I hear a knock at the door, but I don’t want to get up or even acknowledge it. I’ve been laying in my bed awake all night, the covers pulled up over my head, my body curled into a ball. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening. It’s just a dream. I’ve been telling myself for the past eight hours that this was all one big nightmare and that I’m going to wake up soon. But I never did.
Instead, I just pull the covers tighter around my body and try my best to block out reality. But it’s not working, my mind is racing and all my thoughts are bouncing around inside my head, ricocheting off each other and making so hard.
“Jessica?” It’s my brother, Cole.
“Yeah?” I call back.
“Are you okay? You came home last night and went straight to your room and didn’t come out, what’s going on?” He starts to turn the knob.
I jump out of bed, “No! Don’t come in!” I stand against the door, putting all my weight on it, trying to shut him out.
He pushes on the door, “Jessica?!”
“You can’t come in! I just want to be alone!”
He starts really shoving his weight on the door, trying to get in, “Tell me what’s wrong!”
“No!” By this point, hot tears are streaming down my face. “There is nothing wrong!”
He pushes one last time and manages to get into the room, knocking me down.
“Cole!” I scream out in frustration, still crying.
He crouches down beside me, “Jessica,” he gently touches my face and starts wiping my tears away, “what has been going on? You’ve been so moody, then you don’t come out of your room and now this? I’m your brother, you know you can tell me anything.”
I sniff, “Anything?”
He nods and wraps his arms around me, “Anything,” he murmurs into the top of my head.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. It doesn’t work. “I…”
The silence hangs heavy as I lose my words.
Cole squeezes me supportively.
“I’m pregnant.”
He gasps and I can feel his body tense. “Wi—with Dalton’s…?”
I nod.
The doorbell rings. Dalton was supposed to come over because I wanted to tell him. Cole gets up and storms out of the room, to the front door. I can hear him as he yanks the door open, “Hey!”
Oh no.
“Dude! Calm down!”
“No! Don’t you tell me to calm down!”
“Get off me!”
“What have you done?!”
“What are you on about, man?!”
I run down the stairs and struggle to pull my brother off of my boyfriend. “Cole, stop! Don’t hurt him!”
“’DON’T HURT HIM’?!” Cole bellows.
Dalton just stares at the two of us, confused and afraid. “Um, wh—what’s going on?”
Cole just glares at him and wraps an arm protectively around me.
I grip my hands together and meet Dalton’s concern-filled eyes, “I’m pregnant.”
And the rest is up to you.
