“Dude I promise you’ll be fine! You’re probably psyching yourself out- can I have a large fry with a coke? Thanks!” Alison insisted as she fumbled through your wallet for some cash. We were at Chick-Fil-A and my friend Alison, from school, was with me to try to ease my nerves. She was one of my closest friends at the time, and was extremely optimistic: basically she was a red-headed hippie who I knew I could trust. At that time though, I was floating off into my own little world. Nothing she said seemed to help the suffocation of the fear of my question that was soon to be answered. My thoughts were in a fog and everything around me was a blur. Finally, the moment came that I worked up the strength to reach into Alison’s purse and pull out that little stick that held the answer I was looking for. Who knew something so small could determine so much. Then I laid my eyes on that little pink cross, and it seemed like the world had come to a halt. I was pregnant.

I was 14. I was in high school. I was a cheerleader and on the drill team. But, at that very instant all of that was gone. How would I tell my friends? How would I tell my dad? These questions seemed to run through my mind all at the same time, but then the most terrifying one came to my mind: What would Damian (my boyfriend and the father) do? I had so many emotions swarming throughout my mind I couldn’t find the right one to react with. Eventually, I noticed Alison staring at me because I had eaten all her fries. She knew instantly what the test said.

“Are you going to keep it? Do you think Damian will stick around?” She started to bombard me with questions that I couldn’t answer right then and there. But I knew I needed to tell Damian as soon as possible. I walked outside into the Chick-Fil-A parking lot and started to dial. As soon as he picked up and heard my voice he knew something was wrong.

“Is everything okay. Hello? Are you still there? What happened?” He knew me all too well even though we had only been together two months. I could tell he had been in a good mood and I felt terrible to ruin that for him. So, I told him I was just bored and that I’d just call him back later. He could tell I was lying but didn’t know what to think of it. A few minutes later Alison walked outside so we could head to my house. As I started to walk through my neighborhood I felt like all eyes were on me. The people in the cars passing by, the old grandma walking her grandson home from school, even those annoying squirrels that just don’t seem to know their boundaries- They all knew. At least, that is what it felt like.

This feeling seemed to multiply by fifty when we stepped through the front door of my house. My dad immediately asked about what I did after school and what my plans were. The realistic side of my thoughts knew he didn’t know but that little voice in the back of my head just screamed “HE KNOWS, SO DON’T EVEN TRY AND HIDE IT.” I answered him with short and sweet answers and ran to my room as fast as I could with Alison not far behind. I finally sat down and was able to think. I wanted to relax and watch a movie so I could slip away from reality for just a moment. About half way through the movie though, I just couldn’t seem to get it out of my head. I needed to call Damian and tell him. So once again I dialed his number.

“Hey babe what’s up? I’ve been wondering what was wrong earlier. I’m just sitting here hanging out.”

“Hey, well um… umm… ummm… well you see…” I couldn’t seem to spit it out.

“She. Is. Pregnant.” Alison snatched the phone and finally exploded it out for me.
I could hear his smile slowly coming off his face through the phone. He started to ask if it was a joke, and when it finally clicked he said he needed a moment and would call back. I later found out he was with seven of his friends and had literally passed out from the news. But while I waited for that call back I started to think the worst. Was he going to break up with me? Would he leave me to be a single parent? I was petrified.
Eventually, what seemed like hours but was only half an hour later, he called back and told me that he was going to be there for me 100% and that he wanted to keep our child no matter what it took. A feeling of relief fled through my body. Of course telling our parents was inevitable, but I knew he was going to be by my side every step of the way. Although I knew my life was about to take a complete turn, I knew one thing wouldn’t change: I was going to have someone by my side for the largest challenge I had ever faced.