Chapter Eleven

Life settled into a routine over the next few weeks. I would take Felicity to the hospital for appointments, tutor Phillip in biology on Monday afternoons, go to school and usually do something with Phillip on Friday nights. He had practise on Thursday and Tuesday nights and would call me when he got home. Homework really started to pile up and unfortunately, Felicity began to show a lot more. She hit the five month mark and she couldn’t hide the fact that her belly was expanding anymore. The whole school now knew that she was pregnant. Phillip, Josh and Dustin had been a little shocked to find out, but after explaining the situation, they were nothing but kind and supportive of Felicity.

We sat around a lunch table now, just myself and Phillip, enjoying some time to ourselves and trying to ignore the looks being sent to us from Melanie’s table. I didn’t blame her, really I didn’t. She had every right to be hurt an upset, but that didn’t mean the whole thing wasn’t getting on my nerves. It had been weeks now since Phillip and I got together and I would have thought that by now she’d be a little less vengeful.

“Don’t let her get to you.” Phillip said to me. I turned my head around towards him and he was staring over my shoulder at Melanie. “She’s not a mean person. She’s just upset.”

“I know. It’s just getting on my nerves is all.” I said.

“What’s getting on your nerves?” Josh asked as he and Dustin sat down.

“Melanie.” I said by means of explanation.

“Ah.” Dustin said.

“Well, seeing as you stole her boyfriend and knocked her out of first place in the running for Prom Queen, I can see why she’d hate your guts.” Josh said casually as he unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite.

“Be kind and rewind for me, please.” I said, holding a hand up. “Did you say, Prom Queen?”

“Yeah. You were nominated and from what I’ve heard you’re pretty popular.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t do anything. Melanie deserves that more than me. She’s class president, on the honour roll and runs the prom committee. I didn’t do anything.”

“Well, technically you’re on the honour roll too.” Dustin pointed out with a smile.

“And you’re dating Prince Charming here, so that makes you popular.” Josh jerked his head towards Phillip, who rolled his eyes.

“Not to mention the fact that you’re a nice person, which is always a good thing.” Dustin added. “Face is, Rhea. People like you.”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Phillip asked curiously.

“Well, it’s more the popular thing that’s got me stumped right now.” I said. Josh glanced at my tray.

“Are you going to eat those tater tots?”

I moved my tray. “Yes, back off.”

“Can I have one?”

“No!”

“Just one!”

“No!”

“Phillip make her give me one.”

“I can’t make her do anything.” Phillip laughed. Dustin shook his head and tried not to look amused.

“I still think Melanie will win.” I said, getting back on topic. I moved my tray further from Josh’s grasp and he sighed, sat back in his chair and pouted.

“You never know.” Phillip said.

Dustin scoffed. “Dude. That’s easy for you to say. You’ve been Prom king two years in a row. You’re pretty much guaranteed to win this year too.”

“You know Felicity was nominated too, right?” Josh asked me and my eyebrows shot up.

“I didn’t even know I was nominated.” I pointed out.

“Fair enough. But I overheard Melanie talking to Sarah, you know the girl who oversees the voting?” Josh said, “Well she was asking Sarah to make sure that Felicity got nominated.”

“Why?” I asked. “It can’t be out of the goodness of her heart. Melanie and Felicity never got along so well. Even before Phillip and I got together.”

Dustin and Phillip exchanged looks but didn’t say anything. These boys weren’t subtle and I noticed it immediately.

“Guys?” I crossed my arms.

“Well,” Dustin cleared his throat, “I may have overheard her speaking to one of her friends the other day.”

“And?”

“It seems that Melanie hopes that Felicity does manage to win, because they have this big thing planned. Something about Felicity and some photos from summer. I didn’t hear the full extent but it sounded bad.”

I frowned. “Wow. That’s devious.”

“Not to mention low.” Phillip said.

“Sometimes people just need to be angry.” Dustin shrugged.

“She really is Maleficent.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What?” Josh asked with a grin.

“Felicity used to joke that Melanie was Maleficent reincarnate. Like I said. They never really got along.” I explained.

“Maleficent…she’s the one with the horns right?” Phillip asked.

“Yeah. You know, curses baby Aurora to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday so that she falls into a one hundred year sleep. Only true loves kiss can wake her up. Ring any bells?” I smiled.

“I was only asking, Miss Smarty Pants.” Phillip chuckled.

“So what are you saying? Melanie is going to put a curse on Felicity?” Josh snorted. My smile died on my face.

“Well, from what you’ve told me, Melanie isn’t going to let this go. She’s out to get us.” I said. “Normally I wouldn’t care about this sort of thing but she’s resourceful and clever.”

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Dustin mumbled.

---

Mom, dad and I were huddled on the couch that night, watching Who Wants to Be A Millionaire as usual when there was a knock on the door. My mother got up to get it, handing me the tub of ice cream as she did. I thought it was a little too cold for this time of year, but that didn’t stop me from eating it anyway.

“Rhea! It’s Felicity!” Mom called and I could tell from her voice that something was wrong. I got up, shooting my dad a funny look and left the room.

“What is it mom?” I asked as I rounded the corner and then I saw Felicity. Her eyes were swollen and red, her cheek bruised and a bag clutched in her hand, the other protecting her protruding belly. “Flick, what happened?”

“Mom kicked me out.” She said. “I knew she would eventually figure out that they weren’t just rumours and actually notice that I’ve put weight on. But she flipped out. She started screaming and throwing things…” She touched her cheek. My mom wrapped an arm around her.

“You’ll stay here, of course.” She said and I nodded fervently. “Your mom will come around. Don’t worry. She’s probably just shocked.” My mom looked at me. “Why don’t you take Felicity up to your room?”

“Sure. Yeah. Absolutely.” I sounded like an idiot but I didn’t care. Felicity and I both knew and had talked about the time when her mother would eventually find out about the pregnancy, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.

I grabbed Felicity’s bag and followed her up the stairs, feeling the eyes of my mother on us the entire way up the staircase. When we got to my room, Felicity went over and sat on my bed, not saying anything, arms crossed. I close the door behind me before going over to her. I try and put my arm around her shoulders but she shrugs them off. I try not to be upset about that because I know she’s only hurting.

“Don’t.” she said.

“What? Flick, talk to me.”

“Oh sure. Now you’re interested in talking to me.” she snapped. I recoiled at her tone.

“What are you talking about?”

“You! Ever since you and Phillip started dating, I’ve barely talked to you! Sure I see you at school, but the only time you’ve been mildly interested in speaking to me is when we go to doctor’s appointments, and even then you talk about Phillip!”

I voiced my thoughts, “I had no idea.”

Felicity sighed. “I know he’s your first boyfriend, but it felt like I was being replaced. Like you didn’t care.”

I stared at Felicity for a few seconds before I threw my arms around her tightly. She huffed at the sudden impact. “Flick of course I care!” I cried. “You’re my best friend!”

“Didn’t feel like that. I know he’s a priority now and all that crap, and I know you’re still trying to figure out the whole relationship thing. It’s just I didn’t know it would make me feel this way.”

“I’m sorry it upset you so much. I’ll try to do better from now on. I promise.” I pulled away from Felicity and saw she was smiling though her eyes glistening.

“I wasn’t upset so much as…” she mumbled and didn’t finish. I prodded her arm.

“As much as what?”

“Don’t make me say it. You know already.”

“Maybe I don’t.” I grinned.

She glared, eyes still shining. “You suck. You know that?”

I laughed and after a little bit, Felicity laughed with me. She’d changed her habits so much in the last few weeks. Placing her hands over her belly every time she laughed, or was worried. It was like she was afraid any kind of movement would harm her baby.

“You don’t really suck.” She stated, then thought about what she said. “You know what I mean. I didn’t think before I said that. That sounded dirty.”

I shook my head. “No worries.”

“Speaking of dirty. You and Phillip haven’t…?”

I blushed to all the way down to my neck. “Felicity! God no! We’ve only been together for a two months.”

“So what?”

“So I’m not you.” I said, then hurried on before she could get offended. “I can’t commit to things like that unless I’m sure. You’re a lot more confident and free spirited.”

“True.” She said, dragging herself backwards onto my bed so she could lay against the pillows. “I just thought I’d ask anyway. You know what boys are like and all.”

“Just because Phillip thinks about and wants sex doesn’t mean I’m going to give it to him. At least not now.” I frowned, turning around on the bed to face her. I had more dignity and self-respect than that to just do whatever boys expected me to do.

“You go girl.” Felicity reached for her phone and then winced. Alarm washed over me like a bucket of ice water.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“It’s just the baby. It’s kicking.” She stated. Felicity looked up at me and I was too busy staring at her protruding abdomen.

“What does it feel like?”

“I can’t really describe it.” She answered after a pause. “It’s something you have to experience to understand.”

I nodded and smiled up at my friend. She grabbed my hand all of a sudden and placed it on her belly, close to her left side. I felt a little nudge under my hand and I tried to hold back a gasp. My eyes widened. It was unbelievable to even think that there was a person growing inside my friend. You always see babies in strollers or being held by their parents, little kids on the playground, but you never really stop to think that we all started this way. We all nudged our mothers with our tiny hands and feet. We kicked and moved and grew, never letting anybody forget that we were alive, we were waiting. It’s astounding to think that some of the world’s greatest engineers, writers, leaders, soldiers, even my neighbour down the street, we all started this way. It made me wonder what this little person would accomplish one day.

“Rhea are you alright?” Felicity cried suddenly and I sniffed.

“Yeah.” I replied, smiling at her widely. “Couldn’t be better.”

Chapter Twelve

Winter break passed quickly, a little too fast for my liking. Felicity stayed with us right up until Christmas before her mother came to our house to talk things over. They worked everything out, and while Mrs Normandy was still a little uneasy about the whole thing, she loved Felicity and wanted her daughter at home for the holidays and especially while she was going through a difficult time.

I didn’t see much of Phillip as his family took off for a holiday to Canada for Christmastime. He Skyped me a few times, and of course we spoke on the phone, but it wasn’t the same as having him around.

“Miss me?” he murmured in my ear as he sat down next to me at our usual table in the cafeteria. I grinned and watched him slide into the seat next to mine, placing a small rectangular box on the table in front of me as he did so. He leaned forwards and kissed me sweetly, before leaning back and draping an arm over the back of my seat, his hand twirling my hair through his fingers while the other supported his cheek. He looked so healthy now. Back to his old self. And oh my god was he wearing a leather jacket?

