It wasn’t until the middle of Sunday night, that I woke up feeling nauseous. I ran to the bathroom quickly, and threw my guts up.
I decided to stay up, knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore. I got dressed for school, straightened my hair, and ate a granola bar, not sure if it would stay down.
I drove to school, and walked slowly to my English class. When I sat down, I noticed Bentley beside me, “you even get a seat beside me?” I asked.
He laughed, “yeah, isn’t that something special?”
I nodded, he stared at my face for a moment, “are you feeling alright? You don’t look too good.”
I shrugged, “just a little nauseous.”
“Oh,” he said, not sure how to respond.
During the middle of class, I had to ask to go to the bathroom, so I could throw up.
When I was in the bathroom, I heard someone come out of a stall and knock on mine, “um, it’s taken!” I said.
“I was just checking to see if you were alright,” a quiet voice said.
I wiped my mouth and came out of the stall, and saw it was Chelsea there. “I’m fine, thanks for asking, though.”
She smiled at me. I knew that she was known for being really sweet and understanding to everyone and if it wasn’t for her being on Joel’s side, I would have maybe even confided in her. But because she was best friends with Melanie, I knew I couldn’t, I mean if someone told me that my best friend’s boyfriend had gotten them pregnant, I’d tell her, too.
“So, how are your classes this year?” she asked me after I had rinsed my mouth out with water.
I smiled, “they’re fine. I’m a little bored in them though,” I said.
She laughed, “same here. You should go out for a sport, they’ll get you out of class often.”
And I wanted to, so bad. I had always wanted to be a cheerleader, but I‘d heard you couldn‘t do sports while pregnant, and I wouldn‘t be able to do them long anyway. I laughed, “nah, I’m just focused on getting really good grades this semester.”
She patted my shoulder, “you’re a really good student, I’m sure you will.”
I thanked her again, “well, I should probably get back to class,” I said, “nice talking to you, Chelsea.”
She smiled, “you too, Serenity, we should hang out sometime.”
“That would be cool,” I said quietly.
She grinned, and I was self-conscious because she was so pretty, with her long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and a flawless tan, it made me wish I could be more like her, naturally beautiful. “What about this Saturday? I don’t have any plans, and I would love to widen my circle of friends from just the squad,” she said sweetly.
I thought about it, “okay, that’d be fun,” I said quietly.
She gave me a hug, which surprised me, “I’ll text you and remind you, if I don’t see you, okay?”
I nodded and hugged her back, and then we both went our separate ways to our classes.
I came back and Bentley was looking at me curiously, but I ignored him.
When the second class bell rang, we walked quietly there, too. He sat beside me, and I could feel Joel staring holes into my back, again. I also had to go to the bathroom to throw up in that class, too.
I saw Joel stare at me on the way out, and even more so on the way back.
When the third bell rang, and I said my goodbyes to Bentley, promising to see him at lunch, I was pulled into a janitor’s closet.
I looked around and saw Joel there, “why did you leave class?”
“I had to throw up, idiot. What the heck do you want?”
“I was just wondering why you looked so pale.”
“Because I’m pregnant, it makes people sick, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“But… so people are going to… know that you are?”
“Duh, especially when I get as big as a freaking elephant!”
He had to sit down, “oh…” he said.
“Look, can I go? This isn’t your business.”
“Yeah, it is..”
“No, it’s not. You said you wouldn’t claim MY child, so you won’t. We’ll keep pretending we don’t know each other, it’ll be fine.”
He looked at me for a moment, “go. Sorry I made you late for class.”
I shrugged, “go fall in a well.”
I walked out of the classroom and made my way to History. I apologized to the teacher for being late, she waved me to my seat.
I took my notes, and sat quietly until the lunch bell rang, I met Bentley outside at one of the picnic tables, “so, you have fun in History?” he asked.
I shrugged, “I guess.”
“What is wrong with you, Serenity? Do you need to go home?”
I took a deep breath, “I’m not sick, Bentley.”
“Well then, what’s wrong?”
I took a deep breath, I was going to say it, I was going to… “nothing, I’m just… maybe I am sick.” Crap. Why couldn’t I just blurt it out?
He smiled and took my hand, “that’s okay, you’ll be fine.”
I stared down at our hands for a moment, his was warming mine. I hadn’t even realized my hands were cold. “Why are your hands so cold?” he asked.
I shrugged, “I’m not sure.”
He laughed, “I’ll warm them up.” and he took my other hand and put them both in his, and blew on them softly. I couldn’t help but laugh at him, “you look silly, right now, look at all the people staring!”
