One Good Reason

I whistled for a taxi as I walked to the other side of the station. When three stopped, I chose the one with the American driver.
" ," I said, shoving my bags into the seat beside me.
"Yes ma'am." The driver said. When we pulled onto the street, he asked me what number.
" ". I answered.
"Hey!" He yelled. "That's where I live."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Are you kidding me? I live at !" he screamed as he screeched to a halt. My friend Melinda came rushing out of the house under discussion.
"Bella!?" she yelled.
"Linds!?" the driver yelled.
"Mel!" I scrambled out of the cab and hugged my best friend.
"What is going on?" the driver yelled again.
"Bert, this is Annabella, my best friend from junior high." Mel squealed, then she turned to me and grabbed my hands. "Bella, this is Bert, my fiance."
"Oh my God! Mel, I'm so happy for you! Oh, my God!" I said. "So, that's why you live here."
"Yeah. Sorry for the flippage." Bert said, then he grabbed my bags out of the back and put them at my feet. He turned to Mel, "Babe, I've got to go. See you at dinner.” Then he turned to me. “Bella.”
"Bye." I said watching him drive away. Then I turned to Mel. Her super long blond hair was cut to a bob and her glasses were gone so you could see her blue eyes better. She looked suspiciously big around her tummy too. Other than that, she was the same old Melinda Dudstoc.
"Bells, I have so much to tell you." She said, "Oh my God, I can't believe you're here! Ahhh!"
We went inside the one-story house that her uncle owns and sat down at the kitchen table.
"You first though," Mel said, "What brings you to Baltimore?"
"Oh, you know, just here for a visit. I'm actually on the way up to the Big Apple and wanted to say hey." I said shortening my story. She didn't really need to know everything.
"Bella, I haven't seen you in three years. What's going on?"
Okay, maybe I could tell her.
"Tiffany is still the same. Except she's dating Johnathon."
"No way. Really?" Mel asked, shocked.
"Yeah. Matt has apparently been recording every part of my life. Do you remember when we were going to audition for that strip club? He got that and put it on youtube."
"That piece of scum."
"I know, right? Melody and Harmony are pretty much the same. My parents are pissed at me right now probably..."
"Why?" Mel asked. "Your parents were the coolest."
"Yeah, well, long story." I sighed.
"Okay," Mel dropped it, knowing I would tell her later, "How's Jake?"
"Um... he's part of that long story actually." I said.
"Okay, spill." She responded, visibly bursting with excitement. So I told her about Jake's dad and the past eight weeks of my life.
"... So I came here to say hi before I start over in New York City." I finished.
"Wow." Mel said, "No wonder your parents are pissed. But this is incredible, other than the Jacob thing. I'm pregnant too."
"No way. Wow." I said, then I hugged my friend. "Boy or girl?"
"Boy. At first the doc thought it was twins, but now he's sure it's just one little male. Bella, we're pregnant together!"
"Yeah, but you've got Bert next to you. I don't have Jake." I said wistfully.
We talked for an hour or two before we had dinner then went to bed. I had warned Mel that I had to leave by eight the next morning but she wasn't up yet. And since Bert didn't have to work until nine, neither was he.
I caught another taxi and took it to the station. When I saw Jason I was relieved. For a few minutes I thought he was lying but we boarded the bus and chatted the whole way to NYC. Somehow I managed to dodge subjects such as why I was running away or if I had a boyfriend, so on. For some reason I didn't want to tell him I was pregnant.
I didn't notice my cell phone ringing until Jason said something. I checked caller ID. Mom.
"Hello?" I said warily.
"ANNABELLA MARIE FORD!" my mom screamed. I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"Calm down." I said.
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN YOUNG LADY! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN ANNABELLA! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE WITHOUT TELLING ME WHERE YOU ARE GOING! AND YOU CHANGED YOUR NUMBER! AND YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!"
"Mother!" I said.
"NO, I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER ANYMORE ANNABELLA. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN THIS HOUSE ANYMORE AND YOU CAN PAY YOUR OWN GODDAMN CELL PHONE BILL!" Then she hung up.