“Miss you? Unlikely.” I snorted. I curled my hands around the box like you would around a cup of hot tea. Phillip sighed.

“I was hoping you would. Why can’t we be a cute, nauseating couple like normal teenagers? Why do you have to ruin it with your maturity?”

“I’m sorry I’m ruining our relationship.” I smiled.

“You should be.”

“Please forgive me.”

“I’ll think about it.” Phillip grinned at me, eyes sparkling with humour. I glanced down at the box.

“What’s this?”

“Your Christmas present.”

My mood instantly deflated. I hadn’t gotten him anything. “I thought we agreed; no presents.”

“We did.”

“So why did you get me one?”

“It’s part of the boyfriend code.” He stated, scooting closer to me.

“Phillip…now I feel bad for not getting you anything.”

“You’re cute when you feel guilty.”

I glared at him and he rolled his eyes.

“Shut up and open it, you stubborn thing.”

I frowned at him and undid the white ribbon on top of the blue box before I lifted the lid. Inside on a slim silver chain hung a small spinning wheel charm. I looked at him.

“Really? A spinning wheel?”

“Yeah.” He said. Phillip shifted forwards and licked his lips. “It’s to remind you about your grandfather and the farm and how much you wanted to save those animals he gave up on. It’s to help inspire you to become a veterinarian.”

I blinked at him and then smiled. I was humbled that he remembered that story. “Thank you. It was sweet of you. I feel bad for not getting you anything.”

“Give me a kiss and we’ll call it even.” He said. I did.

“How was your holiday?” I asked as I fastened the necklace around my neck.

“It was good. We went skiing and snowboarding. Mom made a snowman.” Phillip adjusted the charm so it lay against my collarbone. “We stopped over in New York to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.”

“That would have been awesome.”

“It was. Although not having anybody to kiss wasn’t that great.”

“You didn’t kiss some random girl?”

“Are you kidding me? If my girlfriend found out she’d kill me.” Phillip grinned and I laughed. “So what did you do for winter break? Was it weird having Felicity there? How is she by the way? I forgot to ask.”

“She’s good. Her mom actually came and took her home before Christmas actually. They worked everything out. She’s got a bit of a foul temper now because she has to waddle everywhere. She can’t hide it anymore and people have been pointing at her and staring. I keep telling her to ignore them but she won’t listen to me.”

“She bites people’s heads off?”

“Yes.” I sighed. “I understand her frustration though. Society mostly looks down on abortion, but when she chooses to keep the baby she still gets judged because she’s a teenage mother.”

“It really isn’t fair on her.” Phillip stated. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, but you’re a sweetheart to ask.”

“What’d you get for Christmas?”

I played with my necklace. “Well my parents got me a hundred dollar gift card for Amazon, and dad bought me a packet of sour sweets.”

“You like sour candy?”

“I like any candy really. I have a terrible sweet tooth.”

Phillip sat back in his chair, a strange little smile on his face. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?”

I grinned.

“Apparently I’m in the lead for Prom King.” He said suddenly.

My shoulders slumped and I sighed. I didn’t really care about this sort of thing. “I really wish I wasn’t nominated. I don’t want to be Prom Queen. Felicity or Melanie can have it. Can you drop out?”

“No, you can’t. Trust me I’ve tried.”

Damn it.

“I really hate these things.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re popularity contests. It’s not about celebrating people’s achievements or their grades or anything like that. It really sucks.”

“Well, if you’ll notice, Melanie is nominated and she’s on the honour roll and is class president. You’re on the honour roll yourself and Felicity runs the school newspaper.”

“She used to.” I interrupted. “Mr Williams kicked her out because of her ‘predicament.’” I used air quotes.

Phillip blanched. “You’re kidding me.”

“Nope. He said and I quote, ‘because of your predicament and all the stress involved I think it’s best that I relieve you of your post on the newspaper.’”

“That’s absolute bullshit. That’s not fair.”

“She went to the principal but nothing has been done. I think the teachers want as little attention focussed on Flick as possible. To preserve the reputation of the school no doubt.”

Phillip ran his hand through his hair in that way that makes my breath hitch. “Well it seriously sucks, but in a way it’s a good thing. Less things she has to worry about right?”

“Well yes and no. She doesn’t have to worry about running the paper and tiring herself out, but then again by not running the paper she won’t be able to put it on a college application.”

“She ran it last year didn’t she?”

“She took over after another senior came down with glandular fever in January. She’s been running it for less than a year so technically it’s not applicable.” I frowned, a sudden and terrible thought coming over me. “You being away from the football team for so long doesn’t affect you trying to get a sports scholarship, right?”

“I’ve been on the team all through high-school and thanks to your tutoring, my grades are better than ever in biology.”

“Speaking of, we should get to work.” I said, turning to the books in front of us. Phillip groaned.

“Do we have to?”

“Yes. Exams will be here sooner than you think and I don’t know about you, but I want to be prepared.” I hated thinking about exams. They made me feel so anxious. Like my heart was going to beat its way right out of my chest.

“Can’t we go for a walk instead?”

“It’s freezing outside!” I protested.

“Please?” he pouted and I gave in. We packed our things and head outside. I shivered in the cold despite having a scarf and winter jacket on, and Phillip wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to his side.

“Are you happy now? We’re outside.” I joked.

“Yeah…” Phillip trailed off and I looked at him. His forehead was creased as he frowned and he looked distracted. I nudged him with my hip.

“What is it?”

He looked down at me and held my gaze, eyes dancing over my face like he was searching for something, but then he shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“No, tell me.”

“It’s just that my mother wants to meet you.”

Okay, that made no sense. “She’s known me my whole life. Our mothers are best friends.”

“I meant properly. As my girlfriend and she hasn’t had a conversation with you for ages. She wants to get to know you better.”

I bit my lip, feeling nervous. I wanted to say no, but when I looked at his hopeful face I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. “Sure. When?”

“This weekend?” he asked. “You could come around for lunch and we could study for a little while after.”

“Alright.” I said, “That sounds like fun.”

Our conversation was interrupted by laughter. We both looked over and saw Felicity and Josh sitting together, both smiling. Felicity was sitting on the bench facing him, hands resting under the curve of her protruding belly while Josh moved his hands around animatedly, like he was telling a wild story.

“They look like they’re having a good time.”

“Josh likes her.” Phillip stated. Well that’s a surprise. I knew the two of them had been hanging out more thanks to me and Phillip, but I didn’t know Josh and Felicity were that close.

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was talking to me about it over break. He wants to take her to prom.”

“So why hasn’t he asked her?”

“He’s afraid she’ll say no.” Phillip frowned. “In case she has feelings for her baby daddy still.”

“Matt? No way. I mean, he’s started sending her money so she can buy things for the baby, but other than child support he doesn’t want anything to do with her or the baby.”

“That’s kind of shitty.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, money doesn’t replace having a father. He should be there for his kid. He’s responsible for bringing that baby into the world just as much as Felicity is, and he should man up and do something about it.”

“At least he’s sending money. She didn’t ask him for anything.”

“He would have had to pay child support anyway if she chose to take him to court. One DNA test would prove he’s the father and then he’d be stuck for the next eighteen years.”

“What would you do if you were Matt?”

“You mean if I got my girlfriend pregnant accidentally? Is there something you need to tell me Rhea?”

I blushed crimson even though I knew there wasn’t any reason to. “Pregnancy requires sex, Phillip. Just answer the question.”

He grinned. “I’m only joking, love. Well, I’d like to think that I’d try my hardest to be there and support my kid and be a good dad. Kids don’t really know or care about money, or jobs or anything like that. When they’re young, all they want is love and attention. That’s what’s really important and that poor kid isn’t going to have a father.”

“Felicity will make a good mom.” I stated. “I’m sure of it.”

Phillip nodded. “I agree.” He reached into his pocket. “Speaking of Prom…”

“We weren’t talking about Prom. We were talking about Josh and Felicity.” I gestured to where they were sitting, and watched as Felicity threw her head back in hysterical laughter and put her hand on Josh’s arm, grinning.

“But I mentioned how he wanted to take her to Prom.” Phillip pointed out and he produced two tickets from his pockets. “And I realised I haven’t asked you yet.”

“Uh…ask me?” I questioned. “I just assumed we were going together anyway?”

“Rhea will you please stop stomping on my romantic moments? First the necklace and now this – ”

“Okay, okay I’m sorry.” I grinned. “Please continue.”

Phillip sighed and then smiled at me in the most charming way possible. I almost melted to the ground right then and there. “Rhea, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to Prom?”

“I would love to.” I replied. Phillip handed me my ticket and I tucked it into my wallet for safekeeping. He grabbed my hand in his own and we continued our walk through the snowy grounds.

“Your hand is freezing.”

“Sorry.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Stop fidgeting, it’ll be fine.”

“I can’t help it!”

“You’re re-meeting my parents, Rhea, not going off to war.” Phillip said from the driver’s seat. I glared at him.

“Might as well be. It’s scary!”

“I survived meeting your father. Literally. I met him in hospital. Besides, she already loves you. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Well she and my mother have been dying to get us together for years so I suppose she’s just happy it’s finally happened.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Phillip asked.

“You do know they’ve been rooting for us to end up together since we were born, right?”

“No!” Phillip cried. “Mom never told me!”

“Didn’t you ever wonder why they pushed us to be friends when we were kids?”

“I do…I remember telling her I didn’t want to be friends with a girl because girls have cooties.” He smiled. I giggled. That was adorable. “Well, in that case, why are you worried?”

“Because I want them to like me for who I am now, not because your mom and my mom are friends.”

“Fair enough.” Phillip said. He pulled into the driveway of his house and I sucked in a breath. I’d been here before, but it was different during the day, and it wasn’t crowded with teenagers and littered with beer bottles and smashed plastic cups.

I got out of the car and slid from the car seat to the ground, Phillip walked around to my side and grabbed my hand, shutting the passenger side door with his hip. He led me inside, letting the door shut on its own. He kept his shoes on and I wasn’t sure if I should too, but I decided I should follow his lead as best as possible.

The grand staircase was painted white with a shining brown hand railing and the huge chandelier in the foyer glittered and chimed slightly as it shifted slightly. I saw Phillip’s mother emerge from the living room and she approached me, a smile on her face. She was very pretty, with dark hair and eyes, a slender figure and a bright smile. I saw where Phillip got his features, especially those long eyelashes. She was dressed casually in jeans and a button-up blouse. She had her long hair tied back in a braid.

