Chapter 18

"Hello?" I frowned, rolling over to answer my phone at about 3 in the morning.

"Bella." Jesse said seriously. "I need help."

"Save it, dude." I muttered, hanging up the call and rolling over, hoping that I wasn't awake long enough to permanently alter my sleep schedule.

It had been two weeks since she lied about missing my birthday, and hadn't spoken to me since...

But just as I was settling back into the comfy cloud of sleep, the phone started ringing again. I declined the call and tossed my phone to the end of my bed, pressing my face into my pillow as I let out a groan.

Dammit, Jesse.

I crawled to the end of my bed to answer the phone when it started ringing again, not even opening my eyes as I laid down with the phone next to my head.

It occurred to me that her mom was supposed to be coming home this week, so I should probably put my own annoyance aside for her potentially real problems...

"What." I groaned, hoping this would be quick and I could go to sleep.

"Bella, I'm freaking out right now I need your help." Jesse was actually crying, her voice strained and shaky. "Please, please."

"What's going on? Are you okay?" I asked, sitting up straight as I worried that it really did have something to do with her mom.

"I need you to come over." Jesse whispered. "And I need... I need you to bring a pregnancy test."

"Jesse..." I whispered, already getting out of bed.

I didn't even change out of my pajamas as I slipped on my Birkenstocks and grabbed my wallet and keys.

"Bella, please, I'm sorry, I suck I just... I can't drive right now I just need... Bella, I need you."

"I'm on my way. Sit tight, dude." I sighed, already jogging down the stairs.

"Bella!" My dad called from the living room as I sped through the kitchen.

"Dad?" I frowned, poking my head around the corner to see him sitting in the living room watching game film. "What the hell are you doing? Where's mom?"

"She's asleep. I wasn't tired, where are you going?" He asked, raising his eyebrows with mild amusement.

I probably should've thought this one through before flying out of the house at 3 in the morning.

"Alright so here's the thing, best friend emergency, Jesse needs me." I sighed, leaning against the frame of the archway. "Gotta pull through."

"You know you have a game at 8 in the morning, right?" My dad asked, pausing the game film and leaning back against the couch.

Shit. He was right.

The game I told myself would be my last before I quit for good...

"Yeah, I know. I just, I really gotta be there for Jesse right now." I sighed, scratching the back of my head.

I'd deal with the soccer thing later.

"Stuff with her mom?"

"Uh, look dad I gotta go." I sighed.

"Grab your soccer stuff! I'll meet you at the game!"

I groaned but knew he was right, so I spun around and sprinted back up to my room to grab my soccer bag, praying that everything was in there.

I swiped my cleats from the front hall as I yelled a goodbye to my dad and sprinted out to my car.

I stopped by Walgreens on my way to Jesse's house, picking up three pregnancy tests, two pints of ice cream, and a bag of chex mix.

Not bothering to knock when I got to her house, I let myself in through the front door and haphazardly kicked off my shoes as I ran up to her room.

"I'm here. With snacks." I said as I shut her door behind me. "Now start fucking explaining."

"I haven't gotten my period in three months and I'm a fucking idiot for not noticing." Jesse cried, grabbing the bag from me and pushing past to go to the bathroom out in the hall.

I sighed, turning to follow her and hoping she had drank enough water.

"I bought three, that way we can be sure." I told her, shutting the door behind us. "Start peeing."

"Bella what the fuck is my life right now?" Jesse cried, ripping open the first test.

I started opening the others as she sat down on the toilet.

"Holy fuck, I can't have a kid right now." Jesse was actively crying, tears falling down her face as I handed her the other two tests.

"How did this happen?"

"Well I don't know?" Jesse shook her head. "I will not be that girl who gets fucking pregnant at 16 by the only guy she's ever slept with."

I sighed, sitting down against the bathtub as I opened up the bag of chex mix and started eating.

"How can you eat at a time like this?" Jesse whined, putting the sticks on the counter.

"Because when I wake up, my body thinks 'breakfast'." I laughed. "Come sit. I got your favorite ice cream."

"Phish food?" Jesse looked like she was about to cry all over again.

"You bet."

She sat down across from me and pulled out the ice cream and a spoon from the bag.

"You're the best friend ever. I suck." Jesse whispered, taking a large spoonful of ice cream.

"Because I put my best friend over guys." I shrugged. "Look, Jesse, I'll always be here for ya, but just, try and be there for me too, yeah?"

"Yeah." Jesse muttered. "Nick is already seeing someone new, this cannot be happening."

"Oh honey..." I reached to squeeze her knee. "You really haven't thought about this at all over the past three months?"

"I'm an idiot." Jesse sighed again, shaking her head. "I uh, I was like all upset and shit after and I thought it was just because I was about to get my period because I never get emotional over guys in a bad way, and then I realized I hadn't had one since like, before we started school, and now here we are."

"Fuck."

"You can say that again."

Jesse let out a groan and shook her head.

"Enough, tell me about your life, please." Jesse sighed. "What guys have you conquered lately?"

"Relapsed with Jack Freedman again. Louis Jackson for like a week." I shrugged, listing off two of the guys that it would've been plausible for me to have hooked up with since Jesse and I last actually talked.

"Damn dude. Why the fuck am I the one taking a pregnancy test." Jesse mumbled.

"Because I'm careful." I gave her a look, my stomach warming slightly at the thought of the fact that I was actually only seeing one person in a very safe, easy way. I pushed the feeling away, knowing full well that I couldn't get too attached.