"What was that all-" Jason started to say something when my phone rang again.
"Hello." I said icily to my ex-mother.
"I would like to apologize Annabella. You can come home now." she said.
"I am going home Hilary," I said, "To the home I'm going to make with my baby. And you can shove your apology up your scrawny white ass." Then I shut the phone and winced. Now Jason knew I was pregnant. Great.
"So... you're having a baby?" Jason asked.
"Umm... yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know. I guess it was too strong a subject for me to bring up or talk about. My... boyfriend I guess you'd call him left yesterday with no explanation and my mom found out yesterday and told me to get rid of it. So... I don't know." I whined.
"Oh. Well I wasn't completely honest with you either." Jason admitted.
"No?"
"Uh-huh." He looked uncomfortable.
"Okay, so..." I said.
"Well..."
"It can't be worse than mine." I tried to make the situation lighter.
"Depends on who you are."
"Just tell me and after that there'll be no secrets."
"I'm gay," he blurted.
"That's your secret?" I asked shocked.
"Yeah."
"I guessed that." I said.
"Really?" Jason asked surprised.
"Totally."
"How?"
"The way you walk for one and the way you hold your drawing pencil. The way you talk has a higher pitch to it, almost like you didn't finish puberty. It's obvious if you know what to look for."
"So you don't care?"
"Not at all," I said honestly, "I have gay friends. Speaking of my friends, I have to call them. Remind me to later please."
"Kay. You got any cute, single, gay friends?" Jason asked.
"Umm..." I thought about my friends. "Yeah. Two, actually..."
For the next two and a half hours we talked about everything from possible dates for Jason to possible jobs for me. Then we pulled up at the bus stop.
"Home sweet home." Jason said as we stepped off the bus. He helped me get my bags and we started towards an older looking apartment complex. "Darcy's dad owns the whole top floor. He knocked down crap like walls and stuff and Darcy has one half and he has the rest. Right now there's Darcy, me, you, Susie, Vix, and Robbie. Darcy and Luke, her son, have a room- the biggest. I have the next biggest across from Darce. Then Susie is next to her and Robbie is on the other side of Susie. He’s got two little ones too. So you'll be next to me and then Vix is in the room next to what will be yours. The last room is the office. I think you'll be pretty happy."
"Wow." By the time he was finished talking, we had arrived in front of a solid oak door.
"Here we are." Jason said. He put his key in and turned it. Then he stepped back. "Ladies first." When I walked in I was standing in a small straight hallway. At the end was a window and the hallway was decorated like a hotel- lush green carpet, striped wallpaper, etc. Except this hallway was only about four feet wide.
Then Jason unlocked the door on the left. That room looked nothing like a hotel. More like a teenager's room- messy, colorful, and full of stuff.
Sitting on one of the bright yellow ottomans was a girl that looked about my age. She had medium long brown hair and stunning green eyes. She almost looked like me but she was really short. I'd guess maybe five foot two or something.
"Hey Darce," Jason greeted, "This is Annabella Ford. Bella, this is Darcy Pearson."
"What's up?" Darcy asked. She scrutinized me. "You don't look like a killer or a rapist. Welcome to the Camp."
"Thanks," I said. "I think."
"Let me show you the rest of the Camp." Darcy said to me. We were standing in a big living room and on the opposite side from the door was a short hallway that I assumed led to the bedrooms. The office was at the end of the hallway and the bathroom was on the left side of the living room, while the kitchen/laundry was on the right.
The living room was a hue of colors- all the colors of the rainbow plus some. The kitchen was done in a bright cheery yellow and the bathroom was a mix of dark browns and light pinks. Darcy showed me her room first. It had a tropical like theme with a queen bed and a crib and from what I could tell- it fit her like a glove. There was a small boy sleeping in the crib so I couldn't see much else. Next was Susie's room, which Susie was not in, but I was sensing she had a very old soul. There were a lot of antique things and lace and such- it was mostly pale pink and pale yellow. Jason's room did not surprise me. Considering all I knew about him, the spotless all blue room was somewhat... comforting. There were no square or sharp edges- even his bed was round. Darcy explained he was very accident-prone which made sense.
