"It's- Uh, it's negative." Sarah awkwardly scrathes her head and looks at the three of us. We're all sitting in her room, our eyes blazing at hers. She waited for two days to take the test and I think we were all losing our minds while waiting.
"What?" Hailey stands up and grabs the test from Sarah's shaking hands. I look between her and my cousin, furrowing my brows as I do so.
"It was a false alarm." Sarah says, barely believing her own words. Her pupils are wide and she slowly paces around the room, her hands on her hips.
"I'm not pregnant." She stops and turns to face us, an unreadable expression on her face. "I'm really not pregnant. I can actually stop worrying and overthinking what I have to do and how I have to do it because -"
"Sarah." Hailey's voice breaks her speech and we look over to my cousin who is holding the test between her fingers, squinting her eyes at it.
"You don't have your glasses on. You are pregnant." She mutters in a steady voice, carefully looking at Sarah as if her words might break her.
And that's exactly what happens.
"Oh my God." Sarah falls on her knees on the floor and Jessica and I rush over to her, each supporting one of her hands. She's been shaking this entire time but now her movements are uncontrollable. Tears start streaming down her face and she erupts in fits of sobs. We kneel beside her and I hold her palms tightly as if she will escape from me. Her grip is even tighter and she leans into Jessica's chest, her head falling on her lap. Jessica shoots me a pained expression and that's when I see a tear escaping her eye.
Hailey places the test on the side and joins us on the floor, comforting our girl. I gently stroke her hair while my cousin does the same with her back, soothing her in the best way possible.
I know all of us want to say something, tell her it's gonna be alright, but seeing her this way, it's impossible to utter a single word. Ever since I got here Sarah has been so generous, so upbeat and this moment I'm seeing her in breaks my heart.
The door creaks open and Ellie's blonde hair comes in vision. I press my lips in a tight line and focus on Sarah, whose muffled cries still echo through the room. Ellie examines the situation carefully, catching a glimpse of the pregnancy test on the shelf and a look of concern passes her face before she lowers herself down to our level. She places her hand on Sarah's shoulder without muttering a word as her own face frowns.
Sarah eventually stops crying, only letting out a few sniffs every now and then. After a couple minutes she slowly raises her head, moving her hair away from her face.
"I'm- I'm fine." She lifts herself to a sitting positiong and brings her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them.
"No, honey, you're not." Hailey scoots closer to her, lightly pulling a hand through Sarah's hair. "And that's okay."
"I just- I don't know what to do." Sarah shrugs and dabs on her eyes, her voice barely audible.
"Sarah." Ellie scoots closer to her, making me have to back away a little bit. I scan her face as she brings her fingers under Sarah's chin, making her look up to her. "You know we're all here for you. We will help you with anything, no matter how distanced we are."
"Oh, Ellie." Sarah sniffs, her head lowering down. "How did you manage through this?"
My eyes sightly widen as Sarah asks this question. Ellie uncomfortably shifts her position and looks over to me for a second, her face troubled. She lifts her hand to put her blonde hair behind her ear as her eyes switch between two spots before looking back at Sarah.
"I managed. The same way you're going to." Ellie says softly, her cheeks flushing a little bit.
Ellie is a mom?
"I'm so scared." Sarah releases more tears. "So damn scared."
"Trust me, you're gonna get through it. It's going to be hard, I won't lie. But you'll realize it's all worth it in the end." Ellie smiles, bringing a little bit of positivity to our huddled group. Even I crack a smile when Sarah's face lightens up.
"Thank you, guys." She looks at all three of us, her grateful eyes shining at us.
"No alcohol for you, darling." Hailey waddles her finger and Sarah releases a short chuckle, removing the rest of her tears away.
We help her stand up and bring her a pair of wet wipes, since she was wearing make up and now her mascara is smudged all over her cheeks. It takes some girl talk and Jessica's gossips for Sarah to completely change her mood, forgetting about the stress she was dealing with beforehand.
"I would die!" Hailey exclaims after listening to Ellie's story of her experience with parachuting.
