Breathe, A.Somers [notion reading list TXT] 📗

Prologue—

I screamed. Pain filled my body, my mind. Gasping for air, I reached for a familiar face and hand. “Just breathe. You’re almost there.” They tried to comfort me. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my body was drenched in sweat. I’d never experienced so much pain in my life. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You’re doing great sweetie,” the nurse standing beside me spoke in a soothing voice. How much longer could this go on?

Chapter One—

I woke from my sleep as the sunlight broke through the curtain onto my face. I slowly rose from my bed, careful not to move suddenly. I trudged to the bathroom, feeling the rush of morning sickness creep through my body. I vomited violently, hunched over the toilet. I stood, slowly moving to the sink to brush my teeth. Ugh, I thought. I hate this. My mind flashed back to the reason why this was happening to me.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. Someone as beautiful as him was holding my hand. He was kissing me. “You ready?” he whispered in my ear. What? Ready for what? With him? This was insane. I nodded. What the heck was I about to do? He led me to his Jeep. As he opened the passenger side door for me, he kissed me. He picked me up and put me in the seat. Climbing in and reclining the seat back, he gently laid his body on top of mine.

I shook my head, returning to reality. I turned the water on in the shower. As I washed my hair, I began to wonder what was going to happen when I walked through the doors of Mountain Brooks High School. What would they say about the bump forming on my abdomen? I shuddered. I grabbed the semi-soft towel, and dried off, trying to relax my mind. I went to my closet and picked out the most comfortable things in there- a pair of jeans, Rock Fest t-shirt, and black Uggs. I dressed quickly, and headed back to the bathroom to dry my hair and straighten it. I rushed through my hair contently, avoiding thought. I went down the stairs, into the kitchen to get breakfast. I grabbed three granola bars, two for later. I took my keys off the table and the money mom had left me for gas and food. My bookbag was already in the car, because Mike had insisted on carrying it out last night for me. Mike was my mother’s protective boyfriend of 4 years. He’s been keeping a close watch on me, not allowing me to lift heavy things, making sure I’m okay. It’s pretty nice of him.

I locked the door as I left, getting into my 2009 Pontiac G6. I turned the key in the ignition and my engine purred. I put on my seatbelt and shifted the car into reverse. I was 5 miles over the speed limit, trying to get to school quickly for a parking space close to the front of the building. Luckily, not many people had arrived. I parked the car, turning the air down and tuning into the radio station. I hummed the songs. A knock on the passenger window caught my attention as I began to drift. I looked up to see my best friend standing there. Nicole was a short, dark-haired girl with a sporty body that stayed tan all year. I unlocked the doors and she opened the door climbing in. “I’ve missed you so much. Why didn’t you call me? Ali, we could have had so much fun this summer.” She hadn’t seen yet. “I..I didn’t know how to tell you.” I murmured. “Tell me what? Ali, we’ve been best friends since fourth grade. What couldn’t you tell me?” I turned to face her. As she realized what I was telling her, I saw her eyes fill up with tears. She hugged me tightly, sobbing quietly. “What happened? How far are you? Does your mom know? Whose is it?” Her questions were a little overwhelming. But, I managed to answer, “Mom knows, I told her when I found out. I’m just about 4 months. It’s Brad’s baby.” She looked up at me. “Brad Ring?” She seemed confused. I nodded. “What are you going to do?” She wiped her face, clearing it of the smeared mascara. “Keep it. I don’t know what else I can do. It’s too late to do much else.” She nodded and smiled at me, “I’m always here for you, Ali. You know that.” I smiled back at her, barely. I wasn’t sure how to smile anymore. I hadn’t been able to smile all summer. I’ve been hiding from the world, afraid of what they would say. “Thanks.” The bell rang, and we got out of the car. I got my bookbag out of the back, and Nicole went to get hers from her brother’s. “Wait for me, okay?” I nodded. I defiantly didn’t want to go in there by myself. I took a deep breath as she approached my reaching for my arm. I turned toward the door, preparing myself for hell.

