The Fast Times

The following morning, everything seemed to be back to normal. Pete and Nancy got up, got dressed, ate and headed off to school. They were quiet as they drove, every so often, Pete would glance at Nancy and her bump, and feel a whole lot better about everything.

At school, he stayed behind to smoke, while Nancy went inside. She was nervous, but let it go, knowing that she had some back up with Chip, and with Pete. She kept her pace, no one noticed her at first, but once they did, they muttered to themselves and kept going about their business. Nancy felt some relief, but she had a feeling that something was going to bother her sooner or later.

Pete watched her go in, lighting his cigarette and taking a long drag. He looked down, wanting to make this quick, but he had an addiction and a nervous feeling sinking in his gut. He exhaled and tilted his head back, and nearly dropped his cigarette when he caught sight of Chip, in his letterman jacket, making his way over to him.

"Wentz," Chip said his name in a greeting manner, "I needa talk to you."

Pete narrowed his eyes and glared at him, "What?"

Chip inhaled sharply, "I don't wanna fight with you, okay? Me and Cy talked yesterday--"

"She told me," Pete stated shortly, "why do you wanna talk to me?"

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Chip replied, earnestly. "I mean it, I'm sorry. I...I was being an asshole, and I didn't mean all the shit I said. I care about Cy and I don't wanna...I don't want her..." He trailed. "I just want her to be happy. I heard about Alma, and I offered to help her, since things are all messed up."

"We're handling it," Pete nearly spat, "I'm taking care of my kid, I'm taking care of Nancy too."

"No disrespect, dude, I know. I offered, I just wanna help. My dad's connected, he's got condos and shit, if you guys need a place, just tell me...I can help."

Pete's guard was still up, he eyed Chip, "Maybe."

"If you need anything, if Cy or the baby need anything, just tell me," Chip offered, "I wanna help, I've known Cy almost my whole life."

Pete gave a nod; Chip waved and headed into school. Pete sucked on his cigarette again and held the smoke in, feeling it burn as he thought deeply. Finally exhaling, he let all the resentment, well a bit of it, fall away. He tossed his cigarette and stomped it out before heading into school.

Pete noticed a few people staring at him, he couldn't believe how much of a big deal everyone was making of his and Nancy's situation. He rolled his eyes and kept on to his locker; he opened it up and popped a tic tac into his mouth, grabbed his English text book, and then headed off to class.


Everyone met at lunch; Pete sat next to Nancy, Andy and Rae sat together, Patrick and Sabrina, and then Nick, Chris, and Joe piled in. The group joked around and ate, keeping things to themselves. All of it was going smoothly until Erin approached, sucking all the enjoyment from them; to each of her sides were former friends of Nancy's, all smirking.

"Looks like the slut has a little posse," Erin laughed. "Who's the daddy? I'm sure you've all gotten a turn."

Nancy sighed, Pete glared at Erin and her minions, "What the fuck do you want? We aren't doing shit to you."

"We're just wondering who's the baby of that bastard child--"

"Hey!" Rae shot up, "You got a problem with my friend, you got a problem with me."

Erin sucked her teeth, "Sit down, bitch, you're not in this."

"Yes I am, if you continue flapping your lips 'round my friends."

Erin looked back at Nancy, "Whatever. Penny's little sister tells us your wrecking havoc at Pete's. She ruining your life, Wentz?"

Pete stood too, "Who the fuck told you anything?"

Penny stepped forward, "Your little sister has a big mouth too, Wentz."

Pete growled, "Get the fuck outta here before I let Rae kick your ass."

Rae smiled, "And I will gladly do so."

The girls collectively rolled their eyes; Erin scoffed, "You're not worth my time anyway."

"Then stay the fuck away from me!" Nancy scream angrily.

Everyone looked at her with shocked and awed expressions. She shut her eyes and sat back, exhaling deeply. Pete and Rae sat after Erin and her friends walked off; Pete wrapped his arm around Nancy, "You okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Don't worry about them, Cy," Rae advised, "they're just bored and you're the most interesting thing."

Nancy shook her head, "They just wanna make me feel like shit."

"Of course they do," Chris added, "because they feel like shit too. They look like it."

Everyone laughed quietly. Nancy smiled, "Thanks guys. I'm okay, they can't hurt me, I've heard worse."

Pete bit at his lip, watching Nancy continue to eat. He was angry over the things people were saying, and now he learned who had told. He wasn't pissed off, only mad, and he couldn't wait to get home and talk to Hilary.


Returning home, Pete let Nancy go down to the basement while he got them some food. He went to make mac and cheese, and before it finished, his mom and siblings came through the door.