“Hola mama,” Phillip kissed her cheek. There was something so sweet and attractive about seeing a son respect and care for his mother.

“Hola niño,” she replied, smiling at him and then turning to me. I smiled back. “Well, Rhea, dear you’ve certainly grown up. Such a beautiful young woman. Come here give me a hug, chica.”

I blushed, grinned, and did as she said, embracing her. She wove her arm through mine and led me through the living room and into the dining area, which was adjacent to the kitchen, where Phillip’s father stood with a beer in his hand and watching the TV intently.

“Aw c’mon!” he groaned.

“Henry, novio, Rhea is here.”

Henry’s attention switched from the television to me. He was a tall man, but shorter than Phillip. He had brown eyes and what hair he had left was grey. He was a little round around the middle, but his smile was bright and cheerful.

“Hello Rhea. It’s nice to see you again. It’s been so long.” He said as he came around to greet me.

“I know. Hello Mr Kingston.” I shook his hand. He waggled a finger at me disapprovingly.

“Now, now, you’ll make me feel old. It’s Henry.”

I didn’t know what to say so I nodded instead.

“And don’t try calling her Mrs Kingston. Unless she’s in court or at a function, she hates it.” Henry whispered, eyes glittering with laughter as he jerked his head toward Phillip’s mother.

“Phillip help me with these, will you?” Josephine asked, pointing to the plates and cutlery. He left my side to help his mother and I stepped forward too.

“Let me help too.”

“No, no. You’re our guest.” Josephine said, “You just relax.”

“Don’t argue with her if you value your life.” Phillip warned me when he saw me open my mouth. Josephine hit him in the back of the head with the dishtowel.

“Don’t be smart, niño.” She snapped. “Set the table.”

“What are we eating, dear?” Henry asked.

“Chicken enchiladas.” She replied. “Have you ever had them before, Rhea?”

“Uh, no, but I’ll try anything once.”

Josephine beamed. She and Phillip finished setting the table and Henry led me over, pulled my seat out for me and then sat at the head of the table. Josephine and Phillip brought over a garden salad, pieces of fresh bread, butter, and a tray of what looked like wraps. Josephine sat down opposite me, on Henry’s left hand side and Phillip sat next to me. I helped myself to salad and Phillip placed an enchilada on my plate. Nervously I cut into it and I discovered it was amazing. I helped myself to a second one and appreciated Josephine’s cooking.

“This one knows how to eat.” Josephine stated, “I like that.”

“So, Phillip tells us that you’ve been tutoring him in Biology.”

“Yeah I have. He’s improved a great deal. He works hard.” I replied. Phillip nudged my leg with knee.

“What is it you want to do after high school, Rhea?” Henry asked.

“I want to study to be a veterinarian.”

“That’d be interesting. What college are you thinking?’

“I’m trying to keep my options open, but…Stanford.”

“Stanford is hard to get into.” Josephine stated. “What are your extracurricular activities?”

“I was with the hospital volunteer program, and I’m taking three AP classes.”

“She forgot to mention she’s on the honour roll.” Phillip stated.

“Impressive.” Henry said. I blushed and focussed on my plate.

“Your friend is the one, expecting, yes?” Josephine asked.

“Mother.” Phillip hissed, warning in his voice.

“I was only asking in case she needed help. I can get the paperwork if she needs to file against the father for child support.” Josephine went on.

“Oh, thank you, but Felicity and the father, Matt, have already sorted all that out. He offered to pay support without legal action.” I explained.

“Well I’m glad she’s got help. I see so many young mothers in court, looking so afraid. Is she doing alright?”

“She’s handling everything as best she can. She’s struggling to sleep and stay on top of work, but she’s doing alright. I’m helping as much as I can.”

“You’re a good girl.”

We continued eating in silence for a while longer.

“Can we expect you at the state finals game next week?”

“It’s out of state, dad.” Phillip pointed out. “Rhea has to stay here for Felicity and she’s pretty adamant about studying for exams.”

A wave of guilt washed over me and I felt the need to explain. But Henry and Josephine simply nodded, looking at each other.

“That’s fair enough. Shall we call you to let you know the outcome of the game?”

I blinked. “Yes, that would be wonderful.”

After we finished lunch, I helped clean up, ignoring the Kingston’s in their three-way protest. I cleared away the table and wiped it down while Phillip and Henry rinsed and stacked up the dishwasher, Josephine placing the leftovers in the fridge. When we were done, Phillip grabbed two cans of coke from the fridge and told his parents we were going to go study now. Josephine spoke a warning to Phillip in Spanish, but I didn’t need to speak the language to know what she was saying. He rolled his eyes at me and jerked his head for me to follow him. He led me up the stairs and through the upstairs corridor and then turned left. He ushered min and then closed the door behind me.

Phillip’s room was far bigger than mine. A desk and chair was pushed against the wall, and opposite that was a king sized bed. He had some gym equipment in the corner next to the large windows, which overlooked the backyard. He had a walk in robe and bathroom, and he hastily went over to close the wardrobe door, but not before I saw a pile of clothes on the floor. On the wall above his desk was a collection of shelves. On top stood trophies and medals.

“Okay so what do you want to study first?” I asked finally. He placed the cokes on the desk. I glanced at his textbooks on the shelf. “English? I’m kind of nervous about that one because we have to write three different essays…”

I trailed off when I felt Phillips arms wind around my waist his chest pressed to my back and his lips against my cheek. He removed his lips from my cheek and I spun around in his arms.

“What was that for?”

“You just looked so cute talking about school I couldn’t help myself.” He said. Phillip got a look in his eyes that I’d never seen before. “Besides, this is the first time that I’ve had you to myself in weeks.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy.”

Phillip smiled. “You should be sorry. However are you going to make it up to me?”

“I don’t know. Any suggestions?”

“I may have a couple…” he said. I giggled as he lowered his head to kiss me. This wasn’t like any usual kiss. This was different. Phillip and I had kissed before, but it wasn’t like this. We made out sometimes, but usually it wasn’t for very long. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to or anything, it was just that usually he kissed me when we were in public, or studying, or in the library. We’d never been alone like this in the past four months of dating.

He was holding me in a different way than he usually did, his arms around my waist and back, pressing me close to him. His kisses started out soft and sweet, but soon it became passionate and rougher. He tilted his head a little more and opened his mouth and I don’t know how, but suddenly his tongue was in his mouth and it wasn’t unpleasant. Not at all. I’d always thought Felicity was exaggerating the perks of French kissing, but damn, was she spot on.

I wanted to be closer to him, so I rose up on my toes to wind my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, if that was possible. I lost myself in the moment. His hands were everywhere; one tangling in my hair, the other was sliding down my side, past my ribcage, past my waist and then around to the small of her back. He stopped there, fingering the edge of her shirt and even though I felt a moment of nervousness, I didn’t make him stop. I wanted to see what he would do.

Phillip’s hand went under the material and up bare skin, causing gooseflesh to erupt on my skin. His other hand soon joined the other and my shirt rode up a little while he touched the skin on my back with his fingertips, tracing my spine, my shoulder blades, the material of my bra. He didn’t undo anything, he didn’t take anything off me, but in this moment I understood what Felicity talked about. The adrenalin, the rush of emotions and hormones and suddenly I understood why it was so easy for people to lose themselves in moments like this.

Phillip started moving then and I tried to keep up with him. it was hard walking backwards on your tiptoes while trying not to break a – frankly – hot kissing session. My knees hit something firm and I realised it was his bed. Whoa. Holy crap. Whoa.

I didn’t want this to stop though.

Phillip pulled his lips from mine and looked down at me. I felt a little dazed from everything, and I couldn’t help but admire how gorgeous he is. With a sly little grin he pushed my shoulder gently and I overbalanced, falling backwards onto the bed.

“Hey!” I cried. Phillip laughed and climbed on top, hovering on all fours over me. I probably looked ridiculous and I blushed.

“You’re so beautiful. You know that?”

I didn’t know what to say. “Uh, thanks. I do now.”

Phillip shook his head, smiling. He leaned down to kiss me again, lips warm and soft. The stubble on his chin was a little annoying, but it was easy to ignore. He pulled away suddenly to kiss my cheeks, then down my jaw to my neck. And wow. It took my breath away. I’m not sure when I did it, but I brought a knee up to press into his hip, holding him to me.

He pulled away and looked at me, a cheeky grin on his face. “Still want to study?”

I laughed and squealed a little when he grabbed me and rolled us over, his laughter mingling with my own.

That was a fun afternoon.

Chapter Fourteen

“So Phillip and I saw you with Josh the other day.” I began. Felicity didn’t look up from her homework. “You were in the courtyard together.”

“And?”

“And I want to know what’s going on between you two.” I said, grabbing her pen from her. She protested, reached for it and I held it away from her. I glared. “Spill it.”

She sighed. “He’s been nice to me. Telling Melanie to go to hell and hanging out with me, just…being nice. He’s a sarcastic little bitch though.” She laughed a little.

“From what I saw, there’s something there.”

“So what? I like him, but I’m not doing anything about it. I’m pregnant at eighteen, with no job, no future and I can’t even go to college. Why would he want to be with me?”

“Maybe because those things don’t define you as a person. You’re awesome, Flick. Besides, I happen to know that he likes you.” I stated, giving her the pen back. She raised an eyebrow at me.

“How exactly did you come by this information?”

“Phillip.”

Felicity sighed. “That makes sense.” She hesitated, rubbing her pregnant belly, “I’m just not sure I want to jump into something right now.”

“You don’t have to jump into anything. Why don’t you just go to Prom with him?”

“He hasn’t asked me.”

“So? You ask him.”

“That’s not very traditional.”

“You’re not a traditional person, Flick. Just ask him.”

She sighed. “If I do, will you drop the subject?”

“Yes.”

“Fine.”

I grinned and turned back to my own work. Felicity touched the collar of my shirt and gasped. “Rhea is that a hickey?!”

Shit. “Shhh!” I glanced around. “Shut up! Announce it to the world why don’t you?”

“What have you and Phillip been up to?” she smirked. “Having some fun, hm? Well, come on, tell me everything.”

“We didn’t do anything.”

Her smile fell. “What? No clothes off?”

I hesitated. “Not all of them.”

“Touchy feely?”

“Maybe just a little.”

Her shoulders sagged. “I just thought by now you two would have done the deed.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked, feeling uneasy.

