Reaction - Lesley Choyce [0]
Reaction
Lesley Choyce
orca soundings
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
Copyright © 2010 Lesley Choyce
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Choyce, Lesley, 1951-
Reaction / written by Lesley Choyce.
(Orca soundings)
ISBN 978-1-55469-278-1 (bound).--ISBN 978-1-55469-277-4 (pbk.)
I. Title. II. Series: Orca soundings
PS8555.H668R42 2010 jC813’.54 C2009-906847-8
First published in the United States, 2010
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940838
Summary: When Zach finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant, he is terrified. What will they do?
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover design by Teresa Bubela
Cover photography by Getty Images
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
PO BOX 5626, STN. B
VICTORIA, BC Canada
V8R 6S4
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
PO BOX 468
CUSTER, WA USA
98240-0468
www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Canada.
Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper.
13 12 11 10 • 4 3 2 1
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter One
“Zach, I’m pregnant.”
Ashley dropped the bombshell on me between classes at school. I remember the exact time, because I was standing in front of the hallway clock. 11:11. Yep. Eleven eleven in the morning. It was a Tuesday.
She was looking straight at me when she blurted it right out.
“That’s impossible,” I snapped back. And I looked away from her and back to the stupid clock. The time changed to 11:12.
“It’s true,” she said. And then she began to cry.
I put my arm around her and pulled her toward me. “Let’s go,” I said.
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Let’s get out of here.”
I led her down the hall and out the front door into the bright sunlight. As I opened the door of the school, I had this feeling that maybe nothing in my life would ever be the same again.
That was exactly how it happened. I will never forget the feeling. I had never been more scared in my life. Never. I know that I wasn’t the first guy to hear those words from his girlfriend, but it felt that way. Sad to say, I wasn’t even thinking about Ashley at the time. I was thinking about me. What was I going to do? What was going to happen to me? What would this do to my life?
We walked for almost an hour. Neither of us talked at first. Then I began to rationalize, and one part of my brain wanted to convince us both that it must be some kind of mistake.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“How sure?”
“Very sure.”
“Maybe you made a mistake.”
“Maybe we made a mistake,” she said.
“I mean, about the tests. Did you buy one of those testing things from the drugstore?”
“Three of them.”
“Maybe they were defective.”
“They were three different brands. They all had the same results.”
I was still looking for a way out of this. I was looking for a way to get me out of this. I almost asked her if she was sure it was me, that I was the father. But I didn’t.
Because just then I remembered. Two months ago. We’d been partying. (That’s what we did, Ashley and I. We partied big-time.) We’d been drinking. And my parents were gone for the weekend. And one thing led to another. And we were so into it.
And I knew the condom broke, but I didn’t mention a word to her. Hey, I thought it would wreck the mood. Plus, what were the chances?
So there I was, sixteen years old, walking through the suburban streets with my fifteen-year-old