How It Ends by Catherine Lo (classic novels to read .txt) 📗

“What?” I ask her.

“Is it true?” she whispers dramatically.

“Is what true?”

“Are you pregnant?”

“What? Where did you hear that?”

“It’s all over school! Didn’t you check Facebook this morning?”

Larissa pulls me into the nearest stairwell. “Late last night, Scott changed his Facebook status to single.” She pauses, searching my face for a reaction. “So everyone started commenting and asking what happened. He put up a status that said ‘Don’t believe anything Annie says.’ So I had Jonathan call and get the scoop. He told Jon that you got pregnant on purpose to try to trick him, and that you’re some kind of psycho girl who wants to drop out and get married.”

“He’s lying,” I whisper. “I don’t want to get married, and I wasn’t trying to trick him.”

“So you are pregnant?” She has an expression on her face that I can’t read. But I’m so confused. So alone. I need someone to know my side.

“Yes.”

“Oh. My. God. Annie! How?”

I just stare at her.

“Okay. I get the how. But didn’t you guys use stuff?”

“He used a condom forever, but then he said he wanted to stop. I agreed, and he says it’s my fault because he figured I would only agree if I was on the Pill.” I want her to rant and rave over the injustice of it. I want her to take my side.

“Didn’t you guys ever talk about it?”

“Not enough, apparently.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know!” I wail. “Larissa, what can I do? How do I fix this? I’m scared, and I don’t have anyone to help me.”

Larissa takes a step back, shocked by my sudden outburst. “You’ll figure something out, Annie, I know you will.” She gives me a quick hug and heads for the hallway. “Maybe talk to your guidance counselor?” And then she’s gone.

I sink to the floor and sit under the stairs, still wearing my coat.

Everyone knows. Scott opened his big fucking mouth and told everyone.

He’s such a coward, I think as tears of frustration well in my eyes. I know exactly why he did this, and I could claw his lying eyes out of his face over it. He was scared I’d tell everyone how he abandoned me when he found out I was pregnant. He was scared of being the “bad guy,” and he didn’t want anyone thinking that he’d been part of this willingly. So he lied and said I got pregnant on purpose.

Feelings rush through me in waves. I’m angry and sad and ashamed and afraid. I pull my jacket up around my ears and wish I could make myself invisible forever.

It seems like only minutes have passed, so I’m startled when feet start pounding on the stairs above me. I check my phone to find that first period evaporated while I was hiding here. I wait for the halls to clear and then stand up on stiff legs. I’m suddenly sweltering in my jacket, so I slip it off, a loose plan forming in my mind. I head for my locker to drop off my jacket. Then I’ll go and make an appointment in the counseling office.

When I reach my locker, though, I’m gripped by nausea. Someone has taken a bright red lipstick and written the word SLUT all over my locker door. I reach out and touch the oily surface of the letters and then turn around and run.

Jessie

The drama on Facebook was out of control tonight. Actually, drama sounds too benign. It was a train wreck. It was a massacre.

It started right after school, when Courtney posted the status I wish a certain slutty ex-friend would quit messaging me. I hate LIARS. A flurry of responses ensued, mostly from wannabes hoping to endear themselves to Courtney.

*Hugs* Courtney.

Who’s the ex-friend? I hate liars too!

Oooh! Sounds like a good story!

Then Larissa weighed in, unable to contain the fact that she knew who Courtney was talking about: Don’t tell me you haven’t heard about Annie yet??

That’s when the rumors got out of control. First, people swore they’d seen her sneaking around with other guys, cheating on Scott. Then someone claimed that they’d walked in on her having sex with a senior in the boys’ bathroom. And then the big bombshell came. Annie is pregnant! I bet she doesn’t even know who the father is.

I couldn’t stop reading. It was like some gruesome accident that you know you don’t want to see but can’t resist peeking at. I kept refreshing the feed, even while it made me feel sick.

I never understood what Scott saw in her. She’s so UGLY.

She puts out, obvs! Why else would he waste his time with her?

How can you even tell she’s pregnant? She’s FAT already!

I imagined Annie sitting in front of her computer, unable to tear her eyes away from the comments. I felt sorry for her and angry with her all at once. If she’d just listened to me about Courtney, she wouldn’t be in this situation. Courtney is evil. She’s always just one step away from turning on people. Why didn’t Annie listen when I told her not to trust Courtney?

Annie

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. What the fuck am I supposed to do?

This is all so fucked up. I can’t even believe it’s happening. I knew—I knew—it would be bad if people found out I was pregnant. But I never expected this.

I’ve avoided the Internet for days. After what happened at school on Tuesday, I knew that Facebook would be exploding with the news. I made a promise to myself that I would ignore, ignore, ignore. I told myself it would all blow over in a few days. Don’t read it—it will just upset you. But here I am, glued to the computer screen, hitting Refresh over and over again.

I shift in my seat as the page reloads. It’s after midnight, and I’ve been in front of this computer for hours.