“Well…you’ve been together for so long and he obviously loves you and you trust each other and – ”

“You think he loves me?” I stopped her, trying to process what she’d said. Felicity looked at me like I’d grown another head.

“Well, duh. Anybody with a brain and a working pair of eyes can see that.”

I blinked. Oh. Um. Okay…WHAT?!

“Anyway. Has he said anything to you?”

“About sex?” I asked, my mind running a million miles an hour. “No. Should he have?”

“Well, yes and no. If he’s not said anything then that means that he doesn’t expect it from you, as in he’s not going to pressure you into it. But on the flip side, if you talked about it you two would know where you each stand.” Felicity looked at me. “Where do you stand?”

“I don’t know.” I licked my lips. “How are you supposed to know when you’re ready?”

“If you’re asking me that, then you’re not ready.” Felicity said. “Trust me. You’ll know.”

“But how?”

“You’ll just want to. It’ll feel right.” Felicity explained.

I must have had a weird look on my face, because Felicity nudged me with her foot. “You look like you swallowed a lemon whole.”

“Sorry.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

Felicity raised her eyebrows. “Oh come on. It’s me. Tell me. I won’t judge.”

“Yes you will.”

“Well, I won’t judge harshly.”

I grinned a little before shaking my head. I thought, why the hell not? She’s my best friend and maybe talking about it will help me. “Well, the last month or so things have sort of progressed with me and Phillip. Not much but enough to make my head spin.”

Felicity made a squealing sound but I shushed her and she let me continue. I glanced around and lowered my voice, aware that we were in the library at school. It was after lunch and most people were outside or in class.

“Anyway, I’ve started having these day dreams and thoughts and it’s gotten me all confused. I keep thinking of him and me and sometimes I wish that he wouldn’t stop and now I’m not sure what I want anymore.”

“Seems to me you might be ready.”

“What?”

“You just said, that sometimes you don’t want him to stop. Well, let me ask you what stops you.”

“What if he’s not the one?”

“You believe in that crap?”

I frowned. “A little bit. I at least want my first time to be with someone I trust and care about.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Well, yes.”

“And do you care about him?”

“More than I thought I ever could.”

“And you’ve been thinking about him a lot and in some really hot situations – ”

“Flick.” I warned.

“What?” She defended. “Look. I say, talk to him about it, or go for it. Just, for gods sake, use protection.”

I blushed, but that effectively ended our conversation on sex.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think that I’m a bad person? A bad example because I got pregnant at eighteen?”

“No.” The answer from me was immediate and honest. “I think that yeah, other girls can look at you and what you’re going through and learn from it, but I don’t think it’s wrong or necessarily bad. It was a trick of fate and there’s nothing you can do about it now. If people think you’re a bad person or that you’re a bad example that’s their opinion and what do you always say to me about people’s opinions?”

“Fuck ‘em.”

I grinned. “Exactly. Besides. The world works in mysterious ways. You never know what’s coming your way.”

Felicity patted my hand. “Thanks hon. I needed that.”

I picked up my own pen. “Anytime.”

---

It was late January now, and so that meant that our exam timetable was out. Exams would be spread over two months. English would be first, as that is the subject that every senior student had to take. Then it would be followed by the sciences, then the mathematics, then arts, and then music. Exams start right after spring break, which is good because it gives us all time to study and brush up on work over the holidays. I know most people won’t use their time wisely, but I am not one of those people. Prom would be held after Graduation, because that was the only time they could book a hotel for an event like prom.

I was busy colour coding my diary so I could plan out when I would study, take breaks, the university open days, scheduling Felicity’s doctor’s appointments…well, you get the idea. I looked up when someone knocked on my bedroom door. Mom poked her head in.

“Hey,” She smiled, “Phillip’s here to see you.”

She opened the door wider and my boyfriend stepped into the room. He still looked a little nervous around my parents, but he seemed happy to see me.

“Hey,” I grinned.

“Hey.”

My mother stepped in after him and I noticed she was in a shimmering champagne coloured gown that shone like silk. Her hair was up and she looked lovely.

“Wow mom. You look hot.”

She smiled brightly. “Your father and I are going into town tonight for a fundraiser with Joey and Henry. We’re going to stay the night in the city, so Phillip is going to stay here with you so you’re not alone. Your father has already set up the guest room. There’s leftovers in the fridge, or if you want pizza there’s money on the counter.”

“Okay.” I said, heart beating faster at the thought that Phillip would be staying in this house overnight. He would be sleeping just across the hall from me. “Have fun tonight.”

“I always do.” She winked. I shooed her away and she left, giggling and closing the door behind her. Phillip dumped his bag on the edge of the bed, and sat next to me, peering into my lap at my diary.

“What are you doing?” he asked, pecking me on the cheek.

“Nothing important.” I tried closing the diary but he was too quick.

“Let me see.” He grabbed my diary and looked at the pages. “Oh my god.” He looked up at me, a smile on his handsome face, eyes glittering with amusement. “I’m dating a nerd.”

I scowled. “As if you didn’t know that already.” I snatched the diary away from him.

“It’s adorable.” Phillip stated. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well we have this place to ourselves. Want to watch a movie? I can make popcorn.” He asked.

“Netflix and chill?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”

He brushed some of my blonde hair off my shoulder. “No. I was thinking a movie, popcorn, pizza, some stolen beers and a cuddle.”

I blushed a little, blinking. “Well, that sounds lovely.”

Phillip reached over and took my diary from my hands again. I began to protest but he cut me off. “But before that,” he said, throwing the diary over his shoulder and onto the floor. “Come here.”

I was a little more than surprised when Phillip rolled me over and started kissing me. I hated my brain in that moment because my conversation with Felicity jumped into my head. I couldn’t stop over-analysing this entire situation. Our parents were away in the city. The house was empty. It was a Saturday night. We were completely alone. He was kissing me, and grabbing my hip and running a hand up my side in that way that makes me sigh. I thought about how we’d been together for almost six months. What was he thinking? Did he want sex? What if he did? What should I do? Would he say something?

“Rhea?” he pulled away, eyes full of concern, his forehead creasing in a frown. His hair was flopping to the side in a goofy, cute way. “You’re shaking. Are you okay?” I sat up and he sat to the side, hands still on my cheeks. “Baby?”

“Sorry I just…need a minute.”

“Rhea, I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”

“No. It’s not your fault.”

“Rhea.” He turned my face so I had to look at him. Phillip’s brown eyes were so warm and kind. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

I closed my eyes and groaned, getting up from the bed and pacing in front of him. “Damn Felicity.”

“What does she have to do with us having a kiss?”

“Everything!” I cried, throwing my arms up in the air. “She started talking about how we’ve been together for ages and how you’re a boy, and you have a reputation and how I’d know when the time is right and now I don’t know what I want!”

Phillip raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

I put my head in my hand, the other hand I placed on my hip. I let out a sigh before turning to him. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“No, this is bothering you. Are you talking about sex?” I blushed beet red. That was answer enough for him. “So, Felicity talked to you about it?”

“She more asked.” I murmured. I was feeling so embarrassed.

“What’d she ask?” Phillip held his arms out and I walked to him, sitting on the bed next to him while he held me to his chest.

“She just assumed. We’re best friends, we tell each other everything.”

“Everything?”

“Most things.” I amended.

“So… she put the subject of sex in your head and now it’s all you can think about?” he assumed.

I chuckled, “You know me well.”

“You didn’t think to ask me about it?”

“I didn’t know how to bring it up. The whole, ‘we need to talk’ thing always freaks people out.”

“True.” He sighed. “Well, let’s talk about it.”

“What now?” I pulled away to look at him. I felt a little afraid.

“Yes now. Look, Rhea,” he grabbed my hand in both of his. “You’re amazing. You’re beautiful and kind and smart, and I was crazy not to notice you sooner. I’m not going to lie to you and say sex doesn’t cross my mind, because it does. But I didn’t want to say anything until you brought it up because, like you said, I have a reputation.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t think I know what the girls of this school say about me? Most of it was spread by Melanie and her friends. I don’t think they meant to build a reputation for me, but they like to gossip and they like attention.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying sex is not my first priority. You are.” Phillip stated. “When you say so, hey, I won’t complain.”

“Really?” This sounded too good to be true.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Phillip looked a little insulted.

“No, I’m sorry.” I said. I smiled at him. “You’re sweet.”

“But just so I know, I want to know where you stand.”

I rocked my head from side to side in the universal sign for uncertain. Phillip started smiling in that cheeky way he always did. “You’ve been thinking about sex haven’t you!”

“Shut up.” I fell back against the bed and sighed, looking up at the roof. Thorns and roses were painted intricately above the bed where the ceiling met the wall.

“Well? Tell me.” he ticked my side and I wriggled away from him a little bit.

“I just, I don’t know.”

“Whether you want to or not?”

“No I know I want to. I just don’t know if it’s the right thing to do.” I stated gently. I really hoped that he wouldn’t get offended.

“Are you the waiting for marriage type? Because that’s totally cool.”

“No. I mean,” I sighed. “What if something happens between us and I regret this?”

“I had my first time with Melanie.” Phillip said, looking away from me and at the wardrobe instead. “We’d been together for four months and at the time I had no idea what I was doing and neither did she. We were each-others firsts. We fumbled and laughed but we enjoyed it. It got better with practise; it’s sort of like kissing. But even now, after we fought for so long and broke up on bad terms, and with her acting so bad, I don’t regret being with her. Because we were in love and happy and it felt right.”

He looked back at me. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, sometimes it doesn’t have to be with the one you’re going to be with for the rest of your life. It just has to be with someone who has an impact on your life.”

I took a moment to mull over his words and in that time my mind was made up. The thought he could just be saying these things to get in my pants didn’t escape me. But I didn’t care. I wanted this. It was time. I know we hadn’t said, ‘I love you,’ but that didn’t matter much. Not to me, not right now.

I got up and traipsed over to the light switch. Phillip was looking at me strangely. “What are you doing?”

“Having an impact.” I replied. Phillip started laughing and I flipped the switch.

Chapter Fifteen

I was woken up to kisses on my shoulder.

It felt so nice I was almost tempted to pretend I was still asleep. But he probably knew I wasn’t anyway so I rolled over, stretching. I rubbed my eyes to remove sleep before I looked up at him. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. His brown hair was all messy from sleep and his eyes were slightly closed.

“Hey beautiful.” His voice was deep and croaky. He had sexy morning voice.

“Hey.” I said. I really hoped I didn’t have bad morning breath.

