Years of the Bus

13- A Test

*Baker’s POV*

“It’s not going to be positive,” Gaige informed me but his voice was shaky and nervous so I knew that he didn’t fully believe the statement either.

I sighed as I shakily grabbed three pregnancy tests from the drug store shelf. Everyone else was waiting outside in the parking lot for the news of a yes or no, but I had Gaige come in to the store with me because this was his life too.

We both silently walked up to the front desk of the drug store and bought the three tests. I ignored the dirty look that I received from the cashier because I already felt disgusting about what was happening, I didn’t need a judgmental cashier to make that worse.

With all three tests, we went into the back where the unisex bathroom was. It was one of those bathrooms without stalls, it was just one bathroom with a lockable door, so we both got inside and I was biting my tongue so that I wouldn’t break down crying. The past week on the bus had been hell for everyone but especially me and Gaige. Having a living life inside of me totally just freaked me out. It would make the rest of the trip totally weird too and the thought of having to tell my parents made me want to just jump off of a bridge instead.

“It’s not going to be positive,” Gaige repeated, even less confident than before.

“Look away,” I breathed with trembling breath.

He sighed, kissed my cheek awkwardly, and then turned around so that I could open the first box and take the test that would define the rest of my life.

“Plug your ears too,” I pleaded. “I don’t want you to hear me pee.”

I knew that he rolled his eyes because he did that a lot and then I waited until his hands were over his ears before I started peeing on the little white stick. I had to guzzle loads of water this morning so that I would be able to pee on command and it was still really hard, but I did it and when I finished peeing, I sat the test on the corner of the sink.

“Are you done?” Gaige asked once he heard the flush of the toilet.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “Now we just have to wait for five minutes before it shows up.”

He turned around and I think he could tell how badly I needed a hug, because he stepped forward in the claustrophobic bathroom. “It’ll be fine, Bake.”

I started crying unwillingly into his shoulder. Gaige was a really cool guy and I’ve known that since we met freshman year of high school, but he’s been really amazing for the past week. After we hooked up at the strip go fish party, he’d been acting a lot nicer around me and I didn’t know if that was because he felt bad that I might be pregnant or if he formed a crush on me or something, which I hoped wasn’t the case. Gaige was one of my best friends, I didn’t want to complicate things any farther than what we’d done already.

“I don’t want to have a baby, Gaige,” I blubbered hysterically.

“I know,” He sighed. “But hey, on the bright side, if it’s a boy, he’ll be totally sexy and if it’s a girl, she’ll be completely beautiful.”

I laughed through blurry eyes. “I think you as a girl would look extremely creepy, not beautiful.”

“Well, I was talking about you, but thanks for that,” He joked, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe away the slimy tears on my face. “Seriously, Bake, it’ll be okay.”

“But my parents…” I trailed off, just completely mortified at the thought of having to tell them that I’m pregnant.

“Fuck your parents, Baker, don’t think about them.”