Under the Bleachers

Food for Thought

Rio waited outside of Claire's, bored out of his mind, bouncing a ball he'd bought a few minutes ago from one of the quarter machines. Maria was going to her first middle school dance and he'd somehow got wrangled into going shopping with her. Who knew it took twenty minutes to find a pairing of earrings to go with a dress?

As he watched the ball bounce back up before snatching it with his right hand, he caught sight of a flash of familiar strawberry blonde hair standing in front of the Sbarro across the way. He hadn't seen her in months, but that was no surprise since he'd been avoiding her like the plague. Part of him told him to go inside and check and see what was holding his sister up, but the side of him that was much too curious for his own good kept watching Beth. His mind traversed back to the last time he'd seen her in the mall. He certainly wouldn't turn down another dressing room hookup. It was as he was lost in memories of the last time she'd been in his arms that Beth turned around and knocked the wind out of him.

The Beth he saw across the way was pregnant. Very pregnant. Third trimester pregnant.

Rio silently muttered a curse. How had this happened?

Cursing himself for being an idiot, Rio knew how it had happened. But when? When had it happened?

That time in the department store dressing room? No. He'd used a condom. The night Marcus had died? He groaned. That had not been his best performance. He'd been in such a state of grief that he'd just wanted something to make him feel better, something to make him forget. He'd been selfish and he'd known Beth hadn't enjoyed it. That was part of the reason why he'd hooked up with her again after they'd split. He didn't want that time to taint her memories of him. He wanted their last time to be good. And judging from the bite mark on his shoulder and the scratches on his back he'd carried around for days after - it had been.

It really didn't matter when she'd gotten pregnant. All that mattered was that she was. Rio's mind raced. What should he do? He was just 18. He didn't know anything about raising a kid. But he'd have to learn and quick. Beth looked like she was about to pop.

He didn't even notice when his sister came out of the store with a small bag in her hand. He'd been too preoccupied with the bomb that had just dropped on him.

"Hey, want to get something to eat? I've still got thirty minutes before I meet up with Sylvia and her mom."

"Sure," Rio said, following his sister to the food court, his mind in a total whirlwind.

Taking a sip of his Coke, Rio chuckled silently at Beth's vain attempts to hide herself and go unnoticed. I see you, boo. Just you wait. You and I are going to have a long chat.

Refocusing on his sister, he listened to her animatedly babble about the camping trip the Science Club was going on next weekend.

"So which of those nerds do you want to be your boyfriend?" Rio teased.

Maria's brow furrowed and she shot him a disapproving look so similar to the ones his mom gave him. "Excuse me? You think I joined Science Club just to chase a boy? Um, no. Do you know how many Latina engineers there are?"

Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Rio laughed awkwardly and shook his head. "No."

"Not very many. I'm in Science Club not only because I think it's fun but because it'll look good on my college applications. I have big plans for my life Rio. I want to go to college and make money doing something I like. And yes, there's a boy, but I'm not going to let him sidetrack me from my goals."

Chewing his lower lip, Rio nodded silently. He felt guilty because he'd basically done just that to Beth. He'd sidetracked her. She had dreams of going to college, but here she was pregnant. He wondered what her plans were now and if she was still planning to go to MSU. She must have been so disappointed when she realized she was pregnant and that all her plans were essentially screwed up.