“You slept like the dead last night.” He smirked. I giggled. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?”

“What?” I asked. “You couldn’t tell?”

Phillip and I had barely left my room all night. He ordered pizza at around ten o’clock at night and we ate pizza on the couch in our underwear, watching reruns of old Disney channel shows. I understood why people liked sex so much.

“And you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” I said, running my hands through his hair and trying to neaten it up. “Are you?”

“You can’t tell?” Phillip replied cheekily. He leaned over to kiss me and I wound my arms around him tightly. He rolled on top of me and kept kissing me, a smile still on his lips. The moment was ruined when my phone started ringing loudly.

I pulled away and looked at him. he glanced at the screen on and said, “Felicity.” I reached for it and he grabbed my hand, pinning it to the bed. “Let it go to voicemail.”

“It could be important.”

“Let it go to voicemail.” He said as it stopped ringing. I sighed and let him keep kissing me, until the phone rang again. I groaned and leaned over, picking it up.

“Hello?”

“Oh my god, Rhea where the hell have you been?” I heard Felicity yell. I winced at the loud noise.

“Felicity it’s six in the morning. What is it? Are you okay?”

“NO! I’m the farthest from okay. Definitely not okay.”

“What’s wrong?” I sat up.

“I’m in labour! You need to get over here, like, right now!”

“What?!” I yelled. “It’s too early! The baby isn’t supposed to be here for another four weeks!”

“Well do you want to tell the baby that?!”

“Is anyone with you?”

“No. I called my mom but she’s working this morning.” She yelped in pain. “Hurry!”

“Okay, okay!” I hung up and flung the covers off myself, snatching my jeans and bra off the floor.

“Rhea? What’s going on?” Phillip asked.

“Flick. She’s gone into labour.” I said, wriggling into my jeans and running into my wardrobe to find a clean shirt and slip my bra on.

“Isn’t it early?” he asked.

“Yes.” I said, “But sometimes it happens and I need to get to the hospital now.”

“Okay. I’ll drive you.” He said as I came out of the wardrobe, dressed but not feeling at all ready. I quickly tied my hair in a ponytail and tried not to stare at Phillip as he got dressed. He snatched up his car keys and I grabbed my phone. I got my own keys and made sure all the lights were off before I slipped into a pair of ballet flats. Phillip grabbed his own shoes and ran for his car in just socks, jumping in the driver’s side, sticking the key in the ignition and waiting for me. I locked the front door behind me and ran for the car. As soon as I was in Phillip reversed. I buckled myself in and bit my lip the entire way to the hospital, making sure to call Felicity’s mom and my own parents. Phillip parked in front of the entrance.

“Go, I’ll catch up. I’ll park.” He said, leaning over to kiss me heatedly before he pushed me to get out. “Go. Go.”

I got out of the car and ran to the entrance. Lennie was there and he smiled when he saw me.

“Rhea! So good to see you, cutie. What are you doing here.”

“My best friend, Felicity Normandy. He’s in labour. Which room is she in?”

Lennie jumped into action. “Oh! Um, she’s in…” he typed on the computer, “Room twenty two, fourth floor. Do you need me to take you up?”

“No I’ve got it.” I said, running for the elevator. “Thanks babe!”

“You’re welcome!” Lennie called after me.

My heart was beating erratically in my chest and I was filled with worry for my best friend. When the doors opened on my floor, I raced out, heading for her room. She was in a bed with a pink blanket draped over her legs, dressed in a starched white hospital gown. Her forehead was sweaty and she was trying to breathe.

“Flick!” I cried, running over to her and hugging her but quickly letting go. “Are you okay?”

“Contractions are seven minutes apart. Another hour or so and I could be ready.” She looked up at me and I saw the fear on her face. “I’m scared, Rhea.”

“It’ll be alright.” I smiled gently, sitting on the bed next to her, grabbing her hand. “I’m here now. Phillip is in the waiting room. I’ve called your mom and my folks.” I said. “I’m not leaving your side.”

Felicity nodded, still scared but I think comforted. “Okay.”

I couldn’t really begin to describe what the next two hours was like. Felicity had a short labour, thank goodness, with no complications. At first the doctors would let me into the birthing room, but Felicity kicked up such a fuss and wouldn’t calm down until they let me in. They said that I wasn’t family, but Felicity had simply replied with, “Yes she is.”

Watching someone give birth is a terrifying, disgusting, but probably the most amazing thing on the planet. You were watching a new being come into the world, a person who would grow up and fall in love, have dreams, laugh and cry, succeed and fail. So much possibility wrapped in one tiny baby. It was beautiful. I wasn’t sure who was crying more, me or Felicity.

When the midwife handed me a strange looking a pair of scissors she showed me how to cut the umbilical cord. Then she wrapped the little baby in a fluffy pink blanket and handed it to Felicity.

A little girl.

Felicity was smiling, beaming really. I’d never seen her so happy. The baby was healthy and had the lungs to prove it. She squirmed and wriggled in Felicity’s arms and after a little bit she stopped crying, growing quiet and breathing easily. I gave Felicity some privacy to get cleaned up and changed, and she dressed the little munchkin in a little onesie that looked small enough to fit a teddy bear. The baby was premature, but not so much that she would be in danger.

Felicity was in her room by herself, her baby in her arms, sleeping soundly. She smiled at me, looking tired but happy.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey.” I sat next to her on the bed, looking at her daughter and then at her. “You look tired.”

“So do you.” Felicity retorted. “What were you doing last night?”

I saw the opportunity to make a dirty joke but I restrained myself. “Nothing special.” Was all I said. I pointed at the bundle. “What are you going to name her?”

“I can’t decide.” Felicity said. “You pick.”

“No way!” I exclaimed but then I remembered that the baby was sleeping. I lowered my voice, “What names do you like?”

“Too many.”

“Okay, so you list them and when I hear one I like too, that’s the one she gets.”

“Okay. Well, I like Demi, Sophie, Clara, Ivy, or Flora – ”

“Flora.” I said. “I like Flora.”

Felicity grinned at me. “Flora it is.”

I sighed and decided that Felicity’s hair was annoying me, so I tied it in a braid for her. She jerked her head away. “Hey, I’m the mom here, not you. Stop coddling me.”

“I’m sorry.” I said. Felicity moved her arms a little bit.

“Do you want to hold her?”

“Um…” I’d never held a baby before, but I wanted to hold my niece. “Alright.”

I reached down and scooped the baby up in my arms. I’m not sure why, but I made sure her head was supported by me elbow and I cradled Flora gently, rocking her a little so she wouldn’t start crying. She fussed a little bit, obviously sensing I’m not her mother, but she settled anyway and went back to sleep.

“She likes you.” Felicity said, “Not even an hour old and she has good taste.”

“She’s definitely your daughter.” I said. There was a muted knock on the door and I turned around. Phillip was there, still looking a little rumpled from literally rolling out of bed to come here.

“Hey,” he said, as he entered, “How’s mom doing?”

“Oh god.” Felicity dropped her head back. “I’m going to be called that at some stage. Jeez. I feel old.”

“You’re eighteen.” I chuckled. Phillip gave Felicity a hug and placed a bouquet of flowers on the table next to her. I smiled at the sweet gesture.

“So?” he asked. “Boy or girl?”

“Girl.” Felicity said, looking at the baby in my arms. “Flora.”

“That’s a nice name.” he said.

“Rhea picked it because I’m indecisive.”

“You? No.” Phillip grinned, looking at Flora. He didn’t see Felicity stick her tongue out at him. “Can I hold her?”

“No!” I moved her away from him. “Back off! It’s my cuddle time!”

Felicity started laughing.

---

Phillip and I eventually had to leave the hospital. They wanted to keep Felicity and Flora in overnight just for observation, but the doctors think that even though Flora is a premature baby, she’s a healthy weight and there’s no signs of complications.

“You know, you looked absolutely adorable holding Flora?” Phillip asked as we walked up to the front door of my house. My parents car wasn’t in the driveway.

“Yeah?”

“You’d be a great mother one day.”

“Slow down, tiger.” I chuckled nervously, trying to get the key in the lock.

“Just saying.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out as Phillip and I entered the house. A message from Felicity on Facebook.

Felicity: Have you seen this?

Underneath it was a hyperlink. I clicked it. It opened up to Melanie’s profile page where her latest status read, Such a cute baby. Shame her mother is a whore. Underneath the caption was a picture of…of Flora.

“What?!” I whispered. How on Earth did she get that picture?!

“What’s wrong?”

I showed him and Phillip’s face went pale. “How did she get that picture, Phillip?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“You took that picture.” I stated. “I saw you.”

“I know. But I didn’t put it on Facebook, I just sent it to my mother!”

“Well how did she get this photo, Phillip?! Felicity is going to go crazy! She’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I know! I don’t know!” Phillip looked at me. “Hang on. Do you think I sent it to her?”

“No of course not.” I said. “But I don’t know how else she could have gotten it.”

Phillip’s face went dark. His eyes dropped from mine and I knew that he had figured it out. He swore harshly and my eyebrows went up.

“Phillip? What is it?”

“Melanie knew the password to my Dropbox account. All my photos instantly upload to there when I take them or save them. I haven’t changed it. I didn’t think I needed to. She must have been looking through it for something to use against you and Felicity for months.”

“No offence,” I sighed, walking away from him, “But you’re an idiot.”

Chapter Sixteen

Having a baby around was weird, but it was something that was easy to get used to. Felicity brought little Flora around all the time and together we would study, taking turns to change the diapers, feed her, put her to sleep. I wasn’t a fan of all the spitting up, but Flora was such an adorable baby it was easy to forgive her for her lack of barf control. Felicity constantly looked tired, but I think that she was handling motherhood well. Exams were coming soon, and having a baby on top of that wouldn’t be easy. But I was determined to help her as much as I could.

“Come on, girls. It’s time to get going.” My mother said, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

“What?” I asked. “Why? Where are we going?”

“We’re going Prom dress shopping.” Mom stated. Felicity, who was holding a sleeping Flora, smiled, but seemed a little unsure.

“What?” I asked, looking at her, “Don’t you want to go?”

“No, I do, but I don’t have money to buy a prom dress right now.” Felicity said, “Josh asked me to go, and I was just going to wear one of my old dresses.”

“You will do no such thing.” My mother stated sternly. “You’re coming with us. I’ll buy your dress for you.”

Felicity started protesting. “No, I can’t let – ”

“Yes, you can, and you will. Consider this a present for Flora. I’m sure she would want you to have a good time.” Mom said, smiling cheekily. Felicity started smiling and I gave her a thumbs up.

