Prologue: Part Five

It was June 4th. I'd had nearly a month of summer vacation, and everything was going great. I'd survived my first year of high school, with a few stories to tell, and it was nice to stay home and paint. But everything changed that day.

I woke up early feeling incredibly sick. It was all I could do to make it down the hallway to the bathroom before I lost the entire contents of my stomach.

At first, I thought I must have a stomach bug. My friend Tracy had just gotten sick a couple days before. But as the weeks wore on, and I continued to familiarize myself with the tile on the bathroom floor, I knew something else was wrong. There had also been a monthly visitor that was mysteriously absent.

I made an appointment at the clinic in the hospital. I kept hoping that maybe I'd developed some kind of food allergy or something. Either way, I needed to know. I didn't take anyone with me. Ashley was the only one who knew the truth about Shark and me, and she was so fragile sometimes...

The news wasn't good. I somehow managed to make it all the way back home before collapsing into tears.

I don't know when I stopped crying. At some point I think I just ran out of tears. I sat on the floor, unable to move, until evening.

Ashley came into my room, worried after not seeing me all day. "Hey you," she said, "what's the matter?"

I knew there was no point in keeping this to myself. Everyone would know at some point. I cleared my throat, my voice not wanting to work after crying for so long, and managed to whisper, "I'm pregnant."

I expected Ashley to freak out or faint or something equally dramatic, but instead she simply sat beside me. "I figured as much," she said.

"What?" I whipped my head around and looked at her quizzically.

"Well, you've been throwing up every day for three weeks. It's not rocket science. I had planned on talking to you about it tonight." We both just sat there, staring off at nothing, but I was comforted by her presence.

***One Month Later***

It took a long time for the initial shock of my condition to wear off. In fact, sometimes, I'm not sure it ever really did. But about a month after I got the news, and around three months into my pregnancy, I knew it was time to start making plans. First stop: telling my parents.

I was absolutely terrified. It's one thing to have different career plans than what your parents want; it's something else entirely to break every moral boundary they've ever given you. It had to be done though.

I got both of them together, and after preparing an elaborate, lengthy, and well-thought-out speech, I got too nervous and simply blurted out that I was going to have a baby.

For a few horrifying moments, they just stood there and stared at me. Then, as if someone had paused us and then hit play again, my mother suddenly burst into tears as my dad simultaneously started screaming at me.

They calmed down after several minutes and began discussing my options. In their mind, I had two: get an abortion or stay with my grandmother in Sunset Valley until I had the baby and then put it up for adoption. I refused to even consider an abortion, and I was honestly shocked that they even mentioned it. As for adoption, I held the women and girls who were able to do that for the sake of their child in very high regard, but I didn't believe I would be strong enough to go through with it. Neither of these options worked for me. I was going to keep the baby. I finally found enough courage to tell them so. Their reaction was predictable.

I was finally excused after they realized my mind was made up and went up to my room. I heard Ashley start to come up behind me, but my dad called her back. I cried myself to sleep.

The next day, I woke up to my mother in my room going through my things. "What are you doing?!?" I exclaimed.

"I'm packing your things," she replied, curtly.

I swallowed. "Where are you sending me?"

"We're not sending you anywhere," she said, "We're going to help you pack, give you a little money, and then it will be up to you to make your own way in this world. Those are the consequences you have brought upon yourself if you refuse the options we have given you."

My heart stopped. Make my own way? Completely on my own? But I'm barely 16! I tried to hold back my fears. If this is what I had to do, then I would do it. I wasn't afraid of a challenge. And I was incredibly stubborn.

"Fine," I said, "but I don't need you to help me pack. I can do it myself."

"Have it your way," she said, and then turned around and walked away. That was the last time I saw my mother for several years.

I looked around my room, trying to decide where to start, when Ashley came in. "Hey Anna," she said quietly.

I didn't even say anything. I just walked over to her and gave her a big hug. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I'm sorry I was so stupid, and I'm sorry that you'll be here alone."

"Well, don't be too sorry. They're sending me to boarding school, so I won't have to be here alone after all."

I was shocked. "Why are they sending you away?"

"Because I vouched for you before school let out and said Shark was a liar, everyone is going to be looking at me too. We all decided it would be best if I finished up high school somewhere else. It'll be good though. I'll get a much better education." She looked very resigned to it.

"God, I am so so so sorry Ash. I really messed things up for everyone."

She took me by the shoulders, "Don't you dare think that, Anna. You're the strongest person I know, and you have to promise to stay that way. Hold your head up high and show everyone who doubts you just how wrong they are. I will always be here for you, even if I can't be there physically."

We said our goodbyes, and I left. That night, I went from being the lucky rich girl living on the wealthiest street in town with everything handed to her...to being homeless.