Soon enough, Vanessa stopped hanging around Maggie altogether. It was too hard to be near the lying sack of shit that was her boyfriend. Mark’s cheating weighed heavily on Vanessa’s mind and with each passing day, she felt the urge to confess to Maggie. To unburden herself. Yet, despite the way he had lied to her, Vanessa was still a little in love with Mark, and she hated herself for it. He was her first and she would never forget him. When they went their separate ways after graduation, he’d become just one of the many memories, but in the darkest part of the night, she would admit that he was still worth the agony.

Vanessa only realized that she had missed a few periods during class six months later. Fun fact: learning that you’re pregnant during health class is horrific. Her face flushed a deep shade of red, then turned deathly pale as the reality of her situation overwhelmed her. Her stomach churned as she looked at the diagram projected onto the screen. How could she not have known what was going on? Fuck!

She groaned and the guy sitting next to her shot his hand into the air. ‘Mr Goode? I think Vanessa’s about to throw up.’ He moved away from her, leaning to the side, just in case.

She didn’t throw up; she hadn’t, she must have skipped that stage. This explained so much. The tender breasts, the weight gain, turning her slim frame into a curvy one. Vanessa had just thought she was putting on a bit of weight. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she might be pregnant.

She was having Mark’s baby. What the fuck was she going to do now?

Well, she couldn’t put it off any longer. She was starting to show and wearing a thick jumper over her school dress wasn’t going to cut it anymore. She had to tell him, now, before someone else did. She’d have to tell—no, she couldn’t think of that right now. She didn’t even want to think about that conversation.

Vanessa waited until the bell clanged, echoing down the hallway, until most of the people had cleared, until Maggie had gone. Vanessa walked up to him nervously, biting on her bottom lip, brushing loose hair from her face impatiently.

‘Mark,’ she said, urgency coloring her voice.

‘Vanessa,’ he said sharply. Gone was ‘Ness’. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching them speak. It cut her deeply, the lengths he would go to hurt her. She was his dirty little secret. Well not for much longer. Maggie had finally noticed that her best friend wasn’t around as much and blamed herself for letting their friendship slide because she was with Mark. Vanessa, holding back tears, had told her that wasn’t it at all, she was just busy getting ready for final exams.