"I almost did." Ellie places her hand on her chest to emphasize. "They practically forced me and trust me, as a person who lives with the fear of hights, I actually cried."
"God, I can barely be on a balcony, let alone up in the air with nothing under my legs." I say, finding myself when she mentions the fear I also live with. I shudder at just the thought of it.
"Right? I stayed in bed for the rest of the day. They had to drag my ass out so I can eat dinner. And I never skip dinner." Ellie laughs at herself, joined by Jessica and Sarah. I look over Ellie's tiny waist and slim legs and wonder just how much she eats. She's not unhealthy looking, but she is skinny. But then again, Sarah is half my size and she still manages to grab double of what I'm eating.
Sarah's door opens and Carter himself enters the room, a bright smile adoring his face.
"Let's go to the beach- each." He sings in a Nicky Minaj impression and points to Sarah.
"You mean the pool- ool?" I sing back with my eyebrow raised and he just straightens up, taking his sunglasses off for a second.
"Sugar." He says sternly, as if I'm a child that needs to be scolded. "Don't ruin the vibe."
Sarah chuckles and I just roll my eyes while Carter puts his sunglasses on, returning his focus on his girlfriend again.
"You coming?" He asks. Sarah quickly locks her gaze with Hailey, a pleading moment passing her. My cousin obviously notices because she nods lightly, her action unnoticeable for Carter. Sarah's thoughts must be jumbled up and it would be a crime to leave her alone with the person who she can now call the father of her child.
"Can I come with?" Hailey looks up at the tall boy who just smiles.
"Of course."
"I'll come, too." Ellie says and stands up quickly. "I need to get my tan fixed."
"Jess, Kat?" Carter looks over at us, but I just shake my head idly, matching Jessica's movements.
"Lazy." She explains and I nod.
"Okay then, bye." Carter concludes and lets the girls go in front of him before giving us a final wave. I listen carefully and the moment the front door of our apartment closes I shoot up from where I'm sitting, taking Jessica by surprise as her light eyes look at me confused.
"Ellie's a mom?" I try not to be loud, my question dangling in the air for a couple of seconds. I can see the hesitation in Jessica's eyes but she eventually nods and stands up, only to fall on her back on Sarah's bed.
"Yeah." She sighs, looking up to the ceiling. "She is. Her little boy is a year old."
"But, how? She's so young." I say and move over to where Jessica is laying, crossing my legs underneath me.
"It wasn't something she had planned."
"A one year old?" I wonder out loud and Jessica nods. "Is that why she stopped coming here?"
Jessica turns her head over to face me, her eyes scanning me and she looks like she's repeating my question in her head. She sits up gradually and supports herself on her palms.
"Partly. Becoming a mother changed her way of acting and she had to grow up fast enough to be a more responsible person for her baby." Jessica says, focusing her gaze on the white sheets we're sitting on. "But her pregnancy announcement initiated some complications between our group and it stirred the drama she didn't want. So she left willingly, to prevent any further problems from happening."
I stay silent, a million questions running through my mind but I can't get myself to ask any of them, because I know for a fact that this is something Ellie wouldn't tell me herself.
"I know she may not seem like that kind of a person, but she used to be very tight with everyone. And as you probably noticed, she's not anymore." Jessica looks down, almost disappointed.
"Yeah, the guys avoid her like plague. What's up with that?" I ask casually, trying not to sound too nosy. Jessica only lifts her head and throws me a genuine smile.
"You know I love gossiping." She says calmly. "But as much as I would like to share that story with you, it's not mine to tell."
I smile at her humanity and nod at her, completely understanding. I have major respect for Jessica. She loves talking about others and knowing certain things but she only states out the facts and stays away from creating unnecessary tensions, making up lies or trash talking someone. She knows her opinion but keeps it on a low level.
"I understand, you're right. I'm just a little shocked." I admit.
"We all were." She lets out a giggle. Once she stops she lifts her chin and studies me for a while.
"Kat." She gains my attention. "Are you okay?"
