Today doesn't suck

Julie had received a message from Claire requesting that they meet in Froom Vally at the current time and place. Under the false impression that Claire just wanted to hang out there, Julie arrived at the aforementioned time and place and found Claire already there, wearing a more serious expression than one would expect of someone who just wanted to hand out.

"Hi," Julie greeted. Obliviously she added, "What's up?"

Claire was hurt and confused. Why hadn't Julie told her that she was pregnant? Was she untrustworthy? Did Julie not like her as much as she liked Lily? Whatever. She was going to straighten things out with Julie right now.

"Hi," she said back. "Nothing is up..." she trailed off. She didn't want to yell at Julie, but that was really what she felt like doing. She also didn't want to put Julie in an awkward position, but she really needed to know if what she had heard was true or not.

"But hey... I wanted to know something..."

Julie's brow furrowed. The last time someone said something to the effect of "I wanted to know something" (albeit much less politely) she'd ended up spilling her secret, which was somehow not as well kept as she thought or wanted it to be. But this was probably about something else...

"Yeah?" she asked after a pause.

"Well... it's just that... I was talking to my brother earlier... And hey, if you say it isn't true, I'll totally believe you. I mean, I don't know if I believe it anyway... But well, he told me that you were with Kaiden. You know, that guy we saw at the hot springs?"

Claire took a breath. This was hard... "And well, he said that Kaiden had... well, gotten you pregnant."

She looked at Julie in question.

Julie stared at Claire, her expression totally morphing into one of horror. She didn't even think to lie and deny it because she was too preoccupied with what Claire just said.

Quote :

"Well... it's just that... I was talking to my brother earlier... And hey, if you say it isn't true, I'll totally believe you. I mean, I don't know if I believe it anyway... But well, he told me that you were with Kaiden. You know, that guy we saw at the hot springs?"

Quote :

I was talking to my brother

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my brother

Her brother knew? Gage knew? How? Did Lily tell him? No, she wouldn't do that...would she? And how many people had he told? Fuuuuuuck.

"Oh god..." Julie groaned, sitting down heavily. She put her face in her hands. She couldn't even believe this was happening.

So... it was true? How was that even possible? Julie? Pregnant? And with Kaiden's baby? Wtf.

"Aw, Julie," Claire said, crouching down and putting her arm around her friend. She really felt like asking her why she was such an idiot, why she had had sex with Kaiden when she had been in a perfectly good relationship with Keiran, but she didn't. "It's gonna be okay, I promise."

Julie felt like she was about to cry. She felt like crying a lot these days. "No it's not!" she exclaimed, upset, shaking her head without lifting it out of her hands. "Your brother is going to tell everyone, isn't he? And everyone will think I'm such...an...idiot!"

Her eyes burned so she squeezed them shut beneath her hair and hands. This wasn't her. She wasn't supposed to be seventeen and pregnant with some jerk-who-she'd-just-met's baby. She was supposed to be "the good girl."

"Shh," Claire said, holding her tighter. "You aren't an idiot, everyone knows that. And everyone knows that people make mistakes," she soothed. (and unbeknown to the kids, Julie's parents knew that better than most clio)

"Everyone thought they knew it," Julie replied weakly. "What are they gonna think now? What do you think?" She finally looked up and met Claire's eyes. "You think I'm stupid, don't you? And don't lie to me! I want to know what you really think!"

There was no nicer way to say it, Claire was judgmental. She always talked about how stupid Lily was for dating Gage behind her back.

Claire sighed. "Listen, Julie. Yeah, I think it was a stupid decision. I'm not gonna lie to you. But I do not think you're a stupid girl."

Julie sighed. It was nice to know that Claire didn't really think she was stupid, as she'd feared, but everything about this still sucked. "I can't believe Gage knows..." she muttered almost inaudibly. Miserably she added, "I guess that's how Kaiden found out." She looked at the ground, then back at Claire.

Why did her brother have to be such a jerk? "Have you talked to Kaiden about it?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Julie muttered. She pulled her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs. "He doesn't want anything to do with it, or me." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I knew he wouldn't..." But for some reason, even with all the support and love Keiran and Lily had offered, without Kaiden's help she just felt so...so alone.

Claire rubbed Julie's back. "Don't worry about it, Julie. Me, Lily, Keiran, everybody's gonna help you with it. I promise, no matter what the loser does, you'll still have us."

Claire didn't know what else to say so she just sat there rubbing.

"I know, Claire," Julie replied unhappily. "But it just...it hurts, you know? We both had sex, but I'm the one who has to go through everything. I have all these huge consequences, and he gets to go back to his carefree life of partying and drinking and whatever...It's just so unfair!"

Claire nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry, Julie," she said. "I promise I'll make him regret it next time I see him, alright?"

She was trying to get Julie to smile, but she had a feeling she wasn't going to succeed anytime soon.

"Just...don't even bother," Julie sighed, lifting her head back up. Her face was streaked with tears but she wasn't crying anymore. "It's not like it'll change anything." Whether she liked it or not, whether Kaiden cared or not, she was having a baby.

"But it'll make me feel better," Claire offered. Seriously, the next time she saw Kaiden with that stupid brother of hers she was going to make him regret being a guy.

Julie rested her head on Claire's shoulder. "I can't believe I'm having a baby," she said with a small sigh in her voice. This was so unbelievable, yet so painfully real. She couldn't even imagine being pregnant, but somehow at the same time she was living it.

"Do you think it'll be a girl?" Claire asked, allowing Julie to rest on her, "Or a boy?" She hoped it would be a boy. Claire liked little boys. But she also hoped it would turn out like Julie, and not like Kaiden.

"I dunno," Julie said honestly. Was she supposed to know? Her mom told her she'd known Julie was a girl before she was born, but Julie had no idea what her baby was. Then again it was so early it probably wasn't anything yet, so maybe that's why she couldn't tell. "I guess it'll be a surprise, huh?"

"Yeah," Claire answered. "You know what, Julie? I think you're going to be a good mom, seventeen or not."

Julie wasn't so sure herself, but Claire's words were really reassuring. They also reminded her that, even though she might not really be ready for a child, she wasn't totally clueless. She'd taken care of younger brothers and sisters her whole life.

"You know, my parents told me this story about when they brought my little sister home from the hospital," she said to Claire, "How even though I was only three I wanted to hold her, and how I'd always want to try and help feed her and stuff." (If only her little sister was as lovable as she used to be, before she became an annoying brat.)

Claire smiled. She could totally see that happening. "See, you were mom material even back then. And hey, my mom was seventeen when she had me, and I turned out okay."

And she was a drunken whore slut with no ambition. But she really didn't need to say that.

Yeah, YOU turned out okay, Julie thought to herself. But she didn't know what she'd do if she ended up raising a Chloe or a Gage. Not to mention the fact that Ria herself didn't have the greatest life, what with her husband cheating on her and all. D= Julie didn't want Ria's life. She also didn't want Alecis's life, the life of the other young mother she had as an example of her potential future.

"One thing I know for sure," Julie decided right then and there, "is that there's no way I'm getting married anytime soon just because of the baby."