They all came into the kitchen; Dale smiled, "Hey, want me to take over?"

"Nah, mom, it's okay," Pete said; his eyes scanned over, meeting Hilary's, "I need to talk to you."

Hilary frowned, "Me? Why?"

Dale and Andrew looked between them, back and forth. Pete continued to look at Hilary, "You told someone's sister about me and Cy."

Hilary's jaw slacked, speechless. Her mouth bobbed, "W-what?"

"Hilary," Dale began, "who did you tell? Is that why everyone is giving Nancy such a hard time?"

"I'm not mad at you, Hil," Pete started, seeing Hilary becoming upset. "I just didn't know, and why did you tell anyone?"

"I-it was...just talk!" Hilary explained, "I told my friends that it was a friggin' world war in here! That's all I said...I kinda blurted out that Cy was having a baby."

Dale exhaled, "Oh gosh...look, it's all over and done with--"

"Mom, I'm not pissed, neither is Nancy," Pete said, "I just wanted to let you know."

"How's Nancy?" Dale asked now.

"She's okay, she's not sick."

"I'm gonna go say sorry to her," Hilary murmured.

Pete nodded and watched her go. Andrew rushed off, leaving Dale and Pete in the kitchen. Dale went over, setting her purse down on the counter, "You got it under control?"

Pete smirked to himself, "Whadda mean? The mac and cheese or everything else?"

"The mac and cheese," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, I got it."

"How's everything else?"

Pete shrugged, "I dunno...I'm only worried about Cy and the baby."

"Maybe she should try alternative schooling? There's a program near Harper Elementary, it's for pregnant girls in high school. She can go to school 4 days a week, having tutoring and take early SAT classes; you wanna ask her about it?"

Pete again shrugged, then turned his attention to stirring the noodles, "Maybe...I dunno. I don't wanna push anything on her, I don't want her to be stressed out."

"You don't have to force her, Pete, it's just a suggestion. All I'm saying is it could help, she won't have to deal with all the gossip and she can finish school, give birth and then return to New Trier."

Pete nodded, "Okay, I'll ask her."

Dale smiled, "Make sure your noodles don't burn."

Downstairs, in the basement, Hilary sat on the edge of the bed, apologizing to Nancy. Nancy had her homework laid out before her, looking at Hilary as she explained the mishap. Nancy gave a small nod; "It's okay, Hilary, this stuff happens. I mean, it wasn't gonna be a secret forever."

"I just want you to know how sorry I am for blabbing," Hilary stressed.

"Don't worry about it," Nancy told her, "it's fine, there's nothing to be sorry about. It's all...water under the bridge."

Hilary smiled softly, "Thanks, Nancy...if I were you, I woulda been pissed."

Nancy shook her head with a small smile, "There's nothing to be angry about, you're not the one bothering me. It's okay, really, Hil."

Hilary exhaled, "Okay. Thanks, again. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine, I'm just waiting for Pete to bring the mac and cheese."

Hilary stood up, "Alright, I'll see you later."

Nancy waved, "Okay."

Hilary returned upstairs, surpassing Pete as he headed down. He went over and handed the bowl to Nancy and then went to the fridge across the room, "Want a pop?"

"Yeah," she answered. "You know, your sister is sweet."

Pete chuckled, "Yeah, to you."

"Really, she's really remorseful."

Pete returned to the bed, sitting at the end and then handing her a can of soda, "You're not too mad, are ya?"

"I'm not mad at all, she's not the one making me feel like crap."

Pete set his bowl down on the bed, "Mom was just telling me about an alternative school for pregnant teenagers. You only have to go to school for 4 days a week and you get all these cool classes."

Nancy smiled at his enthusiasm, "You want me to go?"

Pete shrugged, "If you want."

"I'll talk to your mom about it. Until then, I just gotta keep my head up and pretend everything doesn't bother me."

"It shouldn't bother you, Cy."

She nodded to herself, picking at her food, "I can't help it...it just hurts."

Pete leaned over and kissed her cheek, "You hurt, I hurt too."

She smiled again, softer this time, "You're too sweet."

"It's cuz I love you," he said sheepishly, "I mean it. And I'm sorry for being such a dick to ya earlier, I wasn't thinking about it really."

"You're forgiven, Pete, I told you," Nancy said, still smiling, "I'm still gonna get a paternity test, then we can go on with our lives."

"My dad'll come around."

"Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath."

Pete chuckled and shook his head, knowing that, that was a fact. He wasn't sure if his dad would come around either.