Authors: Megan McKenney
“Brad?” I squeaked out. Brenda and he had only dated for like a month. He had dated me for four years and we never even had sex. Yet, he had sex with Brenda. I knew I wasn’t much to talk because I had slept with Keiffer, but no one but Indigo knew about it.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” She seemed quite amused. “Well, in that case, ask him to do that thing with his tongue –“
I let out a scream before grabbing her hair. I wasn’t one to fight, but the second she started to get personal, I let the animal rage inside me fly. I grabbed her hair and she let out a scream, thrashing her newly manicured nails around until she found my own flesh. I yelled in pain when she cut my arm with her nails but I kept a tight grip on her hair, throwing her onto the ground. We wrestled on the ground a little, me slapping her, her slicing me. I knew that I needed to keep my dress nice so I mostly worked from my knees.
Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground by a strong grip. Keiffer had wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me up from Brenda. She was laying on her back, her red hair messed up so badly that it looked un-repairable. Keiffer held me close as Brenda scrambled to her feet. Her parents, my parents, Lacey and Alex, Brad, and Indigo were all staring at us. I adjusted my dress accordingly as they stared.
“Dude, I’ll take it from here,” Brad said as he jerked me out of Keiffer’s arms. “Are you okay, Jenna?”
“Jenna?”Mrs. Leswill exclaimed. “She nearly killed my daughter!”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Indigo snapped. My second mother had come in to save the day. “Obviously it was just a case of two girls being catty.”
“Is this the Jenna you were talking about?” Mr. Leswill asked his daughter. Brenda nodded her head. “So you’re the valedictorian?”
“So?” I answered. Keiffer glared at me and I quickly adjusted my attitude. “Yes, sir.”
“Well, looks like Principal Nelson did a terrible job at finding the right person for the job. I’m anything but impressed. In fact, I should call him up right now and tell him what just happened. With all the little stunts I’ve heard about you this semester, I’m surprised that you still have the privilege.”
“Daddy,” Brenda started. “Let Jenna keep her little title. She’s having a hard semester. With Keiffer breaking up with her and her parents getting a divorce –“The way she said it was like she were making fun of me.
“That’s enough!” Keiffer shouted at Brenda. “This is all you do! Complain, complain, complain! Jenna is a damn good person and you’re just jealous that you’re not able to live up to her legacy.”
“Oh…” she smoothed down his hair. “That’s not what you were saying last night when you were screaming my name…”
“Brenda!” Mrs. Leswill exclaimed. She turned to face her mother, obviously still getting a kick out of her snotty remarks. However, Keiffer and I shared a conversation that only required our eyes. He had sex with Brenda. The love of my life had had sex with my only enemy. I thought he loved me…
“Well, mother, you couldn’t expect me to stay a virgin forever,” Brenda laughed.
“I think it’s time I take Jenna and the rest of the gang back over to our house,” my mom said quickly. “It was nice –“ She didn’t finish her sentence before walking about over to the house. I looked behind me as I walked hand-in-hand with Brad back over to my own side. Keiffer was still looking at me, obviously knowing that he got caught.
The ride to prom was awkward. Lacey and Alex sat in the backseat, obviously so in love that they were in their own little world. I stared out my window, not willing to even glance at Brad. My mind was set on what Brenda had said. Did Brad lose his virginity to Brenda? And did Keiffer sleep with her? She was a monster. A true monster.
This year the prom was held at The Castle. The Castle was an ancient castle that was located on a road called Eight Mile Hill that over looked Lake Michigan. It usually held many upscale weddings and our school’s prom every year. However, this time as we walked into the place, my heart didn’t feel as light as I was expecting. Instead, as I stepped into the ballroom, regret filled me. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come back out.
As I walked through the ballroom, every person who noticed me stopped talking and turned to look. I had suddenly become the center of attention. Obviously, Brad didn’t want people to think that there was any drama between us, so he pulled me close and gave me a kiss. Several sighs came from the audience and I suddenly felt like the princess that I had once been. Was this truly the life that I wanted though? This was a fairy tale. Happily ever after wasn’t always guarantied.
Prom was fun though. Soon I began to loosen up and for just one song, Brad danced with Lacey and I danced with Alex. I didn’t really know Alex that well, but if Lacey loved him then I knew that I’d need to get used to having him around. He turned out to be really cool. But the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he was pretty much trying to become popular. He was a year younger than us, and of course, he knew about Lacey being my best friend. I couldn’t blame him. Since dating Lacey, he went much higher on the status quo.
“Do you want a drink?” Brad finally asked after several hours of being there. We were dancing in the middle of the wooden dance floor, something that helped keep my mind off of other… things.
“Sure,” I agreed. Wiping the sweat off of my forehead with the back of my hand. “I’m just going to go outside real quick. I need some fresh air.” He kissed me before we both went our separate ways.
Behind a sheer curtain, I saw a sliding glass door that led out to a balcony. I opened it, stepping out onto the balcony. It was dark, the only light I could see in the distance was the moon, which playfully danced across the rippling Lake Michigan waves. I took in a breath of fresh air. It filled my lungs and I suddenly felt at peace. Well, until I heard a familiar cough come from beside me. Of course, it was Keiffer.
“What are you doing out here?” He asked.
“I could ask you the same thing.” I didn’t look over at him, but instead kept my gaze out towards the water. I didn’t need to look at him. I could feel his presence.
“Well, I’ve always been a fan of stars,” he laughed. “I wanted to see how good this view was.”
