She Will Be Loved

It’s been a good two weeks since Zacky and I’s “date”. We’ve still been close but there is this small bit of tension between us. School has been going surprisingly smooth and nothing in the drama department has been stirred up. Shockingly my five, now referred to as, best friends have even come to hangout here. I was pleasantly surprised.

I was anxiously waiting in the driveway for Alice and Lia’s mom to drop everyone off. We were all suppose to be going to the twins’ house to hangout since it was a Saturday, but their mom got called into the hospital. And after they destroyed the house last time, their mom didn’t want to risk it. I was nervous simply for the fact that I hadn’t told any of them who I lived with or anything. Just my uncle, his girlfriend, and their friends.

“Koty my love!” Alice shouted and jumped out of the suddenly appeared station wagon before it had even come to a stop. She took me into a tight hug as her mother yelled at her.

“Damnit Alice! I told you to stop that!”

“Mom, we already covered that it’s fun!” Alice whined back while rolling her eyes. Lia also climbed out of the front seat while the boys piled out of the back. Lia leaned down and smiled at their mother.

“We’ll call you and let you know when they kick us out.”

“Goodbye Mrs. Summers,” we all chorused minus the twins who replaced her name with ‘Mom’. Once she was gone they all turned to me with smiles.

“Let’s go! This place is huge!” Devin exclaimed. Him and Alice linked opposite arms with me while Lia, Max, and Jake calmly followed us inside. As soon as the door opened everyone minus Val was in the room.

“Hey Koty, who are your friends?” Matt asked with a wide grin showing off his dimples. When the couple let go of me I turned with my back to the group. My five friends either didn’t know who they were or just played it off well enough I couldn’t tell. Cool.

“Guys, this is Lia and Alice. Yes, they’re twins. This is Jake, Devin who is Alice’s boyfriend, and Max who is Lia’s boyfriend.” All of my friends waved and said their hellos. “And this is Matt, my uncle. The rest are his friends Zacky, Brian, Jimmy, and Johnny.”

“So how come you don’t have a girlfriend Jake?” Zacky automatically asked. I did a palm face and sighed. Why am I not surprised?

“Zacky, everyone, leave the kids alone,” Val sighed as she walked out of the kitchen. She smiled at my friends. “I’m Val, Matt’s girlfriend. Please, go in the backyard and ignore these buffoons.”

“Well will,” Lia replied with a grin. They soon headed through the kitchen where Val has motioned as she followed them talking. The guys went into the living room and before Zacky left I glared at him. I turned on my heel and headed after the group. Val had left us alone with all of us sitting at the long table we used for food.

“So what do you think of them?” I asked nervously.

“They’re cool. But next time you know or are related to famous people, give us a heads up,” Jake replied calmly. I instantly looked surprised.

“What?”

“You didn’t think we noticed?” Alice laughed along with the others. I instantly blushed and looked down.

“Well you didn’t act like it,” I murmured.

“Well they’re just normal people. It’s okay. Now, let’s create havoc!” Max shouted.

I laughed at the memory from last week. They haven’t treated me any different nor have they told anyone. That I was thankful for. My stomach suddenly churned and I covered my mouth. I ran to the bathroom before kneeling over the toilet and empting my stomach contents from last night. I pushed my hair back from my face and pulled it into a ponytail with the holder on my counter.

“Koty?” I groaned and leaned back, hitting the handle to flush the toilet in one movement. The owner of the voice walked forward to show Matt in the doorway, a concerned expression on his face. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t think the Chinese from last night agreed with me. I was never one to have an agreeing stomach with Asian food,” I moaned.

“Maybe we should cancel our jog?” Every Saturday and Sunday morning Matt and I had this habit to go take a jog around the neighborhood. Matt for his insane urge to workout and me for my loss of running track which makes me feel lazy.

“No, I’ll be fine,” I said sternly and climbed to my feet. He gave me an ‘are you sure’ look and I laughed. “I’ll be fine, I promise. Just let me brush my teeth again.”

“Okay,” he sighed before leaving my room. Once I finished brushing my teeth and washing it out, I walked downstairs. At the bottom was Matt and Val talking quietly. Once I was in sight, though, they stopped letting me know it was me they were talking about.

