"I think I'm pregnant."

The words escaped Cleo's lip, but they felt unreal. I sat on the floor next to her, stunned. There's no way. There was no way she was pregnant. This had to be a joke. Cleo would not have gotten herself pregnant; there was just no way.

I broke out in laughter. 

"You're joking, right? Is this some prank you cooked up for me? Because I gotta tell you, it's a good one." I chuckled. God, did I hope this was a joke. I continued to laugh, dragging it out longer than I should have, waiting for her response. 

Cleo looked at me in confusion. She was probably thinking that I was going crazy. But my laughter somehow managed to lift her mood, even if it was a little bit, because I saw a small smile appear on her face.

"No, Valerie. I'm being serious. I wish this was a prank," she added, sincerely, looking down at the bathroom floor in shame. 

The childish smile on my face soon vanished. Instead, it was replaced with an alarmed expression. Okay, okay, don't panic; I reminded myself. She may not even be pregnant. It could be food poisoning or alcohol poisoning or just an upset stomach. There could be a million other reasons for this type of behavior. Pregnancy wasn't the only option for a messed up stomach, right?

"Are you sure it's not something else? How late are you?" I asked.

"I don't know, a few weeks." She added. Talking to me had managed to make Cleo stop crying, which was a plus, but her face was still sad. The tears that previously ran down her face had dried, and the mascara she wore was dragged down alongside her cheeks. If this wasn't a serious situation, I would've told her she looked like a modern day clown; that would have cheered her up, but...this wasn't the time.

"Were you ever late before?" I asked. A lot of people have irregular periods. It's really not uncommon. Maybe that's what's happening.

Cleo shook her head in disagreement. She took her hand and placed it on her head in worry. So, I guess an irregular period wasn't an option. 

But this didn't make sense. Cleo wasn't the type of person to be unprepared; she was the most prepared person I knew. She's the type of person who carried everything she needed for a week in her purse, plus more! She was always careful. I don't understand how this could happen. 

"Cleo," I muttered as I shook my head in disbelief. "What happened? Weren't you safe?" 

"Yes! Theo and I were safe. We were as safe as could be... but... there was this incident, which I'm guessing is how this happened..."

"What incident?"

"Remember the night that we went out to Theodore's party. It was like over a month ago?"

"Yeah." I answered. It had been the night Zeke harassed me and Jared saved me. How could I forget that night?

"Well, we had sex that night, but we were both a little buzzed, so some of it was a blur. I vaguely remember that his condom broke that night, but I didn't think much of it at the time, since I was on the pill." Cleo confessed.

"I should've thought something of it," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. 

I recalled that night Jared had driven me home, and we didn't take Cleo with us. She stayed the night with Theo. Shit, I should've went back for her. Maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe I could've stopped this.

Moments later, Cleo moved her head towards the toilet again as she began to hurl. It was awful to see her in this condition. She was my best friend, and I didn't know what I could do. I wish I could do something to help her.

But as I stared at her, I couldn't help but think that this wasn't the worst thing that could happen to her. Yeah, it was unexpected and unplanned, but she was alive and okay. I couldn't look at the negatives, because some people are out their dying and suffering, and I just know Cleo is going to be okay. And there's still a possibility that this isn't even a pregnancy. Many other events could make a woman late. 

"Cleo, don't even stress it. Maybe it's some hormonal imbalance or some other random thing. Look at me," I said, waiting for her to direct her attention towards me, "Tomorrow, I'm going to go to the pharmacy and buy you a few pregnancy tests and you're going to call the doctors and make an appointment. Only a doctor can confirm this. Okay?"

Cleo nodded and weakly answered, "Okay."

I took hold of her arm as I preceded to help her up and then walked her towards her room. Her room had been so much different than mine; mostly because of the color. My room was painted in a light pink; which, come to think of it, was super girly, but I don't know; I liked pink. Cleo's room, on the other hand, was painted in a light green color, similar to that of a tea green or olive color, and her bed was placed in the edge of the room against the wall. 

When we entered her room, I walked over to her bed and directed her to sit down. 

"I'm gonna stay her with you tonight, if that's okay." I stated. Cleo nodded as she laid herself down.

Tomorrow I would go and get those tests for her; it's the least I could do for her, she was my best friend. I had to help her. Even if this wasn't a pregnancy, we would get to the bottom of this and figure it out.

The next morning I woke up to find that Cleo wasn't sleeping in her bed. Instead of finding her next to me, the spot was empty. I looked at my phone to see the time: 10:02AM.

Oh, please God, don't tell me Cleo went off to do something crazy. She needed to see a doctor before she made any rash decisions.  

"Cleo?" I questioned, hastily getting off her bed and out of her room to find her.

As I hurried into the kitchen, I found Cleo sitting at the dining table. She was drinking something from a cup.

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to remain calm. 

