Loose Ends

Chapter 51

The first thing Ricky did after arriving at school was go to Amy's afternoon classes and drop off her homework. His second task was to find Lauren and Madison and figure out who was picking up Amy's homework assignments for that day. As Ricky headed towards Lauren's locker, Adrian was heading to her own. Another student came running around the corner quickly and bumped into her just enough to make her drop her books.

"Watch it!" she called out angrily at the student's back as he continued running down the hallway. "Carrying precious cargo here!" She looked at her dropped books contemplatively for a moment, trying to decide the best way to go about bending down to retrieve them and then attempting to stand back up. Being pregnant really throws off your center of gravity. Before she could make a move to bend, however, Jack came jogging over, having seen her get bumped, and picked them up for her.

"Here you go, Adrian."

"Thanks, Jack," she said, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"No problem."

"So how've you been?" she asked conversationally as they began walking together towards her locker. Jack shrugged.

"Okay I guess. Just trying to stay outta trouble and get my head on straight."

"Come again?" Jack sighed.

"I'm taking a break from dating to figure out what I really want in a relationship?" Adrian smiled mischievously.

"Plotting another way to try and get Grace back?" Jack shook his head sadly.

"No. I burned that bridge a long time ago." Adrian chuckled as they stopped in front of her locker and she began spinning her combination.

"Since when did that stop you from trying?" she asked with amusement.

"Since I realized it's not fair of me to date someone unless we're on the same page about sex," he admitted.

"Ah," Adrian said as she placed several books and her purse in her locker.

"Plus I'm trying to figure out how to square away my faith with the fact I like having sex." Adrian suddenly felt a twinge of guilt and it made her feel a little uncomfortable. She closed her locker and placed a hand on her belly.

"Sorry. Can't help you there," she said apologetically. Jack chuckled.

"I know. This is just something I've gotta figure out for myself." Jack looked up and saw Ben headed their way. "See you around, Adrian," he said with a slight nod before walking away. She smiled when her eyes fell on Ben.

"Hey, Benny," she said cheerfully as he approached. Ben arched an eyebrow when he noticed her mismatched shoes and then smiled in return.

"Hey yourself." He glanced down at her shoes as he asked his next question. "Are you tryna start a new fashion trend?" Adrian looked at him with confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ben looked back up at her.

"You're wearing two different colored shoes."

"What!?" Adrian did her best to look past her belly and see her toes. She had to strain a little but she was finally able to see that she had in fact put on one black and one blue slip-on style shoes. As she suddenly realized her mistake, she felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment and it was quickly followed by tears, which alarmed Ben. He pulled her into a hug.

"Don't cry, Adrian. It's not a big deal," he tried to reassure her. Adrian pushed him away.

"Yes it is!" she shot back, furiously wiping at her wet cheeks. "I'm wearing two different colored shoes because I'm too fat to see my feet anymore," she wailed as fresh tears began pouring down her cheeks. Ben pulled her back in for another hug and she cried into his shirt. He felt two small wet spots growing on his chest but he didn't have the heart to pull Adrian away from him. In another hallway several feet from Lauren's locker, Ricky spotted Lauren talking to a sad looking Jesse.