“See you guys later,” Val chirped before heading into the living room. Matt and I left before heading the same way we usually do. Soon we were about a fourth of the way through our usual jog and I was feeling tired and a bit dizzy. I stopped and leaned forward with my hands on my knees, panting slightly. Matt was instantly at my side.

“Are you okay Koty? Maybe you’re coming down with a fever,” Matt murmured, protectively placing a hand on my forehead. We only told people Matt was my uncle, but he’s been acting more and more like a real uncle, maybe even a father.

“I don’t know. I’m just dizzy, tired, and have a headache,” I replied softly.

“Let’s get you home. I’ll carry you,” Matt said.

“That’s not necess - ” Before I could even finish he was already scooping me up bridal style. The sudden movement caused my stomach to churn again, but I swallowed down anything that might want to come back up. We arrived back home only after five minutes instead of our usual twenty. Even though it was only nine in the morning on a Saturday, Johnny was the only other man in the house awake by now. He was the one to come out to greet us when we returned.

“What’s wrong?” Johnny asked as Matt headed upstairs.

“Kota’s getting sick or something. Go get the thermometer and Val,” Matt said in a somewhat questioning tone. Johnny nodded and turned around on the middle of the stairs and jogged back down. As soon as Matt walked into my room my stomach churned again. I jumped out of his arms, nearly tripped, and rushed to the toilet. As I upchucked stomach acids, Matt rubbed my back. “Still think it’s just the Chinese?”

“Shuddup. I hate being sick,” I coughed out as I flushed the toilet again. I hate the smell of vomit and it was overpowering me. I leaned back on the wall and removed my glasses, placing them next to me. Soon Val and Johnny walked into the bathroom, both with frowns. Val sat next to me and turned on the thermometer with a ‘beep’.

“Place it under your tongue and keep it there,” she instructed and handed me the white, plastic stick. I nodded and did as instructed. And then we waited. Did I ever mention I hate the waiting game? It fills you with that anxious, butterfly feeling in your stomach. I hate it. It makes me feel like I’m going to be sick all over again. I don’t think I could handle another -

The device let out three loud beeps, letting us know it was done taking my temperature. Val squinted at the numbers and read out loud, “Ninety-eight point nine.”

We all let out a sigh and I frowned. “So we have no idea what’s wrong?”

“Well….” Val looked at the guys, at me, then at the guys again. “Can you guys go downstairs and find a doctor for Kota to go to? Try Dr. Wilson. He’ll probably have her squeeze into today if you explain how your niece needs to see a doctor.”

Matt smiled. “Gotchya. Come on Johnny, I don’t know where I put his card with his number.”

“Aren’t you always losing that thing? You think you’d learn to put it in your phone,” Johnny remarked. Before they got completely out of earshot I heard skin to skin contact and Johnny muttering ‘ouch’. Val turned to me with a serious expression and I instantly sunk down a little as I slipped my glasses back on.

“I think you might be pregnant.” My breath hitched in my throat, my eyes growing wide. I quickly shut them, trying to hold back tears. “Are you sexually active? You don’t have to be ashamed. I was a teen not long ago.”

Dirty, greedy hands roaming all over my body. A bandana, his bandana, tied around my head and in my mouth so I can’t scream. The handcuffs on either wrist.

“Kota?” I let out a scream when I felt a hand touch me, but cut it short when I realized it was just Val. Her eyes were wide with worry. I smiled weakly. It couldn't be that, it must be something else.

“It’s complicated,” I choked out. She studied me and slowly nodded. She stood to her feet and held out a hand.

“We’ll take you down to get a test and then go to the doctor once we get an answer. We don’t have to bring the guys if you don’t want.”

“I would like that,” I said softly. I took her hand and together we pulled myself to my feet. We silently walked out of my room and down the stairs. Just then Matt hung up his cell phone as he walked into the foyer with Johnny trailing behind him.

“I set up an appointment for forty minutes, it was the only opening he had. We can go now and - ”

“Matt, just me and Kota are going to go. We’ll tell you what happens though, okay?” Val cut off. Matt studied her face and then my face and frowned. I figured I must have looked like shit. In the end he nodded slowly.

“Okay. I guess just talk to Amy, she’ll recognize you.” Matt and Val shared a quick kiss before Val went to retrieve her keys and flip flops from near the front door. Matt took me into a gentle hug and patted my back. “Hope you feel better soon.”

“Thanks.”

With that Val and I walked out the door.