, which didn't help. She figured they'd leave her once they discovered she was pregnant, anyway. Adding to all of that, she didn't really have much free time these days, which was her excuse. Addison didn't waste any time putting her in sex education classes and finding a support group for teen moms. Amelia hated all of it, but she knew she couldn't get out of it. So she never tried.
Sighing, she gets off the bed, pulls up her shirt, and looks in the mirror. She wonders if she has a bump yet. She stares at herself, zoning out.
"Amy! Little Amy!" Jo and Megan both simultaneously call her, letting themselves in her bedroom like usual. She jumps quickly, pulling down her shirt and blushing.
"Do you guys ever knock?" Amelia asks, annoyed.
"Nope." Megan replies, popping the "p" sound, followed by blowing a bubble with her gum.
"Whatcha hidin' little Amy? You've been hiding. Don't even try lying." Megan asked.
"I don't lie. But I'm scared to tell you guys." She bites her lip, refusing to meet her friend's eyes.
"Did Derek threaten to like, disown you or something?" Jo asks, knowing how strained their relationship could be at times.
"I-I don't know, I don't think so….I hope not." Amelia responds, fear and doubt creeping up in her voice.
"I'm sorry." Jo apologizes, hearing the tone in her friend's voice.
"I didn't mean it like that. It was a joke. I swear Amy. It was a joke. Please believe me." She begged, hoping her friend would forgive her.
"So, what's the big secret?" Megan steps in between the younger girls, hoping to cool the tension.
Amy looks up, wondering if she should tell her friends. If she wanted to keep them, she'd have to, but they might leave her, anyway. So basically, she was screwed either way, she thought.
She swallows hard, closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she opens her mouth, letting the words spill out.
"I'm pregnant." She stands there, eyes still squeezed shut while waiting for them to leave. She knew it was only a matter of time.
Megan was the first one to speak after a few minutes.
"Wow. Didn't know you had it in you, Little Amy." Megan comments. Amelia cracks her eyes open, confused at Megan's statement.
"What?" Amelia asks.
"I didn't peg you as the girl who got knocked up before marriage is all." Megan shrugs like it was nothing.
"You're just so pure." Megan adds. Amy snorts at that comment. Megan had literally no idea.
"I'm not, but thanks. Why aren't you guys running? You should." Amelia asks. Megan just gives her a look.
"Hello! I don't care. This kid is gonna be a badass because Auntie Megan said so." Megan quips, smarting off.
"Besides…" Jo starts, lying down on the bed.
"I think you'll be a great mom. Way better than mine. You won't ever abandon your kid, I know you." Jo adds.
Amelia sniffs, her big blue eyes welling up with tears.
"You guys really mean that? Like really?" Amelia asks.
Jo pulls her into a hug.
"Well yeah, duh. You guys are my best friends, and I don't see a baby as a bad thing, unlike some people. I don't want to lose you guys either." Jo adds.
Amelia smiles tearfully, letting herself find comfort in her best friend. The anxiety continues to fade as she feels Megan squeeze her knee in silent support.
"Hey, are you still grounded?" Megan asks.
"If you aren't, do you want to go to the mall? We can go to the arcade, or just sit and people watch." Megan adds.
"I have to ask first, but that sounds fun. I think they might be okay with it." Amelia gets up, wandering downstairs with the girls following close behind.
"Addie? Derek?" She calls, looking for either one of them.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?" Mark asks, looking up from his textbook and seeing the teens walk into the kitchen.
"Oh, hey Mark. I was hoping I could go to the mall with Jo and Megan. Are Addie and Derek here?" She asks, quickly adding a follow-up question.
"Why are you here?" She frowns, suspicious of his presence. Derek and Addison usually informed her when they left her with a 'babysitter.'
"Red's in the study on the phone, and I really wouldn't bother her if I were you. Derek isn't home. He left just after I showed up." He replies.
"As for your request for temporary 'parole' from this joint, I don't see why you not. As long as your friends call their parents and they agree, I'll convince Addison." Mark shrugs. Amelia needed to get out of the house and her request seemed harmless.
"Go grab my keys and wait for me in the car. Oh, and don't touch the radio." He instructs, heading toward the office to update Addison.
Mark leaves them under strict instructions that someone would be back to pick them up by five PM sharp at these exact doors or call if they were ready to leave sooner. He calls the girls back to the car before they get too far away. He hands his sister some cash, instructing her to have some fun and be a kid.
The trio wanders into the mall, the eldest of the group leading them.
"Okay, I vote we get smoothies, then we look at all the clothes none of us can afford to buy. Does that sound good to you guys?" Megan asks in her preppy upbeat voice, making the plan for them.
The other two agreed easily, following Megan as she confidently led them through the mall.
Smoothies in hand, the three walk around. They'd been walking around for a fair bit when Amelia suddenly stopped, staring into a store window.
"Amy?" Jo called back, noticing she hadn't been walking with them.
"You okay?" Jo asked.
Amelia doesn't respond, transfixed by the store's display.
"Oh." Megan whispers quietly, seeing what she was staring at.
Baby clothes. That's what she had been staring at.
"This is my future." She breathes out.
"Do you want to go in?" Jo asks, nudging her a little.
"I-I don't know." Amelia mutters.
"Let's go in. If it's too much, we'll leave. But hey, maybe we can find a cute little outfit for Mini Amy?" Megan suggests.
The three girls walk in and automatically feel out of place. This wasn't a store meant for teenagers. But they walk through anyway, looking at all the cute little outfits. By the end of their browsing, each found a gender-neutral item that 'Mini Amy'- as Megan had dubbed the baby - just had to have.