He smiled, “I don’t see anyone else but you, Serenity,” he said seriously.
“I--” I was interrupted by Melanie approaching us, her long chestnut hair blowing around from the wind, and her green eyes sparkling, “hi, you bartended at Chelsea’s party, right?”
He looked at me and back at her, “yeah, I did.”
“Well, I was kind of hoping that you would do it for mine too, it’s this Saturday at nine o’clock that night, and I would really like you to. I’ll pay you double what Chelsea did.”
“That’s four hundred dollars an hour, are you crazy?”
She shrugged, “I have the money, and everyone was really pleased with you, last time.”
He looked at me and then back at her, “will she be invited?” he gestured towards me and my eyes widened.
She seemed to finally notice me, “oh, sure, we don’t care who comes.”
“We?”
“Joel Jenkins, you know the quarter back, my boyfriend and I are throwing it.”
He nodded, “alright, but I have to have a break time, okay?”
“Alright,” she said, “you be there at eight, and you,” she looked at me, “be there whenever you can,” she said.
I watched her go back up to where Joel was sitting, I assumed he asked what she had been doing, because he looked over, and his eyes seemed to widen a little when he saw me with Bentley.
“Back to what I was saying,” Bentley said, catching my attention.
“Um,” the bell rang, saving me from having to say much anyway.
He smiled, “will you be my date to that party, Serenity?” he asked.
I smiled at him, I knew it probably wasn’t smart to lead the poor boy on, I knew that there was so many other things I should be doing, but I simply just nodded helplessly, already knowing I was finally falling for someone, and I just wished it could have been sooner… before I had gotten pregnant.
He took my hand as we walked back to class, and let go reluctantly when I got to mine, “I’ll see you after school, in the parking lot, okay?” he asked.
I nodded, “okay.”
I couldn’t pay attention at all through the rest of my classes, every thought I had ended up at Bentley. I wondered what he was doing at that exact moment, I wondered if he was thinking of me, I wondered if he’d ever had a girlfriend before, I wondered if he was a virgin, unlike me. All these things passed through my mind for the next three hours. Then the bell finally rang, in my last period, Journalism.
I walked out of class, to my car, and threw my things in the car, and I heard someone yelling. I looked up the hill and saw Joel and one of his football buddies talking. I stared for a moment, and saw him slide his eyes my way, and then he just simply stared back at me. “Hey, Serenity,” Bentley said, and my eyes looked away from Joel to him.
“Hi, Bentley,” I said softly.
He smiled in relief when I spoke, “I couldn’t stop thinking of you,” he said.
I felt tears spring to my eyes, “me either,” I said softly, speaking honestly and wishing that I could find a way to tell him what had happened.
His eyes softened when he saw my tears, he put his hands on either side of my face, and his eyes darting up to mine, as if checking to see if it was okay, he kissed me gently. My heart soared at the touch of our lips, and feelings charged through me. And I knew in my heart that this was the way it was supposed to be, I just wished I had realized that with Joel.
He stepped back, and intertwined our fingers, “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I first saw you three and a half weeks ago,” he said.
I smiled at him, and looked down at our fingers, the way they fit perfectly together, “why?”
His expression was confused, “what do you mean why?”
“Why are you interested in… well, me? You’re pretty cute, I bet you’ve had a ton of girlfriends, and you could have a ton here at the snap of your fingers. Why did you know back then, that you wanted to kiss me when we didn’t know each other? I was just some lonely girl on Valentine’s Day at some party where I didn’t know anyone. Why, Bentley?”
He didn’t hesitate in answering, “I may have had some girlfriends, and there may be some girls who are interested in me, but I only want you to be interested in me, Serenity. And to me, you weren’t lonely, you were brave, and strong, and when Joel Jenkins ordered you a drink, I asked him to tell you I thought you were the most beautiful girl there that night, and to take care of you.”
I stared at him in shock, “he… never told me that.”
“What were you two doing then? Wait, you know what don’t answer that, I’d rather imagine you just danced and kissed.”
I smiled, “okay, Bentley.”
He caressed my cheek softly, “you are beautiful.”
My eyes darted down to the ground, “no I’m not,” I mumbled.
He made me look at him, “yes, you are,” he emphasized.
I smiled half-heartedly, “thanks, sweetheart, but I’ve really got to get home, my parents are probably wondering where I am,” I said, noticing that most of the cars were gone.
He nodded, “I’ll see you tomorrow in school,” he said and kissed my hand before leaving.
I left the school with my heart pounding in my chest, looking towards the football team’s practice, and for the first time in weeks, not trying to spot out Joel.