Blooming

For about a month, life continued at a steady pace. My parents, Aunt Karen, Lucy, Riley, and Darren all regularly attended my check ups with me. I was getting bigger by the second, it seemed, now that I’d hit six months.
Things at school had finally settled down and Darren walked me to all my classes, carrying my books and anything I might need. Carla hadn’t spoken to either one of us since our little mishap, in fact, she hadn’t really talked to anybody. She was mortified to have been hit by ‘the pregnant girl’ in school.
I, however, was thrilled.
Lucy had taken Riley under her wing and it seemed that whenever I turned around they were always together. When the four of us went out, the two of them always talked each other’s ears off, constantly switching from topic to topic. I was happy that my two best friends were becoming friends. I liked the idea of the four of still being tight knit despite what had happened. We were all in this together, it seemed, and I couldn’t have been happier for them forming their own friendship.
That is, until the night she told me....
We hadn’t spent much time together since Darren and I had gotten back together and decided that a sleepover was needed. We’d rented millions of movies of all different genres and made at least a three big bowls of popcorn to eat.
“So, Sav,” Lucy said, taking a bite of popcorn from the bowl between us. We were sitting on her couch in the living room watching one of the action movies she just had to have. I, myself, was never one for action/adventure but Lucy was obsessed.
“So, Luc,” I echoed, trying to figure out the movie. At the moment, there was a red sports car chasing after a blue Mustang. I didn’t know which one the main character was driving, so I decided to vote for the blue car. I loved Mustangs.
“I’m really happy you and Darren are back together.” she said.
“Me too,” I answered, still entranced in the movie. “Things have been really good. And I’m really glad you and Riley are becoming friends.”
Now, the sports car was chasing the Mustang into a tunnel, gaining on it ever so slightly.
I took a bite of popcorn, still staring at the screen as Lucy spoke.
“Me too,” she said. “He’s great.”
“Mhmmmm,” I hummed.
The two cars were out of the tunnel now and speeding along a narrow bridge. The sports car was still gaining on the Mustang.
“And we’ve become really close,” Lucy said. Her attention was turned to me now but I was still focused on the movie.
“Good for you guys,”
By now, the sports car was starting to ram the Mustang into the side of the bridge. I mentally cheered for the now- dented car.
“Thanks. I really feel like I can tell him anything, Savannah. He’s funny, and smart, and nice....”
Bam! I watched intently as the red car almost shoved the Mustang off the bridge and into the water below.
“I know he is, Luc.”
I took anther bite of popcorn, eyes still glued to the screen. The two cars were still racing each other on the bridge, the Mustang’s windshield and passenger side window now cracked.
“And we’ve been talking more and more....”
Bam! Anther blow to the Mustang. It was almost impossible it will still driving, with how battered and dented it now looked.
“And we’ve sort of been....”
Now, the cars were almost off the bridge and back onto the road. But the sports car was swerving again towards the Mustang.
Go Mustang, go!
“Dating.”
Just then, the red sports car slammed into the Mustang, shoving it completely off the bridge and into the water. As it made its final splash all of the popcorn slipped out of my hands.
* * * *
“Savannah, please, can’t we talk about this?” Lucy pleaded.
“No!” I yelled, walking over to my sleeping bag, the last of my belongings that needed to be packed to go back home.
“Come on, Sav. I said I was sorry!”
“I don’t care!” I shouted, shoving my sleeping bag into my duffle bag and zipping it up. I started walking towards the door when Lucy grabbed the other handle of the bag.
“Where are you going?”
“Home,” I spat.
“What about our sleepover?”
“I don’t want to have a sleepover with you.”
“But I’m your best friend,”
She looked at me with apologetic eyes but I wouldn’t fall for it.
“Which makes what you’re doing that much more horrible!”
I tugged on my bag in hopes that she would let go but she kept a tight grip on it and pulled it back towards her.
“Will you just stay, please? We can talk about this in a calmly manner.” She pleaded.
“Ha! ‘A calmly manner.’ Forget it, Luc. I’m going home. Now let go!”
“No! You!”
“It’s my bag!”
“And you’re my best friend!”
We tugged the bag back and forth with all the strength we had.
“No I’m not! I hate you!” I shouted, pulling it towards me again.
“You hate me?!” she said, her voice now rising with anger.
I nodded.
“Yep.”
“Well, I hate you more!”
“You’re just saying that because I said it first! Now LET GO, traitor!”
“No!”
Still, we tugged and tugged back and forth, the bag now starting to rip by the zipper.
“You’re going to break it! Let go!”
“You let go! We need to talk about this, Savannah!”
“There’s nothing to talk about! You’re dating my ex! How could you?”
With one more final tug, the bag split open, causing my things to fall all over the floor.
We stared at each for a moment, angry faced and out of breath, before I did something that surprised even me; I laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” Lucy asked with a scowl still on her face.
I looked around the room and held up a pair of my underwear, one of the various things that had erupted from my bag.
“Look at us,” I said, Lucy’s laughter now joining in with my own.
We stayed this way, simply laughing like idiots, for at least five minutes. I wondered how Lucy could make me madder than I’d ever been one minute, then laughing the next. Then, the subject we were each so sensitive about, reared again.
“I’m sorry, Sav. I know that me dating Riley isn’t really what you need right now. Or ever. It’s kind of against the rules for me to date my best friend’s ex boyfriend, isn’t it?”
I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment and tried to picture it, Riley and Lucy together. It hurt me to think that Riley could be with someone else but I knew it wasn’t fair to be mad at him or Lucy. I’d made my decision and was happy with it. Why shouldn’t Riley be happy too?
Even if it was with my best friend....
“I love Riley. And I love you too, Luc.” I sighed before continuing. “And somebody once told me that you know you love someone when you can put their happiness before your own.”
I tried to keep the lump in my throat from surfacing but Lucy didn’t seem to notice. She looked at me with kind and apologetic eyes and I knew she never meant to hurt me. How could I even think such a thing after all we’d been through the past six months?
“You know that somebody’s your best friend when they’re there for you even when things look grim. Hell, you deserve an award for being the best friend ever, Luc, considering your best friend got knocked up at sixteen. If that doesn’t scare a person away, I don’t know what will.” We laughed. “I’m really sorry.”
“Thanks, Sav.” she simply said. “I’m sorry too,”
Then, my best friend in the whole world, the one who’d been with me through it all, the one I knew would never hurt me, gave me the only thing I needed at that moment in time; a hug.