Chapter 2—

We pushed through the door, our arms interlocked. I felt a sense of security beside her. I knew that if anyone said anything she’d deal with it, but I still didn’t want to hear what they had to say. My face was pale as people stared awkwardly, some giving smiles as our eyes met. A few of my friends from last year greeted me and walked behind me, smiling as if nothing was different, just like Nicole did. I retrieved my schedule from my bag, comparing it with Nicole’s. We had almost every class together, except last period. That’s not too bad. One class without her would be fine. We walked to our first class together, Chemistry with Mr. Anderson. We didn’t have a seating chart, so Nicole and I took a seat in the back. The bell rang that began first period, and Mr. Anderson took attendance. “Alison Mitchell?” I raised my hand. He gave me a quick smile and carried on with the attendance. The class passed quickly, with Mr. Anderson explaining classroom policy and expectations, and a homework assignment to write 4 or 5 sentences telling him a little about ourselves. Easy, I guess.

Second period also went fast, with the same procedure, just a different class and teacher. Ms. Manson was a young teacher, fresh out of college. She had short blond hair, about to her shoulders, kind of tall, small figure. She looked nice enough. The guys got a kick out of her. So immature. I mean, who hits on the teacher? That’s lame. Anyways, she explained to us the importance of Calculus in everyday life. I halfway listened, and drew stars on my paper. Nicole nudged my side when it was about time to go. I looked at her, and followed her gaze to the guys sitting in the row across from us. They were staring at me. I rolled my eyes at them and turned my attention to Nicole. “Don’t worry about them,” she said, “they don’t matter anyway.”

We have first lunch, and it’s pretty crowded in there. Brad is on our lunch shift too, and he came up to me. “Hey, beautiful.” He looks as good as he did last year, maybe a little better. “Hey,” I mumbled. He reached for a hug, so I stood up to hug him. As I did I saw his eyes flutter to my stomach. He hugged my quickly, and took my hand, leading me away from the cafeteria. When we were far enough that no one could hear us talking he looked at me softly, as if he were about to cry. “Is… Is it ours?” I shook my head. “Why didn’t you tell me? You could have called me over the summer. I would have been there for you.” I looked down at my feet, then back up at him. “I didn’t know what to say. I only told my mom and Mike.” He hugged me close, holding me there. My eyes began to tear. He pulled away, keeping my hand in his. We walked back to where I was sitting with Nicole. She smiled at us. “Are you hungry?” She was talking to me, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was thinking more about Brad holding my hand in front of everyone. It was different for me. Every guy I had ever dated refused to look at me in public, let alone touch me. Is he really different? “Ali,” Nicole spoke again. I looked at her. “Yeah, but I don’t want anything here.” They both looked at me wearily, then at my belly. “You need to eat,” Brad said. Nicole shook her head in agreement. “The… uh… baby needs it,” Brad said. I nodded, and said, “Fine.” We walked to the line, still holding hands. The lunch lady looked at me and smile. She said, “What can I get you sweetheart?” I looked at the food. Chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cheese, salad. “Um, chicken nuggets and macaroni please.” She grabbed a plate from the stack and dipped up a hefty serving. She saw it too, I thought.

We walked through the line, heading toward the lady at the end of the line. Brad got me a water bottle as I punched my number through and paid the woman for lunch. She smiled at me, “Have a good day honey.” Brad walked me back to Nicole, and pulled the chair out for me to sit down. I put the tray on the table and gently plopped down in the chair. Brad smiled, taking his seat beside me. I smiled back and began to eat my lunch. “Have you been to the doctor yet?” Brad asked. I nodded. I’ve been to there about 7 times already, and every time I go I became more amazed with the growing life inside of me. “Do you know what it is yet?” I shook my head. I’ve been anxious to know, but the doctors say that it’s too early to know. “I