Counting Down The Days To Go

The clock was ticking.

I don’t know how long it had been but I sure hoped that time would just hurry up. I was drumming my fingernails in impatience and Chanel was just pacing the length of the bathroom.

Poor Amanda was sitting on the toilet seat, head in her hands and her knees supporting her forehead as well. If I was so nervous about it, I wonder how Amanda must be feeling right now.

After Amanda’s meltdown, Chanel drove out to the nearest store to buy five pregnancy tests. She said that there was a chance of error so Amanda should take five tests to be sure. Amanda drank a whole lot of water and peed continuously into the pregnancy tests.

We were waiting for the results of the first test now.

“Ding!” The little timer that Chanel had set had gone off. It was time. It was finally time to find out.

“Do you want to see it?” I asked Amanda. She shook her head and I gave a slight nod to Chanel.

Chanel took the pregnancy test and looked at the result.

She gave out a sigh.

Four more pregnancy tests later, it was still the same result. Amanda was pregnant. She had a little live inside of her womb right now. A living, breathing little thing.

“What are you going to do?” I asked quietly.

Amanda seemed to be hiding her emotions. Ever since we go the results, she hadn’t spoken a word, nor had she cried. She just seemed to be in shock.

“I told him,” Amanda whispered. “I told Brad to use protection every single time. But he wouldn’t listen.”

“Amanda, you’ve got to focus here. You can’t cry over spilled milk. You must think about the future,” Chanel said, shaking Amanda gently. “Think about the baby.”

“I don’t know guys. What should I do?” Amanda asked, her voice eerily calm.

“Well, Amanda. I’ve got to be straightforward here,” I began. “You have two options. Keep it or lose it. You have to think about the consequences thoroughly. And which do you think Brad would prefer?”

That was a rhetorical question right there. I doubt Brad would want to keep the baby. I may not know him well or anything but which 18-year-old guy would put his life on hold for a baby?

“If you keep it, you’ve got to think about your future. What about your studies? And I may seem too blunt here, but what if Brad doesn’t want to take responsibility. You would have to be a single mother then and I don’t think it’d be an easy,” Chanel said.

Amanda nodded her head and rubbed her stomach almost absent-mindedly. It was hard to imagine Amanda as a mother and the shock hadn’t really seep into me yet. I just couldn’t imagine my best friend of more than a decade being a mother. It was just so surreal and weird.

“What about my parents? My friends? Do you guys think I’m a slut?” Amanda asked.

“No, of course not,” Chanel said. I remained quiet. Amanda did have a point there. If word got out, she would definitely be looked down on as a slut and nothing but a good fuck. Knowing her snobby parents, they would either force her to abort it or disown her.

“You know what guys? Thanks so much for coming down here today and going through it with me and all. Thank you all so much. You’ve done loads for me and I don’t want to bother you anymore. I think I’d try to figure this out on my own,” Amanda said.

“Are you sure?” I asked. Amanda looked like she needed some privacy at the moment.

Amanda nodded in reply.

“If you ever need help, don’t hesitate to call anyone of us, alright?” Chanel said. She got another nod from Amanda.

Chanel and I saw ourselves out of Amanda’s house while she went back to bed.

While walking down the driveway, Chanel suddenly broke the silence. “Don’t tell anyone. But I saw Brad making out with another girl in the girls’ toilet the other day.”

“What?!” I asked. I thought Amanda and Brad’s relationship was fine.

“Yeah. Just keep it quiet. I didn’t want to tell anyone at all but with Amanda pregnant and all, I just couldn’t keep it to myself. And let’s just say Brad’s style of ‘making out’ isn’t just kissing.”

“Oh my. Oh my God. Fuck. That bastard!” I said, my voice rising with every word. How could he cheat on Amanda like that?!

“That’s why I don’t think Amanda should keep the baby,” Chanel whispered,
almost to herself.