“I’ll get ready to go.” Felicity said.

We were buzzing with excitement. Once we arrived at the mall, my mother pushed Flora’s pram, leaning down to pull faces at the adorable little baby every once in a while. Felicity and I walked arm in arm, pointing at shops that had sales and things. I wasn’t much into getting dolled up and being girly, but the thought of Prom had me excited. I wanted to look nice for Phillip and have a good time.

“So did you find out how Melanie got her hands on that photo?” Felicity asked. “I’ve reported it and it’s been removed from Facebook, but most people in this city know. I don’t really want a picture of my baby out there, you know? There are lots of creeps around. Like, I don’t care what she says about me, but when she messes with Flora? That’s a big no-no.”

“Apparently she hacked Phillip’s Dropbox account or something.” I said. It wasn’t a lie, just not the total truth. I didn’t want Felicity getting mad at Phillip.

“That bitch.” I opened my mouth but Felicity continued before I could, “And don’t start saying that she’s just hurt or jealous or whatever. She and Phillip broke up ages ago and she’s been mean to me all through high school. This is just her way of making me feel bad. Well, I’m not going to let it drag me down.”

“You been listening to One Direction again?”

“So what if I have?”

“Nothing.” I said. Anything British, Felicity loved it.

“Lets go in here.” Mum steered the pram into a little boutique. The racks were covered entirely with formal dresses in loads of different colours. Some were short, but most were long.

“I’m calling her by her real name from now on.

“Who?”

“Melanie.”

“And what name is that?”

“Maleficent.” Felicity snickered before dragging me over to a rack to search through. Most of them were sequined, modern, really over the top numbers that I just knew I would never ever be able to pull off. Felicity was humming under her breath as we searched, totally content and back in her element. She loved this sort of stuff. She stopped suddenly, staring.

“Oh…my god.” She gasped. She walked forward and I followed her. On a mannequin was a blush pink, rose gold kind of coloured dress, with elbow strength sleeves and tiny flowers sewn into the bodice and trailing into the skirt, which flowed to the floor. It would look amazing on Felicity.

“You should try that on.”

“No, I can’t.” she said. “A dress like that wouldn’t fit me anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, Flora started crying and Felicity rushed over to pick her up, bouncing her little girl up and down to get her to go back to sleep.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve gained quite a bit of weight since I’ve been pregnant. It’s going away slowly, and if I keep exercising I could be back to normal in a couple of weeks, but, I don’t think I want something fitted like that for Prom.” Her eyes brightened. “But you should try it on.”

“Me?” I pointed at my chest. “In pink?”

“It’s blush.”

“Same thing.”

“Would you just try it already?”

I scowled and asked to try it on, as it seemed it was the only one in the store. After the sales assistant got one from the back room for me, I trooped into the change room. It was softer than I expected, and also a little bit heavier from the skirt, which fell naturally to the floor. To stop my hair from snagging on the flowers, I quickly tied it up in a high ponytail. I would have to wear heels to stop the skirt from dragging.

“Okay, I’m coming out.” I said. I opened the curtain and mom was standing there, holding Flora and her jaw dropped. I hadn’t seen myself in the mirror, so I turned to look. It looked elegant with the sleeves, and the cut of the neckline made it look like I had collarbones. The colour looked nice on my pale skin and it made me look stylish and yet elegant at the same time.

“That looks amazing on you.” My mom whispered, reaching out to touch the fabric. “It’s like it was made for you.”

Felicity came over with a purple dress draped over her arm. She looked at the tag. “Well no wonder. It’s couture.”

“Oh wow.” I said. I was pretty sure my mom would open her mouth and tell me we couldn’t afford the dress or something, but she just nodded, making me do a turn in it.

“That’s your dress. I’m convinced.”

“We only just started looking mom.” I said. Felicity slipped into the dressing room across from mine.

“Yes, but I doubt anyone in your class will have this dress.”

“I suppose. But mom it’s probably expensive.”

“So?” Mom shrugged. Upon seeing the worried look on my face, she waved a hand. “Sweetheart, me and your father talked about this already. You’ve gotten an almost perfect report card, you did all that volunteer work and you stood by your best friend when she needed you most. We’re proud of you and we think you deserve this.”

I didn’t know what to say so I just smiled and ducked my head. Felicity emerged from her dressing room and I smiled. She was in a silk lilac coloured dress with an empire waist and a high neck. The top was covered in intricate beading and it was see-through at the back.

“Wow. That colour looks awesome on you.”

“Thanks babe.”

“The cut is very flattering too.”

“And it’s on sale.” Felicity added with a smile. My mom was rocking Flora to sleep, a smile on her face.

“Won’t be long until it’s her turn.”

“Nope. She’s staying that size forever.” Felicity said, in complete denial. I laughed and Felicity and I decided to get these dresses, and then spent the rest of the afternoon getting shoes, jewellery and clutches, then talking about how we should each do our hair and how much makeup we should wear.

“I don’t want to get my makeup done.” Felicity said. “I’d rather do it myself because then it’ll be exactly the way I want it, and I find that people put way too much foundation on so I just look like an oompa loompa.”

“Would you do mine for me then? Because I’m terrible at makeup.”

“So long as your mom does my hair.”

“I’m fine with that.” Mom smiled in the rear view mirror.

“Awesome.” I sat back in my seat and looked at Flora, who was in the middle seat, making little sucking sounds as she moved her arms and legs energetically. She was such a happy baby.

“So Josh asked you to go with him?”

“Yeah, last week. He came over to see Flora and we were hanging out and he suddenly just asked me. I said yes of course, but it was nice all the same.”

“Josh…isn’t he Phillip’s friend? The one who caused the accident?”

My face fell. I’d forgotten that. “Um, yeah.”

My mother nodded but didn’t say anything else. She dropped Felicity and I off at my house before she went out to catch up with Josephine for a late lunch.

“You and Phillip. When were going to tell me?” Felicity whispered to me as we made our way upstairs to my room. Only after I’d closed the door did I answer her.

“How did you know?”

Felicity shot me a look, holding Flora in her arms. “You two have been acting strange for weeks. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Josh and I were talking about it.”

I sighed. “You just had a baby. You kinda deserved priority.”

“Rhea! I need gossip! Come on, tell me everything!” she said as she lounged on the windowsill seat, Flora in her nap, drinking some water from a little sippy cup.

“What do you want to know?” I asked warily, hanging up my dress in my closet.

“Well, how’d it go? What made you decide?”

“Your talk actually. And Phillip and I kind of talked about it and just decided.”

“Did he tell you he loves you?”

“No.” I raised an eyebrow as I walked towards her and sat down opposite her.

“Should he have?”

“Yes! Everyone knows he loves you except him!”

I waved a hand, trying to get away from this topic because I really didn’t want her asking me questions. “Anyway, we just made up our minds, decided it was the right time and that’s all there is to it.”

“Was it fun?”

I laughed, tickling Flora’s belly. “Yeah it was fun. I enjoyed it.”

Felicity grinned at me and handed Flora over to me. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Is it about sex? Because I really don’t want to talk about this when I’m holding a baby.”

“No. It’s about Flora.”

“What about her?” I asked, looking at the baby. Flora was a beautiful little girl. She had Felicity’s bright blue eyes and her dark hair. Her chin was different though, and her nose was different to Felicity’s when she was a baby.

“I know I’m almost nineteen, and that the possibility of me dying is low, but I know some things happen. I’m thinking about organising a will, and I wanted to ask your permission to leave legal guardianship to you, in case anything happens. I don’t have any family aside from my mom, so I thought, well…” she trailed off, tracing a finger over Flora’s foot. “Would you be Flora’s godmother?”

“Of course.” I said. “I kind of thought I already was.”

Felicity laughed.

Chapter Seventeen

Tonight was the night of all nights. It was a time honoured tradition, a rite of passage, a night we would all remember and a night where we could make as much mayhem as possible.

It was Senior Prank Night.

Senior Prank Night was basically a night where the senior class invades the school for a night to trash the classrooms, set up pranks, and basically channel our inner Weasley Twins. We had a meeting earlier in the week to sort out what pranks we would be doing, and divided up teams. There was a team who would go around all the bathrooms and put coloured food dye in the soap dispensers (the original plan was fake tan but one girl said that it could be dangerous if someone is allergic or really sensitive) as well as flour in the hand dryers. Others would go around to every classroom and take all the furniture out to the football field, and then duct tape it all together. Another group would TP the gym. Another group would be going around and taking all the locks off lockers that weren’t closed and attaching them to the gate out front. There were a few other pranks that I just couldn’t remember, but I thought all of it was pretty genius.

Phillip, Felicity, Josh, Dustin and I were in a team together, and we were in charge of lining the entrance hall with plastic cups filled with water. There were a few things we weren’t allowed to bring into the school. Like water guns, or set up trip wires, or anything to do with eggs. Otherwise our limits were only defined by our imaginations.

“Why don’t you guys start from that end and we’ll start this side and work our way in and then down?” I said. The entrance hall was the main way into the high school. You had to come in this way to get to class. By blocking it off it would force the younger students to go the long way to get to class. We were excused from class for the day afterwards in order to witness the result of our chaos.

“Okay sounds good.” Dustin said. Josh held up empty pitchers of water and laughed like an evil villain. It was comical and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Where’s the little bundle of joy?” Dustin asked, pouting. “I having been able to meet her yet.”

“My mom is watching Flora tonight.” Felicity said.

“How does that work anyway?” Dustin asked. “How do you balance school and a baby?”

“Well, there’s a day care centre just up the road. And because we’ll be finished with classes soon, she’s going to be there for a little while longer. Otherwise I look after her as much as I can.”

“And the father?”

“Sends weekly cheques.” Felicity replied in a tone that clearly said, drop it.

“So,” Josh said, “How are we all getting to Prom?”

“Well, my dad said we could get a limo.” Phillip said as he came back with two pitchers filled with water. Felicity gave him a look. “Relax, I got it from the water tank. It’s not drinking water.”

“Would we all pitch in?” Dustin asked.

“No, dad said he’d take care of it. A graduation present he said.” Phillip stated.

“Sounds good to me.” I shrugged.

“Yeah definitely.” Josh nodded.

“Do you have a date, Dustin?” Felicity asked.

“Not yet, no. I need to ask someone soon though.”

“One of the girls on the paper, Ruby, she’s a junior but she thinks you’re cute.”