"Okay, girl, you need to spill." Megan demands, grabbing her younger friend's arm. They'd decided to take a break from walking and people-watch near the fountain instead before heading to the arcade.
"Spill what?" Amelia asks, confused, removing the older girl's arm gently.
"Who's the hottie that dropped us off? I mean, could that t-shirt be any tighter? And why does he get to decide for you? Are your brother and sister-in-law in some sort of polygamous relationship? Because if so, Addison is a smart woman. Those guys are hot." Megan rambles dreamily.
Amelia gags while Jo tries not to giggle.
"Okay, ew. You need a hobby or something. You keep drooling over my brothers - both of them - and it's weird. That was Mark, my other brother. He used to be around a lot more for me, but he's been busy screwing my sister Lizzie and playing house with her." Amelia explains.
"Lizzie is my least evil sister - which you'd understand if you knew her and the other two. We've always considered him as one of us, and he's always been there for me, just like Derek. Or well, he used to be... I guess he's distancing himself from me now." She trails off, looking away. She didn't want to talk about that.
"Wait, hold up. Your brother is screwing your sister? So if there's no polygamous relationship going on, then what kind of incest-y shit do you all have going on?" Megan asks incredulously.
Jo couldn't hold it anymore and bursts into hysterical laughter. Amelia frowns, staring at her friends. She was seriously reconsidering their friendship right about now.
"Megan, please, I beg of you - stop being gross and lusting over my brothers. At least keep it to yourself and don't share it with me. Thankfully, you'll probably never meet my two brother-in-laws, because they hate me just like their wives do." She shrugs.
"Mark's been friends with Derek since they were four, long before I even existed. My mom practically adopted him, and he's basically a Shepherd without the name. He used to share bunk beds in Derek's room, and he's just always been around. But apparently being a Shepherd in all but name wasn't enough to stop Lizzie from jumping into bed with him." She finishes in a softer voice, still a bit upset over the entire thing.
"Well, who could blame her?" Megan quips, receiving an exasperated swat on the shoulder from Amelia.
Amelia knew it was stupid to be jealous or upset about what was happening between Mark and Lizzie. She didn't even see Mark that way. But it brought up old feelings of being the black sheep in her family, the outcast, and the last choice.
"Okay, enough about my family drama. Let's move on. The arcade's just over there, right? Meg, do you know what Dance Dance Revolution is? I've heard it's fun. Could you teach me?" Amelia asks, hopeful and praying her older friend understood where she was coming from and wasn't annoyed with her.
Megan smiles gently before sending Amelia a playful wink.
"Of course I can! I'll have you know, I am very good at DDR. I practice regularly by wiping the floor with my older brother and his stupid friends." Megan responds jovially, wrapping an arm around Amelia's shoulders and making a mental note to try to lift the brunette's spirits whenever possible. DDR was something she rocked at. She supposed she could teach her two younger friends a few of her tricks.
Amelia laughs as they drag her into the arcade, feeling a little better knowing her friends genuinely cared about her and were good at cheering her up.
Now that she was inside the noisy game center, Amelia was admittedly a little overwhelmed looking around. She wasn't sure if she'd ever been to an arcade before, and the amount of games and people of all ages playing them was a sight to see. Glancing to her left, Amelia was glad to see that Jo was obviously in the same boat.
Megan rolls her eyes playfully at their dumbstruck faces and pushes them over to the ticket booth, exchanging some cash for tokens so they could play.
Once they had divided up their tokens, Megan takes them over to the DDR game and quickly shooed away the young boys who had been playing. She explained to them how to play and pushed them to go first against each other, hoping they'd enjoy it. Whenever Megan could play in the arcade, she loved DDR because it reminded her of fun times with Owen - especially when she beat Owen. That said, she figured crushing the spirits of her new friends with her unbeatable talent could wait for another day.
By the time five o'clock rolled around, Amelia accepted she was as terrible at the game as she was at dancing in real life, but none of that mattered to her. She laughed and smiled today more than she had in over a year, and she was so grateful to have friends like Jo and Megan; friends who were willing to stand by her through thick and thin.
Amelia bursts into the house as soon as she arrives, breathing heavily and running straight to Addison's arms as soon as she catches sight of her in the kitchen. A thunderstorm had started up out of the blue while the girls were waiting for Mark.
Since she was a small child, thunderstorms had always spooked the teen. It used to be that only Derek could calm her down when the fear and panic set in, but over the last few years, Addison had become the go-to.
Neither Derek nor Addison say a word as they make eye contact over the girl's head. Derek nods supportively at Addison, surrendering control of the situation to her and heading toward the kettle to make them all some tea.
Meanwhile, Addison worked on calming the teen, holding her tightly to her chest and pressing a hand gently but firmly over her exposed ear to muffle the sounds of the storm.
"How about we put on your favorite movie? Babysitters Club or something? I think we can get Derek to watch a chick flick with us. What about It Takes Two with the Olsen twins? You like that movie, right?" Addison prompts soothingly, feeling the teen's weak nod.
Addison shuffles them to the living room, wrapping Amelia tightly in a fleece blanket on the couch before moving over to pop the tape into the VCR.
Derek doesn't say a thing as the three of them settle in to watch the movie. He stole a glance at Amelia, who had her head in Addison's lap and an iron grip on her hand. He hoped she felt safe here and that the movie, along with their presence, would bring her some comfort.
End Chapter
Song Title: Honest-The Chainsmokers
