Page 62 of Second Chance Ex
With a reluctant sigh, she helps me up and thankfully I make it out of there in one piece.
When I makeit back to campus and into my room, I tear my shirt off with such haste, a few of the buttons go flying. But I am so goddamnhot. It has to be ninety-five degrees up in here.
I live alone in the dorms. I was too chicken-shit to rent an off-campus apartment by myself, nor did I want to live with a bunch of random strangers. So, I applied for a single so Joey and I could have some semblance of privacy whenever he visits. Not that he’s been able to visit much since he’s been in Sacramento.
Dressed in just my bra and undies, I walk through to my ensuite to splash some cold water on my face. Opening the medicine cabinet, I rifle through boxes of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Tums, searching for something, anything that might help me, but as I do, I come across my contraceptive pill pack and, like a bitter slap to the face, my heart flies up into the back of my throat.
“Fuck!” I yell, pulling out the tab and studying it closely.
I take my pill at the same time of the day, every day. I can’t remember a day I’ve ever missed it in the last eight years. And I often skip a period intentionally because who enjoys bleeding for three to five days straight? Not me. But as I study the tab, I notice something; I didn't skip the sugar pills last month. Or the month before. And I’m seriously starting to freak out because I can’t actually remember the last time that I had a period.
With my pill pack in one hand, and my phone in the other, I march myself back into my room, scrolling through my calendar, trying so hard to think back to when I last menstruated. I think it was June. Maybe August. Fuck. I count back the weeks since I last saw Joey. I drove up to Sacramento to see him when he got back from camp. That was, like… Oh God, I don’t even know. August?Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I don’t know what I’m trying to calculate here, but I last had sex with Joey on or around the twentieth of August. And that was almost two months ago. Holy shit. I should have had a period in that time. Hell, I probably should have had two.
Before I can send myself into full-blown panic-mode, I throw on a Fresno hoodie and some jeans, tuck my feet into a pair of sneakers and throw a ball cap over my head, and then I grab my keys and make a run for it. I sure as shit can’t go to the student health center; too many people around campus know me as Joey Tanner’s girlfriend and like hell I’m going to risk photos being snapped of me waiting at the sexual health clinic for a goddamn pregnancy test. No fucking way.
I jump into my car and speed out of the student lot,driving all the way across the city, to a Walgreens as far away from the college campus as I can possibly get.
An hour and four Capri Suns later, I’m back in my dorm room, sitting on the floor, staring down at the five different tests sprawled out in front of me. Each stick shows the same word, repeated five times over, seemingly mocking me in big bold capital letters: PREGNANT.
I bury my head in my hands. What the fuck is even happening in my life right now? How am I here now, in my final year of college, planning for graduation in the spring, suddenly pregnant? How did I get to be in this exact spot?Because Joey never wears a condom and the contraceptive pill isn’t fool-proof, you fucking half-wit.I officially hate my sub-conscious.
God, I can’t be. I just… I can’t be. I’m not ready for this.
I mean, of course I want children. I’ve always wanted children. One day. But definitely not now. And Joey. My god. Don’t get me wrong, he will be such a great father; I can already see it in the way he is with his baby brother, Jack. But he’s in his rookie season; he barely has time for me, let alone a baby.
Oh my god, this is all degrees of fucked up, I feel like I’m spiraling into a dizzying spin of panic.
But of course, right at that moment, my phone starts vibrating from my desk and somehow, I just know. Reaching for it, I glance at the screen, my suspicion confirmed. Joey. Fuck.
I close my eyes, taking a moment, considering myself. I could ignore it; pretend I’m busy… technically I should still be at Ford Street Elementary. But I can’t ignore Joey. I’ve never been able to.
“Hey,” I answer tentatively.
“There’s my girl,” his deep voice is low and gravelly through the phone, and butterflies swarm in my belly like they always do from that sound. “How’s your first day going, baby?”
“Um, it’s good,” I manage.Oh, and I’m pregnant. I bite the inside of my cheek.
“I wanted to call you this morning, but I was in the gym at five and I didn’t want to wake my girl too early on her first day. I only got out after nine and assumed you were already in class.”
“It’s fine,” I say, maybe a little tersely. His words are sweet, like they always are, but I’m just not present in this conversation for obvious reasons.
“You okay?”
Glancing down at the five positive pregnancy tests lined up in front of me, I exhale a trembling breath.No, Joey. I’m not fucking okay.“Um, I need to talk to you.”
“You can always talk to me, baby,” Joey says softly, his voice almost soothing, and I close my eyes, imagining he’s right here next to me, holding me. “About anything. You know that.”
Not about this.
“Prue?” Joey says after a long moment. “You’re scaring me.”
I swallow the painful ball of dread and open my eyes, staring down at my fate laid out before me. “No. I need totalkto you, Joey. Face-to-face.”
Joey: I’m outside.
Igawp at my phone, at Joey’s text message.