“Better than home, huh?” I asked. I thought back to the time when we both laid out on his roof, looking up at the stars. That had been the first time that I noticed he was more than just an arguer. He had more potential than that.
He nodded his head. “Much better than home.” Now he moved closer to me. I glanced over quickly, noticing his silly grin on his face. I laughed also, but only because I missed how dorky he could be.
“Brenda said you guys had…” I almost couldn’t get the word out. It was much too painful to say. He took a deep breath, obviously waiting for me to finish my sentence. “Sex,” I finally said.
He nodded his head slowly. “She did say that.”
I waited for him to continue. “Do you have anything to say about it?” I hated how he sometimes acted like this. I just wanted the truth.
“No, I don’t.” He brushed back some of the curls that had flown in front of my eyes. I jerked my head away so he couldn’t touch me.
“Please, Keiffer, just tell me the truth. I…I just want to know the truth. Did you, or didn’t you have sex with Brenda?” I heard my voice quiver. I felt hurt, betrayed…just sickened by the thought of him having sex with her when he had told me that he didn’t ever want to have sex. I thought I was special to him.
“This is Brenda we’re talking about. She lies, manipulates…I would truly think that you’d know me better than that. When I love someone, I go all out. I don’t love Brenda. She means nothing to me.”
“Stop trying to not answer my question. I’m not satisfied with your half-ass answer. Did you, or didn’t you sleep with her?”
“I didn’t,” he finally responded.
“I don’t believe you,” I snapped. How could he stand in front of me and just lie? Brenda had said it in front of me. Why couldn’t he?
“Then don’t ask me! I just told you the truth, Jenna!” He grabbed onto my hand and drew me in, placing his hands on my hips. Our lips were just inches apart. “I’ve never done anything with Brenda. I only asked her to be my date because I saw how jealous you were when she was with Brad. I made a mistake by letting you go, and I just needed to know how you really felt about me.”
“What do you mean? Do I not make it clear enough to you, Keiffer? I’ve been declaring my love for you every time you say goodbye to me. I don’t think it’s me that has the problem. You do. I’m tired of these games. How are we supposed to be parents if you continue with these pointless mind games?”
“Parents?” Keiffer stuttered. “Why did you say that?”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Brad walking towards the balcony with two drinks in his hands. I pushed Keiffer’s hands off of my hips, trying to decide if this was the right moment to tell him. He was sensitive, yet, he had to find out sooner or later.
Just before Brad opened up the door, I blurted it out. “I’m pregnant, and you’re the father.” Brad finally slid the door open and I stepped back into the ballroom. Shock and adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I took the sparkling grape juice from Brad’s hand and we made a toast to our future. Little did Brad know, my future had been left out on the balcony.
Chapter 16
Unsurprisingly, within a few moments after toasting with Brad, the spotlight fell down upon us. I shielded my eyes from the light, trying to figure out what was going on. Our peers clapped and whistled as they stood around us. Then, without much thought, Brad grabbed my hand and we walked up onto the stage. If I thought the spotlight was bright, nothing compared to being on the stage and having three more bright lights upon you.
A girl named Stacy placed a tiara upon my head, whereas Brad got himself a crown. The audience cheered even more as we finally were announced as the official Prom King and Queen for the Class of 2016. Honestly, I was a bit shocked. Brad and I were so off and on this semester that I would’ve thought that they’d choose someone else. However, we were the popular couple. Everyone knew us. Everyone wanted to be us.
Brad took my hand and led me down to the middle of the dance floor. The crowd parted and we stood in the middle. That was so embarrassing. First of all…I was pregnant. No one knew this. I was practically living a lie right then. But, putting aside all of my feelings, I danced with Brad to a slow song. At first it didn’t bother me, until I started to listen to the words. It talked about the meaning of forever. Looking up into his eyes, I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. This just wasn’t right. Soon, after a minute or so, more people started to dance so we no longer had to be the center of attention anymore.
Right when I was about to tell him about the baby, a finger tapped Brad’s shoulder. Keiffer stood there, his stupid grin printed across his face. “Hey, Brad. Can I cut in for a second?”
Brad thought about it for a moment before finally letting go of my waist. Instead, Keiffer placed his hands on my waist and we swayed to the song. I didn’t dare put my head on his shoulder, even though my heart wanted me to. In fact, we didn’t say much of anything at first. We kept our eyes locked on each other’s as we danced. There was nothing we had to say verbally that we couldn’t say mentally.
Finally, it was Keiffer who broke the silence. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want you to get mad… or scared… or run away again,” I admitted. It was true. I had only known about the pregnancy for a few days. And within those few days Keiffer and I were definitely not talking. In fact, I wasn’t even planning on tell him in the first place. “And besides, I figured that you wouldn’t care.”
“Of course I care. This baby is…extremely precious. Don’t you love our son or daughter already?” He asked, his smile becoming genuine. Watching how excited he was getting was kind of making me excited. My feelings about the baby had been negative at first, but seeing how happy he had become, I was suddenly becoming happy too.
“I guess so,” I laughed nervously. “I mean…I would rather put it up for adoption –“
“Adoption?” He asked. “Don’t you see though, Jenna? We can be a family. You, me, and our child. We can get a house. Maybe we’ll even get a Golden Retriever puppy and I’ll buy you a green minivan.” He cupped my cheeks in his hands. “You’re going to make the best mom.”
“You think so?” I asked, my voice quiet. He nodded his head.
“I can already tell. You have so much love. Let’s go apartment hunting tomorrow.”
“But – “
“But what?” He asked.