Dustin looked interested. “Really?”

“Mm hmm.” Felicity nodded.

“Well I may just have to go and introduce myself.” Dustin said cheekily.

I grinned at him and continued to place cups on the floor while Felicity filled them with water as we went. It was tedious work. You’d be surprised how many cups were actually needed to fill just a third of the hall. We kept at it though, talking and laughing to pass the time. At some point somebody hijacked the office speakers and blasted the Top 40 throughout the entire school. That really helped us to get in the mood for celebrating and having fun. Phillip disappeared after a while to get water and didn’t come back. The others and I were starting to get annoyed after fifteen minutes and he still wasn’t back.

“Alright, I’m going to look for him.” I said, getting up off the floor.

“Okay.” Felicity nodded, turning back to talk with Josh.

I walked out of the main entrance and around the school, heading to the water tank. I knew that’s where he’d be because he mentioned it before. It was cold outside and the sky glittered with stars. I crossed my arms to keep warm as I walked. When I got a little bit closer to the water tank I heard voices.

“…not talking about this anymore.”

“Oh come on! Please! This is ridiculous! I know you’re just playing with her.” That was Melanie’s voice.

“Why does this matter so much to you? Don’t you have better things to do than worry about my relationships?” Phillip’s voice snapped. They weren’t just talking. They were practically shouting at each other.

“So what? Phillip, I want you back.” Oh hell no! “I know you’re only with that Rhea girl because her father saved your life.”

My jaw dropped but I kept walking.

“What?!” Phillip cried. “Are you crazy? I’m grateful to him and, sure if it weren’t for the accident I wouldn’t have talked to her, but I’m with Rhea because she’s amazing. She’s kind, and caring and smart. She cares about me and my dreams, supports what I want to do, not what people want me to do.”

“I never supported you?!”

“You didn’t come to visit me in the hospital. Not once.”

“I was away.”

“I would have come to see you if it was you lying in a coma.” Phillip said a little quieter. “But you know what? It doesn’t matter because we’d been falling apart for months before that.”

“Baby, I want you back in my life.”

“No, you want a trophy boyfriend to take you to Prom.” Phillip said. I was getting closer to them now.

“You’ve just forgotten how good we are together!” Melanie cried desperately. I could tell from the way she talked that she really missed Phillip. Maybe this wasn’t an act for her.

“You’re crazy, Mel.” He said, sounding a little shocked.

“Look, I’ll prove it to you!”

Fate seemed to have a sick sense of humour. Because at that moment I rounded the corner and saw Melanie kissing Phillip. But that wasn’t what made my insides shrivel up to the size of a peanut and make my feel like I’d inhaled battery acid. It was the fact that Phillip his has hands on her waist, his eyes closed, and was kissing her back.

They hadn’t seen me, or heard me coming, so I just did the logical thing and turned around and ran. I ran all the way back to the entrance hall and stopped, bracing a hand on the cold stone wall and tried to catch my breath. I couldn’t believe this.

I just couldn’t.

If she’d kissed him and pushed her away, okay I could get over that. But he didn’t. He stood there. He. Kissed. Her. Back.

I didn’t feel like crying. I didn’t feel upset. I was just angry. I felt like he’d betrayed my trust. Sure he’d said all those things to Melanie about me, but words were powerful, sure, but if they’re not backed up by action they’re worth nothing.

I shook my head and walked away, repeating the words that I’d said to myself in the hospital all those months ago, moments after I’d kissed Phillip.

“Stupid.” I whispered, “Absolutely stupid. What were you thinking?”

---

Exams were an absolute nightmare. It was hard to stick to my schedule because I was avoiding Phillip as much as possible, and when he did manage to find some time with me, I always answered with short, offhand replies. He wasn’t stupid. He knew something was up. I dodged his kisses, pulled faces at his immature (albeit clever) sexual jokes. I even refused to hold his hand, choosing instead to wrap my arms around my text books or shove them in my pockets.

It took four weeks for exams to fully be over for me and it was a weight off my shoulders. I thought I did pretty well considering I could answer the majority of the questions as soon as I read them. The essays for English were a little harder, but I struggled through. English was more Felicity’s area of expertise after all. Results would be first sent off with our college applications, then sent via email to us, the seniors. Doctor Alevin had sent a glowing letter of recommendation to every university and college I applied to, just as promised, so I was feeling okay.

Graduation was today. It felt strange to be wearing a black graduation gown and cap, a nice little blue dress underneath. I decided to wear nice, comfortable ballet flats for this. We would be standing in line for quite a while to receive our diplomas.

Felicity came up to me, balancing Flora on her hip, Flora had grown so much in such a short amount of time. She had adorable chubby cheeks and was dressed in a cute little sundress with a matching headband.

“Hey there.”

“Hey,” I smiled. I kissed Flora on her cheek. “You ready for today?”

Josh came up behind Felicity and he put an arm around her. I noticed that the way those two acted around each other had changed since Senior Prank Night (which had caused absolute hell the next day) and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d started dating.

“I’m not sure,” Felicity replied, “It feels surreal, to be graduating. Knowing I won’t see anybody from the class again till the reunion will be so weird.”

“Not as weird as going off to college. Being adults with adult responsibilities.”

“Already have one,” Felicity said, looking at Flora with affectionate eyes. I held out my hands and Felicity handed Flora over to me immediately, settling into Josh’s arms easier.

My parents decided to come over at that moment, camera in hand. My mom took photos of Josh and Felicity first since they were already standing together. They made a cute couple. They both had dark hair and tanned skin, but where Felicity’s eyes were ice blue, Josh’s were brown and where she was petite, he was broad and tall. They looked like one of those model couples you see in magazines.

Damn them.

“Okay, you and Felicity and Flora next.” Mom said, waving me into the picture. I shifted Flora so she was between Felicity and I. Josh and Dad made faces behind Mom to get Flora to look at the camera. After that, Felicity and I took a photo, just the two of us.

“Is it my turn?” Phillip asked, walking over and looking dashing in his robes. Damn him and his hotness. Dustin had wandered over as well and was shaking my father’s hand.

“Yeah, of course, jump in.” Mom said. She wasn’t aware of what happened on Prank Night and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her. Phillip put his arm around my waist and I put mine around his. I focused on Flora and the way she looked so cute fussing in Felicity’s arms that I couldn’t help but smiled widely. The camera flashed and I stepped away as quickly as possible.

“Just the boys?” Mom called. Josh and Dustin went in for a photo and I went to stand next to Felicity. She turned the opposite way, her back to the boys and put her mouth close to my ear.

“Have you talked to him yet?” I’d told Felicity what happened pretty much straight away.

“No.”

“Looks like you’re going to have to. You can’t avoid him forever. You’re sitting next to him for the speeches.”

“Don’t remind me.” I muttered.

“Okay, now everyone in!” my mom beamed. Felicity and I walked over to the boys and stood in front of them. It was the three girls in the front, the three boys in the back. Mom snapped a photo of us and then called for goofy faces. We each did that and laughed a little after that. I took a photo with my parents before we were all called to take our seats.

The ceremony was being held outside, with the seniors sitting in chairs on the football field while the parents and guests would sit in the bleachers. There was a temporary platform set up facing the crowd, where the Principal and Melanie would make speeches, but also where each of us would receive our diplomas. Unfortunately we had to sit alphabetically by our surnames, and mine was Keem, which would be right next to Kingston.

Right next to Phillip.

We all took our seats. I sat facing forward, hands folded in my lap and not looking at Phillip. He was sitting next to me, bouncing his knee up and down quickly and wrinkling his nose.

Halfway through the Principle’s speech I couldn’t take it anymore and reached out, stopping his leg movement. When I retracted my hand, his leg didn’t move and I sighed. I wasn’t really paying attention, more trying not to think about the heat, when Phillip leaned over.

“For gods sake, smile. Anybody would think you’re at a funeral.” He whispered. I didn’t look at him.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Okay, now I definitely know I’ve done something wrong.”

I didn’t dignify him with an answer. I know I was being petty but I couldn’t help it. It was getting his attention and he was obviously showing some interest in trying to make it right, even though he didn’t know what ‘It’ is.

“Rhea, how can I fix something if I don’t know what I broke?”

“I saw you kissing Melanie on Prank Night. At the water tank.” My voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard me. I turned to look at him and saw his face was blank.

Yeah, that’s right. Be afraid, buddy.

“How much did you see?” he asked, voice quiet. I turned back to the front, watching the Principal smile around at the crowd as he made a lame joke that only a few people laughed at.

“Well, first I heard a little bit of your conversation. Then I saw you kissing her.”

“I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me.”

“I didn’t see you stop her.”

“I was caught off guard.”

“For a whole minute?” I raised an eyebrow. Phillip sat back.

“Did you see the part where I pushed her off me and walked away?”

“No.” I paused. “But that’s not the point.”

“What is?” He sighed.

“That you kissed her back.”

“I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened.” Phillip sounded so sad now that it was hard for me not to turn to him and say I forgive him.

“And that’s supposed to be comforting?” I asked, clapping along with the crowd as the Principal stepped down and let Melanie take the podium. “The worst thing is you didn’t come talk to me about it. You didn’t admit what happened. Instead you hid it, like you were guilty.”

“Because I feel guilty.” Phillip whispered harshly. “I feel terrible for what happened between me and Melanie that night. I pushed her off me and told her to go screw herself and came to find you, but Felicity told me that you’d already left.”

“I didn’t want to talk to you.” I admitted.

“That was kind of dumb. If you had stayed we could have sorted it out right then. But after that night I lost my nerve and tried to forget about it.”

I sighed, listening to Melanie reflect on the last four years of high school and talk about our bright futures. I knew she was trying to sound motivational, but to me she just sounded a little condescending. Maybe I was biased.

“I’m sorry for hurting you that night.” Phillip said, reaching over and taking my hand. I let him. “Hurting you is the last thing I’d ever want to do.”

I knew he was being sincere and my anger all but melted away. “Sorry for acting like a jealous girlfriend.”

“Well, you are my girlfriend. And you’re kind of cute when you’re jealous.”

I smiled at him. Melanie finished her speech and the presentation of diplomas began. I was kind of glad to be able to get out of my seat and move around after so long. I was about a third of the way down the line, and I was glad of that too. I felt sorry for people who had last names beginning with something like W, because they had to wait quite a while.