"Fuck off." She muttered, stuffing more ice cream in her mouth.

"But uh, funny story, so you know my notebook?"

"The one where you rate them all?" Jesse snorted.

"Dad found it. During a team meeting a few weeks ago. Read off names and scores. Thinking it was related to soccer." I laughed, shaking my head. I knew that Jesse was actually there that day, but she was a bit preoccupied post break up, so I figured I'd give her some entertainment while she waited.

Jesse's eyes widened and she let out a loud laugh.

"You're kidding." She shook her head. "What a guy. And he had no idea?"

"Absolutely no idea."

The door burst open and a shirtless, messy haired Kade walked in, his eyes squinting from all the light.

"Whoa." He mumbled, noticing that we were in the bathroom. "Who's there?"

"It's me." Jesse replied. "Are you wearing your glasses?"

"No dumbass it's the middle of the night." Kade groaned, turning around and stumbling back to his room.

"He wears glasses?" I raised my eyebrows, shocked that I didn't know this bit of information. And it was incredibly sexy.

"Blind as a bat." Jesse nodded with a laugh as Kade appeared around the corner again, this time sporting a pair of glasses that made him look a million times hotter and if I wasn't in the current situation I was in, I would jump him right then and there.

"Damn. Hey." I laughed, taking another handful of chex mix.

"Bella, sup." Kade grinned. "Why the fuck are you guys sitting in the bathroom eating food at 4 in the morning?"

I glanced at Jesse, unsure how we were going to go about this.

"Oh you know, girl bonding and shit. You wouldn't understand." Jesse shrugged.

"Are you high?" Kade narrowed his eyes at Jesse. I glanced up at the pregnancy test boxes and sticks on the counter, my heart skipping a beat when I realized that Kade would notice them any second. Would it be obvious if I distracted him? Or moved them?

"No." She shook her head.

"Are you sure?" He frowned, leaning forwards to get a better look.

And then he froze, his gaze slowly lifting up to the tests on the counter.

Jesse's eyes widened and we looked at each other at a complete loss of what to do.

"Who..." Kade whispered, glancing between the two of us.

Jesse looked in pain for a second before taking a deep breath and blurting out "they're Bella's!" at a shocking volume.

My jaw dropped and panic jolted through me.

The worst possible thing she could've said.

"What?" Kade practically yelled, standing up straight and looking at me. "Your's?"

"Jesse uh..." I muttered, looking at her.

She had no idea the implications of that statement.

"Who is uh, who's the guy?" Kade managed to get out, scratching the back of his neck.

"Who knows, with her track record." Jesse said quickly, her eyes wide and panicky.

My brain was working too hard to make any coherent decisions.

If I went along with what Jesse was saying, then Kade was going to think I might be pregnant and that would fuck him up.

But if I told him the truth, then he'd know his baby sister was taking a pregnancy test and that would also fuck him up.

"Holy shit." Kade whispered, his eyes meeting mine.

I shook my head quickly with a pleading look at Kade, hopefully subtle so that Jesse couldn't see.

What the hell do I do to get out of this situation?

"No no no that doesn't make sense." Kade suddenly said, catching on to me shaking my head. "She's got an IUD. Bella's not pregnant."

"How the hell do you know that?" Jesse asked in shock, a frown crossing her face.

"Uh because we all remember how much you wanted one at thirteen because 'the best friend' had one." Kade said seriously. "Now Jesse, what the fuck is going on."

I slowly stood up as I finished chewing my handful of chex mix.

"I'm gonna go... Let you guys have uh... You need to talk." I mumbled, grabbing the other pint of ice cream and excusing myself out of the bathroom.

I so desperately wanted to seek solace in Kade's room and avoid the drama that would follow Jesse regardless of the outcome, but I knew that I just had to be there for her.

If I was in this situation, I would not be okay and I'd need as much support as I could get.

So I sat on her bed and ate both the ice cream and the chex mix at the same time while I waited for her to come back.

It was another 45 minutes before she walked into the room, her face stained with tears and all blotchy.

"I'm not pregnant." She said quietly, wrapping a blanket around herself as she laid down on the bed next to me. "But Kade is really really mad."

"About what?" I asked, rubbing her back as she rested her head in my lap, a thing she used to do when she was twelve.

"That I apparently have been acting wild, or something." Jesse sighed. "I don't get it... I loved Nick, I wasn't being careless, I was simply doing something normal in a committed relationship, how can he think I was just being careless?"

I thought back to what I had told him about her being kind of blinded by her relationship with Nick, disregarding everything else in life.

"You know he just cares about you, dude." I said softly. "He's got that protective older brother thing going on, he doesn't want to see you throwing your life away."

"But I'm not." Jesse whispered. "Fuck, now I have to go see a fucking gynecologist as to why the fuck I'm not getting my period. And I can't go without a parent or guardian and-"

"Kade's your guardian." I told her. "You've got-"

"Yeah I'm not taking my fucking brother to the gynecologist with me." Jesse shook her head. "And that'll be a great way to keep my mom low stress when she comes home this week."

"I'll give you the number of mine if you-"

"Oh could you?" Jesse asked, closing her eyes. "I'm gonna go to sleep, now."

She moved off of my lap and rested her head on the pillows, holding the blanket tighter.

I glanced at the clock to see that it was already 5 in the morning. I'd have to leave for my soccer game in an hour and a half, wouldn't do me any good to go back to sleep.

What to do... What to do...