As I clock out of my shift, I begin to take off my apron placing it in the dirty hamper so it can be cleaned. I wait for Lauren who is doing the same with the exact expression that she had earlier. I sigh as I head to my car deciding to wait on Lauren there. Once she gets in the car she leans her head against the car door. I hoped that playing our favorite song would get her out of her funk. I started to blast our song, but this didn't lift her mood at all, if anything it made her more sad. I started up the car and started the drive back to my house.
After pulling into my drive way I make sure to check and see if my mom is home. I walk inside before Lauren and scream out to the empty house.
"Mom! Are you here?" After waiting a couple of seconds of silence I take this opportunity to walk through the threshold. I look at the clock and see that it is 7:31. I haven't ate any dinner yet, and neither has Lauren so I decide to whip something up. I head into the kitchen and open the fridge. The fridge is practically empty except for some shredded cheese, left over chicken, and some sour cream. I double check the pantry to see if there any tortillas left. When the tortillas are found I spring into action and begin to create our dinner. I look over at the counter where Lauren is sitting on a stool, leaning against her hands looking down.
"Lauren, what's really bothering you? You haven't been this upset about previous boyfriends, what makes him different?" I start to cut up the leftover chicken so it will be in smaller pieces for the quesadilla. I look up at Lauren who is on the brink of tears now.
"Mac, he cheated on me. I didn't have any idea until a picture of the messages between him and some girls were released. I thought it was all fake until soon after some pictures were released. Chad was with some other girl in a bed at some stupid frat party." She was now in full blown tears talking about this. I finished cutting the chicken and then washed my hands. I went over to my friend trying to comfort her by hugging her. She easily accepted and I started to rub my hands down her back and through her hair. After she had settled down I finally could speak to her.
"Lauren, Chad is a complete douche. This may seem hard now, but don't worry it will get easier. I'm here for you, Your family is here for you, and everyone who loves you will help you through this. This isn't the end, but only the beginning. I love you so much and I will always be available to talk or hang out. I'm just one call away." After realizing how cheesing that sounded, my friend started to laugh a little bit, which sparked laughter in me.
"Mac, when did you turn into my shrink?" We both laughed at that for who knows how long. I went back to preparing our food when I saw that my friend was in higher hopes than when I saw her this morning.
After putting the quesadilla on the pan I let the cheese melt and have the two tortillas form as one as a quesadilla. I pulled the plates out and served the quesadillas to both me and my friend. I laughed thinking back to old memories of Lauren and I. Last summer we practically spent everyday here after working, at the time we were both single and we went to the first party of the summer together. I was best friends with Cameron at the time. We both kept our feelings from each other a secret, well until he was completely wasted, at that point he told me about his feelings for me. I laughed thinking about how drunk both Lauren and Cameron were and how they were in the back of my car as I drove them home. They were both talking about how much they loved me, it was completely random.
Growing up Cameron, Lauren, Jason, and I were best friends. We all lived on the same street so we were destined to be best friends. Jason and Lauren were always closer because they grew up together, in the third grade my mom and I moved into the neighborhood and later on so did Cameron and his family. Cameron and I became friends easily, we were both the new kids so most kids didn't want to include us in their new friend group, so we became our own friend group until the summer. Since school was out we were able to hang out with all the neighborhood kids and make some new friends. That's when we met Jason and Lauren. Ever since that summer our group has been inseparable. Cameron and I were always still close, but I really can't talk to boys about everything. So Lauren and I became close over time.
"What going on in that mind of yours Mac?" My best friend looks at me with a look of curiosity.
"Remember last year when we went to that one party and you got completely wasted along with Cameron?" A smile begins to grow on my face as Lauren tries to recall the memory. When it hits her she is filled with embarrassing and begins shaking her head at the memory.
"I don't remember much of that night I was completely wasted after that night." She laughs and continues to shake her head. I laugh and take our plates and place them into the sink.
Lauren then starts to walk down the hall and into my room. I follow soon after her. I start to take my uniform off from work earlier without thinking much about it. I changed into some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I noticed Lauren standing stiff and not moving, so when I looked over at her she looked as pale as a ghost. Her eyes looked so big as if they were about to pop.
"Mac, let me go grab something real fast." She ran across the street and down a couple houses to her place. I watched from my porch to see what her next move was. I took a seat on the porch. When I saw Lauren again she was closing her door to her house. She was dressed in sweatpants now with her hands in her pocket. I was about to ask questions, but she grabbed me by my arm so fast that she pulled me into the house and stopped outside of the bathroom.
"Why are you acting so weird Lauren?" I asked, but after seeing a pink cardboard box sticking outside of her pocket back at her house, I knew what was about to happen. I knew I just had to act as relaxed and calm as I could be.
"Mac, I know I might just be seeing stuff, but the fact that you have been eating a bit more food than normal, looking a little bit green at work when you are serving certain foods, and you look like you just ate a big dinner. It concerns me, so as your friend I am highly advising you to please take this pregnancy test." She says it as a sort of demand, but she tried to at least make it come out as polite. I take a deep breath and take the pregnancy test into the bathroom. I knew what the results were going to be, I just didn't know how Lauren would react. I'm just scared someone is going to tell Cameron before I get the chance to do so.
I waited the five minutes as the box said, but the positive sign popped up as soon as I put the cap on the stick. I walked out to the hallway expecting to see Lauren to be standing there, but she was gone. I walked down to my room where she was sitting at my desk staring at the entry of my bedroom where I was standing. She quickly got up and stared out me with her observant eyes. And that was when the flood gates were released.
"Lauren, I don't know what to do, I have known for the last two weeks and it has became impossible to keep any longer. I'm going to be just like my mother, a single mom before getting a real job. I will spend the rest of my life alone because my kids will move out and the baby daddy will far gone at that point." I was crying for what felt like forever because I not only could finally release the secret I have been keeping, but that I admitted to myself that everything is changing and there absolutely nothing I can do to stop it.
