Anything but Normal - Melody Carlson [46]
And when she took it to school on Monday, she hoped she wouldn’t bump into any of the girls she’d interviewed. More than that, she never wanted to see the pregnancy center again.
“You’ve examined both sides of this issue now,” Mr. Young told Sophie at their publisher’s meeting. “I recommend you run this feature on the front page in the next edition.”
“I agree,” Wes said.
“The front page?” Sophie asked. “Are you sure?”
“It’s a good story, Sophie.” Wes nodded. “And judging by the reactions we got from your editorial, you’ve hit a hot button with this whole pregnancy issue.”
Mr. Young gave her back the hard copy. “I think readers will appreciate your honesty.”
She cringed. Honesty? That made her want to laugh. Or cry.
Her only escape was to lose herself in school and journalism. So for the next couple of weeks, that’s what she did. By mid-November, she realized that she was feeling fairly normal again. No more morning sickness or tender breasts or excessive tiredness. It was amazing. Almost as if the whole thing had gone away, except for the fact that none of her jeans fit her now. She’d gotten some sweats and baggy clothes to cover things up. Sure, her friends occasionally took jabs at her weight, but that seemed minor compared to reality.
However, a different kind of reality began to create itself. Sophie felt so much more like her old self, so much more normal and almost happy, that she actually began to imagine she wasn’t really pregnant. She knew it was a game—or that she was being the queen of denial again. But at the moment it was working.
“My mom read your story in the Panther Paw,” Kelsey told Sophie at lunch one day. “And she wasn’t too pleased.”
“Huh?” Sophie looked up from her fries.
“She thinks you’re being way too soft on pregnancy.”
“Soft on pregnancy?” Sophie frowned.
“What did she want Sophie to do?” Jenny demanded. “Beat on the girls who were pregnant? Like they don’t have enough problems?”
“Okay, maybe I didn’t say that quite right.” Kelsey looked contemplative. “What my mom said was that by showing the pregnancy center the way you did, and by telling those girls’ stories, it was kind of like saying it was okay.”
“And your point is?” Sophie glared at Kelsey.
“I know what Kelsey is saying,” Carrie Anne said. “She means it’s like you were endorsing the whole thing. Like it’s cool to be a pregnant teen.”
“Yeah,” Kelsey said. “Like that Juno movie. Like you’re glamorizing it. That’s what my mom said.”
“Glamorizing it?” Sophie stared at her friends like they were aliens. “Are you guys nuts?”
“Well, it did seem like you were on their side,” Hannah pointed out. “Like you thought it was great that they were in the pregnancy center.”
“Well, where do you guys think those girls should be?” Sophie took in a deep breath. “Maybe you want them to be hidden away? Treated like they have leprosy and locked away in some dark dungeon? And forget about education, right? I mean, once a girl makes a mistake or is the victim of rape—”
“You don’t know that for a fact,” Kelsey said.
“Are you saying that girl lied?”
“I’m saying that if I got pregnant, I’d probably say something like that too.” Kelsey sat up straighter. “Not that there’s any chance of that. I’m just saying.”
“You guys are living in the dark ages.” Jenny shook her head. “Seriously. I thought Sophie’s feature was spot-on.” She reached over and gave Sophie a high five. “Way to go.”
“I’m not saying we should lock the pregnant girls up,” Carrie Anne protested. “Just that we shouldn’t reward them, you know?”
“Yeah,” Kelsey agreed. “That’s exactly what my mom said.” “Reward them?” Sophie wanted to scream. “You think they feel rewarded? Do you have any idea what they’re going through? Did you actually read my article? Or are you guys just so judgmental that you can’t even—”
“We’re not judging them, Sophie,” Carrie Anne argued.