I look at her and I know what she's referring to, so I choose to pick on my bracelet.
"I'm over it. Been there done that." I shrug, clearing my throat afterwards.
"Have you heard from him?" She asks, concern evident in her voice.
I told Jessica about what happened with Wes that same day, when I baked cookies for everyone. She's not stupid and she's very observant, which is how she noticed my tear stained cheeks. For as long as I've known Jess she's always been the best advice giver and one of the most understanding people I know. I didn't mind sharing everything with her because I knew my secrets would be safe with her. We had a long hear to heart conversation and she told me exactly what I had feared she would tell me, that I have caught feelings.
"No." I reply simply. "Not like I'm surprised."
"I know." Her face transforms into one filled with sympathy. "Mel was on the phone with him yesterday and I just had to eavesdrop. And at one point I heard Mel say 'She's okay. Don't worry.' I am betting everything that they were talking about you."
"Jess, seriously?" I cast a dubious look at her. "Why would he even ask? You're Mel's girlfriend, he definitely asked about you."
"True but why would he worry about me? Wes is like a brother to me and trust me, if he wondered how I was he would've called me instead of asking Mel."
"You're overthinking. It's Wes we're talking about. I couldn't even stand the guy." I scoff.
"And look what happened to that." She smiles cheekily and I gently smack her arm.
"I still hate him. Maybe I even hate him more than before." I say.
"What's your plan when he gets back?"
"Plan? I don't have one. My only plan is to spend the rest of my summer having fun and relaxing. I'm not gonna let him ruin my vacation." I say, repeating the same words I told Wes when when I first saw him in this house.
"Well, okay." She looks once more before standing up. "If you need anything, I'm here to talk."
I smile at her generosity as she crosses the room over to Sarah's closet.
"Now, I love my Sarah baby, but she is messy as hell." She says as she opens Sarah's closet and takes out a couple of crumpled shirts. She turns to me and smiles from the other side of the room. "Plus, I didn't have girl time with you in the longest. How about we fix this mess and chat for a while?"
I chuckle lightly before standing up and picking up the first thing I see on the floor, Sarah's red heels.
"Say the words." I say and stack the heels in the bottom shelf of the closet, starting a big room cleaning.
After cleaning Sarah's room and spending an entire day with Jessica doing more manicures, make up, trying on outfits and making hairstyles, so basically all girly things, we decided to do some boy things as well. We played sports, tennis and volleyball and even went to the game room and played Call of Duty and we both failed miserably. Neither of us has any talent for video games.
Once everyone else returned we finally gathered around with some pizza and movies, your typical hang out stuff. Boys decided to drink and have a competition which led to Damon and his friends coming over and eventually creating a whole blown party. Even though I was ready to enjoy and have some fun I couldn't bear not to be with Sarah, who was still pretty down.
So Mel told us that we could take their apartment which is when we transferred all of our stuff there and had a little sleepover in the boys' apartment. In the morning the only thing I could hear it was my phone buzzing uncontrollably and I tried to stop it. I tried to stop the noise but it continued and eventually I groaned and sat up to answer whoever was calling me and bothering me. And I knew that it was early in the morning because surely enough, all the girls around me were fast asleep.
My eyes had a small dizzy moment where I had to stop and blink a couple times before I was finally able to see properly. My hand lazily dragged itself to the nightstand where my phone was still buzzing. I take a hold of it and press the green button, tiredly placing it to my ear.
"Hello?" I say in a groggy voice, still half asleep.
"Honey. Hello." My father's voice booms through the speaker. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, wondering why he's calling me this early, and with such persistence.
"Hey, dad." I reply, scotting towards the headboard where I lean myself against it. "How are you?"
"I'm alright." He sighs and I can't help but worry as I head his voice falter.
"What's wrong?" The thought that there might be something wrong back home brings a terrible gut feeling in my stomach.
"Katherine, there's something that happened last night and I wanted to wait until morning to tell you." He starts and I sit up, my nerves already starting to work.
"Mom's awake."