After about ten minutes my names was called and I walked up, shook the hands of the principal, vice-principal and was presented my diploma by Melanie. She more like shoved it into my hands as she gave me the evil eye, but I wasn’t about to let her ruin my day. I waltzed off stage and back to my seat, Phillip not far behind me. We watched, hands intertwined as Dustin, then Felicity, then Melanie herself got their diplomas, until all the students were back in their seats.

“I present to you, this year’s graduating class!” Our former principal announced. As a single unit, the entire senior class rose up from their seats, ripped off their graduation caps and threw them up in the air with a cheer. Phillip surprised me when he wound an arm around my waist and pulled me in for a very long, very passionate, very public kiss.

“I’m sorry for being an idiot.” He said, resting his forehead on mine, brown eyes peering into mine pleadingly. “Forgive me.”

I smiled, “Okay,” I replied gently. Phillip grinned and scooped me up for a bone crushing hug, literally lifting me off the ground. His mouth near my ear, he whispered words that sent chills (the good kind) down my spine.

“I love you.”

I smiled so wide I feared my cheeks would never recover. “I love you too.”

He set me on the ground just as Josh, Felicity and Dustin pounced on us, enveloping us in a giant group huge where I’m pretty sure Josh was the only one who could breathe. I didn’t mind though.

It was an awesome graduation.

Chapter Eighteen

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and even though I never gave myself compliments, I had to think to myself, I look beautiful.

The dress fit perfectly and with the shoes I picked out I was a little taller than normal, so the dress didn’t drag as much. It flowed beautifully and showed off my collarbones wonderfully. I only wore little rose earrings and my silver spinning wheel necklace that Phillip got me, otherwise I let the dress do the talking. Mom had styled my hair and chic swirly up-do with curls falling around my face gently. Felicity hadn’t gone overboard on my makeup, thank god. She’d put some foundation on, natural eye shadow with winged eyeliner, making my eyes stand out. She’d gone with nude coloured lipstick so that it wouldn’t clash with the dress and light sprinkling of blush. I appreciated that she’d kept it as simple and natural as possible.

Felicity looked amazing as well. She’d lost a lot of weight since giving birth in January, but there was still a little bit of a bump around her stomach area. Her dress hid it well, and gave her a lovely, elegant look and the empire waist made her look taller. Her makeup was a little more dramatic around the eyes compared to mine, but she pulled it off spectacularly. My mother had done a similar hairstyle for Felicity as well, pinning it up and off her face, accentuating her jawline and long neck.

We took photos in our dresses and laughed, putting last finished touches while we waited for Josh and Phillip to show up. Dustin and his date would already have been picked up. Soon enough, the doorbell rang and we heard my father usher the boys in, talking loudly. Felicity and I looked at each other, beamed excitedly and grabbed out clutches. Mom handed me a lovely gold wrap that I draped over my arm. Felicity and I made our way downstairs. I felt like I was on a sugar high I was elated and excited. I saw Phillip before he saw me. He was dressed handsomely in a black tux. He’d styled his hair so it was up and off his face, like a quiff. He had a corsage consisting of a pink rose in his hands, but was busy talking to my dad, a smile on his face. He only looked around when Felicity and I reached the bottom of the stairs. His face kind of dropped into shock and I felt a little self-conscious. When I reached him, I decided to go and stand on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“You look nice,” I said, straightening his tie.

“You look amazing.” He whispered. I blushed. “Like a princess.”

“Wait a moment, let me get my camera!” Mom shouted, running around the house looking for it. I sighed.

“Mom, we have to go. The others are waiting.”

“Just wait! A few minutes won’t kill you!” she called. Phillip laughed and pulled out the corsage, slipping it on my wrist and then kissing the top of my hand, like a real gentleman. Mom came in, took our photo and then ushered us out the door. I could imagine my mother and father leaving for Prom, twenty years ago, just like us.

The limo was parked at the curb and Dustin was standing up with his head, shoulders and chest out of the sunroof.

“Yeah baby!” Josh shouted at him, “Let’s go to Prom!”

I laughed when Dustin and Phillip started whooping as well. We clambered into the limo and I smiled at Dustin’s date, Ruby, who was wearing a blood red velvet dress. She looked stunning.

This wasn’t the first time I’d been in a limo. When I was five my mom’s cousin got married and needed a flower girl. I remember then I was stunned by the luxurious interior, the space and the leather seats. I had been so small back then that everything stunned me. But I had to admit, limos were cool no matter what age you were.

The ride to the Prom was fun, with loads of laughter and rowdiness from the boys. When we pulled up to the school, you could hear the bass of the music. Balloons hung over the entrance to the gym. We all got out and made our way into the gym. The inside was decorated with purple and gold streamers, balloons hanging above the doorways and adorning the centerpieces on the tables. A disco ball hung from the roof and multi-coloured lights shone on the floor. People were already dancing and having fun. I saw Melanie talking to the DJ and even I stopped to stare at her.

She was wearing a black prom dress that clung to her hourglass figure before flaring out gracefully at her knees. Her black hair was pulled back into an intricate, sleek ponytail and was wearing blood red lipstick. But that wasn’t what made her look dangerously sexy. The bottom half of her dress was completely sheer with beading over it. You couldn’t see anything, but the sheer skirt went almost all the way up her thighs, just covering everything that needed to be covered. It was a bold dress but she pulled it off.

“Maleficent – trying to subject the poor people of this kingdom to her horrible music taste. When will the evil cease?” Felicity murmured dramatically. I laughed, shaking my head.

“You really should stop calling her that.”

“Why?”

“Uh, because it’s mean?”

“It’s not like I’m saying it to her face.”

“Saying it behind her back isn’t very nice either.”

“Why do you have to be such a goody two-shoes all the time?” Felicity groaned. I shrugged.

“I guess that’s my flaw. I’m too nice.” I grinned. Josh grabbed Felicity’s hand.

“Let’s dance.” He said. She let herself be dragged onto the dance floor with a huge smile on her face. Phillip slipped an arm around my waist.

“You really do look amazing.” He said, having to shout to be heard over the loud music.

“Thanks.” I smiled. “I like your tux.”

“I haven’t worn this since I had to go to a wedding with Melanie over a year ago. Damn, that was a boring night.”

“Did you see her dress?”

“Yeah. She looks like some kind of evil queen in it.” Phillip replied, giving me a strange look when I burst out laughing. “What?”

“It’s just funny. Flick calls Melanie ‘Maleficent.’” I said. “It’s been a running joke for a while now.”

“Strange.” Phillip said. He jerked his head to the dance floor. “Want to dance?”

“I’m not a good dancer.” I warned.

“Good for you.” He said, “Because I am.”

I’m not one for dancing, but I actually had loads of fun. I danced with Phillip most of the time, but Josh stole me away for a few dances, (his dancing involved a lot of air-guitar and head banging) and even Dustin asked for a dance. We danced so much that I needed to sit down for a while, fanning my face from laughing so much. Phillip offered to get both Felicity and I some punch, and we let him. The DJ stopped the music and allowed Melanie to get up on stage, a microphone in her hand. Next to her, two cheerleaders held red cushions with the Prom crowns on top. They were both gold, the male one shaped like a typical kings crown with fake rubies adorning it. The queens tiara was fashioned like a gold laurel wreath.

“Okay!” Melanie called into the microphone, smiling at the crowd. “Who’s ready to crown our king and queen?”

A roar went up through the crowd and I clapped along. I knew Phillip would be kind and Melanie would be queen. I was prepared to watch them have their dance together, even though I didn’t like the idea. Okay, that’s a lie. I hated the idea.

“Okay, so your nominees for Prom King are, Phillip Kingston.”

Everyone clapped and Phillip raised an arm to wave. A spotlight appeared on him for a few moments before shutting off.

“Leo Balta.”

Leo was a quiet but popular boy. He was captain of the basketball team so it made sense. The spotlight flickered to him and then shut off.

“And Josh Harvey.”

I didn’t remember Josh being nominated, but hey, I was happy for him. He was being scouted by so many people for colleges, some were even saying in a few years, with some training he could really go somewhere. He grinned when the spotlight shone on him, winking at Felicity.

“Okay, and drumroll please!”

One played whilst Melanie pried open the sealed envelope. She pulled out the card and read the name. Her beaming smile gave it away, “Phillip Kingston!”

Of course.

Phillip made his way up to the stage, a spotlight on him the entire way and Melanie placed the crown on his head. I had to admit he looked regal in it. It was probably cheap plastic crap, but he pulled it off. Maybe he was a prince in another life.

“And your nominees for Prom Queen are,” Melanie said and I swear she looked like someone had forced her to eat a rotten apple. “Felicity Normandy.”

Felicity grinned at me and I put my arm through hers.

“Rhea Keem.”

I waved at the crowd as a spotlight shone on me for a few seconds.

“And me, Melanie Ofaleval.”

“Isn’t it weird how her last name sounds like, “Of all evil?’” Felicity asked me as we clapped.

“Maleficent? Of all evil?” I raised an eyebrow. “Now you’re just taking it too far.”

“And your Prom Queen is…” there was a drumroll as Melanie was handed another envelope, which was sealed, and she pried it open, snatched the card out and blanched at the name, “Rhea Keem?!” she shouted. My jaw dropped open.

Felicity beamed at me and together, she and Dustin ushered me towards the stage, where Melanie was waiting with a disdainful expression to crown me. Phillip looked pleased. She placed the crown on my head and turned to the crowd. Phillip grabbed my hand and smiled down at me.

“Let’s have a round of applause for our King and Queen, shall we?” she said weakly into the microphone. “If you could all please make some room it’s time for their dance!”

Phillip led me down from the stage and onto the cleared space for our dance, twirling me around before he pulled me in, holding my right hand in his left, and his right hand wound around my waist. I picked up a bit of my skirt so it wouldn’t trail behind me when we were dancing. I didn’t want to step on it and make a fool of myself.

Phillip was a good dancer. He didn’t do anything overly complicated, but it was still lovely. It felt natural to be in his arms like this, gliding over the dance floor.

“You know, you never did tell me what your real name is.”

I shake my head. It was so typical of Phillip to ask that at a time like this. He was smiling that charming little grin of his. He was so cheeky and so sweet at the same time that it was hard not to love him.

“I can’t believe you remember that conversation. It was so long ago.”

“Of course I remember.” Phillip smiled, batting his long eyelashes at me. “Tell me?”

I sighed and thought, what the hell? He’s going to find out eventually.

“Aurora.” I replied, looking right into those big brown eyes, “My real name is Aurora.”