BACHELOR [ JACHARY ]

-chapter twenty-three

THE UNFORTUNATELY familiar feeling of nausea woke zach up. he glanced at the clock, noticing the time. jack had already left to get ready for the day, a very stressful one for all of them. the boy sighed as he tried to find a bathroom, knowing he would soon be sick.

in the hallway, he bumped into a taller figure, and turned to see a tanned girl. freckles dotted her face, and the shining silver of a septum piercing contrasted against her smooth skin. "oh, you must be zach," she smiled. "i'm sydnie, call me syd."

the girl's voice was soft and beautiful, despite the small lisp she had. "yeah, i'm zach." he smiled. "hey, do you know where the bathroom is? i think i'm gonna be sick again."

sydnie nodded and led him further down the hallway. "what do you mean again?"

"well, i've been sick for a few mornings in a row, i must be catching a bug or something," he shrugged.

the girl laughed. "in the mornings huh? if you weren't a boy, i would assume you were pregnant."

that stopped zach in his tracks. stomach cramps, sore chest, fatigue, nausea. all the symptoms of early pregnancy. he bad been eating a lot recently too. maybe he was gaining weight? "oh god, i think i might pass out," he breathed.

sydnie stopped laughing. "what, you think that's an actual possibility?"

"i don't know!" zach ran a hand through his hair. "i-i guess it would make sense, but that's not even possible. is it?"

before the girl could answer, he ran to the bathroom and threw up, cringing at the foul taste.

he flushed the toilet and sat against the wall, head in his hands.

the dark haired girl entered the bathroom, frowning at the sad demeanour of the boy on the floor. "hey, you're gonna be okay. everything is going to be good, okay sweetheart?"

zach sniffled. "how could i be so stupid?"

"you obviously didn't know this was possible, don't blame yourself." she comforted the brunet. "i think we have a few pregnancy tests in the house, do you want to take one?"

the boy nodded, and sydnie got up to retrieve the test. when she came back, he did what he had to do before setting it on the counter to wait for the results.

"i can't believe i didn't connect the dots sooner," he finally broke the silence.

"how could you have known?"

"i have all the same symptoms my mom did when she was pregnant with my little sister. i remember it so clearly," zach stared at the ceiling.

before sydnie could respond, the timer went off. "okay, the test is ready."

"can you look? please? i don't know if i can do it," the brunet's hands were shaking lightly.

the girl nodded and picked up the test, flipping it over. she smiled and handed it to him.