A Beautiful Mistake

"You're quitting cheerleading? Why?"

Alex's reaction to my news was about the same as my other friends. They looked at me in disbelief, as if I had just told them I was shaving my head Britney style. I kept my cool, though. They couldn't know the real reason. I had to keep it cool. Act like I didn't care.

I shrugged, "It just seems kind of...juvenile now. You know? Cheerleading is kind of...out anyway."

I gave a signature hair flip, rolling my eyes slightly. And I could tell, as I surveyed my friends - they bought every bit of my story. And because I was the leader of the group, they began to wonder if they too, should quit.

Don't get me wrong - I knew eventually that they were going to find out that I was pregnant. There was no way that I could hide the belly that was going to show. But I was going to hold it off for as long as I possibly could.

I knew that they would probably turn on me if they found out I was pregnant - when they found out - so I wanted to have my friends as long as possible. I didn't need the stress of worrying about what people were saying behind my back.

As I chewed my food thoughtfully, they started to chat about how maybe I was right. I pretended to be uninterested. That way, they would be more inclined to think that what I said was true. But it wasn't.

I didn't want to quit cheerleading.

But of course, I couldn't do sports being pregnant.

"I got to go. I'll see you guys in class."

I smiled at my friends, got up and walked away from the table. I didn't want them to see that I was upset. If they did, they may see the fault in my story. And I just couldn't let that happen yet.

I dumped my tray and went to the library to work on an essay.

The silence was nice. I could use it.

Because I knew, I wouldn't be getting it for long.