Badly Misunderstood

Chapter 14

"Lacey, I'm home!" I yell out, throwing my hands in the air as I enter the doorway. I really need to stop watching 'I Love Lucy' reruns. Pete had given me all the seasons and insisted I watch it.

"Shh. You're going to wake her up," Mark whisper-shouts at me.

I walk into my room to see Lacey passed out on my bad. "Sorry, how long has she been asleep?"

"About an hour or two," he shrugs his shoulders, "So where have you been, chica?"

I groan at the thought of the principal punishing me for a whole month. "Ugh, I'm stuck staying after school every day this month for punching this guy in the face."

"Do I really want to know why?" He asks as we make our way to the kitchen. I'm so hungry I could eat a cow.

"He was being a total sexist pig and if anything I'm the victim here," I start rambling, "Anderson didn't even care about my side of the story. So what if I'm a troublemaker, I should still get treated with the same respect as everyone else."

"Easy there, tiger," Mark says cautiously, "sounds like the pendejo deserved it. So what's your punishment?"

"Oh your gonna love this," I reply sarcastically, "she has me helping the theatre arts teacher. Can you believe it?"

I turn around facing Mark to see him bent over laughing at my misery. Can a girl get a little sympathy here? The karma bus hit me full force with this one, or maybe Mark is conspiring against me with the principal. Inflate at him effectively shutting him up.

"I bet this was you're doing now that I think about it. We just talked about it this morning and now I'm having it forced upon me."

"I didn't do anything to you, Livi, maybe it's divine intervention."

"Or karma."

I pull out everything to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and start making a couple of sandwiches for us. It's my comfort food and right now I need some comfort.

I give him his sandwich and pour both of us some milk. "So did you like it?"

"Surprisingly it wasn't that bad," I say in between bites, "I'm actually going to help sew up the costumes they have. They were in such bad condition and since I'm going to to be spending my time there I might as well do something useful. And stop looking at me with that face of yours."

"What face?" He asks smirkingly.

"The I told you so face."

"Fine. I'm just happy for you. That's all."

He smiles at me and we finish our sandwiches in a comfortable silence.

I'm sitting down watching tv in the living room when Lacey walks in."Man, I am starved. I think I emptied the entire contents of my stomach."

She plops down beside me as I study her face. Leave it to her to be hungry with a stomach bug. "I made you some soup, Lace. Are you sure you're up for eating?"

"I'm so hungry I could eat a cow," she says dramatically, "Livi, you cooked?"

"I do know how to cook, you know. Although, I might have had Mark help me just a little bit."

I come back with the chicken soup I made and sit back down beside my best friend. She immediately devours her food before I even get a chance to pull my hand away. Something is going on and I intend to find out.

"So I take it your feeling better," I concluded since she was eating like a rabid animal.

"Yep. It's crazy," she says between mouthfuls of food, " its like.. I just needed to.. sleep it off."

"Thanks for letting me stay here Livi," she continues, "Can I crash here tonight. It's already late and my mom is gonna be so mad if I go home late."

Maybe I'm just looking too much into this but something is definitely up with this girl. It's like she's avoiding something. I let her finish her food before I grill her for information.

"Of course you can," I tell her sympathetically, "We can binge I Love Lucy and drink some wine that Mark got for me."

She perks up but then her face falls. She's looking down at the ground and fidgeting with her fingers. I really wish the girl would just tell me what's going on already.

"I think I'm going to skip out on the drinking tonight Livi," she says remorseful, "I don't think it will agree with my stomach."

"Okay, no drinking then."

As I'm saying this, it's like a lightbulb switched on in my head. I meant to keep it to myself but the way my brain is set up it didn't work that way.

"Oh my god Lace you're pregnant!!"

I cover my mouth quickly to keep any more words from spewing out of my mouth. Her face shows pure shock and horror at my words. How did I not see this at first?

"You can't tell anyone Livi," she pleads with me, "it would ruin me if word gets out."

"Lace, you know I won't tell a soul," I reassure her, "but what the hell! How did this happen? When? What is your mom going to say!?"

I know I'm babbling again but this is so unexpected. I need to regain my composure for my best friend. Now is not the time to panic.

"Ok, first of all, calm down and I will explain everything."

So I calm down and let her tell me everything. It happened the night of Brandon's party when they hooked up. She realized the possibility when she misses her period and started getting nauseous. Apparently right now it's just speculation since she's too scared to get a pregnancy test and know the truth.

"That settles it I'm getting you a test right now," I determine, "we have to know, Lace, you can't be kept in the dark."

"What will people think, Livi," she says between sobs, "what will my mom say. She's going to lose. I'm going to get kicked out for sure."

She's sobbing uncontrollably now. I want nothing more than to take her pain away from her. "What about Brandon. I-I'm going to be the laughing stock!"

"You know what fuck the school and fuck Brandon. You have me and I dare anyone to say anything to you. I'm here for you every step of the way. The first step though is to get that test."

She sniffles but stops crying soon after. "Thank you, Livi, you really are the best friend anyone could ask for."

"I got you, girl. Now stay put and I will be right back."

With that being said I go to the store to get what she needs.

As I'm checking out my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out to see that Paul is calling me.

"To what do I owe this pleasure," I answer sarcastically.

"This is not the time to be a smartass with me, Olivia," he warns, "There is work to be done."

"And what would that be?"

"Paul requested to see you," he states bluntly, "You will go over there and end this."

I let out a loud sigh. Seriously can't a girl catch a break? "What time?"

"9 o'clock tonight at his place. Don't disappoint me." He then hangs up. Rude. Well, I guess I have work to do.

I walk in the door and see Mark in the kitchen making dinner. "Hey Mark, I have some business to take care of can you keep an eye out for Lacey, please."

He looks up at me from the stove before nodding his head. "Of course, Liv, but are you sure you want to do this. You don't have to keep living this life."

"I have no choice right now Mark. It has to be done. Don't worry about me though I'm a tough girl."

"Okay, be safe," he says while ruffling my head.

I walk into the living room and let Lacey know what's going on and apologize for leaving her tonight.

"I'll be back and then we can do the test."

"Be safe Livi."

I nod my head and walk out the door. I guess I should get this over with.