𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 - jj maybank

- 𝐭𝐰𝐨

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀, Kaci Flores spent all her free time on the Internet. She found that it was a great place in some ways — that she could type in absolutely anything and it would have her back. It was the only thing that knew her secret. It was the only thing she had trust and faith in.

It answered all of her questions, like ʼwhich Shameless man would marry me?ʼ, or ʼif I was a pokemon, which one would I be?ʼ.

It also told her everything she needed to know about pregnancy, considering she still hadn't cracked the nerve to take herself to a midwife. And she knew it was stupid, maybe even dangerous, but it was hard to find the perfect time to do that on such a small island; there was only so many places she could go, and only so many times people weren't around. It seemed to be that almost everywhere she went, she'd see somebody either herself or her parents knew. There were family connections all over the place.

And if she was being completely honest, Kaci was still finding it hard to believe she was pregnant. Seven months in, a bump the size of a history book, and she was still in denial over it all. It was a hard pill to swallow, and even harder everytime she thought of how soon it was coming to an end. How soon it was until her secret would break.

"Hey, Kace — wait, are you dipping a banana in peanut butter?"

Freezing in her place, the awkward texture of mushed up bananas and crunchy peanut butter stuffed in her mouth, Kaci didn't respond to the amused voice of her best friend.

"You don't even like crunchy peanut butter!" Sarah Cameron accused with a bubbly giggle. She traveled further inside Kaciʼs room and threw herself down onto her queen-sized, luxurious bed like it was her own, causing the girl to slam down the screen of her laptop.

Sometimes, when Kaci and Sarah were casually hanging out, guilt took over her whole body. Sometimes, Kaci had even considered coming out and telling Sarah the truth. They were best friends, afterall — sisters, even, at this point. But then she had to pause and remind herself that not only was she carrying a baby, Kaci cheated on Sarahʼs big brother to conceive it. She was a terrible person, and although everyone deserved the truth, she was scared of losing the people that meant the most to her. What she did was simply unforgivable, and she could never take it back. No matter how badly she wanted to. She wasn't sure if she'd ever forgive herself for it — maybe that was why it was so hard to believe it was true.

"I don't," Kaci dismissed the weird combination of snacks in her hand by the flick of her wrist. She swallowed down the remaining banana-butter in her mouth and turned around to face Sarah. "You wanna order a Chinese later? I could kill for sweet and sour chicken balls."

It was the first day of their summer holidays, and that meant it was the first day in a while the girls could have to chill. And rather than going out and doing crazy shit like the other teenagers on the island, Sarah and Kaci always dedicated their first day of summer to bed and movies, always hosted by the one with better WiFi. Which was Kaci, considering she lived in a million-dollar penthouse.

Sarah watched her best friend with a large smile, a loud laugh escaping her mouth. "What is up with you lately?" she exclaimed. "You're eating like a horse!"

"The term is ʼlike a pigʼ, Blueberry," Kaci corrected as the girl beside her climbed into the thick covers.

"Why do I smell cheese?"

"You probably took your socks off."

"You're such a bitch."

"And you're such a cunt."

They both looked at each other for a moment, going silent for a second, then burst into laughter. It was loud enough for a few of the older residents to fill out a noise complaint about the penthouse above them.