Seventeen and Invincible

I became aware of the first secret on Tuesday morning. It seemed as though after that, the secrets just started piling up.

Mia showed up at my house, pounding on my door at eleven in the morning. Molly was displeased to say the least.

"What?" I snapped, yanking the door open expecting anything but what I saw. I didn't expect to find Mia standing there petrified and shaking with mascara stains on her cheeks. "Mia, what happened?" She shook her head and walked quietly through the door.

"Upstairs," she whispered, dragging herself miserably up the creaky wooden stairs. I nodded, following her.

"What happened?" She plopped down on my bed and pulled a throw pillow away from the head of my bed. "Mi?"

"I missed the ball at practice," was all she said.

"Mia? What's going on?"

"At practice I dropped the ball. Shelby threw it to me and I dropped it." Mia was the star of the girls' basketball team. "I just stood there and I hit it like a volleyball."

"Mia?" She pulled at the fringe on the end of the pillow, spinning the threads idly in her hands. "I've never missed a shot. And I missed a basket."

"Everyone makes mistakes, sweetie. So you had an off day?" I reached out to touch her shoulder as she turned away to look out the window. There were tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, seconds away from rolling down her cheeks.

"It isn't an off day, Ana." She stopped spinning the fringe on the pillow and looked back at me. "I missed the shot because I was preoccupied. Because I was too preoccupied trying to guard it."

"What?" I asked softly. Tears started sliding down her cheeks, this time washing away the mascara stains. "Mimi?"

"I'm pregnant," she whispered. "John and--we..." she trailed off.

"Mia," I sighed, pulling her into a hug. She was physically shaking from sobbing so hard. "Mi, it'll be alright."

"No," she shook her head, "no it won't."

"Mia, John loves you. Just tell him when he gets back. It'll be fine."

"No," she shook her head. "It's gonna be over before he comes home. Ana, I know you'll hate me for it, but I'm not doing this alone." I stared in disbelief.

"Mi, you can't. Mi, you won't have to do this alone." She shook her head.

"What'll I do when my parents throw me out? And John and I broke up before he left. He doesn't love me and this won't fix anything. It'll only make it all worse." I nodded.

"I didn't know you guys broke up."
"Well," she sighed, "we did. And he apparently left me with a present."

"It's okay," I rubbed her back.

"Ana?" she asked. "Ann, I know you don't want me to do it, but I need you to come with me. I can't go alone." I reluctantly nodded 'yes.'

--------------------♥--------------------

Unfortunately, she couldn't get the appointment before John got home, so on their second day back, we were ditching them.

--------------------♥--------------------

Garrett and I had spent the first day together. We went to the lake, we listened to music and we talked about our summers. He stayed again on that night too, which meant the next morning would require some explanation.

"Where are you going?" he asked rubbing his eyes. I turned after pulling a v-neck t-shirt over my head and smoothing it out over the top of my shorts.

"Oh, I have plans with Mia." He smiled and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"Isn't it usually the guy sneaking out?" He joked. I let out a small laugh. Normally I would have found a remark like that hysterical, but today I couldn't. Today, all I could think of was the situation that Mia was in and I couldn't laugh.

"I guess," I said awkwardly. I pushed my hair behind my ears and looked out the window at the morning sun--it was eight fifteen in the morning. I slipped on my flipflops and grabbed my sunglasses off of my nightstand. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Where are you guys going?" I froze, trying to think of some lie or another.

"Shopping?" I asked myself outloud, ppping the 'p.' "Yeah, shopping."

"You're lying," he smirked. I turned around, grabbing my tote bag, to face him. "You're lying," he accused.

"No, I'm not lying. Now I gotta go. See you when I get back."

"Nu-uh. You're lying. And I'm coming with you, unless you tell me where you're going." I sighed loudly. He wanted to know but I couldn't tell him. It wasn't my secret to tell and I didn't even tell my own.

"Look," I said sternly, "you can't come with us." He looked up quickly in surprise. "This is a girls only thing. That means you can't come."

"What's so girly that I can't be there? Okay, that came out wrong, but really?" I shook my head and dropped my phone in the bag. "I bet John is going."

"No! He isn't. And even if he was, you aren't my boyfriend," the word stung my lips as I spoke them.

"I'm coming with you guys," he remarked sternly.

--------------------♥--------------------

Fifteen minutes later when I picked Mia up, Garrett was in the passenger seat. "Get in the back," I hissed at him. He quickly obliged and scampered into the backseat of Molly's car. "Sorry," I mumbled to Mia, "he wouldn't be ditched."

"I figured he'd be here," she sighed. "Did you tell him?" I responded by shaking my head.
"I didn't think you'd want me to."

"He'll know soon enough." She curled into the side of the door and pressed her forehead aginst the window.

--------------------♥--------------------

We pulled up in front of the clinic and she refused to move from the car. "I can't do it. I can't do it," she cried.

"It's okay, Mimi."

"I can't do it," she sighed. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back. Garrett climbed out of the backseat and around to the passenger side door.

"Shh, its okay." Garrett climbed into the passenger seat and pulled her into his lap and the two of us sat there trying to calm her down from her hysterics. It was no use though, because she had every right to be a mess.