"Ignore them," I replied, waving a hand in the air. "That's what I do."

"I'm not nearly as saintly as you, Molls," Mercy tossed back, flipping the cheer squad off. "Do you think I could get a few good punches in on Britt's plastic face before her cronies jump in and give me a beatdown?"

"I guess," I replied with a shrug. "But if you wanna hit something plastic, aim for her boobs."

"A tit punch." Mercy snickered. "Nice."

"So, how are you and Rourke doing since your parents laid down the law?"

"Fine, I guess," Mercy huffed out a dramatic sigh. "It sucks being under surveillance 24/7, but it is what it is, you know."

"Yeah." I winced, shuddering at the thought. "At least you know they care, though," I offered sympathetically. "They're doing this because they love you and they don’t want anything bad to happen."

"What, like Rourke knocking me up?" Mercy snorted. "We're not that stupid and I'm not my mom."

I laughed along with her, to be a good friend.

"Jerky?" she offered, snapping off a piece and tossing it onto my lap.

"Why not?" Shrugging, I popped it in my mouth only to immediately regret my actions when the taste and smell caused my stomach to roll. "What the hell –" Heaving, I twisted onto my side and spat the contents onto the grass. "That has to be the nastiest damn thing I've ever tasted in my whole life." Stomach rolling, I clutched my side and dragged in several slow, calming breaths until I felt like I wasn't about to hurl my lunch up. "Oh god, the smell is still in my nose." Pegging my nose with my fingers, I grabbed my water bottle and took a deep drink, trying to rid my senses of the evil jerky.

Mercy eyed me curiously. "I know I'm not stupid, but are you?"

"Huh?"

"You're not pregnant, are you, Molls?"

"Pregnant?" I gaped at her in horror. "No, Merc. I can assure you that I am definitely not pregnant. I just happen to have a sensitive stomach."

"I heard the rumors –"

"Those were stupid rumors that Daryl spread just to piss me off!"

"Man, I would go nuclear on Rourke if he even thought those awful words, let alone joked about it," Mercy laughed. "Talk about tempting fate."

"Are y'all still set on going off to school together next year?"

Mercy and Rourke had plans, big ones, that they built on every day. They had both applied to the University of Colorado in Boulder, and planned on moving out there as soon as we graduated.

"Yeah," she replied, setting down the scissors and retrieving a glue stick from her pencil case. Slopping some glue on the back of the sonogram, she carefully placed it inside her scrapbook. "I know Rourke can be an asshole, and hell, so can I at times, but he's my asshole, and I'm his asshole, and I want to be with him, Molls. I'd pretty much follow him anywhere at this point. Even though technically he's the one following me considering CU was my first choice."