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I made some breakfast and was just sitting here... thinking. Want some eggs?" She gestured towards the plate of eggs and bacon on the table.

"Sure," I walked into the kitchen and got a plate before sitting next to Cleo at the table.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she huffed. "Life's just more complicated than I thought it would be." Complicated? It's always been complicated. Well, at least for me. Life's been a freaking roller coaster since day one. Some people are fortunate enough to have an easy life, but others, definitely not. 

"Can I just say something?" I asked her. "Even if you are pregnant, I don't think it's the worst thing that could happen. I mean, you're alive and well. You're almost done with school, and you're one of the most confident and amazing woman I know. You will get through this, and I promise I will help you along the way. If you are pregnant," I sincerely smiled towards her.

"But!" I quickly added. "There's a chance this isn't even a pregnancy. So, it's okay. Either way, give me ten minutes. I'm gonna go to the pharmacy, and you call the doctors, okay?" Cleo nodded.

I ate -- no, practically inhaled -- my breakfast in less then five minutes, rushing to get to the store. We needed to get to the bottom of this. As I stood up quickly and began to run towards my room, Cleo stopped me.

"Valerie?" Cleo asked.

"Yeah?" I turned around.

"Thanks."

"What are best friends for?" I smiled back and did a silly pose with a peace sign to make her laugh. A giggle escaped her lips. Score.

I hurried to get dressed and drove to the pharmacy. The nearest pharmacy was around eight minutes from our house; actually, come to think of it, it was really close to Jared's house.

If there wasn't an urgency to this matter, I would have dropped by Jared's. He always drops by my house, uninvited, so why shouldn't I?

As I drove up to the pharmacy, I parked in the front and ran out of the car into the store. 

Okay, which aisle would have the test? I thought to myself as I scanned the aisle boards with their descriptions.

Ah, yes. Aisle 13 with the "personal items." I rushed towards that aisle, ignoring all the faces that passed by me. I entered the aisle and automatically scanned each shelf to find the tests. Once I found them, I took four different kinds of tests in my hands and turned around swiftly. But before I could go anywhere, an all too familiar figure stopped me.

"Hey," Jared smiled as he looked at me. 

"Hi," I answered, out of breath. Dear God, this was not the time for casual greet ups. Please, please, don't notice what's in my hands. I tried to cover up the names of the tests with my hands. Maybe he wouldn't notice.

"What are you doing here so early?

"Umm," I said, rushing to find an answer he wouldn't question. "You know, girl... problems. I had to buy some...tampons," I said, looking over at the tampons across from me.

"Oh, okay." Jared smiled. Unlike most guys I knew, he wasn't freaked out by my mention of tampons or feminine problems; I don't know why, but I found that so mature of him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, quickly, hoping to distract him.

"Oh, well, last night when I got home, Joey and Brandon threw an unexpected party, without telling me. So, of course, I was left to clean up their mess," he laughed. "But both of them have a killer hangover, so I thought maybe I could buy them some drinks to help them out." Jared gestured to the Gatorade, fruit drinks, and Pedialyte that he held in this arms.

It's so sweet to see how much he cares about others. I really admired that about him. 

Wait no -- don't get distracted, Valerie. I reminded myself that I needed to leave now.

"Haha, that's too funny," I fake-laughed. "Okay, well gotta go, see you later."

"Wait a minute," Jared stopped me, just as I was about to pass him.

"What's up...dog?" I tried to ask as casually as I could. He didn't know anything. Don't act suspicious, Valerie. I thought myself.

"What do you have in your hands. Those aren't tampons," Jared said as he moved my hand away from the boxes.

The words 'Pregnancy Test' became visible and Jared's face dropped, almost as though he saw a ghost. I had never seen him so shocked before...

"Are you..." Jared gestured towards my stomach. He looked mortified.

"No, it's for a friend." I answered quicker than my brain could progress my response. Shit. I only had one female friend. And he knew that.

Maybe he wouldn't connect the dots, though. 

But, sadly, he did. His face swiftly changed from worried to pissed. An expression I knew all too well. The fiery in his eyes were as clear as the days were blue. There was no doubt that Jared connected the dots, and he knew exactly who that friend was.

"Cleo?!" He questioned, violently. The tone in his voice was harsh, making my body shake unexpectedly.

"I-"

"I'm gonna fucking kill him!" Jared roared as he threw his items on the floor and rushed out of store. The liquid he was holding broke in the middle of the floor, causing a serious safety hazard. Yikes.

I placed down the tests I was holding onto the counter next to me, jumped over the spillage, and ran after him.

_________________________________________

Well! Did you expect Valerie to run into Jared at the pharmacy? 

Call it a coincidence or ... fate ;p

Gentle reminder: Val doesn't know Jared is Cleo's brother😮 SO she just thinks Jared is concerned as a friend of Cleo's.

Don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter :p