How My Life Turned Upside Down

6 - Long Days, Oreos and Good Friends

As I drove my car down one of the major roads in Charlotte, I was feeling relaxed, but  almost as if I was forgetting something. I glanced down and saw my phone and purse on the seat next to me, but I also noticed something else too. I wasn't pregnant anymore.

"Oh shit, I forgot Lily," I mutter to myself. "Mom is going to kill me. She'll rant about how she doesn't want to keep watching her because, yes. The break room at work is so much safer than leaving her at home. (Well, my dad did try to drop her off at an adoption agency when she was two months old, so it's debatable.) The only choice I had was to turn around and pick her up. I really need to get my own place soon!

Of course, my car died and refused to restart about five minutes or so from the house, so I had to walk the rest of the way back home. Fun.

When I arrived back home, my mother was waiting for me by the door, irritation clearly spelled out on her face.

"Jenna, we've talked about this. You know the drill." She pointed towards the stairs.

I can't believe I was stupid enough to forget Lily at home again, I think to myself as I walk into my room and pick my three month-old up out of her drawer/bed. Bad, I know. I just didn't have the money for a crib and my parents think they're doing me enough favors by letting me stay here until she's a year old.

Surprisingly, Lil was fairly content and unaware of my current stress. I smiled at her and she smiled back as I took her downstairs.

"One more time and you're out on the street!" My mother screams after me as I walk out of the door.

"The sooner the better," I grumble to Lily. "As soon as I have enough money, we'll be out of there."

I'm only a few houses past mine when I hear a weird screeching noise. As I look around, I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Weird. We start walking and I hear the screeching noise again. I turn around and am body slammed to the ground by a killer dolphin-.

***

"What the fuck?"

I wake up sweaty and gasping for breath. I check my Phone and see that I've only been asleep for about three hours.

All I know is that I am certainly not naming it Lily if it's a girl, and that I can not have this baby.

***

Hours later, I find myself sitting in my car in the parking lot of the Pregnancy Crisis Center of Charlotte. I've been in here for nearly half an hour and I can't find a good reason to go through with this pregnancy. The only thing this baby has going for it is that babies are cute.

My phone chimes in the cup holder in between the driver and passenger seats. It's a number not saved in my contacts, so I answer the call.

"Hi, this is the Pregnancy Crisis Center of Charlotte. We want to confirm that you are still attending your 11:15 appointment." The receptionist's voice is clear with a slight southern accent. It's currently 11:24. Shit.

"Um, yes. I actually just pulled in to the parking lot. I'll be inside in a minute," I reply before hanging up. I grab my purse and phone and rush towards the clinic's entrance. I need to get better at keeping track of time.

As I walk into the clinic, a short and sturdy middle-aged brunette lady rushes up to me.

"Hi, dear. I'm Carolyn and I work here at PCCC. We usually aren't open on Sundays, but I felt that I needed to do the Lord's work and I rushed out of church and came into the office and here we are," the lady beams. She has a slight drawl that is typically associated with southerners. "So, I'm going to have you fill out some paperwork and then you can come on back." Carolyn hands me a clipboard with several pages of information.

***

I slam the door to my car after climbing into the driver's seat. The past hour was a goddamn waste of my fucking time.

Retrieving my phone from my pocket, I punch in Ellie's number.

"Jenna? What's up?" Ellie asks, with just enough perkiness in her voice for me to know that she's on her second cup of coffee.

"I, uh," I sigh. How do I explain this? "I just kinda had a shitty experience at a, uh, clinic and-"

"Come over. We'll chill for a while, okay?" Ellie calmly tells me. "And if I need to kick ass, just say the word, sis!" I snort, despite my sour mood.

"I'll head right over. See you then." I go to hang up the phone, but I stop. "Have I told you recently that you're the best?"I can almost see Ellie rolling her eyes with a half-sarcastic smile.

"You know I have a shit memory. I'll see you in a few, okay?" I hang up the phone and drive across town to Ellie's neighborhood.

As soon as I pulled into her driveway, Ellie was standing in the open doorway holding several packages of Oreos. I may not be a big fan of my parents- big understatement, by the way- but befriending the Simons was a great decision on their part.

As soon as Ellie closes the door to her room, she demands, "Spill."

So I do.

I tell her everything- about how I went to the clinic for abortion information, and how instead I had some lady preach to me like I was some irresponsible child. (I'm practically a grown-ass adult, for God's sake!) I wanted to find out more information about my options with this thing, not have someone tell me how 'God would be angry' if I killed an innocent child. Um, the thing in my uterus is nowhere near being able to survive on its own, so I didn't need some lady to spoonfeed me her KKK propaganda.

I was nauseated by the fact that the clinic advertised that they offered abortions, when they clearly didn't. They were trying to lure in young people who would think that the people there would genuinely try to help them. Plus, the only real information I was able to get, was that I was pregnant, which I already knew. The facility couldn't even do one of those things where they scan your stomach area to see the baby.

"You mean a sonogram? Or maybe an ultrasound?" Ellie interrupts.

I reach for a package of Oreos. "I guess. I don't really know much about this baby stuff yet." I shrugged, shoving two Oreos into my mouth. Don't judge- these probably have crack in them or something for all I know.

"I know who wasn't paying attention in health class," Ellie teases, prompting me to throw a pillow at her. Ellie dives off the bed to avoid it squealing.

"But anyways," Ellie continues in a more serious tone. "That sucks. But seriously, I'll always be here for you. You've been here for me, and I'm always ready to do some serious butt-kicking, okay?" Ellie mimed some karate moves and I tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

"Let's watch something on Netflix," Ellie suggests, wrestling with me for the package of Oreos. "We could watch Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, um, some Disney movies? I don't know, pick something?"

"Hmmm," I scroll through the seemingly endless endless amounts of TV shows, trying to pick something I hadn't yet seen. "Maybe The Good Place? It sounds funny," I suggest and Ellie gives a "why not" shrug.

"Eleanor? Come on in. Hi Eleanor, I'm Michael. How are you today?"

"Great, thanks for asking. Oh, one question. Where am I, who are you, and what's going on?"

"Right. So you, Eleanor Shellstrop, are dead..."

--------------------------------------------

Before, this chapter was basically Jenna researching information, but that was (understandably) not relevant to moving the storyline along, and frankly, boring. Glad that I FINALLY finished this. I can't write on my phone anymore because the app is constantly freezing

Also, just a note, the crisis center Jenna goes to is based off of real crisis centers that are supposed to provide false information to pregnant women in order to promote the pro-life agenda. There are over 600 in North Carolina alone.  :|  Yeah. Don't want to get into politics. Soooo, yeah. Hi. :) See you guys next chapter!

Word Count: 1340

- Sarah Turtle Updates Inc. 🐢