Page 51 of Finding Fate

He followed his friend into the aisle and froze. Fertility tests, ovulation tests, and the cruelest joke of all time…an enormous section of condoms right below a huge selection of pregnancy tests stared back at them, mocking him.

He heard Jet scoff under his breath. What was his friend thinking? This was anything but funny. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jet said, picking up a box of condoms. “It’s just kind of ironic, is all. One little box of these could’ve solved your whole problem.”

Tucker scowled, not needing the reminder of his stupidity. “Come on, man, put that back.” Now that they were back here, all he wanted to do was get out as fast as possible.

“Yeah, they won’t do you much good now, will they?” Jet commented before placing the box back on the shelf. “Assuming y’all are…you know.”

They turned their attention back to the selection of tests they were supposed to choose from. “How could there possibly be so many different tests to find out if someone is…pregnant?” Tucker thought as he looked over the boxes, feeling completely overwhelmed. “This errand was not meant for a guy.”

Jet seemed to notice Tucker’s confusion and grabbed one from the shelf. “This one says over ninety-nine percent correct. I don’t think you’ll get much better than that; let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s go before someone sees us.”If anyone from school saw them buying one of these tests, it would be all over the place before they even reached homeroom on Monday.

* * *

Isabel placed the cap back onto the little white stick and shakily set it down on the bathroom counter. She still couldn’t believe that this was how she was spending her Saturday afternoon. What was going to happen if that stick said ‘pregnant’? She tried to imagine herself with a belly, a baby growing inside her. The idea just didn’t seem to fit. She was still in high school. She had classes and dance, and an audition. At least she did.

Suddenly, she couldn’t stay in that room any longer. Not when that stick just lay there, about to tell her whether or not her future was going to be irrevocably changed before she even reached eighteen. She looked in the mirror and ran her fingers through her long, dark hair. She pulled the front strands behind her ears, trying to compose herself before she walked out into her bedroom, where her friends, and possibly the father of her child, were waiting.

When she stepped out, all three of them looked up at her expectantly.

“It’s not ready,” she explained. “I just…” she shrugged. Annie and Jet gave her sympathetic looks, going back to sit on the end of her sister’s bed. Tucker sat on the edge of her purple comforter, his head ducked to stare at the floor. She shifted nervously, unsure how he felt until he reached a hand out for her.

She breathed out, taking her spot next to him to lean against his strong shoulder. She breathed in his scent, that smell that was simply…him, calming her as they waited.

“So what’s going to happen if you’re pregnant?” Annie asked.

Tucker remained quiet. She understood why. Even those few short moments where she had tried to think anywhere into the future, past any point of here and now, felt unreal. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.

As the silence ticked on, Isabel realized that these were the longest three minutes of her entire life, her and Tucker’s entire futures hanging in the air around them. If they had thought dating had changed their friendship, a baby would send it into another reality all together.

“Time’s up, guys,” Jet said quietly.

Isabel’s stomach swooped, suddenly feeling as though those minutes had flown past at lightning speed. Her breaths quickened, and she began to feel sick with nerves until Tucker gave her leg a comforting squeeze.

“You ready, love?” he asked her, his voice just as quiet and far away as when she had answered Annie only a few second-like minutes ago.

No. She wasn’t ready, and she knew he wasn’t either, but she had to do it. They had to know.

She nodded. All four friends got up and headed to the twins’ attached bathroom. She stopped when they got to the doorway, her breath catching in her chest, terrified.

“Do you want me to look?” Tucker asked her, uncertain.

She nodded at him again. Her voice didn’t seem to want to work just now.

She watched as Tucker walked slowly up to the counter and picked up the ominous stick. Annie and Jet’s bodies were tense around her. The suspense built while they waited for Tucker to deliver the results. Butterflies swarmed her stomach, but these weren’t the happy kind. These were jittery and shaking just as much as she seemed to be.

Tucker swallowed hard as he gazed down. His hands were no longer shaking, but they seemed unnaturally still.

“Why isn’t he saying anything?”“Tuck?” Isabel whispered, her voice never before so timid. “Am I?”

He gave one weak nod. Annie and Jet groaned.

She leaned over to look, and as soon as her eyes read the screen, her hand flew to her stomach. Waves of mixed emotions washed through her: fear, excitement, happiness, panic, but more than anything…love.

“Izzy, are you okay?” Annie asked as Jet took the stick from Tucker’s hand.

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