Robbie was in his room. All I can say about his room is wow. The walls were covered with bookcases but upon closer inspection it was not books they were filled with but video games. On the back wall there were two cribs with two little tiny babies sleeping in them.
"Robbie!" Darcy whisper-yelled. He jumped as she laughed.
"Yeah?" He asked, pausing his game and taking off the headset. I took a look at him. He was a little on the chubby side with bright red hair with a light sprinkling of freckles. His green eyes were intense and he wasn't overall bad looking.
"Bella, this is Robert Blank, Robbie, this is Annabella Ford. She's-" Robbie interuppted Darcy's interupption.
"Did Jason bring home another stray?" He asked with a slight sad, yet angry tone.
"As a matter of fact, I did Jack," Jason stated.
"Oh. Sorry." Robbie said, standing up. He extended his right hand. "I tend to be a jerk sometimes."
"Yeah. I noticed." I said, ignoring his hand.
"Ouch." He cringed.
"But..." I added, "Apology accepted." We shook hands and he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. I wondered what his story was.
"So..." He said, not letting go of my hand, "What brings you here?"
I was at a loss for words. I didn't know how to answer that. Luckily Jason came to the rescue.
"I brought her here. Her parents kicked her out."
"Oh. Gotcha. Well, we don't need anymore girls in this house." He shot a look behind his shoulder at the cribs. One of the babies was crying.
"Robbie, calm yourself." Darcy said, "and then go calm Mike."
"Fine." He shot one more look at me then retreated to the crib.
"Come on Bella, a few more stops." Darcy said. She led me to a black spray painted door with a big sign that stated 'STAY OUT' on it. By process of elimination I guessed this was Vix's room. As she opened the door I couldn't see anything or hear anything. Everything was very black and... weird. There was a heavy metal/rock music pouring from a big ass stereo. In the middle of the room was a teal rug and on that rug was a pale girl, dressed in all black. The walls were covered in music posters and on one wall was four guitars - all black- go figure.
"Cool room." I muttered. All of a sudden the girl flicked her wrist out and pressed a button on a remote. Then she lifted her head and I gasped. "Vicky?"
"Oh my God! Bella!" She shot up and embraced me in her typical bear hug. Her long curly black hair was cut shorter and completely pin straight. I noticed she had bangs and had lost major weight. Victoria Delsen, my other best friend from junior high. She was wearing black skinny jeans, a black tee and lots of black bangles. Stylish, but black and she was so not the black type of person.
"Oh my God! Ahhh!" I squeezed her back, then held her back for closer inspection. Her eyes had changed - contacts. She was wearing black contacts. That's why her eyes weren't brown anymore. Other than that, lots of black makeup and a few more piercings, she was the same. "Why did you put in contacts? I loved your eyes. They were so pretty- such a chocolate brown."
"It ruined my black theme." She said nonchantatly (sp.).
"Wait." Darcy said. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah. Vicky was my best friend in 7th grade. We did everything together, then, umm..." I started, but I didn't want to tell her personal story.
"My parents died and my aunt didn't want me so when I was in school, I ran into Susie and she offered me a place. That's when I showed up here." Vicky said.
"Oh. Right." Darcy said. "So what's your real name? Bella just said Vicky, but you say Vix?"
"Yeah. It's Victoria. Vicky sounded like a preppy cheerleader so I changed it to Vix. More vampirey." Vicky said, sounding like Vicky with her odd words.
"Well," I said, "I'm really really happy to see you alive and well, although a little demented in the head a bit. We have to go shopping for some decent clothes, although I do love those jeans."
"Umm... sure." Vicky said. "And I guess you can all call me Vicky, but I still want my privacy."
"Sure." Darcy said. "Alright Bella. Your room. You can decorate it any way you want and my dad'll spot you cash if you need it."